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.

The Fruit of the Spirit is...

 Read Galatians 5

So where have we been so far? There is no other gospel.

Salvation is by grace through faith.

The law is no longer our guardian or governor. I like to say it’s our mentor or guide to good living.

I am crucified with Christ.  Christ lives in me.

You foolish Galatians, did you really think that the law could do what Christ Jesus himself has done for you? If the law could get you to salvation, Christ died for nothing.

I could talk more about circumcision and living by the law, but let’s just jump to the good part.  What’s that?  The fruit of the Spirit, of course.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

The fruit of the Spirit is in concert with what Paul will call a new creation or new creature in other writings.  We are new.  The old is gone.  The new is here.

We died to the flesh.  We were crucified with Christ.  Now the Spirit of Christ lives within me.

I am crucified with Christ.  Christ lives in me.

So the Spirit of God, of Christ lives within me—what then will I produce as good fruit?

Let’s start with love.  Back in the day, punctuation wasn’t a big thing.  In fact, it wasn’t much of a thing at all.  One way to read this scripture would be to place a colon after the word love.  It would go like this.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love: joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

The fruit of the Spirit is love.  Those other things listed are aspects of love—joy and peace, patience and kindness, goodness and faithfulness, and gentleness and self-control.

That’s one way to look at it, or we can consider all as stand-alone qualities—the fruit of the Spirit if you will.

When we think of love, think of the scripture that says greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friend.

Jesus told us to be known by our love and he told us to love like he did.  Jesus showed us love by washing feet, healing the sick, speaking the truth to a lost people, and giving his own life for us.

When we think love, think what good is it to gain the whole world and lose your soul? Love is to take the lowly position of a servant in this life and trust that God will reward you in the next.

When we think of the fruit we call love, it is a fruit of giving and sacrifice and service.

Love is manifest in joy, even when we are sacrificing.  Our joy is in the Lord and not in our circumstances.

Love is manifest in peace.  We have a peace that goes beyond our own understanding and surely baffles the world.  We can be a humble servant in this world and know more peace than the richest or most powerful person on the planet.

Love is manifest in patience.  Let’s skip that one. I don’t have time to be patient.  Patience has to be a real challenge in the age of immediate gratification.  Patience is taking the trials of life in the context of eternity while still living in the moment.

If you can exhibit patience in this modern century, the Spirit of God must be at work in you.  That patience also applies to trusting God for answers to our prayers.

Our love is manifest in our kindness and goodness when the world says look out for number one first and foremost.  Our love is manifest in kindness when the world is doing it’s best to make us transactional.

Our love is manifest in our goodness because we know that every human has a sinful nature and we can only be good by surrendering to God’s nature.

We see love manifest in our gentleness.  We may need to speak the truth in love and that truth may be uncomfortable, but we can deliver it with the fruit of gentleness. 

The last noted fruit that I would say is also a manifestation of love is self-control.  How good is your self-control?  Drive on the interstate for an hour.  Do you feel like killing someone or can you continue your journey without thinking about who deserves what or conveying digital signals?

My cruise control automatically puts a safe distance between the car that just cut into the space-and-a-half between cars so it could arrive three-tenths of a second ahead of me. Left to my own devices, I might be riding that car’s bumper for the next few miles.

Sometimes it’s hard not to gratify the flesh.  That’s why we must surrender completely to God’s Spirit that lives within us.

Paul notes there is a battle between flesh and spirit.  Jesus having experienced human flesh for over three decades noted that the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.

How do you know if you are winning the battle?  Look for the fruit of the Spirit.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

Let us keep in step with the Spirit.

Amen.

F4 Online - Wednesday 22 April 2020

Good evening.  We would love to be gathered together right now, overrun by children and youth and ready to gather for our Bible studies or worship after our meal.

But we are not there yet.  That does not mean that we just throw in the towel on our Wednesday nights.

I want to challenge you with scripture and messages and I want you to get Berean.  After you have been challenged, search the scriptures.

Beware that many make claims and arguments that attempt to twist and subvert scriptures to their own intentions.

How do you know when that’s happening?  You know the scriptures and you set aside your self and what you want God’s word to say, or that really cool interpretation that doesn’t quite fit the word of God but makes you unique—you only have to use the tools of the enemy to make your case.  What’s a little twist here and there?

Know your scriptures.

Seek God and his kingdom and his righteousness.

