What The Church Needs Now – 5
WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES LOVE MAKE?
1 Corinthians 13:7-13
We’ve been looking at what’s called “the love chapter” in the Bible. And we’ve learned that …
Agape love is the greatest kind of love, it’s God’s love, it‘s a forgiving love that doesn’t retaliate when wronged
Then we saw that love is patient, & kind; it’s treating a person as they need to be treated, not as they deserve to be treated
Last week we learned that love is to be lived out in a lifestyle which demonstrates that we are truly followers of Jesus
Today we’re going to wrap it all up & look at how love makes a difference
in our lives, our relationships, & in our world.
So, with that as an introduction, listen to Good News,
from Paul to the Church in Corinth, & also to Bear Creek Church.
Within our hearing comes the Word of the Lord …
Love never gives up; and its faith, hope, and patience never fail.
Love is eternal. There are inspired messages, but they are temporary; there are gifts of speaking in strange tongues, but they will cease; there is knowledge, but it will pass. For our gifts of knowledge and of inspired messages are only partial; but when what is perfect comes, then what is partial will disappear.
When I was a child, my speech, feelings, and thinking were all those of a child; now that I am an adult, I have no more use for childish ways. What we see now is like a dim image in a mirror; then we shall see face-to-face. What I know now is only partial; then it will be complete – as complete as God’s knowledge of me.
Meanwhile these three remain: faith, hope, and love; and the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:7-13)
Jesus said, “How happy are those who hear the word of God & obey it!”
(Luke 11:28)
May the Lord grant that we may engage in contemplating the mysteries of His Heavenly wisdom with really increasing devotion, to His glory and to our edification. Amen
My favorite Winston Churchill story has him touring an English Prep School. And since he was already on campus, he was asked if he would address the boys at their daily Chapel service. Initially, Churchill refused, saying that wasn’t the purpose of his visit. But the Headmaster kept insisting … “the boys will never forget it if you speak to them.”
So, when the time came, Churchill stood up in front of them, & said, “Gentlemen, never give up, never, never, never!” And then sat down.
I was thinking about that shortest political speech on record this week as I was studying this phrase, “love never gives up.” And I wondered … what could possibly be added to that? And I considered standing up here this morning & saying, “love never gives up, never, never, never” …
& then sitting down! (That would be a sermon you wouldn’t forget!)
So, I prayed about it … for a brief moment … & then thought, “Nah!”
This is the last of our 5 studies on 1 Corinthians 13, & I must tell you that working through this chapter has made a deep personal impression on me. I’ve looked at this passage many times over the years.
I’ve taught it, I’ve preached on it, but it’s never gripped me like this before.
And it’s given me a lot to think about as I consider how I relate to others in my “retired” life.
Paul is writing to a Corinthian congregation who knew relatively little about love. I believe it would be accurate to say that the Corinthian Church was a “loveless” congregation. Going through all the motions doing all the right things , but at the core … love was missing.
Our home in Nashville was originally built by Rena Hostetler.
She was one of the 2nd generation of artists here in Brown County. In fact,
there’s even a plague by our front door indicating that. We’ve turned her art studio into a library. The whole length of the wall is a giant bookcase, floor to ceiling. (Actually, we have a # of bookcases all over the house.) And even though we will never be able to read all the books we have, we continue to go to every used bookstore we can find.
Now Kathy likes to keep our bookshelves nice & orderly so we’re constantly getting rid of books to make space for all our new arrivals. A couple of weeks ago I was looking through my section & saw Albert Speer’s book “Inside The 3rd Reich.”
It’s literally been years since I read it, so I pulled it out to “re-evaluate” it.
Speer was one of Hitler’s closest associates during WWII,
& in his book he tells a fascinating story about the fall of Hitler & his army.
They’re in a bunker in Berlin, 50’ below the surface of the earth.
Hitler & his generals are pouring over the planning tables, talking about the war effort, & signing off on all sorts of requisitions for military materials.
They’re reassigning divisions.
The only trouble is … neither the divisions nor the materials existed any longer. They had been wiped out, & the factories had all been bombed.
And yet these generals, down below the ground,
continued to play their games with Hitler. They were all “playing war” …
but up there, out on the ground, there was nothing to play with.
