"Love, God’s Way!”

“What one word summarizes the Ten Commandments?” I think that the Bible’s answer to that question surprises many people. In the Scriptures God tells us that the one word that summarizes the Ten Commandments is “love.” But how can that be? Aren’t the Commandments a list of “dos” and “don’ts” or “thou shalt” and “thou shalt nots”? Aren’t they just demands God puts on all people? What do they have to do with love?

Our Savior Jesus explained how the word “love” is a good summary of all God’s commands. When Jesus was asked which Commandment was the greatest, he said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” And he went on to say, “Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37 & 39, 40) Far from being just a list of what to do and what not to do the Ten Commandments are really the definition of love for God and love for others.

In our gospel lesson for this Sunday we heard Jesus say that he had a “new command” for his disciples. They were to love one another. But if love summarizes the Ten Commandments how was that a new command? It was a new command because through Jesus the disciples would look at the Ten Commandments in a new way and love others in ways they had perhaps not done before. And it was also a “new command” because Jesus told them to love one another “as” he had loved them.

The disciples had witnessed how Jesus kept the Ten Commandments perfectly. And the morning after Jesus gave them that “new command” they would see God punish him for the times they had broken the Commandments. Then they would see Jesus alive again proving that they were forgiven and loved by God. After that they wouldn’t view God’s demands as a burden—a bunch of “dos” and “don’ts.” No, they would gladly love one another with the same love God had shown to them in Christ Jesus! The Ten Commandments would help define and guide their love for God and others.

Our service this morning is focused on the fact that we are to love one another. In order to better understand what that means we will direct our attention to what has been called the “love chapter” of the Bible. Usually when we define something we say what it is and what it isn’t. The Apostle Paul does that for us in these verses. Let’s ask God the Holy Spirit to convict us of our sins of not loving as we have been loved, and then lead us to follow God’s command to love others. By God’s power we will be led to:

“LOVE, GOD’S WAY!”

I. The necessity of love – vv. 1-3

II. The actions of love – vv. 4-7

III. The permanence of love – vv. 8-13

In this letter that we call “1 Corinthians” the Apostle Paul addressed a long list of spiritual and practical concerns connected specifically to the Christian church in Corinth. In the first eleven chapters he wrote about divisions in the church, lawsuits between Christians, sexual immorality, marriage, adiaphora (that is something not commanded or forbidden by Scripture), worship, and the Lord’s Supper. Then beginning in Chapter 12 and continuing through Chapter 14 Paul addressed the issue of spiritual gifts among Christians. If the word “love” summarizes God’s Commandments, it would be fair to say that the word “unloving” summarized the congregation of Christians in Corinth. They needed to once again love as God had love them.

I.

I invite you to open your worship folder to page 10 so that we can look at our Second Scripture Lesson verse by verse. Follow along as I read the first paragraph—verses 1-3. As I read these verses try to pick out what God is telling us about love. The Holy Spirit inspired—he breathed into—the Apostle Paul these words. “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. 2 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. 3 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.” Since God is love showing love is an essential part of our relationship with him and with each other.

So how would we connect these words about the necessity of love to our lives today? A Christian author used four phrases to summarize the thoughts in verses 1-3. The first phrase. “Impressive Eloquence Without Love is Nothing but Empty Noise.” In other words a person can say all kinds of nice things and even sound very religious. But if there is no love behind the words it’s just noise! Like a gong or a cymbal banging. The second phrase. “Impressive Knowledge Without Love is Nothing but Empty Arrogance.” Ouch! This one may be the biggest danger for pastors. After attending college and seminary we can get to know God’s Word pretty well. But if we are not loving others that knowledge will just lead to pride and arrogance. We’ll be missing the whole point of God’s revelation to us. He tells us about his love for us so we then love others as we have been loved by God. The third phrase. “Impressive Faith Without Love is Nothing but Empty Confidence.” A person with a faith that can move mountains would seem to be on solid ground. But the problem is that without love for others that faith is fruitless. And the final statement. “Impressive Sacrifice Without Love is Nothing but Empty Service.” I am hoping that this will be an eye-opener to us all. We can do acts of service for others. Perhaps we volunteer here at church for this or that. We lend a hand when others need us. Maybe we even go the extra mile and do more than people are asking or expecting. But if we aren’t doing these things out of love they are empty actions.