Christians typically love the 23rd Psalm. Many know Psalm 100. John 3:16 is a given—who does not like this gospel in miniature verse. But the 13th chapter of Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth has such a special quality, a meter, an idiom to it that it has endeared itself to many as poetic.
It’s just got that special feel to it.
It’s something of an odd chapter to be loved so much. It comes in the middle of Paul’s counsel on Spiritual Gifts and the Body of Christ and unity in the body. It was written to a congregation that placed too much value on the gift of tongues, perhaps to the point of minimizing other gifts and talents of the body.
It is written to a congregation that was in the heart of the pagan world. The temple of Aphrodite, the pagan goddess of love, overlooked Corinth. This was a temple of 1000 prostitutes.
Corinth was also a port city. If you have never spent any time in a major port, know there are all sorts of worldly influences there.
While some of the believers in Corinth came out of the Jewish Synagogue; many came straight out of pagansville. The only definition of love these folks knew was the kind that Aphrodite was selling. Paul had some time with this new church but then he was sent elsewhere by God’s Spirit. So he did much of his ministry and mentoring in letters.
Paul had much to address. We are blessed today that this congregation had many issues. Beyond the specific issues, they didn’t quite grasp this one godly fundamental—love.
People were at odds with each other over gifts. They were self-centered and self-indulgent at the Lord’s Supper. They had members still practicing pagan ways and were at a loss as to how to deal with them.
Paul addressed all issues one by one, but in this 13th chapter, he gets to the heart of so many things when it comes to following Jesus.
He said it didn’t matter how skilled he was at any given thing. If love was absent, God was not glorified. Absent love, he was the cowbell drowning out the New York Philharmonic.
If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
Paul did what good communicators do, he gave a variety of examples.
If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.
Let’s understand this. If I can fathom all mysteries, I am making the rounds on the national television shows. Everybody wants me. If I can move a mountain, then people are listening to me—they are tuned in.
But if I don’t have love then I am nothing. Really? I am big time in the world. I am getting more than my 15 minutes of fame. But in the eyes of the Creator of that world, my amazing feats don’t count for diddly.
Paul said, look at it this way.
If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
If I am the philanthropist of the century—giving to the point that I don’t’ have anything—but don’t have love, I gain nothing. This sounds like a guy who ought to have some treasure in heaven, He gave up everything that he had. That’s got to count for something. Right?
Not if it was done without love. That’s a tough one. Is not the act of substantial giving love in itself? Elsewhere, Paul notes that the Lord loves a cheerful giver. If we give much or even everything and our heart is not right with the Lord, don’t expect heavenly dividends.
But what if on top of my stuff, I gave my very body to be a slave, or servant, or to be tortured or burned to death. Don’t those things show my dedication?
Not if they were out of something other than love. If you want fame or glory or notoriety for yourself, don’t expect God to see these acts as a sacrifice to or for him. They don’t register on his scale.
So what is this thing called love? What is it that turns the fantastic things that we can do into something that puts a smile on God’s face? What is it that turns the smallest things that we can do into something that puts a smile on God’s face? What is this thing called love? How do we explain it?
Paul proffers some explanation.
Let’s start with love is patient. Really? Does anyone have time to be patient anymore? Maybe there is a unique meaning that will get me out of this part.
Let’s try these definitions—the bearing of provocation, annoyance, misfortune, or pain, without complaint, loss of temper, irritation, or the like.
Those don’t get me off the hook. Here’s some additional definitions--an ability or willingness to suppress restlessness or annoyance when confronted with delay, such as having patience with a slow learner.
Let me read more definitions, maybe one will get me off the hook--quiet, steady perseverance; even-tempered care; diligence.
There is no back door or side exit on this one. Patience is exactly what we thought it was and love is patient. This is like Jesus beginning his teachings on love with love your enemies. Paul begins, love is patient.
Love—the ultimate characteristic of God’s heart—seems counter intuitive to our human heart. It is, but our heart is being changed to the likeness of our Father’s heart. He is patient with us, desiring that all come to repentance and enter his saving grace.
Love is patient. OK, got it.
Love is kind. That one doesn’t take too much to grasp. If we are practicing speaking the truth in love by telling one of our friends that those drugs are killing you and destroying your family, we will still be gentle about it. We will be direct and full of truth, but our words and deeds will be kind ones. We will proceed without harsh motives.
Those are good positive qualities—patience and kindness. Next, Paul notes what love is not.
Love does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
Most of us think those make sense, well, except the last one. Love keeps no record of wrongs. Many are in the I will forgive but not forget mode. That’s common among Christians. It is probably an acceptable intermediate objective.
