Love Never Fails

 

Read 1 Corinthians 13

While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Love God with everything you’ve got. Love your neighbor as much as you love yourself.

Let’s raise the bar. Love each other with everything you have.

If you can get this love business right, you have fulfilled the demands of the law. You have fulfilled the heart and essence of the law.

The story was improbable if not impossible. Jesus had to go to the cross. The Jews wanted to stone him, but that would not align with prophetic parameters. His bones could not be broken.

He had surely angered the self-righteous, but had not sinned against his Father. He and the Father were and are one.

Two choices were available to those who wanted to maintain the status quo.  They could throw in the towel and follow this guy or kill him.

Killing seemed more palatable to the self-proclaimed righteous people than seeing the truth and adjusting their own lives.  These people were oblivious that God used their sinful natures to facilitate the sacrifice required to atone for sin once and for all.

There is one constant in all of this: God’s love. God’s love wins every time.

This early morning service and present excitement over something that took place two millennia ago is all rooted in love.

Some years, we break from whatever homiletic course we are on for Palm Sunday and Resurrection Sunday. This year, our journey through Paul’s letters to the church in Corinth put us on Chapter 13 for this Sunday.

It’s the love chapter. We find it between two chapters about Spiritual Gifts. It begins at the end of Chapter 12 with these words: And yet I show you the most excellent way.

 Hear it once more.

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.

But today is about Jesus rising from the dead. Today is about the promise of our resurrection and eternal life in the reality of his resurrection.

Remember his words: I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live even though this body that carries us around in this life will die.

Today we sing, He Lives! He Lives! Christ Jesus lives today!

Remember his words. The moment you believe in Christ Jesus, you have crossed over from death to life.

Today is about resurrection, life, and for us, life eternal.

But why?

All of this life business has been rooted in love from the beginning, for God is love. In his very essence, God is love.

If I can do all sorts of impressive stuff but don’t have God, I am nothing. If I am putting points on the scoreboard of life but don’t have God, I gain nothing.

God is all of the qualities that we desire—patience, kindness, honor, selflessness, and joy in what is good.

Everything we can touch, feel, see, and taste will melt away one day. Only God is eternal.

We know a little, but not everything, but one day our eyes will be opened to so much more.

Once my thoughts were governed by the world that I had been conformed to, but now I have put away those immature thoughts for the ways of God.

One day, it will make more sense to me, and this choice to abandon the ways of the world might just make sense to those who condemn me now.

I won’t paraphrase the last part. It’s too good just as it is.

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

Consider these two statements. God is love. Love never fails. God never fails.

God never fails!

Love never fails!

That means that we can count on his promises. His word never fails. It will not return void.

We have some powerful promises. Today, we focus on one.

Your belief, which today we recognize mainly in our professions of faith and the act of obedience we know as baptism, shows that you have crossed over from death to life. These are the visible signs. God sees the heart and knows the moment that you believe.

You didn’t surprise him. He knew you would come around and receive the gift.

His heart desires that you spend eternity with him. That part of eternity you live now is to be engulfed in and governed by love.

Yes, today we celebrate resurrection, but there is no atoning sacrifice in the blood of the Lamb without love, and there is no resurrection without the death and burial of our Lord.

There is nothing without love. God is Love. With Love all things are possible.

And Love never fails.

When you have those conversations we are commissioned to have with others we encounter, introduce God as your best friend, Love. Introduce people to Love.

This whole story is rooted in love.

Celebrate resurrection as the best victory ever. Jesus conquered the grave.

Now live a life of love.

Set aside the world's worries and consider the One who overcame the world. Consider love. Listen and rest in these verses one more time as we close.

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.

Celebrate resurrection.

Live a life of love.

Love never fails!

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.

You Matter to God!

 We will get back to Genesis in the next service.  For now, I ask you a simple question.  What is a sermon?

You may have different answers.  I hope you do, and they better not include the words naptime or hostage situation.

In its most basic form, a sermon is just a collection of phrases and sentences strung together.  That’s all I’m going to do this morning is put some sentences together.  Here we go.

 

God is great.

God is good.

God created everything good, even very good.

God knows all.

God is above all.

