Introduction:
A. One day an elderly woman and her little grandson, whose face was sprinkled with bright freckles, spent the day at the zoo.
1. Lots of children were waiting in line to get their face painted by a local artist who was decorating them with tiger paws.
2. A girl in line turned to the freckle-faced grandson and said, “You’ve got so many freckles, there’s no place to paint!”
3. Embarrassed, the little boy dropped his head.
4. His grandmother knelt down next to him, and said. “I love your freckles. When I was a little girl I always wanted freckles. Freckles are beautiful.”
5. The boy looked at his grandmother and said, “Really?”
6. “Of course,” said the grandmother. “Why just name me one thing that’s prettier than freckles.”
7. The little boy thought for a moment, peered intensely into his grandma’s face, and softly whispered, “Wrinkles.”
B. The love between grandparents and grandchildren is precious – as is the love between husbands and wives, and parents and children.
1. Love is indeed a wonderful and powerful thing.
2. God is love and we must become like God.
C. As we turn to chapter 13 in our study of 1 Corinthians, we arrive at familiar and revered territory.
1. Anytime we study the topic of love, we turn to verses 4 – 8, and rightly so.
2. Most weddings we attend include something about verses 4 – 8, and rightly so.
3. But what we have to keep in mind is that these verses and this chapter are a part of a larger context and argument.
4. Certainly the verses of this chapter can stand alone and have powerful things to say to us, but they have even greater power when they are applied in context.
D. As Paul describes the qualities of love to his Corinthian readers, he is seeking to promote the character formation that will help them overcome the many problems they are facing in the church.
1. We must keep in mind that Paul penned this letter to a church in complete disarray.
2. The Corinthian church was rife with public immorality, doctrinal confusion, divisions, bickering, believers suing other believers in secular courts, syncretism with pagan cults, divorce, abuses of spiritual gifts and the abuse of the Lord’s supper.
3. What was needed more than anything was LOVE.
4. Not some kind of sweetly sentimental notions of love, but real, tough love.
5. A rigorous vision of love that rejoices in the truth and bears all suffering in the name of Jesus.
E. This chapter nicely divides into three sections.
1. Let’s work our way through the development of Paul’s arguments in these sections, and then step back and apply these truths to our lives.
I. The Motive of Love (13:1-3)
A. Paul begins, “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not 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 have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.”
1. Paul’s communication in these verses can be understood in two ways.
2. On the one hand, he could be condemning “doing the right thing for the wrong reasons.”
a. Therefore, he would be calling for love as the proper motivation for religious practices.
3. On the other hand, he could be condemning moral inconsistency. In other words, doing some of the right things but lacking love in other areas of one’s life.
a. Therefore, he would be calling for love to be lived out in all aspects of our lives.
4. Both readings make good sense, and there is no need to exclude either.
B. Notice how Paul tries to illustrate his point by exaggerating the highest religious activities that anyone can think of.
1. So he pictures the person who is able to speak in tongues of both men and angels.
2. He pictures the person who can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge.
3. He pictures the person who has faith that can move mountains.
4. On top of all that, he pictures the person who gives all they possess to the poor and then becomes a martyr by surrendering their body to the flames.
5. All of the Corinthians, and us for that matter, would look at someone who could do those things and say, “Wow! Aren’t they spiritual! God must really think they are something.”
C. But then Paul gives the surprise ending for each of those people.
1. The person who speaks in the tongues of men and angels but has not love, is only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
a. You might be interested to know that Corinth was famous for its production of bronze vessels and what the NIV translates “resounding gong” is literally “bronze sounding” and is never used elsewhere to refer to a musical instrument.
b. Some scholars have proposed that Paul’s phrase refers to bronze acoustic vases that were used in the theater to echo and amplify the voices of the actors.
c. The clanging symbol was particularly associated with the cult of Cybele.
d. So what the Corinthians might have understood Paul to be saying was, “Even if you can speak with the heavenly language of angels, but have no love, your high-toned speech has become like the empty echo of an actor’s speech or the noise of frenzied pagan worship.”
2. The person who knows everything and has mountain-moving faith, but has not love is nothing.
3. And the person who gives up everything, including their lives and body in death, but has not love gains nothing.
D. So, Paul’s initial point is clear – even great religious activity is lacking if it is not motivated by love or accompanied by love.
II. The Definition of Love (13:4-7)
A. In this next section, Paul speaks in praise of love by detailing what love does and does not do.
1. Even though Paul begins his catalogue with two positive items, it is evident that the weight of Paul’s interest falls upon the eight negative items in the list.
2. Almost every one of these descriptions of what love does not do correspond directly to the behavior of the Corinthians as described elsewhere in the letter.
