She gave all that she had

 Read Luke 21

If you read Luke 21 and Matthew 24, you get the short course of the End of the Age—Revelation revealed in miniature.

Advent means arrival, but in the church, it is a time to prepare for the arrival of the King, the Second Coming of Christ. That’s going to be something of a big deal.

At the next service, I will talk a little about signs of the end of the age. Now, let’s think about what preceded the eschatological verses in this chapter.

As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. “Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others.  All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”

We all know this one. We sometimes dub it The Widow’s Mite.

Jesus called the disciples to consider this woman. They probably were not paying much attention to her. She wasn’t making a scene, and she would not bring a load of gold or silver.

She did not make a show of making her offering. She did not parade herself in self-righteousness. She gave what she had.

Jesus noted that she gave more than all the rest. She gave all she had.

We—anchored in our own understanding—ask, “How will she live?”

Jesus saw no need to address that unspoken concern. He knew that his Father in heaven provided for her.

She had no earthly treasure but surely had a huge account in heaven.  Could you imagine giving all that you had in the offering?

That’s some crazy stuff, but it is precisely what we are called to do.

OK, sure. Are we passing the collection plate again? I have to run home and get my car title.

Does the church pick up the payments on my mortgage? How does this work?

It’s a scam, right?

No, we are to give all we have and all we are to the Lord. Paul called it a living sacrifice.

But is that even possible? I know that Paul said it, but he didn’t have a mortgage, two car payments, a houseful of hungry kids to feed, and a water bill to pay.

I’m already making my tithe. Give me a break! How can I give all that I have? Do I just endorse my check over to the church?

For those who don’t know, a check is a piece of paper that promises to pay an amount written on it to the recipient. I know people don’t use checks much these days. Ask an older person about a thing called a counter-check. That will blow your mind in this age of account hacking. 

Enough for ancient banking practices… Who will pay my mortgage? You will, and you will pour yourself into making your house into a godly home.

Who will make my car payment? You will, and you will do your best to drive safely and respectfully. When the light is red, you live by the law not grace.

As we are on the topic, is it legal to make a right on red in Oklahoma?  Only when posted.

The rest of the time it is legal to make a right on red after stop, unless otherwise posted.

That’s my public service announcement for the day brought to you by my daily view of out my office window.

Back to giving it all to God—what about my food bill? How many have a monthly grocery bill that’s more than your car payment? More than your mortgage?

Hopefully, that grocery bill will get better. Right now, when I go to buy my olive oil and peppers, I feel like I am in chapter 6 of Revelation.

Back to giving it all to God. Whatever I eat, I eat to fuel this body that serves the Lord. I’m not a glutton and a slave to food. I eat to re-arm and re-fuel to continue my mission and fulfill my commission.

We can give God all that we have. It funnels through our lives and provisions us to serve the Lord.

Think of the servants in the Parable of the Talents. The money their master entrusted to them was put to work immediately and produced a return, but they didn’t have to get a second job to feed their families.

They put everything they had—knowledge, skills, and abilities—into producing a return for the master. They had no desire to do anything else, and their master provided for them in the course of their duties.

That was true of the first two servants. They understood this living sacrifice thing before it was a thing.

They were not accumulating personal wealth. They were producing a return for their master. Welcome to New Testament living.

How does all of this relate to Advent and the coming of Christ?

We don’t know the day or the hour, but we do know the season. For that part, read to the end of Luke 21.

The best way to prepare for the Lord's return is to live our lives fully for him every day.

We are saved from sin and death, but I believe that in our DNA as new creations is the desire to do the best we can with the lives, resources, thoughts and attitudes, and fruit we produce for the Lord.

We should strive to live as fully as possible, with each breath bringing glory to God.

That’s how we give all that we have. That’s how we prepare for the return of the King.

Amen.

Signs and Readiness

 Read Luke 21

Anyone ever heard  of the 5 Man Electrical Band?