God is love.

 

God loves you.

God will never stop loving you.

God will never leave nor forsake you.

God is with you wherever you go.

God lives within you and will be with you through the end of the age.

God will fight for you.

God has stood in your place to pay for your sins.

God has ransomed and redeemed you.

God has released you from the power of sin and death.

 

God has an inheritance for you.

God has a place prepared for you.

Eye has not seen and ear has not heard what the Lord God has in store for you.

God has good plans for you.

God’s ways and his thoughts are higher than our own.

God gave us the mind of Christ.

 

You are made in God’s image.

God loves you so much that he gave his one and only Son to die for you.

God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world but to save the world.

You will be with God forever.

You are God’s crowning jewel of his creation.

You matter.

You have important work to do as part of God’s will, as part of  his plan.

God trusts you with important things.

God has already promised to forgive you even before your sin is conceived in your heart, mind, or actions.

God wants you to talk to him and listen to him every day.

God wants you to lift up your voice to him.

God wants you to ask him for what you need, and to be bold about it.

 

We deserve condemnation.  We receive mercy.

We deserve little.  God gives us his grace generously.

We live in a world of disorder.  God brings order to chaos.

Our sin is extensive.  God’s grace goes far beyond our sin.

 

A few weeks ago, I talked with the session about challenge and support.  I know my nature is to challenge, but on occasion, we need some support. 

So, as we go through Genesis and sometimes it’s hard to see the message for today, know with certainty that you matter to God, and as his children and brothers and sisters with Christ, that means you matter to us.

Know that God wants you to know his peace, not peace as the world knows it, but true peace.

Know that God wants you to experience hope.  You are not confined to only those things that you can see, touch, smell, and feel but you hope in the promises of God and believe them as if you could see and touch them.

You know faith.

You know joy.

You live in God’s love.  You love others.  You are known as followers of Jesus by your love.

Paul wrote:  Faith, hope, love, but the greatest of these is love.  We know all three and are blessed to know that God’s love which we know so well in his mercy and grace goes far beyond anything that we can mess up.

God loves you.  You matter.

Yes, you are playing for the right team.  Even when it seems like things have gone to hell in a handbasket—a crazy metaphor but the one that caught on—God’s got this and he has you.

God’s got this!

I hope this morning, I gave you some phrases of affirmation and support so when the world is coming at you a little faster than you think you can handle, remember:  You matter to God.

You matter to God.

Amen.

Faith without Love

Read 1 Corinthians 13

When I was growing up, if someone mentioned the term gluten-free, I would have thought that it was some hippie protest in San Francisco.  What’s a gluten anyway?  Why do they need to be set free?

In 2019 if you don’t know the term gluten or gluten-free then you are a caveman.

I probably googled the term gluten-free a year ago.  I was tired of being the only person who was in the dark.  I discovered that gluten occurs naturally in most grains.  It is the component that lets us make bread that doesn’t fall apart.  It is something of a binding agent among the grain’s molecules.

We have ordered gluten free bread for the Lord’s Supper and sometimes even remember to put it out when we celebrate the sacrament.  What I noticed is that the wafers don’t hold together very well.  All of the elements for bread are present except the gluten.

Enough for this morning’s health and public safety announcement.

We continue our exploration of faith, so let’s begin with what should be a very familiar defining verse from the King James Version.

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

If we can see it or touch it, taste it or feel it, then it’s probably not faith; but if we truly have faith we see that which is not seeable.  We touch that which can’t be touched.  Our faiths lets us act upon this world by knowing things that can only be known through God’s Spirit.

We have gained a greater understanding of Paul’s words that instruct us to live by faith not sight.

I think of faith that brings us to these words that we can say with greater and greater fidelity.  I am crucified with Christ.  Christ lives in me.

Our faith lets us deal with our trials and tribulations knowing that if we hold on to our faith we will grow.

Along the way I may have challenged your faith asking, “Is Jesus your Savior?”  That was the easy part.  We all like being saved from the eternal consequences of sin and death.  Here’s the challenge:   Is Jesus your Lord?  Do you have such faith that you don’t fit Jesus into your life?  He is your Lord.  Life fits in around what he calls you to do.