The Corinthian Church was just like that; sitting in its’ “religious bunker” …
playing all their games. But out there, the people had stopped loving each other. Some were even intimidating others. The rich were ignoring the poor. The congregation was drifting into factions.
So, Paul offers a short discussion on love.
In the 1st paragraph he shows what things are like when love is absent.
He explains that if we speak in strange tongues, or if we have knowledge,
or even perform miracles … but have no love … it’s worthless.
The 2nd paragraph describes how love performs.
It’s patient & kind, selfless, courteous, & so forth. It’s a very positive thing.
In the 3rd paragraph Paul makes some comparisons of love to those other things, & then he leaves the Corinthians with 1 final thought …
“Love is eternal.” Think about those 3 words, “Love is eternal.”
If I didn’t know this was Scripture, I’d be tempted to think that Paul was writing with simply rabbinical enthusiasm.
“Love is eternal” … really? I mean, is anything eternal?
Let’s be honest … some of us have loved, but apparently that love
didn’t get the job done because it ended. People fall out of love.
It’s hard to believe Paul when he writes, “love is eternal.”
But what he means is that love is a system that will never become obsolete.
God has ordained it, & it’s relevant here on earth & it’s relevant in Heaven.
Now lots of things have become obsolete.
Think of the things we don’t see much of anymore … phone booths, paper maps, typewriters, encyclopedias, film, landline phones, console TV’s, VCR’s,
etc. For all intents & purposes, so is my CD & DVD collection.
Performers & songs which are popular today are unheard of tomorrow.
A lot of things become obsolete. Hitler boasted that the 3rd Reich would last 1,000 years. Paul states that the only thing that will never become obsolete is love. It will never, ever change.
He writes that 3 things “remain:
faith, hope, & love; & the greatest of these is love.”
Then Paul makes some personal observations to the Corinthians.
“For those of you who think preaching is the most important thing …
I’ve got news for you. There’s coming a day when preaching will cease.”
What is preaching? It’s a word from God to you through a preacher
who’s interpreting the Scriptures through the power of The Holy Spirit.
Now we’re living in a day that especially needs to hear a word from God. Hopefully in the Church there are those who can offer inspired messages …
those who can take the truths of Scripture & bring clarity as to what God is saying & wants from us.
For the Corinthians the preachers were the superstars of the Church.
Groupies gathered around them. “One says, ‘I follow Paul’; another,
‘I follow Apollos’; another, ‘I follow Peter.’” (1 Corinthians 1:12)
Well Paul announces that there’s coming a day when there won’t be a need for preaching. Choirs, accompanists will always have a job.
Debbie, Laura, you’ll have work to do …
but in Heaven, I’ll be unemployed, or at least truly “retired.”
Then there were those in Corinth who spoke in strange tongues.
(When Scripture discusses speaking in tongues, it’s referring to a Heavenly language. This is an experience we find in Pentecostal churches today.) These individuals felt they were deeply spiritual because of that particular “gift” & should be recognized as such. But Paul explains that there’s coming a day when people won’t do that anymore. It won’t be important.
Then he moves on to those who have knowledge. He’s referring to the early theologians. They were blessed with insights & understandings that no one else had. Paul writes that that gift will not last either.
Now he’s been dealing with the 3 most important things in the Corinthian Church … preaching, tongues, & knowledge … & none of them are going to last.
“When I was a child, my speech, feelings, & thinking were all those of a child; now that I am an adult, I have no more use for childish ways.”
Paul explains that we’re living through a time right now that is childlike,
but we’re moving toward maturity when we’ll see things differently.
When my son, Marty, was 7 or 8 he asked me where babies come from.
(I think that question is now being asked at a younger age by our grandchildren.) Well, I’d been reading all the James Dobson books, so I was ready for this. I sat down & in about 20 minutes I gave him a complete, blow-by-blow answer. I was very explicit.
I was completely descriptive. And he was totally turned off.
It sounded awful. He didn’t want to hear anymore. He was disgusted.
A few years later, however, after puberty, I couldn’t tell him enough. It was amazing the change that occurred … same person, different stage of life.