And the sign said,

"Long-haired freaky people

Need not apply."

So I tucked my hair up under my hat

And I went in to ask him why.

He said, "You look like a fine upstandin' young man.

I think you'll do."

So I took off my hat and said, "Imagine that.

Ha, me workin' for you."

Today, business owners hire long-hair freaky people if they will show up and work. Back in the mid-80s, I was in London. The ship had pulled into Portsmouth Harbor for a couple of days, and I took a day trip by train to London.

I saw the sights and stopped in a store to buy some souvenirs. I was about to check out when I saw this guy with the spiked rooster hair look. The hair was green and some other color. He had some bling hanging off of various parts of his face and head. This was before bling was a word in the common vernacular.

We were both approaching the same check-out register. I thought I would just let this guy go first. He was taking the long-hair freaky people thing to a new level, and I was surprised at something else hanging off of him every time I looked.

Yeah, you can go first. He walked towards the register and went behind the counter to ring up my purchase. There was no sign reading, "Long-hair freaky people need not apply."

  They applied and got jobs!

Whoa, sign, sign.

Everywhere a sign.

Blockin' out the scen'ry.

Breakin' my mind.

Do this. Don't do that.

Can't you read the sign?

One of my favorite signs was displayed at a taco joint in 29 Palms, California. It read:

Tacos

3 for $1

Limit 8

I usually make my Math for Marines jokes with that one. But then, on a street far away from any Marine Corps Base was the sign that read:

2 Hour Parking

6-7 pm

Whoa, sign, sign.

Everywhere a sign.

Blockin' out the scen'ry.

Breakin' my mind.

Do this. Don't do that.

Can't you read the sign?

The song "Signs" was actually a protest song, not against the War in Vietnam but against the ubiquitous onslaught and apparent authority of signage.

We look at chapter 21 in Luke’s gospel. The disciples remarked on how magnificent the temple was. It was an impressive structure and adorned with gifts dedicated to God. The disciples were impressed by the structure and thought their Master might be as well.

Jesus didn’t play the adore the temple game. He said that this thing would be rubble one day, and not one stone would stand upon another. That’s some serious stuff. This is the same temple where Jesus taught the scholars when he was 12 and where he fashioned a whip and turned over tables later in his life because his Father’s house had been turned into a den of thieves.

 

The disciples ask, “When” and “How will we know the time is near?”

What will be the signs of the end of the age?

Jesus told his closest followers to be on the lookout and not to be deceived. Many would come in his name and be imposters. Don’t play their games.

Some things must happen first. There will be wars and rumors of war. It will be nation against nation and kingdom against kingdom. We read this as there will be some isolated wars and some between and among alliances.

In addition, there will be some really big earthquakes, famine, and even pestilence. Some of you are thinking seals will be opened, and horsemen will be dispatched.  

You may very well be the target of persecution. You should expect it. If you are persecuted because of Jesus, Jesus will count that as fruit to your credit.

If you are persecuted because you are doing stupid stuff, then stop doing the stupid stuff. That’s a horse of a different color. Don’t shoot yourself in the foot, and admire your marksmanship.

One of the unsung benefits of being a pastor is I get to work with people who shoot themselves in the foot, admire their marksmanship, and when you think it couldn’t get any crazier, they reload.

But when you are persecuted because you follow Jesus, that’s counted to your credit. You are welcomed into the company of the prophets.

There will be times when God rescues Jerusalem from invaders and times—such as near the end of the age—when desolation is near. Yes, there will be some run-for-the-hill times.

These will be some very bleak times. The world won’t understand them and will surely construct stories without what it understands without God. What is coming to this world is not the stuff you put on the travel brochure.

OBTW—welcome to the first Sunday of Advent. Advent is about preparing for the coming of the King. We prepare to celebrate his birth into this world as a baby born in some meager surroundings, and we prepare for him to come to claim us.

We return to the lectionary briefly for this season of Advent. We note that Jesus will come as the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, and it will be the biggest event in history. You can’t miss it. You won’t miss it.