B. On the positive side of love, Paul begins, “love is patient, love is kind.”
1. Certainly that is an important place to begin as we understand what love is and does.
2. Love should be patient with others needs and problems. It should not be impatient.
3. Love should be kind. It should be gentle and sensitive in all its activities.
C. Then turning to the negative, the first thing that Paul mentions about what love does not do is – “Love does not envy.”
1. Paul used this word with the Corinthians first in chapter 3, verse 3 where he said, “For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly?”
2. Love is the opposite of the divisive rivalry that was going on in the Corinthian church.
D. The second negative item, “Love does not boast,” echoes Paul’s repeated reprimands of the Corinthians boasting.
1. In chapter 1, verses 28-29, “He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things – and the things that are not – to nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before him.”
2. Chapter 3, verse 21, “So then, no more boasting about men!”
3. Chapter 4, verse 7, “For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?”
4. Chapter 5, verse 6, “Your boasting is not good.”
E. The third negative item surely got the Corinthian’s attention – “Love is not proud.”
1. Most English translations have opted for the less colorful synonyms such as “proud’ or “arrogant,” but the Greek word means “puffed up.” “Love is not puffed up.”
2. This is precisely the word that Paul has already used several times in the letter to chastise the Corinthians.
3. In chapter 4, verse 6 we read, “Then you will not take pride in one man over against another.”
4. In chapter 4, verse 18, “Some of you have become arrogant, as if I were not coming to you.”
5. In chapter 5, verses 1-2, “It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that does not occur even among pagans: A man has his father’s wife. And you are proud!”
6. Paul’s most clear parallel is probably found in chapter 8, verse 1, “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.”
F. The fourth negative item, “Love is not rude,” is actually a stronger term referring to shameful behavior.
1. In other words, love does not behave shamefully.
2. In chapter 7, verse 36, Paul referred to an unmarried man who is “behaving shamefully” in relation to his betrothed virgin.
3. Paul may have in mind the sexual misconduct that he condemned in 5:1-2, and 6:12-20, as well as the shameful behavior of women prophesying with heads uncovered in 11:2-16, and the humiliation of the poor during the Lord’s supper (11:2002).
4. All of these Corinthian offenses would constitute the sort of “acting shamefully” that Paul sees as contrary to love.
G. The fifth negative item, “love is not self-seeking,” repeats precisely the language Paul used in 10:24 in his response to the idol-meat controversy.
1. 10:24, “Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.”
2. Paul used himself as an example in 10:33, “Even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved.”
H. By this time the Corinthians would surely have gotten the point.
1. Paul is implying that everything about their behavior contradicts the character of love.
2. The next two negative items are harder to relate to specific passages in the letter, but they are probably to be seen in contrast to the rivalry and dissensions in the Corinthian church.
3. Love is not easily angered and keeps no record of wrongs.
4. Whenever we are experiencing conflict, we need to keep these two things in mind.
I. With verse 6, Paul closes the list of negative attributes and offers a positive contrast – “love does not delight in evil but rejoices in the truth.”
1. The word the NIV translated “evil,” might better be translated “injustice” and was featured prominently in chapter 6 where Paul deplored the Corinthian’s practice of taking one another to court.
J. After telling us what love is not, Paul ends this unit with four strong verbs that characterize positively the action of love – “Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”
1. The New American Standard Version reads, Love “bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” The New Revised Standard reads the same.
2. Paul’s point is not to say that love makes us foolish Pollyannas, but that there should be no limit to love – no limit to its faith, hope and endurance.
III. The Permanence of Love (13:8-13)
A. The final section of chapter 13 moves the discussion in a different direction.
1. Paul now contrasts the permanence of love with the transitory character of spiritual gifts.
2. This part of the chapter most clearly shows that it was composed to deal with the specific problem of spiritual gifts in the Corinthian church.
B. The opening affirmation of verse 8 establishes the point of contrast – “Love never fails.”
1. Or as the NRSV renders the verse – “Love never ends.”
2. In contrast to that, prophesy, tongues and knowledge will all be brought to nothing.
3. The fact that they will be brought to nothing doesn’t mean that they are evil or have no purpose, but just that they will no longer be necessary at some point.
4. Verse 10 says, “but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.”
5. What is “that perfection” that Paul was waiting for?
6. Some have suggested that it is the completed New Testament, others have suggested that it is the return of Christ, heaven itself, or maturity.
7. Whatever we conclude about what Paul had in mind, his main point was to relativize the place of these gifts in the purposes of God.
8. The gifts have a role to play, but the time of their usefulness will pass. However, the usefulness of love will never pass away.
9. Paul’s point would surely have ruffled the feathers of the Corinthians who considered themselves far advanced in their spirituality and who think of the gift of tongues as the pinnacle of spiritual maturity.
