Guest Speaker Mark Reigle – July 13, 2008
How many of you are in Love this morning?
Spring has definitely given way to summer but in either way romantic love is probably the biggest lift in life. Whether you are young or old, it gives you a buzz clear to the bones and brightens the landscape around you. Trees seem greener, the flowers brighter, and tomorrow’s big Ohio State game a little less worrisome.
But true love, if it is indeed true, is more than an emotional rush. Good-time feelings come and go, but love endures only if it’s nurtured in an environment of trust, respect, and sacrifice.
Without trust, love erodes. Trust says: I will remove all “No Trespassing” signs from our relationship, not demand we spend every minute of every day together, and give you the freedom God does – to return my love if you so choose. I will not allow you to be yourself – at the risk of knowing others may be attracted to the very things that attract me.
Without respect, love withers. Respect says: I will honor your privacy, listen to your thoughts, learn from our differences, and treat your body like God does – as the temple of the Holy Spirit. I won’t try to mold you in my image; doing so would merely ensure one of us isn’t needed.
Without sacrifice, love dies. Sacrifice says: I will relinquish the masks that shield my deepest, most confusing emotions; surrender my pride that refuses to be hurt; and share completely the roller-coaster adventure of seeking God’s highest calling for each of our lives. I will forget about love being a fifty-fifty proposition, and contribute my best to the relationship – even if you’re unable to love me back.
Yes, I will love you completely – in an environment of trust, respect, and sacrifice – no strings attached. After all, that’s how God first loved us.
What is love? The word “Love” is tossed about very carelessly. It is used to describe a multitude of things. You may just love to eat steak; you may love to watch Chicago Cubs baseball (or I guess I could say Indians baseball but that might be pushing it), or you may love a 27 years old, physical therapist.
Today’s world is very limited when it comes to defining love. We use the same word to describe romance, affection, compassions, and enjoyments; as well as to describe our relationship to God. The Bible records the true meaning of the word “love”. Love is that divine force that draws a man to God and to men and women who are made in the image of God. God’s love, which he showed us by his death on Calvary, is better and greater than any other possible love we will ever encounter. Let’s take a look in the Bible to see what God’s definition of love is.
If you would all turn with me to 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8 & 13.
How many of you are patient? I am not a patient person at all and at times, I can have a short fuse. However, the expression “is patient” is the opposite of being short-tempered. Patience is also translated “long suffering” or “slow to anger.”
What does patient love among believers look like? Well, such love bears with certain annoyances or inconveniences without complaint. Such love does not lose its temper when irritated. Such love steadily perseveres. Without love, no matter how wonderful the gifts in the church, people will be impatient with one another and they will be very irritable.
The second part of verse 4 is “Love is Kind”. People are always hungry for kindness. Kindness might be defined as the expression of a friendly sympathetic nature. It also implies affection to those who are our flesh and blood. Paul suggests that kindness is one of the distinguishing characteristics of true Christian love. It is also a picture of God’s love toward us. God has been very kind to us. So many times this world has probably angered him, and why he hasn’t just destroyed us, we will never know. But he loves us so much, that he has saved us from destruction. So we, as believers, have received kindness then we ought to act with kindness toward others just like Christ did.
Just like with patience, kindness also brings up a good question: What does kind love look like? Such love is considerate and helpful to others. Kind love is gentle and mild, always ready to show compassion, especially to those in need.
Also in verse 4, Love does not envy. Envy refers to strong jealously of another person. The envious person desires what another person has. The seed of envy can lead to seething anger and hatred. A story from Genesis 37 comes to mind.
(Read Genesis 37:12-36)
All of that just because of envy! But we have to face the facts. We all have been jealous of somebody or something of someone else’s at some point in our lives. But in most of these situations, we are basically being selfish and self-centered. We just are not happy with what we have. God made us the way we are for a reason. If God made us all the same way, we wouldn’t be able to finish our work because nobody would know how to do it. He has different people at different places for different reasons. For instance, in baseball, you can’t have nine guys that know how to bunt and nothing else. You need nine guys that can do nine different things. Otherwise, you aren’t going to do very well. The only way to cure envy is to pray sincerely for the one that you envy. Paul plainly tell us in Galatians 5:14-15, “The entire law is summed up in a single command: Love your neighbor as yourself. If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.” I am sure that there is someone we must pray for, or else our envy will destroy us.