You can't miss it but will you be ready for it?

My prayer is that you are ready for it. Advent is a time to prepare for the coming of the King, and he is coming for us. When? Soon.

We have had wars and rumors of war, but they had those in the first century too.

We have had hurricanes and earthquakes and some terrible weather events, but they also had those in the first century.

Famine and pestilence have occurred in various places over the centuries. They are not unique to our time.

We have seen many of these signs in our time and have read about them in history.

So, does soon mean by the end of the year or end of the decade?  Could it be longer. How will we know?

“There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

There will be:

·       Cosmic Disturbance.

·       Nations will be at a loss as to what to do about anything and everything

·       People will pass out from terror.  They will be afraid.

What should we do?

·       Hold your head up!

·       Know that redemption is coming.

·       Know that Jesus is coming on a cloud and he is coming as King this time.

·       Know that the King of Kings and Lord of Lords is coming for you. Your room is ready.

While the world trembles, we anticipate what we have waited for all of our lives. We cry out for Jesus to come and rescue us from this world. He will.

The world will be caught up in the drama, terror, and fear of not knowing what is to come.

Not us. We know what is coming and are getting ready to celebrate who is coming.

Yes, we may have to endure much, but we know who is coming for us, and that’s a big deal.

So, let’s consider what is ahead in the manner prescribed by Paul. The stuff that we will go through now is nothing in comparison to what God has in store for us.

So, when we know the time has come, and it will be evident in the heavens themselves, hold your head up. Know that your Lord is coming to redeem you out of this world.

The work to accomplish that has been accomplished. It is finished.

All that’s left now is for Jesus to claim us and take us home.

Hold your heads up!

Amen.

Give Thanks!

 Read Psalm 100

Read Psalm 136

Like it or not, November will say goodbye shortly. Thanksgiving Day seems late this year. It’s almost December, and then a New Year.

I talk about being thankful all year long, but you get an extra dose at this time of year. We should have a surge effort of thanksgiving and praise on occasion or multiple occasions.

So many people think that when my life settles down—whatever that means—I will be ready to give thanks.

When my bills are all paid, and the kids have new shoes, then I can be thankful.

When the doctor says that I am healthy again, then I will praise the Lord.

When I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, I might be ready to thank God.

When I can afford an impulse buy every now and then without breaking the budget, I will be thankful and praise the Lord.

I will be thankful when I get around to it, and I have a lot to get done on my list first.

Let’s take a cue from the psalmist. We will look to Psalm 136 for the moment.

Give thanks to God. Why?

He is good.

His love endures forever.

He is the God of gods—the only true God.

He does great wonders. This whole creation thing has to be near the top of the list.

Heaven, earth, land and water, sun and moon, and other heavenly bodies all came into being by his breath. He spoke these into existence.

He delivered his people from bondage in Egypt. That was a series of mighty acts.

He parted the Red Sea and his people crossed it on dry land.  The same parted Red Sea did not treat the pursuing Egyptians so nicely.

He led his people through the wilderness until they were ready to enter the land that he promised Abraham as an inheritance. This took a while.

He struck down mighty kings that his people might prevail. He liberated his people.

God remembers us, even amidst the vastness of the universe.

He is the God of everything and remembers us even in our humble estate.

OK, the people back in the day had a lot for which they gave thanks. That was a long time ago.

I’ve got bills and medical appointments and parent-teacher conferences and have to work for some young guy with no experience and…

You can’t expect me to just give thanks because God rescued some people from slavery almost 3,500 years ago.  I have problems today.

There is a meme-related thought circulating online that goes something like this: Instead of focusing on what is happening to us and feeling helpless or wronged and feeling pitiful, focus on what God has already done for us. Focus on your blessings.

What then?  We should be better inclined to thanksgiving.

Give thanks to the God of gods. His love endures forever.

He made everything in creation. It all—including us—belongs to him.