C. Paul employed two analogies to try to help them see the need to mature and grow.
1. He used the child to adult analogy, and he used the mirror analogy as he talked of the contrast of seeing an image in a mirror or seeing the image face to face.
2. Depending on the quality of the mirror, there can be a big difference between the two images.
3. They made beautiful mirrors in Corinth, but they hadn’t perfected the art so as to remove distortion completely.
4. The reflection was not perfect, it was only partial, just as their knowledge was partial.
5. God is the only one who is complete, mature, and really knows all.
Conclusion:
A. What lessons from chapter 13 should we walk away with and seek to apply to our lives?
B. I would like to offer one lesson from each of the sections.
C. First, we learn that love requires the monitoring of our motives.
1. The first section of 1 Corinthian 13 should encourage us to step back and ask ourselves, “Why do we do what we do?”
2. Even our most cherished religious activities and projects should be tested by the question: “Why am I doing this?”
3. If we cannot honestly say, “I am doing this for love and in love,” then the legitimacy of the whole enterprise must come under serious doubt.
4. In all honesty, we must confess that we are often motivated by a number of things, including guilt, fear and reward.
5. Sometimes we do what we do because we want to be admired spiritually by others.
6. But hopefully, we can grow up and overcome the temptations to be self-seeking even in our practice of religion.
7. Hopefully, we can grow to a place where love is our primary motive; both love for God and love for others.
8. When love does become a primary motive then our actions lead to the building up of the body and are recognized and rewarded by God.
D. Second, we learn that love requires the formation of character.
1. Love is not just a matter of feelings – feelings come and go – but love endures.
2. Paul’s description of the attributes of love offers a picture of a habitual lifestyle and disposition.
3. And none of us can merely decide in a day’s time to start doing these things.
4. Nor can any of us master this kind of love without the assistance of the divine.
5. This kind of love is the fruit of the Spirit – it is the product of the Spirit.
6. This kind of fruit is cultivated over time as we allow God’s Spirit to teach us these habits.
7. The church should be a school for the cultivation of the habits and practices of love.
E. Third, we learn that love requires humility.
1. No matter how gifted or spiritual we become, no matter how much we grow in knowledge, we will always be incomplete this side of heaven.
2. Even our greatest understandings and accomplishments in Christ pale in comparison with who God is, what God knows and what God has done.
3. When we keep that in mind, we are much easier to live with, and we will treat others much more patiently and kindly.
F. I have no doubt that if I were to ask for a show of hands this morning, asking how many of you consider yourself a loving person, or consider Wetzel Road as a loving church, that most, if not all our hands would go up.
1. But are we really as loving as we think we are? This chapter certainly puts our love to the test.
2. But here is the good news – the more we resemble the kind of love seen in this chapter the more blessed our lives will be.
3. Every single one of our relationships will be enhanced by this kind of love – marriages, friendships, work relationships, and church relationships.
4. And, the more we love each other as God would have us love each other, the more this church will grow in spirit and in number.
5. Jesus said, “All men will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.”(Jn. 13:35)
G. Let me close by leaving this picture in your mind - the church needs to be like the intensive care unit.
1. Some of us have spent a lot of time in the ICU.
2. Listen to this excerpt from One Inch From the Fence by Wes Seeliger: “I have spent long hours in the intensive care waiting room…watching with anguished people…listening to urgent questions: Will my husband make it? Will my child walk again? How do you live without your companion of thirty years?
The intensive care waiting room is different from any other place in the world. And the people who wait are different. They can’t do enough for each other. No one is rude. The distinctions of race and class melt away. A person is a father first, a black man second. The garbage man loves his wife as much as the university professor loves his, and everyone understands this. Each person pulls for everyone else.
In the intensive care waiting room, the world changes. Vanity and pretense vanish. The universe is focused on the doctor’s next report. If only it will show improvement. Everyone knows that loving someone else is what life is all about.”
3. Love is the greatest of all.
4. Love is the most excellent way.
5. May God show us that way, and guide us in that way.
Resources:
The (Im)Perfect Church (Studies in 1 Corinthians), Rubel Shelly, 21st Century Christian, 1983.
First Corinthians (Interpretation – A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching), Richard Hays, John Knox Press, 1997.
1 Corinthians (The NIV Application Commentary), Craig L. Blomberg, Zondervan, 1994.
1 Corinthians (Bible Study Guide), Charles R. Swindoll, Insight For Living, 1977.
“Is My Main Motive Really Love?” Sermon by John A. Huffman, Jr., September 3, 2006.
“The Greatest of These” Sermon by Quintin Morrow (SermonCentral.com)