Lastly in verse 4, Love does not boast, it is not proud. Falling in love is an exciting experience. We all know that strong sweep of emotion, which leads us to forget ourselves and to promise our beloved anything. We meet someone who helps us leap over the walls of our self-centeredness. We stop being concerned about ourselves and start thinking only of our loved one. Without expecting it or working toward it, we spontaneously and magnificently fulfill the law of God by loving someone else as much as we do ourselves.
This is a spectacular happening! There is no desire or temptation to “puff” ourselves. Our only concern is to build up the beloved. Our pride in his or her company, attention and abilities, is radiant, and everyone recognizes it in our behavior.
The catch arises when we discover after a week, or a month or a year that this high and lofty condition is only temporary. The old self, which we thought we had set aside in our love for another, rears up and starts begging for attention, flattery, and recognition. Only as our human love bows before the love of God and invites His humility and His grace into that relationship, can it become a dependable and lasting love. Gifted believers who are caught up in pride and boasting over their gifts are unable to serve. Without love, they may feel that by using their gifts, they are doing someone a favor, that others should be grateful to them, and that they are far superior.
Continuing on with what love does not do, verse 5 begins with “Love is not rude.” A lot of people in today’s world are very rude and disrespectful to others. You notice it at school and work, and sometimes even at home. Children have lost total respect for their parents, as well as for the authorities above them. It shows when the child gets his own way, all the time, and never has consequences for his mistakes. In these situations, it seems to me that the parents are afraid to punish the child, not knowing what he or she will do if punished. The Bible teaches us to honor and respect our parents and the authority set above us, for they are our mentors here on earth.
Love is not self-seeking. Love doesn’t push itself into the spotlight. Love does not strive to be the best. The secret is the surrendering of our will to the will of God, so that His way becomes our way. Joseph of the Old Testament went down into the pit, down into slavery, down into the dungeon for thirteen years; then, because he had been faithful, he was lifted up and eventually became ruler of Egypt. The Bible indicates that one of the signs of the end times is selfishness. II Timothy 3:1-2 says: “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy….. and it continues through verse 4. Now, is it just me or is that a good way to describe the world today? People today are self-centered freaks. They only think of themselves as supreme and all others as a pile of dirt. But if God’s love is in us, we should not act that way. God’s love is different. It is not a circle, but more like outstretched arms that reach people wherever they are and lifts them up.
Next in verse 5, Love is not easily angered. Wow! This is a hard one to follow, especially if your like me and have a temper. The word for “easily angered” could also be translated “touchy” or “irritable.” Being irritable is one of the products of our nervous space age. We rush here and there; we have no clue where in the world we are going, but we’re already ten minutes late.
There is this story of a little boy who went for a drive with his daddy. The father drove with little regard for anyone. He fused and fumed, bellowed and shouted at the other drivers as he drove through town. Finally they arrived home. Later that same day, the boy was out in the car with his mother. As they drove peacefully along, the boy said, “Mom, where are all the idiots?” “Idiots?” exclaimed his mother. “Yes, this morning when I was out with daddy, we met seven of them!” Love is the best lotion for irritability, right where we live.
There is a tradition that the famous evangelist Jonathan Edwards had a daughter with an uncontrollable temper. But, as is often the case, many people outside her family did not know this. One day a young man fell in love with this daughter and asked to marry her. “You can’t have her”, was the abrupt answer of Jonathan Edwards. “But I love her”, the man replied. “You can’t have her”, replied Edwards. “But she loves me”, replied the young man. Again Edwards said, “You can’t have her.” “Why?” asked the young man. “Because she is not worthy of you.” “But she is a Christian, isn’t she?” he asked. “Yes, she is a Christian, but the grace of God can live with some people with whom no one else could ever live!”
The secret of the temper is more than self-control; it is Christ-control. All of us have dynamite in the cellar, and whenever we walk without God and the power of His love, we must expect explosions.