Give thanks to the God who provides for everyone and everything.

OK, those always apply, but we need a Red Sea parting somewhere in our recent history.

Give thanks to the God who blessed you to be born in this most wonderful nation. We have our problems, and more are on the way, but we are blessed beyond what most of the world knows or imagines.

Give thanks to the God who blessed you to be born in this part of this most blessed nation. We still speak openly of our God and worship freely. We might face a mean comment or two when we express our faith online, but nobody is trying to kill us for professing Jesus as Lord.

Give thanks to the God who put us in the land of plenty, the land of everything modern, the land of modern milk and honey, and who loves us with an everlasting love.

Give thanks to the God who loves us so much that he gave his one and only Son that we might know real life and eternal life in him.

Give thanks to the God of gods who chose us to take his message to the world.

Give thanks to the one true God who is love.

Give thanks to God who is the Potter and shapes us in the likeness of his Son as if we were clay.

We must give thanks for our blessings, trials, and even the Lord's discipline. If it is from God, it is good for us. We may not understand it in the moment, but we should be thankful for it.

Our story goes back to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as did the psalmist’s, but our story continues today with God's mighty acts in our time.

He is working with billions now, but he still knows us by name and has called us to him for his purposes. We don’t see Red Sea crossings but we see many saved from the slavery of sin and death. We see healing. We see the body of Christ helping the least of these brothers and sisters.

So many of God’s blessings are administered through the body of Christ in our time, including our own blessings.

We are blessed beyond our problems of the day, week, year, or decade.

We are blessed, and we should be thankful.

It’s not how big our problems are. It’s how big our God is, and that’s something for which we give thanks.

Give thanks.

Amen.

Thanksgiving and Praise

 Read Psalm 100

We know Psalm 136. Every stanza concludes with, “His love endures forever.” God's love endures forever.

The psalm begins and ends with “Give thanks to the Lord for he is good and Give thanks to the God of heaven.” The rest of the psalm tells of his mighty works.  We should be thankful that we are on the right side of his story. 

Some stood in opposition to God, but not for long and not with a good ending; yet the psalm doesn’t read, give thanks or you will be smote, or is it smitten? Maybe I should brush up on my fire and brimstone lexicon.

This is a psalm of thanksgiving.

Let’s try Psalm 107. “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.” The psalm continues with examples of God’s greatness, mercy, and lack of regard for anyone’s worldly status.

The psalm concludes by advising the wise person to meditate upon God and what he has done. If we did that we would find God to be sovereign, righteous, almighty, and the Author of a love that endures forever.

If we pondered all that God was and how he has regarded our humble estate, we would give thanks. We wouldn’t have a choice. Our very being would compel us to thanksgiving.

If we genuinely considered that almighty God has considered us worthy of his love, care, and salvation, only the most vile among us could reject the truth and not give thanks.

Let’s try Psalm 50. God tells his people that they checked the box with their livestock sacrifices, but God doesn’t need livestock. Everything in the earth belongs to God anyway. Give him a thank offering.

Sacrifice thank offerings to God,

    fulfill your vows to the Most High,

and call on me in the day of trouble;

    I will deliver you, and you will honor me.

More than the blood of goats or bulls—the shedding of blood is required for the forgiveness of sins—but more than that, the relationship with God that grows and is strengthened in thanksgiving is a better target.

The psalmist did not dismiss or discount the other sacrifices and offerings. To throw an anachronism into the mix, I will use Paul’s words. And yet, I show you the most excellent way.

What way? Thanksgiving.

Psalm 28 petitions God not to include the psalmist with the wicked. C’mon God, don’t abandon me or kick me to the curb. Like most psalms, this one moves from the struggle to the affirmation. Faith abounds in the Psalms.

Praise be to the Lord,

    for he has heard my cry for mercy.

The Lord is my strength and my shield;

    my heart trusts in him, and he helps me.

My heart leaps for joy,

    and with my song I praise him.

