Cumberland Presbyterian Ponderings: love never fails

Showing posts with label love never fails. Show all posts

Thursday, April 17, 2025

Love Never Fails

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.

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.

Monday, February 5, 2018

The Greatest of These is Love

Read 1 Corinthians 13

Christians typically love the 23^rd Psalm. Many know Psalm 100. John 3:16 is a given—who does not like this gospel in miniature verse. But the 13^th chapter of Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth has such a special quality, a meter, an idiom to it that it has endeared itself to many as poetic.

It’s just got that special feel to it.

It’s something of an odd chapter to be loved so much. It comes in the middle of Paul’s counsel on Spiritual Gifts and the Body of Christ and unity in the body. It was written to a congregation that placed too much value on the gift of tongues, perhaps to the point of minimizing other gifts and talents of the body.

It is written to a congregation that was in the heart of the pagan world. The temple of Aphrodite, the pagan goddess of love, overlooked Corinth. This was a temple of 1000 prostitutes.

Corinth was also a port city. If you have never spent any time in a major port, know there are all sorts of worldly influences there.

While some of the believers in Corinth came out of the Jewish Synagogue; many came straight out of pagansville. The only definition of love these folks knew was the kind that Aphrodite was selling. Paul had some time with this new church but then he was sent elsewhere by God’s Spirit. So he did much of his ministry and mentoring in letters.

Paul had much to address. We are blessed today that this congregation had many issues. Beyond the specific issues, they didn’t quite grasp this one godly fundamental—love.

People were at odds with each other over gifts. They were self-centered and self-indulgent at the Lord’s Supper. They had members still practicing pagan ways and were at a loss as to how to deal with them.

Paul addressed all issues one by one, but in this 13^th chapter, he gets to the heart of so many things when it comes to following Jesus.

He said it didn’t matter how skilled he was at any given thing. If love was absent, God was not glorified. Absent love, he was the cowbell drowning out the New York Philharmonic.

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.

Paul did what good communicators do, he gave a variety of examples.

If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.

Let’s understand this. If I can fathom all mysteries, I am making the rounds on the national television shows. Everybody wants me. If I can move a mountain, then people are listening to me—they are tuned in.

But if I don’t have love then I am nothing. Really? I am big time in the world. I am getting more than my 15 minutes of fame. But in the eyes of the Creator of that world, my amazing feats don’t count for diddly.

Paul said, look at it this way.

If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

If I am the philanthropist of the century—giving to the point that I don’t’ have anything—but don’t have love, I gain nothing. This sounds like a guy who ought to have some treasure in heaven, He gave up everything that he had. That’s got to count for something. Right?

Not if it was done without love. That’s a tough one. Is not the act of substantial giving love in itself? Elsewhere, Paul notes that the Lord loves a cheerful giver. If we give much or even everything and our heart is not right with the Lord, don’t expect heavenly dividends.

But what if on top of my stuff, I gave my very body to be a slave, or servant, or to be tortured or burned to death. Don’t those things show my dedication?

Not if they were out of something other than love. If you want fame or glory or notoriety for yourself, don’t expect God to see these acts as a sacrifice to or for him. They don’t register on his scale.

So what is this thing called love? What is it that turns the fantastic things that we can do into something that puts a smile on God’s face? What is it that turns the smallest things that we can do into something that puts a smile on God’s face? What is this thing called love? How do we explain it?

Paul proffers some explanation.

Let’s start with love is patient. Really? Does anyone have time to be patient anymore? Maybe there is a unique meaning that will get me out of this part.

Let’s try these definitions—the bearing of provocation, annoyance, misfortune, or pain, without complaint, loss of temper, irritation, or the like.

Those don’t get me off the hook. Here’s some additional definitions--an ability or willingness to suppress restlessness or annoyance when confronted with delay, such as having patience with a slow learner.

Let me read more definitions, maybe one will get me off the hook--quiet, steady perseverance; even-tempered care; diligence.

There is no back door or side exit on this one. Patience is exactly what we thought it was and love is patient. This is like Jesus beginning his teachings on love with love your enemies. Paul begins, love is patient.

Love—the ultimate characteristic of God’s heart—seems counter intuitive to our human heart. It is, but our heart is being changed to the likeness of our Father’s heart. He is patient with us, desiring that all come to repentance and enter his saving grace.

Love is patient. OK, got it.

Love is kind. That one doesn’t take too much to grasp. If we are practicing speaking the truth in love by telling one of our friends that those drugs are killing you and destroying your family, we will still be gentle about it. We will be direct and full of truth, but our words and deeds will be kind ones. We will proceed without harsh motives.

Those are good positive qualities—patience and kindness. Next, Paul notes what love is not.

Love does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

Most of us think those make sense, well, except the last one. Love keeps no record of wrongs. Many are in the I will forgive but not forget mode. That’s common among Christians. It is probably an acceptable intermediate objective.