Draw near to God and he will draw near to you.

Believe in the one true God and do not doubt.

Profess Jesus is Lord. 

Believe that God raised him from the dead.

Know that we are to be known by our love.

Live out your faith.

We can know when we are being deceived, but first you must know your Bible.

We can know when we are being drawn off course, so know the voice of the Good Shepherd.

So, stay the course.  Continue your Bible study.  Let iron sharpen iron as you engage in your home Bible studies.

I am going to give you a scripture to meditate upon, especially in our present circumstances, then we will get to John, Chapter 4.

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

Many of you have memorized 2 Timothy 1:7 and say it frequently.  The words come in the context of general encouragement to Paul’s protégé and friend as surely Timothy was not walking the primrose path that some presume ministry to be.

Paul reminds his friend that he did not embark upon his ministry lightly and the Lord did not fail to equip him for this exact time.

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

I have talked a lot about fear and how we all deal with it differently.  In the Parable of the Talents, the third servant’s fear was debilitating.  Fear can suck the life out of you.

If you are afraid, pray.  If you are afraid, seek the encouragement of other believers.  If you are afraid, step forward in faith.

Ask yourself, what would you do if you were not afraid.  Which leads us to the rest of the scripture.

God did not give us a spirit of fear, but he did give us power, love, and a sound mind.

We will save power and love for another time.  We spent a long time on the subject of love only a couple years ago.  It never gets old.  We sing there is power, power, wonderworking power, in the precious blood of the Lamb.

But for this time, let’s think on being granted a sound mind.

We don’t simple obey God or human authority mindlessly.  We make choices.  We have the ability to make sound choices. 

We have counsel not to be afraid in these present circumstances; yet, we have seen so many succumb to fear.  As many hoarded an interesting assortment of supplies because of fear of a pandemic, we wonder what will they do when the day comes to get back to normal—whatever that turns out to be.

Let’s consider what we will do.  First of all, let’s not let fear govern our decision.  This is the time for a sound mind. 

We want to balance our liberty, our ability to provide for our families, and our safety.  We want to protect our families and provide for them at the same time.

We want to shelter our most vulnerable yet sustain the way of life we once knew.

Fear can compel us to do things that we would not normally do.  Engaging a sound mind calls us to ask:

What would I do if I was not afraid?

The answer to that question is probably the soundest answer you can find.

It’s not that there are not risks and dangers.  There are.  Will they cause us to surrender all that we value or to skillfully engage new challenges?

So, if the state has a date set to get back to normal or start getting back to normal and your congregation has a date to resume gathering in some form or fashion, what are you to do?

Engage a sound mind!

Some of you don’t need to be back in the pew on Day 1.  Some don’t need to be back on Day 101.

Some of you can barely get by another Sunday without gathering.

Some of you have been working through the past few weeks practicing whatever procedures your employer implemented.

What are you to do?

Engage a sound mind!

Don’t act out of fear, but don’t act impulsively.  Pray about this.  Listen to what God tells you.  Implement his directions to the best of your ability.

If I see you on the first day when some number of us gather again, I will celebrate.

If I don’t see you on that day or the next week or the next month because you have engaged the sound mind that God gave you, I will miss you but won’t judge you.

Who am I to judge another man’s servant?

Don’t act out fear.  Decide what to do based upon the sound mind that God has given you.  The promise is that if you ask God for wisdom, he will give it without judging how you got where you are and he will be generous about it.  Don’t ask and doubt.  Ask and receive, then put that wisdom to work.

I will give you a battlefield analogy, because those have been in short supply in our online mode.

The soldier or Marine advances towards the enemy even though there is danger.  They overcome fear and complete their mission, but along the way, they use cover and concealment and supporting fires to improve their chances of success.  They engage a sound mind.

Fear does not debilitate them but that doesn’t mean they don’t implement their best practices.

I will leave you with this thought.

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

Now to our Bible Study.  We are reading John, Chapter 4 this week.  I have divided my messages into 4 parts.

Part 1 – The woman at the well

Part 2 – Jesus and his disciples

Part 3 – The woman and the people she knows

Part 4 – The second miracle recordedin John’s gospel

When this live broadcast concludes momentarily, either read or watch Parts 1-3.  Use them as provocations to search the scriptures.

Find someone with whom you may discuss this chapter and these messages.  Let Iron sharpen iron.

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.