One of the telltale signs of thanksgiving is praising God.

So, thanksgiving and praise must be an Old Testament thing, right?

We have received Jesus as Lord and in him is our everything. Paul counsels us to be thankful. In fact, he says that we should be overflowing with thanksgiving.

Overflowing, now there a descriptor we should visualize.

Come, thou fount of every blessing, tune my heart to sing thy grace. Streams of mercy, never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise.

Visualize a fountain overflowing with water. Now visualize a fountain overflowing with blessings.

Now visualize our most appropriate response to mercy, grace, and blessings—a fountain overflowing with thanksgiving and praise. Every blessing you pour out, I turn back to praise.

Consider Paul’s words to the church in Thessalonica.

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

How many times is the word thanksgiving used in the Bible? More than 70 and perhaps more than that when we include other words of gratitude. It’s a big deal.

Yes, the word love appears more than 500 times and counsel against fear another 365 times, but if God through his word tells us something more than 70 times, we need to pay attention.

The grass withers, and the flowers fade, but the word of God endures forever. As his word does endure, don’t you think we should pay attention to something he tells us more than 70 times?

Thanksgiving is an American holiday. It is celebrated in other countries in similar and different ways. We have turned it into a feast, usually accompanied by football games and naps.

Thanksgiving for the believer must be more than turkey, dressing, and pecan pie. It must be our new nature as a new creation. We must give thanks at all times and in all circumstances.

That is who we are! We are a thankful people. We are a grateful people. We are people who praise the name of the Lord.

We are people in whom others should see the Lord through our love, thanksgiving, and praise.

I am close with words that should be familiar to us now. We know these words. They are not the only words concerning thankfulness, but let’s claim these just like we have the gospel that we find in John 3 or the proverb—trust in the Lord--that we know so well.

Let’s make Psalm 100 a part of who we are. Some might think, but it’s a lot longer.

Yes, but it has an idiom, a rhythm, a poetry to it that has not only survived translation but perhaps in enhanced by the language in which we read it today.

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.

   Worship the Lord with gladness;

    come before him with joyful songs.

Know that the Lord is God.

    It is he who made us, and we are his;

    we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving

    and his courts with praise;

    give thanks to him and praise his name.

For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;

    his faithfulness continues through all generations.

 

Amen.

 

 

All You Need is Love, without apology to the Beatles

 Read 1 Corinthians 13

In the next service we will do the love chapter. I thought I would do a round robin on the topic of love for this service, as most of you are here for both services.

Let’s go!

1 Corinthians 16:14

Let all that you do be done in love.

Every, all, all yall, with no exclusions is the essence here. Thats when you are in worship or at home making your fourth peanut butter and jelly sandwich for the kid who is eating like he was rescued from the Sahara.

It’s when you are in line at Walmart or stuck in traffic on I-40. It’s for early morning or late at night.

Everything is to be done in love, even the stuff that we don’t’ like to do. We don’t forgive out of guilt. We should do it out of love for the person whom we are forgiving, for ourselves, and for God who has commanded that we forgive.

Colossians 3:14

And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

Put on love. Thanks some unique verbiage. Think old self-new self, old clothes—new clothes, and human nature—God’s nature.

We are to put on God’s nature.

1 Corinthians 13:13

So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

You will get this one again later, but it’s just too hard to pass up now. C’mon, I grew up with this one.  Faith, hope, love, abide these three but the greatest of these is love.

John 15:13

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.

That’s some serious love right there. That is true agape love—unselfish and unconditional.

John 3:16

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

You might have heard that one once or twice. Our salvation is rooted in love. Our salvation comes from God who is in his very essence—love.

1 John 4:7-8

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.

There’s the cool part of this verse.  God is love. That’s some cool beans. Then there is the admonishing part. If you don’t love then you don’t know God.

Consider this from the Parable of the 10 Virgins parable.  In that one, the host of the banquet says, “I don’t know you.”  Ouch!

