Last week, we took a look at 1 Peter 4:8-11. Let me briefly go over that with you again.
It says:
8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. 11 If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.
And in that sermon, I referred to other passages, and it seems as if I keep coming back around to 1 Cor. 13, and so I thought, why not revisit that chapter again? So if you have your Bibles, please turn with me there. You probably have it memorized by now, I’ve referred to it so much. But you can never really refer to it too much because it’s something that we have to practice every single day, day in/day out for the rest of our lives, and no matter how much we practice, no matter how much we memorize, we never fully get it right all the time.
As you’re turning to 1 Corinthians, let me re-read to you another set of verses I used last week.
This is from Ephesians 4:25-32
25 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. 26 “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the devil a foothold. 28 Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.
29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
I’d like to go back to that first verse I read, Eph. 4:25 which says, “25 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body.”
Paul was speaking to the Ephesians, but as you all know, one person isn’t going to say one thing to one church and contradict himself in another. He’s going to often repeat himself because the message needs to be spread. So here, in 1 Corinthians 13, Paul addresses this same issue, and he begins in the previous chapter by saying,
27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 28 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. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? 31 Now eagerly desire the greater gifts.
And yet I will show you the most excellent way.
And what is that “most excellent way?”
He continues his thought in Chapter 13.
1 Corinthians 13:1-4
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. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
As Chapter 13 begins, notice how Paul reiterates some of the gifts from Chapter 12 again. He does this to make his point clear, to make sure everyone is listening, and that this is for all of them. You can almost picture him pointing his finger around the room so they get it. And what is it that they needed to get and what is it that we need to get today?
It doesn’t matter who you are or what you have done. It doesn’t matter who the other person is next to you. It doesn’t matter your age. It’s not what you have done for a living or how much money you’ve made, it’s who you have been and continue to be as a person that matters.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not talking about salvation. Salvation is a different matter. Salvation is through faith in Christ’s finished work on the cross–and that alone. I don’t believe in works-based salvation. What I’m talking about is what matters in life–who you are, who you’re not; what you’ve done, what you may be proud of, what you may regret. It’s not about accomplishments, titles, money, houses, or cars, it’s about love.
We are all equal in Christ no matter what our earthly status is. So set that aside, and let’s concentrate on love, which is what God looks at.
Have you ever seen someone gifted, but acted like a snob? It kind of turns you off, doesn’t it? Suddenly, their gift doesn’t mean anything anymore. You’re not a fan. How can we be effective for the kingdom if our character is rotten? You see, love, despite what the movies tell us, is a verb, not a noun—not a feeling. Although it can be a noun, it isn’t just that, and it isn’t what Paul is saying here.
The Asbury Bible Commentary states that: “Love is not one of many virtues; it embodies them all. Love is not merely the doing of some heroic or virtuous action or refraining from vices or evil deeds. It is a “way” of life.”
Let’s go back to the verses again. What is love? First, love is patient: How do we become patient? Joyce Meyer is not one of my favorites, to be honest with you, but I like what she said here, “Patience is not the ability to wait, but the ability to keep a good attitude while waiting.”
People who are patient eventually become patient because they’ve practiced it. It doesn’t come overnight. It’s a matter of practice, and it’s a matter of God’s grace.
Let’s look at the next verb: Kindness. How about kindness? If truth be told, we probably feel kind more times than when we act on it. I now work during the week for Empire DM, which is a shuttle company that drives people to medical appointments–a lot of them have either mental or physical disabilities that prevent them from driving. And when I lived in the Dansville area, I worked for a similar company, and I often drove people to specialists in Rochester. I have a confession to make. There was a man who sat near a traffic light at the end of an exit off 390. He held a sign. I don’t remember exactly what it said, but it said something to the effect of “Veteran. Anything helps.”
I have to admit, I’ve felt compassion for him but I often thought, ‘Well, I can’t reach him, I’m a few cars down. And I can’t stop and hold up traffic when the light turns green. And gee, I really don’t have anything. I mean maybe I have a dollar or some change, and it’s in my pocket and I can’t reach it. I have an apple, I could give him but….’
And I make excuses. Then I feel guilty. And I always say, ‘next time.’ But now, I live here, and I’m probably never going to see him again. Now, have I since reached out to a few people? Yeah. Every time? No.
See, we feel kind, but it’s useless unless we do something about it. That man can’t feel our kindness, and our feeling kind does nothing for him. Maybe you have a gift of generosity, like Paul said in chapter 12, but his point is that the gift is useless until we act on it, and act in love.
Now let’s look at the things love is not. Love is not jealous, boastful, proud, rude, demanding its own way, irritable…Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. I hate to admit it, but some of these come much more naturally than love does. How about you?
How about keeping no record of wrongs? Another thing I’m guilty of.
Now, there’s so much here, it would take several sermons to thoroughly go over all of these verbs Paul gives us. So what can we succinctly say about this set of verses? How many different situations do we go through in life where we say, “I just don’t know how I–or we–are going to get through this ‘fill in the blank,’” And the natural answer to that is, perseverance. It’s done together in patience and kindness; in self-sacrifice. And I want to stress the word: together. You are all here together. This is what a church is for. It’s not just a gathering place. Church is not just a noun, either. It is also a verb.
What do all of these verbs look like in action? I know I’ve used this illustration before. But Jesus gave us a great illustration of love in action in the story of The Good Samaritan. This is the story of who our neighbor is and what loving our enemy looks like—it is 1 Cor. 13 illustrated.
Without going into the whole story today, let me illustrate the illustration of The Good Samaritan with an illustration.
The story of The Good Samaritan is like a cake. But 1 Cor. 13 is the recipe to make that cake. It gives us instruction on how to be the Good Samaritan—on how to love our neighbor, on how to love our enemies. The Good Samaritan shows us what that all looks like when put together.
You’ll notice, too, in the story of The Good Samaritan that there were rather gifted people who looked the other way: a priest and a Levite. Do you get the picture? They were both men who would have had giftings—so think of what was discussed in Chapter 12. They would have used those giftings in service to God. So the point here is that their giftings, although practiced in the temple, were worth nothing because they did not love.
Martin Luther King Jr. said “The first question which the priest and the Levite asked was: “If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?” But the good Samaritan reversed the question: “If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?””
And that should be our motive to love. The other person.
Earlier, I cross-referenced what Paul said to the Ephesian church, and like I said, he’s not going to preach one thing to one church and not preach it to another. So I would like to add something that Paul said to the church in Rome.
Rom. 12:9-13 says,
9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.
17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. 20 On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
How can we demonstrate that we are Christians if we do not show love in the way that fellow Christians and non-Christians expect us to? Jesus said to his disciples, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this, everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.”
If Christians would exhibit this kind of love in our homes, neighborhoods, schools, and places of work, how much more productive and enriching would our environment be for everyone? How much glory would it bring our Lord?
Our world has been in such upheaval recently, hasn’t it? I shared a sermon recently on “Are we living in the end times?” And when you turn on the news, it seems as if we are coming close to those birth pains Jesus describes–upheaval quicker and more intense like birth pains until the time comes. This is a scary time. But what better time to shine the light of God’s love? What better time to show people the hope of Christ we have within us? And how do we do that?
Thomas Fuller, who was a British scholar, preacher, and one of the most prolific authors of the 17th century, said, “Kindness is the noblest weapon to conquer with.”
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