But the goal is to keep no record of wrongs--to truly forgive and forget. That’s right up there with patience and love your enemies as far as the difficulty level.
How can anyone expect this of us? How can God expect this of us? Once again, our heart is being shaped like his and God said I will remember your sins no more.
We like that part. Not only does God forgive us, but he forgets our transgressions. Our record is made clean. Love tells us to do the same.
Some of you are upset with me at this point. What has always been a beautiful scripture, easy to listen to, and always sends us away feeling good, has now become one that challenges us to be patient and keep no record of wrongs.
To continue in Paul’s message, we need to understand that while this is beautiful prose in translation after translation, we are challenged in these verses. Here’s one that ties many together.
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
Love leads us away from evil and into the truth. We get the shunning of evil at every turn but rejoicing in the truth is a sign of Christian maturity. The world is not happy with the truth. The world wants to redefine truth, but you who live in love rejoice in the truth.
Of all the things that you know, of all the things we see as truth, and of all of the growth in grace that lies ahead of us, know with certainty this truth: God loves you.
In all of the trials of your life, know that God loves you.
When you feel you have reached rock bottom, know that God loves you.
He loves you so much that he sent his Son into this world not to condemn the world—a condemnation it surely deserved—but to save the world through him. Christ died for us.
That’s God’s most visible sign of his love for us. Perhaps, remembering that foundational truth will help us be a little more patient. Maybe, it will help us forget something that someone did to us that lingers on. And surely, because we know that the truth will set us free, we can learn to rejoice in the truth.
· Even when it reveals our shortcomings.
· Even when it is not what people want to hear.
· Even when it rattles our comfort zone.
Want to know someone who got his comfort zone rattled? Paul, when everyone called him Saul. He was squarely in the middle of his comfort zone rounding up followers of The Way. Then weren’t enough in Jerusalem so he headed to Damascus. Then the Truth hit him right between the eyes.
Everything that he knew about God was reframed by love. The man who knew God’s word inside and out and who wrote today’s words about love was introduced to the truth. Paul went beyond accepting the truth—with the bit T and little t—he embraced it. He rejoiced in it.
Love rejoices in the truth.
What else can we say about love? It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
We can get on board with those without too much contemplation. But now here it comes. This is the centerpiece of Paul’s prose.
Love never fails.
Things of this world fail all of the time. Once or twice a year, my smart phone and computer and printer and the copier rebel against God and humankind.
Sometimes the satellite television revolts too. It fails to do what it is supposed to do. I don’t worry about that too much. My wife is the one who gets to call the guy in India on how to fix it.
Even some of the Spiritual Gifts that we know will not be important as the age comes to an end. Prophecy and special knowledge and speaking in tongues won’t continue. They will have served their purpose and won’t be needed.
Even with the gifts that we have, they do not complete us. We understand only in part. God’s ways are not our ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts, but we do get a glimpse of what this creation and our Creator is all about.
One day, we will see clearly. We will grasp the whole picture. Things will be clear.
On that day, the thing that we had to hold onto in our forgive but not forget mindset will seem so insignificant.
The things that stressed us out because we struggled against patience will seem absurd—having no eternal merit and surely worthy of our patience and not our grief.
But we do not have such clear vision yet. We are moving that way. We are exchanging the ways of the world for the ways of God. We are moving the right direction, but we are still in the incomplete zone. Yes, Christ completes us, but we don't see the full picture just yet.
For we know in part,
and we prophesy in part.
But when the perfect comes,
the partial will come to an end.
When I was a child,
I spoke like a child,
I thought like a child,
I reasoned like a child.
When I became a man,
I put aside childish things.
We are growing. We are growing in God’s grace. We are growing in love and becoming love. We are not there yet.
Our growth is sometimes slowed by the fact that we won’t put away our childish things. Our growth is stunted when we must hold on to some of the world’s precepts.
Our growth stagnates when we choose our own understanding over trusting in the Lord.
Perfection, completeness, and the fruition of the work on the cross is coming into fulness in each of us. Some embrace it. Some resist. Some are back and forth.
Fast or slow, we are being shaped into love. It’s a process that takes us out of our comfort zone time and time again.
Love is central to our discipleship. In fact, Paul thought it the most essential of the main things that we embrace.
Now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.
We have considered the words of Jesus to love our enemies. We have reviewed Paul’s words and understand that if love is pouring out of us, that love will meet the requirements of the law. Now we see that Paul charges us to keep the faith and be people of hope, but most of all live in love.
We need to understand love. It is the who and what we are becoming. It is a process that will not always be easy but surely and certainly worthwhile.
I mentioned before that there was poetry or a rhythm to this part of the Bible, often dubbed the love chapter. I conclude once more with these words of love.
If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
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