That’s what Paul’s referring to.
We’re in this stage now where we can’t appreciate certain things,
but when we became “mature”; we’ll look at things differently. (In a sense,
Paul’s telling us that we’re all still in Confirmation Class … we’ve got a lot to learn, but when we do, wow, our appreciation of the Lord will take off.)
“Corinthians, your vision is childish. You’re focusing on preaching,
& strange tongues, & knowledge… & you’ve completely missed love.”
“What we see now is like a dim image in a mirror;
then we shall see face-to-face.”
Corinth was known for manufacturing mirrors.
Mirrors in those days were highly polished pieces of metal.
Metal mirrors, unlike glass mirrors, have lots of distortion to them.
They were like the kind of mirrors we find today in amusement parks.
Paul’s explaining that our spiritual vision is a little distorted now,
but someday we’ll see the whole picture, & understand completely God’s love.
So, what are the implications of all this? What difference does it make?
Let me suggest a couple of things.
1st & foremost … “love never gives up.”
The love of God is secure & unchanging. (James 1:17) Isn’t that comforting to know in our ever-changing world? Jesus’ love is dependable. (Hebrews 13:8)
2ndly, the love of God came to us when we were unlovable.
“God has shown us how much he loves us –
it was while we were still sinners that Christ died for us!” (Romans 5:8)
Finally, when the love of God comes it brings us into His family.
“We know that we have left death & come over into life;
we know it because we love others.” (1 John 3:14)
This is the core of our Gospel. We have experienced God’s love to us …
now we share it with others.
This passage not only explains how much God loves us,
but that love is the only true witness the Church has in this world.
But sadly, the Church is not known primarily for its’ love today.
It really isn’t. The Church is known for its’ narrowness, & anger,
& negativism … the Church has its’ conservative right or liberal left.
Now certainly there are issues that we need to speak out on.
But if we become so topic oriented, & those issues become more important than the way we care for each other … then we’ve lost the battle.
We must be experts in the subject of what love is all about.
There must be love spoken here.
Sadly today, many people have a totally wrong understanding about love.
They really do. If we go down to the corner of Main Street & Van Buren & ask the people passing by what love is, the majority of answers are going to revolve around “a feeling.” “Love is a feeling I have when I’m with so & so.”
The truth of the matter is that love has nothing to do with feelings.
It really doesn’t. Feelings change like the weather.
Feelings depend upon what’s going on in our life at that very moment.
We are commanded to love. (John 13:34-35) Feelings cannot be commanded.
I can’t command you to be happy or sad. Feelings are dependent upon outside circumstances. God commands us to love. (1 John 3:18)
20 years ago, Charles Roberts, entered an Amish 1-room schoolhouse in PA. He took 10 girls hostage & then shot them. 5 died immediately,
1 died later from her wounds. (Charles then took his own life.)
Can you imagine the horror? And wasn’t just the immediate families involved, but the Amish are a close-knit community. I can’t even begin to fathom what that would be like. Even thinking about it now, as an outsider, there’s almost a rage inside me. Those poor little girls.
Do you remember what those Amish people did? That very afternoon,
including members of the families of those 5 murdered girls, in the midst of their grief … they went over to Charles Roberts’ home, to comfort his wife & father! They set up a charitable fund to help the widow.
The Amish live by the teachings of Jesus, who taught His followers to demonstrate love, to place the needs of others before themselves, & to rest in the knowledge that God is in control & can bring good out of any situation.
(Romans 8:28)
Love & compassion toward others is to be life’s theme.
“Love never gives up; & its faith, hope, & patience never fail.”
That, my friends, is what the Church of Jesus Christ needs to be about;
it’s what we have to be about.
I think of all the terrible stuff that’s done in the name of Christianity today
I think of all those ethical kind of issues that we fight to the death about
I think of some of the divisive crap that is said from certain pulpits
I think of the significant # of people who claim to be Christian, but don’t have an inkling of who Jesus Christ really is & what He commands us to do
The world is going to Hell, & the Church is playing games in its’ spiritual bunker. There’s only 1 thing that truly matters,
only 1 thing worth caring about … is love spoken here?
MARANA THA
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