Imagine God telling us, "I don’t know you," because we did not live lives of love. I’m really banking on a “Well-done, good, and faithful servant, not an "I don’t know you."

1 Peter 4:8

Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.

Jesus took away our sins on the cross, yet we still sin. How do we lessen the pain for all involved? Love is the remedy.

Ephesians 5:25

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,

How much love is that? Christ died for us—for his church. In those marital words of “I do” we—the men—are saying that we would die for our wives.  I would die for you.

You think our wives might cut us a little slack for saying we would die for them. What do we get instead?

That’s what you say but you never do it.

Ephesians 4:2

With all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,

These all are plucked out of a greater context, but even as stand-alone, there is counsel for us. This whole business of working with others gets sticky without love.

So be patient, humble, gentle, and live a life of love.

John 14:15

If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

OK, that’s not touchy-feelie love. That’s action love. That’s put my words into practice, love. That’s forgive them as I forgave you, love. That’s sometimes some tough stuff.

We are told that it is love that fulfills the law.  We can’t follow all of the rules. Only Jesus did that but we can fulfill the law if we live with love as our new nature.

How do we know that love is our new nature?  Here’s a litmus test.

Substitute your name for love in this paragraph.

I am patient, I am kind. I do not envy, I do not boast, I am not proud. I do not dishonor others, I am not self-seeking, I am not easily angered, I keep no record of wrongs. I do not delight in evil but rejoice with the truth. I always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Did you get hung up on one or two of these, or am I in the company of the perfect people?

If you are here for the next service, you will get this again, but I will close with 1 Corinthians 13.

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

Amen.

 

The greatest of these is Love

 Read 1 Corinthians 13

See if any of this sounds familiar.

We take the word of God to the world and make disciples.

We trust in the Lord completely.

We keep our eyes fixed on him and press on towards the goal.

We desire to please God more than we fear that which we must overcome.

We trust and obey.

I hope that sounds familiar. How about this?

I am a soldier of the cross. I serve God and put his commands into practice and they are not a burden. I am prepared to give my life to the One who gave his for me.

I will never surrender to the enemy, for in Christ I am victorious.

If I am surrounded, I will strengthen what remains.

If captured by the enemy, I will trust God’s Spirit to give me the words to say.

I will never stop trusting God and obeying his commands.

I will never forget who I belong to and will give my life to bring glory to his name.

That one was of my own construct, but biblically based. Check the online version for links to the originating scriptures.

But let’s say we did all of those things; would our lives be complete?

You might think that you left out the tithe. You left out prayer. You left out partaking of the Lord’s Supper.

Really?  How can the list be complete without the peace that goes beyond understanding?

You would be right, but adding twenty more statements wouldn’t get you to completeness. Twenty or fifty more after that won’t help either.

Remember that what I gave you in this short mantra was in the spirit of being a soldier of the cross. That was the context.

But let’s think to being complete as a disciple of our Lord. What’s missing but so essential?

Love. Being known by our love. Resting in the love of God and getting off our butts motivated by love.

I don’t enjoy preaching the Love Chapter as much as you might think. Why?  Because Paul nailed it. It’s poetry.  Wedged between chapters talking mostly about spiritual gifts is what we have come to know as the Love Chapter.

This Love Chapter actually begins at the end of chapter 12.

 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? Now eagerly desire the greater gifts.

And yet I will show you the most excellent way.

What is Paul talking about?

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 am eloquent—fancy—but don’t have love, I’m just making noise.

 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.

Even if I have a spiritual gift—that’s got to be a good thing, right—but don’t have love. I’m nothing. God expects to see love at work in us.

Even if I have the faith that moves mountains but don’t have love, I am nothing. God expects to see love emanating from us.

Spiritual gifts, prophecy, healing, and faith are some big ticket items, but without love they don’t amount to diddly.