Verse 5 concludes with Love keeps no record of wrongs. Believers must not keep records of peoples mistakes. Some people will remember every offense against you as though it were written in a book and tallied. Those who keep record of these wrongs and personal injuries will harbor resentment against other believers. Love, however, makes room for people’s mistakes and willingly forgets the others wrong doings. This frees all believers to grow and mature in Christ and to grow in their ability to serve God. In II Corinthians 5:19, it states “God does not keep a record of believers mistakes, he forgets them.” If God forgets the mistakes of his people, then we should also forget them and only worry about serving God.
Verse 6 states “Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.” On the negative side, love will not and cannot find satisfaction in that which is wrong. When you read that delinquency is at an all-time high, what does it do to you? When you hear about school shootings, what is your reaction? When a thousand times a day, the judge in a courtroom says, “Divorce granted!” does it bother you?
To the Christian, sin is sad. Love cannot find any satisfaction in evil. Instead, love does the exact opposite – it rejoices with the truth. Through our relationship with Jesus Christ, we posses the one and only truth. Those who love should remain untainted by evil. Instead, they ought to always seek truth, desire that truth win out, protect the truth, and proclaim the truth whenever possible.
Now that we have discussed what love does not do, verse 7 lists four positive attributes of love. Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. First of all, love always protects. The word in Greek, stego, means “to cover” or “hide by covering.” This does not refer to hiding hurtful sin but protecting someone from embarrassment, gossip, or any other harm. When a friend falls, what do you do? Do you lift him up or cast him aside? Do you cover his faults or whisper about them? Unkind talk hinders the work of God a thousand times over. Critical tongues close church doors to hundreds of people.
Our words can be more deadly than the poison of a rattlesnake. Common everyday griping and unnecessary criticism are poisons, in the Christian community and in our own souls. When we love one another, they refuse harmful gossip and protect one another from those who would try to inflict harm.
Love takes the kindest view possible of people and circumstances. Love searches for what is good and gives the benefit of the doubt. The second attribute, love always trusts, means both that love never loses faith and that it is willing to think about others. It doesn’t mean that believers must be gullible, trusting everyone; instead, it means that they are willing to think about the best as opposed to the worst. With real love, believers can steal with conflict lovingly. When everyone willingly thinks the best of everyone else, people are freed to be honest and open.
Love always hopes is the third attribute of love. Now this does not mean that you hope that Pastor Carr will have short sermons on Sundays, but merely that you seek for growth and maturity in the church, knowing that God is working in each and every person. Christians know that failure is not the end of the world. Throughout our lifetime, we will fail at many things and will fail many people. But instead of being down, we look upon our strengths and trust God who promises in Romans 8:28 that “In all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Even in defeat they gave glory to God, for he was the one that gave them their talents to even make it that far.
Finally the fourth attribute of love is “love always perseveres.” Christians who love are active and steadfast in their faith. They hold on, no matter what difficulties they face. Hardship and pain do not stop love. When Christians persevere, they face suffering within the body. They face persecution. They hang on when the going gets tough. They strive to save their marriages despite disappointment, to continue to trust God despite setbacks, and to continue to serve God despite fear or sorrow. When Christians truly persevere, nothing can stop them. There is no better example of perseverance in our world than the now famous wife of the hero of flight 93, Todd Beamer. Lisa Beamer was living her life as any other person until 10:03am on September 11, 2001. That is when her world literally crashed to the ground in Somerset, Pennsylvania. Her husband was killed in that crash and now she was a widow with two kids and a third due in four months. There was nothing more for her to live for. Her love was dead. But did she give up? No, because she still had Jesus Christ, who was going to help her get through each and every day. Today, she is a mother of three and has written a #1 best-selling book, “Let’s Roll” that has brought many to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Pain, yes. Perseverance Yes. And she will be rewarded because she wanted to finish the race and help others all because of her love for Jesus.
In verse 8, Paul gives us the best attribute of love. That “Love never fails.” Yes, earthly things fail. The word “fail” has two technical meanings. It first presents a picture of a bad actor being hissed off the stage. Of course, love is not like this. It does not hiss someone off the stage. The other picture is of a fading flower with falling petals. Love never withers, fades, or falls away. Love never loses its place.