I think to the Son of Timaeus when I think of faith so great it was as if you could touch and feel it.

I think of faith proved genuine as we face trials and tribulations in this world. 

I think of those faith only moments that jump started our journeys of faith. 

And now I ask you to think of faith that’s not worth a hill of beans without this one element.  What is that element?

Gluten!

Actually, it’s love but love seems to be sort of like gluten when it comes to making a good loaf of bread.  Don’t extend the analogy much farther.

Paul’s thirteenth chapter in his first letter to Corinth is wedged in between his discussion of Spiritual Gifts in chapters 12 and 14.  He didn’t lose his train of thought and just catch the next train. This is about as deliberate a placement of this topic as anything we will find in the New Testament.

Paul concludes what we mark as the end of the 12^th chapter with these words. 

And yet I will show you the most excellent way.

Paul begins this next chapter with words you know so well.

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.

We have been talking about faith for several weeks now and I have suggested we covet the faith of men like the Son of Timaeus.  I have challenged you to keep your faith in times of trouble, knowing that Jesus said we would have trouble in the world, but we are to take courage.  He has overcome the world.

We think of having faith the size of a mustard seed that could move a mountain and now Paul tells us that if we have faith that can move a mountain but do not have love, we are nothing.

This really should not surprise us.  We spent a considerable amount of time on the topic of love. 

Our exploration of love brought us to the golden rule.  We see what Jesus did for us on the cross as not just a sacrifice but the ultimate act of love. 

We understand that the law and the prophets come together in love—love for God and love for each other.

We understand that we can’t love God and the world at the same time.  We can’t love God and money.  We can’t love God and anything else that we elevate to divine status at the same time.  Yes, you can still love your kids.  You can still love your favorite team.  You can still love chicken friend steak and gravy, but none of these at the same level that you love God.

You will love one and hate the other.  We must choose:  God or the world.  Whom will we love?

Love governs so much of our discipleship, but then again, so does faith.  So where does that leave us?

Faith and love must be intertwined.  It seems that in some areas faith or love could be a stand-alone entity, but truly faith and love are two elements in a three-strand rope of discipleship.  The third strand is hope, but that’s for another day.

If I have such faith that I step out every morning not concerned what the world thinks about me, just fulfilling the directives found in the Bible; I might still miss the mark if I don’t live in love.

If I believe all of the promises of God but don’t have love, I am proficient but not productive.

If indeed I have faith that can move a mountain but don’t have love, I am a pitiful creature. 

If I have the faith to fulfill my commission but do it without love, what’s the point?  Well, I passed on the information, right?  I checked the blocks, right?

I want the faith of Bartimaeus who threw off his cloak and went to Jesus knowing that the Son of David would heal him, but I need love to govern my steps. 

James tells us that faith without works is dead.  Paul tells us that faith without love amounts to nothing.  What is it about love that is so essential to faith?

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. 

We all had that faith only moment when we came to profess Jesus as Lord.  We let go of the world’s grip on us and leaped into the loving arms of God.  For us, it all began with faith, but with God it all began with love.

He first loved us.  We can step out and do what God has called us to do but if we do it without love we are missing the mark. 

Our response to God’s overwhelming love is first faith.  We receive his grace by faith.  Then comes our response to this great love.  We trust, we obey, and we love one another as Christ loved us.

We are his disciples and as such we find both faith and love intertwined into our very being.  We don’t quite comprehend all of it now, but we trust our Lord.

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.

It takes a lot of faith to love like Christ commanded us. We can’t please God without faith, but it takes a lot of love to make our faith produce the fruit expected from a disciple of our Lord.

And there is no way that I end this message without finishing the chapter.

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

We will talk about hope in the near future, but for now know that love is the binding agent here.

We grow our faith by putting our Master’s words into practice but for our faith to truly grow, it must be more than simple obedience, it must include love.

Our hearts are being shaped like those of our Master.  Trust, faith, belief, obedience, hope, and love are all in play here, but the one that binds the others together is love.

Whatever it is that we do to please our Master, let’s make sure it always includes love.  You can have your bread gluten free but you can’t have your faith love-free and please our Master.

Amen.