1 Corinthians 13 (New International Version)
1If I speak in the tongues[a] of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If 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 have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames,[b] but have not love, I gain nothing.
4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8Love 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. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11When 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 childish ways behind me. 12Now we see but a poor 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.
13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
Ahhh Valentine’s Day. A day of love and romance. Chocolate and Hallmark cards. Our society virtually worships the idea Cupid inspired, romantic love. There are all kinds of love movies with happy endings, right. We refer to these movies as chick flicks. These movies are all about the girl and the guy getting together after trials and hardships and at the end, of course, everything is going to be just perfect, because now they realize that they are the absolute, positively the right ones for each other. A match made in heaven so they say.
Yet, for all this worship of romantic love and getting married on the basis of it, if you were to get married today, the odds are that you would be getting divorced sometime in the future. Because more than half of all marriages end up in divorce.
There is love that is a feeling and there is love that is a definable action. There is love that leaves us all mushy with weak legs and then there is love that does the dishes or cleans up after the dog has had an accident. There is pie in the sky love that is positive that that perfect wife really does exist or that a knight in shining armor really is waiting out there somewhere.
Alicia thought she had met the perfect man. As she was getting to know Michael and his family, she was very impressed by how much his parents loved each other.
"They’re so thoughtful," Alicia said. "Why, your dad even brings your mom a cup of hot coffee in bed every morning."
So when Michael popped the question, Alicia of course said yes.
On the way from the wedding to the reception, Alicia again remarked on Michael’s loving parents and his mom’s morning coffee in bed.
"Tell me," she said, "does it run in the family?"
"It sure does," replied Michael. "But you should know -- I take after my mom."
Today’s sermon is about love that lasts. Love that will stand the test of time. Today we will look at one of the most famous passages in all of the Bible and perhaps we will learn a few things about love.
Now I will not tell you what relationships are about. I have done hours of premarital counseling with folks who want to get married. I have done hours of post-marital counseling with folks who used to want to get married and to be honest, I cannot tell you what makes a relationship last or not last. Every relationship is different and I simply don’t have a cookie cutter pattern for you that is guaranteed to lead to marital success. I will agree that there are times when it is very obvious what makes a marriage end. But unfortunately it is not usually so obvious what makes a marriage last. Some people bicker and fight all the time yet seem to be happily married. Some people don’t fight at all and are always nice to each other yet in secret, they are very unhappy and unsatisfied in their relationship.
Today’s scripture was written during a desperate time. The condition of the church of Corinth was not good. Important relationships were on the rocks, as they say. There was a lot of bickering and fighting. There were some people saying they were better than others. There was fighting over who was in charge. There was fighting over what amounts to the church by laws. There were people in the same church dragging each other into court. When they had their church suppers, they let the rich people sit here and they made the poor people sit over there and they fed them differently. It was a toxic environment and the church in Corinth was ready to come apart. We could say that it was on the verge of a nasty divorce.
A husband and wife came to a pastor and said, "We're going to get a divorce, but we want to come to make sure that you approve of it.” There are people who come to the pastor hoping that when they say there is no feeling left in their marriage, the pastor will say, "Well, if there's no feeling left, then, the only thing you can do is split."
Instead of giving his okay for a divorce, the pastor says to the husband, "The Bible says that you are to love your wife as Jesus Christ loved the church."
The husband says, "NO, no no. I can't do that."
The pastor says, "Well, If you can't begin at that level, then begin at a different level. You're supposed to love your neighbor as you love yourself. Can you at least love her as you would love a neighbor?"
The husband says, "Oh, No. I can’t do that either."
“Well, then.” The pastor says, "The Bible tells us, Love your enemies. Begin there."
You see, there is always hope! There is so much written about love in our Bible yet we pay so little attention to it. This little joke is perfect for anyone who is having trouble in a relationship: any relationship because it does not allow any wiggle room. Love shall be the dominant force in all of your relationships. Love shall be your motivation. Love shall be the purpose, the beginning, and the end. As Paul writes to the church in Corinth, he is looking for ways to keep this church together, searching for the glue that is needed to help them work through their issues as a part of the body of Christ. As a result of the problems in Corinth, Paul comes up with what is arguably the greatest chapter in the New Testament. In fact, its so good, that many scholars think that it was taken out of the original and re-written by either Paul or someone else. You will notice that he does not give them a list of steps that will lead them to greater Biblical unity. No instead of a list, he refers them to something they already know: the principle of love.
A man on a subway train was working a crossword puzzle and asked, "What is a four letter word for a strong emotional reaction toward a difficult person?" Someone standing nearby said, "The answer is hate." An elderly woman interrupted and said, "No, the answer is love!" Both answers fit but depending on your goal, only one works. Whenever we are confronted with a difficult situation, we as followers of Christ are given the choice in which way we will respond.
Paul knew that the Corinthians, as a whole, had answered with hate or at the very least, were focusing on their own self-interests and that they needed to change their answer. They needed a greater understanding of what their faith was built on. Remember the section of the gospels we read last week? The part about loving each other from John 16. The Corinthians didn’t have that yet because The gospel of John wasn’t written yet. So they needed to hear this message in another way. They needed to hear that their relationships, all relationships, need to be governed by the principle of love.
What is uniquely apparent in Paul’s description of love is that he does not mention an emotional, gushy feeling. Love takes on very distinct characteristics for Paul, sort of proving the maxim that some things that can be described, yet are almost impossible to define.
Now I am not saying that there are not different situations and different types of love. Of course, there are.
A young man said to his father at breakfast one morning, "Dad, I'm going to get married."
"How do you know you're ready to get married?" asked the father. "Are you in love?"
"I sure am," said the son.
"How do you know you're in love?" asked the father.
"Last night as I was kissing my girlfriend good-night, her dog bit me and I didn't feel the pain until I got home." That is romantic love. That is what we celebrate on Valentine’s Day. But it will not last if it is fed only on chocolates and candy hearts. But that gushy romantic love, must aspire to the love that Paul describes in this chapter.
For love to really be love, it must change and mature. That’s what Paul means when he says that he became a man and put childish ways behind him. Real love grows up. Real love understands that though many things seem important, unless love is their foundation, those things will fade into insignificance. A house is not a home without love. Love is what gives life its meaning. Love is what makes this building a church. Love is what makes this gathering of people here, a family. Love is what makes valentine’s day, a holiday worth celebrating.
To know such love, is to begin to know Jesus Christ. Being a follower of Jesus is not about following a philosophy of love, it is about having a love affair with Christ. It is about allowing ourselves to experience the love and therefore the grace of a loving Father. Out of that love, we are then able to respond to others from the love that we have been given. With the love that Paul describes.
We are the body, the hands, the feet, and the heart of Christ. That my friends, is an incredibly high calling but If His love is to be shown to the world, then God has chosen for it to be shown through us.
Peter Miller was Baptist pastor during the American Revolution. Miller lived in Ephrata, Pennsylvania, and enjoyed the friendship of George Washington, no less. In Ephrata also lived Michael Wittman, an evil-minded sort of person who was the pastor’s nemesis. One day Michael Wittman was arrested for treason and sentenced to die. Peter Miller traveled seventy miles on foot to Philadelphia to plead for the life of the traitor.
“No, Peter,” General Washington said. “I cannot grant you the life of your friend.”
“My friend!” exclaimed the old preacher. “Why, he’s the bitterest enemy I have.”
“What?” cried Washington. “You’ve walked seventy miles to save the life of an enemy? That puts the matter in different light. I’ll grant your pardon.”
Peter Miller took Michael Wittman back home to Ephrata—no longer an enemy but a friend.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