Paul spoke about unusual spiritual gifts-the gift of prophecy, the ability to speak, and knowledge. These God-given gifts, he said, would disappear, but love lasts. Love is the most enduring virtue in our world.
When we wish to speak of lasting things, we speak of the everlasting hills and the unchanging heavens, but even these symbols of permanency undergo change. All about us we see the elements wasting under the powers of corruption. Giant trees, once monarchs of the forest, are now bent and broken with age. All nature groans under this process of death.
Death uproots and pulls down all creation. Every field has a grave, every city has a cemetery. This ugly invader not only turns creation’s beauty to ashes, but it also brings the creature to dust. Death darkens the eyes of those we love; it eventually shakes our own limbs and shuts the door on this life. Mortality reigns in our bodies. Death starts at birth. Earthly things fail.
In complete contrast, love is eternal. Though everything else is mortal, love is immortal. When all else fails, love never fails. An accurate translation could be, “Love never falls down on the job.” It not only never fails, it never ends. It is permanent and is never abolished.
Since Jesus is the fulfillment of every characteristic listed in 1Corinthians 13, it would be absolutely right to say that Jesus never fails.
In reality, just about everything in this life fails. Fame fails, the World, John writes, passes away. Businesses will fails as we have seen recent months. Health will fail us. Friends will fail us. And even governments fails. Yes, everything fails expect that which is centered in Christ.
The apostle Peter failed Jesus. He followed afar off and denied Christ on three successive opportunities. He said he would die with Him, yet he openly denied Christ.
Thomas failed. When the disciples spoke of the resurrection, he doubted and said, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it” (John 20:25).
The disciples failed. After Jesus’ Gethsemane experience, “Then all the disciples deserted him and fled” (Matthew 26:56). They let Him down. When Jesus was on the cross, they cried, “come down.” It would have been very human for Him to come down, but it was divine for Him to hang there. The love that God gives to you and me builds trust and faithfulness even when the roof caves in.
It is comforting to know that the failure of the disciples did not alter Christ’s love for them. Eventually Peter wept bitterly at his coolness. Thomas cried out, “My Lord and my God” (John 20:28). The disciples came back for cleansing and restoration. We have failed Him in the 21st century and others will fail Him in the centuries to come. But Jesus never fails, for He is God. His love is eternal. The most exciting adventure in life is to be controlled by God’s love, for then all that we do will be eternal. The command He has given us in John 15:17 is “This I command: Love each other.”
And now we skip to verse 13. “And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.” Paul wrote that love endures forever. In morally corrupt Corinth, love had become a mixed-up term with little meaning. Today people are still confused about love. Love is the greatest of all human qualities and is an attribute of God himself (I John 4:8). Love involves unselfish service to others.
“Faith” sometimes refers to a spiritual gift, such as in I Corinthians 12:9 and 13:2. It also refers to saving faith that God has forgiven sins. In this context, it refers to trust in the goodness and mercy of the Lord. Such trust will see Christians through until they live face to face in God’s presence. Christians also hope; they look forward to the arrival of God’s promised kingdom in its fullest form, knowing that God will deliver them in times of suffering.
Paul added that while these three remain, the greatest of these is love. How is love “the greatest”? Paul already established that love would live forever in verse 8. Love is the greatest because it is one quality of the Christian life that will be fully active both in the present and for eternity. Christians’ faith in God will be realized when they see God face to face – for where there is sight, faith is no longer needed. And what a sight that will be to see God in his glory. Also, the Christians’ hope will be fully realized. Love will endure forever as those in the new heaven and new earth continue to love God and his people.
Let’s pray
God, Your love for us is fierce, soaring above sentiment. It is the mightiest force in the universe, whispering, roaring, creating, redeeming, and taking delight in me. Thank You for Your Word that offers us this simple measure of Godly love: If we are impatient, if we are unkind, if we do not protect, if we delight in another’s trouble, then we are not loving with Your love. But thank You for empowering us to love by Your standard—our wills washed in submission, ever rejoicing in heaven’s best for the sake of others.
For HIS Glory! Amen.