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 doing the stuff that I am supposed to be doing but doing it without love, I have gained nothing. I’m just a hamster on a treadmill. I’m running my race like crazy but not getting anywhere.

The church at Corinth had spiritual gifts and practiced godly things but missed the love that went with these things.

Does that sound like anyone you might know from the gospels?

How about the Pharisees? They knew the law backwards and forwards but missed the love—the divine heart of God—that was essential to their understanding and employment.

What happens when a church embraces the hypocrisy of the Pharisees? We miss the target. We think we are running a good race but we are on the wrong racetrack. We are missing the target.

So, what is it about love that is so essential?

Understand that in the Greek language, there are three main words that mean love. There is eros which is romantic love. There is phillia which is brotherly love.

That’s two of them, but there are other lesser known words such as Storge, Philautia, and  Xenia. These are love as in parents for a child, self love, and what we might call hospitality today.

And finally, there is agape love. This is selfless, sacrificial, and unconditional love. This is the love of which Paul writes.

Let’s do a little etymology. That’s words, not bugs.  Agápe is the love that God prefers. Agape is the highest form of love.

Strongs describes it this way.

In the Greco-Roman world, various forms of love were recognized, but agapé was distinct in its emphasis on selflessness and sacrifice. Early Christians adopted this term to describe the love that God demonstrated through Jesus Christ, particularly in His sacrificial death on the cross. This concept of love was revolutionary in a culture that often valued power and self-interest.

Agapé is not based on emotions or feelings but is an act of the will, characterized by a commitment to the well-being of others.

Let’s continue in chapter 13.

 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 is not in our nature but must be in our new nature, for it is God’s nature. God is love.  The apostle John told us that if you don’t love, then you don’t know God for God is love.

If you studied what composes the human body, you would discover that about 60% is water. Hydrogen, oxygen, carbon, calcium, and phosphorous make up much of the rest. There are other elements in trace amounts, but we are mostly water.

God, on the other hand, is in his very essence love. You can’t find that on the periodic table, but when you get down to the rat killin’ we find that God is love.

Love must be our first nature as a new creation. Let’s give Paul a little more time with us.

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.

Everything that we know on this earth is temporary. God is eternal. Love is eternal.

Our obedience is important. Love is essential.

Our faith is important. Love is essential.

Our hope is important. Love is essential.

Our prayers are important. Love is essential.

Our trust is important. Love is essential.

Do you remember The Money Message? I did a number on debt. Debt steals much of the abundance in abundant life.

But do you remember the one debt that we should all have?  It is the continuing debt to love one another.

The debt is owed to Jesus but payments on that debt are made to our fellow humans.

Do you remember reading about the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15?  Part of the discussion was the inability of even the Patriarchs to fulfill the law. They couldn’t do it. No one ever had.

Jesus said he came to fulfill the law and he did.

We think that we can never fulfill the law either, but I say we can. We can fulfill the law.

We are told that love fulfills the law. Some think this is a cop-out. Some think it’s an easy way out, but it is far from it.

Love—unconditional love—is more difficult that following a list of rules. Sometimes the rule-following seems easy, and sometimes, it seems impossible.

Jesus told his disciples that he was giving them a new command. That command was to love each other as much as he loved them. Jesus gave his life for them and for us. That’s a whole lot of love.

Loving like Jesus loved is really tough, but if we live a life of love, we can fulfill the law. In love we may satisfy the demands of the law.

In fact, we find part of our identity in this new command. We are to be known as followers of Jesus by our love.

God is love. We are made in his image and continually growing in the image and likeness of Christ Jesus.

We are becoming love. It’s how we are to be known and our true identity as a new creature.

Peter wrote that love covers a multitude of sins.

John Lennon wrote that all you need is love. That’s not too bad for a Brit with a bowl cut.

Let’s conclude with Paul’s words.

And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.

As you depart today, I want Paul’s words, not mine, to echo in your mind. Just listen.

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.

Faith, hope, love, abide these three, but the greatest of these is love.

Amen.