But the goal is to keep no record of wrongs--to truly forgive and forget. That’s right up there with patience and love your enemies as far as the difficulty level.

How can anyone expect this of us? How can God expect this of us? Once again, our heart is being shaped like his and God said I will remember your sins no more.

We like that part. Not only does God forgive us, but he forgets our transgressions. Our record is made clean. Love tells us to do the same.

Some of you are upset with me at this point. What has always been a beautiful scripture, easy to listen to, and always sends us away feeling good, has now become one that challenges us to be patient and keep no record of wrongs.

To continue in Paul’s message, we need to understand that while this is beautiful prose in translation after translation, we are challenged in these verses. Here’s one that ties many together.

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

Love leads us away from evil and into the truth. We get the shunning of evil at every turn but rejoicing in the truth is a sign of Christian maturity. The world is not happy with the truth. The world wants to redefine truth, but you who live in love rejoice in the truth.

Of all the things that you know, of all the things we see as truth, and of all of the growth in grace that lies ahead of us, know with certainty this truth: God loves you.

In all of the trials of your life, know that God loves you.

When you feel you have reached rock bottom, know that God loves you.

He loves you so much that he sent his Son into this world not to condemn the world—a condemnation it surely deserved—but to save the world through him. Christ died for us.

That’s God’s most visible sign of his love for us. Perhaps, remembering that foundational truth will help us be a little more patient. Maybe, it will help us forget something that someone did to us that lingers on. And surely, because we know that the truth will set us free, we can learn to rejoice in the truth.

· Even when it reveals our shortcomings.

· Even when it is not what people want to hear.

· Even when it rattles our comfort zone.

Want to know someone who got his comfort zone rattled? Paul, when everyone called him Saul. He was squarely in the middle of his comfort zone rounding up followers of The Way. Then weren’t enough in Jerusalem so he headed to Damascus. Then the Truth hit him right between the eyes.

Everything that he knew about God was reframed by love. The man who knew God’s word inside and out and who wrote today’s words about love was introduced to the truth. Paul went beyond accepting the truth—with the bit T and little t—he embraced it. He rejoiced in it.

Love rejoices in the truth.

What else can we say about love? It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

We can get on board with those without too much contemplation. But now here it comes. This is the centerpiece of Paul’s prose.

Love never fails.

Things of this world fail all of the time. Once or twice a year, my smart phone and computer and printer and the copier rebel against God and humankind.

Sometimes the satellite television revolts too. It fails to do what it is supposed to do. I don’t worry about that too much. My wife is the one who gets to call the guy in India on how to fix it.

Even some of the Spiritual Gifts that we know will not be important as the age comes to an end. Prophecy and special knowledge and speaking in tongues won’t continue. They will have served their purpose and won’t be needed.

Even with the gifts that we have, they do not complete us. We understand only in part. God’s ways are not our ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts, but we do get a glimpse of what this creation and our Creator is all about.

One day, we will see clearly. We will grasp the whole picture. Things will be clear.

On that day, the thing that we had to hold onto in our forgive but not forget mindset will seem so insignificant.

The things that stressed us out because we struggled against patience will seem absurd—having no eternal merit and surely worthy of our patience and not our grief.

But we do not have such clear vision yet. We are moving that way. We are exchanging the ways of the world for the ways of God. We are moving the right direction, but we are still in the incomplete zone. Yes, Christ completes us, but we don't see the full picture just yet.

For we know in part,

and we prophesy in part.

But when the perfect comes,

the partial will come to an end.

When I was a child,

I spoke like a child,

I thought like a child,

I reasoned like a child.

When I became a man,

I put aside childish things.

We are growing. We are growing in God’s grace. We are growing in love and becoming love. We are not there yet.

Our growth is sometimes slowed by the fact that we won’t put away our childish things. Our growth is stunted when we must hold on to some of the world’s precepts.

Our growth stagnates when we choose our own understanding over trusting in the Lord.

Perfection, completeness, and the fruition of the work on the cross is coming into fulness in each of us. Some embrace it. Some resist. Some are back and forth.

Fast or slow, we are being shaped into love. It’s a process that takes us out of our comfort zone time and time again.

Love is central to our discipleship. In fact, Paul thought it the most essential of the main things that we embrace.

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

We have considered the words of Jesus to love our enemies. We have reviewed Paul’s words and understand that if love is pouring out of us, that love will meet the requirements of the law. Now we see that Paul charges us to keep the faith and be people of hope, but most of all live in love.

We need to understand love. It is the who and what we are becoming. It is a process that will not always be easy but surely and certainly worthwhile.

I mentioned before that there was poetry or a rhythm to this part of the Bible, often dubbed the love chapter. I conclude once more with these words of love.

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

Amen.