THE MISUNDERSTOOD GOD: THE CONDEMNING GOD**
1 CORINTHIANS 13:6
Big Idea: In Christ we discover God is not cranky and condemning but loving and redeeming.
INTRO
Have you ever spoken terrible things to a dog in a kind voice? I must confess I have. I have pet Bogey (my Cocker Spaniel) and said things like, “O you stupid stupid dog. You are dumber than a box of rocks and absolutely useless.” All the while I am saying this Bogey is wagging his tail, licking my face, drawing close, and shaking with joy even though I am saying bad things to him. Have you ever spoken kind words to a dog in a harsh voice? It tucks its tail, cowers to the ground and stays at a distance because it senses it is being scolded.
I will come back to this; listen as I read 1 Corinthians 13:1-4 and verse 6 to you.
1 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. 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 have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
If we are not careful this couplet’s explanation of love can get a little “muddy.” Most of it has to do with our modern day understanding of the word evil. In the context of 1 Cor. 13, evil has a rather broad range of meaning. In that sense it is much like the word “shalom” which has a much broader meaning that merely peace. “Evil” has many nuances & expressions. Its meaning includes disharmony, malice, injustice, wrongdoing, and falsehood. Truth also has a large range of meaning. It would include that which is right/righteous, goodness, purity, and unity/union. When we understand evil and truth to imply these broad ranges of meaning we can begin to see how they contrast each other.
6 Love does not delight in disharmony but rejoices in unity.
6 Love does not delight in injustice but rejoices in righteousness.
6 Love does not delight in wrongdoing but rejoices in goodness.
6 Love does not delight in malice but rejoices in purity.
6 Love does not delight in falsehood but rejoices in the truth.
When it comes to loving relationships we can see how evil and truth become very relevant and too often, familiar. And, when we begin to allow love to take on meanings which are harmful, false, or unjust we are in danger of projecting those meanings to God’s character since “God is love.”
That is why we must understand that when it comes to love,
1. TRUTH BRINGS FREEDOM – NOT FEAR (1 JOHN 4:18)
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. (1 John 4:18)
“The playground bluff”
Have you ever seen someone at the park with their children and they are having such a good time that they don’t want to leave? But dad has been there quite a long time and there are other obligations so he begins to gather things up and prepare the kids for departure.
The car is loaded; everyone is in the car except … Junior … and he just won’t get off the swings. Junior just can’t bring himself to leave. Have you ever heard parents say things like: “Junior we are leaving, if you don’t get in the car we will leave you here. Good bye Junior!” Dad goes to the car, starts the engine, and Junior shrieks in horror while finally running to the car in fear mom and dad will leave him.
Now let’s be realistic. Dad would never have left five year old Junior. That was all a bluff – a lie. That was an act of desperation to try and keep Junior from making a scene.
But 6 Love does not delight in falsehood but rejoices in the truth.
Guess what. God never bluffs, manipulates or motivates out of fear – perfect love casts out fear; love replaces fear with a new motivation; blessed assurance (1 John 4:18).
The opposite of love is not hate in God’s economy; it is fear. The nature of “perfect love” (God) cannot include fear.
God never says things like: “If you don’t do what I want I am gonna abandon you!” What God says is, “Follow me because; I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.” God says, “No one can snatch you out of my hand.” God say, “Draw close to me and I will draw close to you!”
In God there is no darkness. There is no hint of falsehood – no shadows of uncertainty.
Sometimes even God’s messengers of love, grace and Good News have resorted to falsehood in order to “encourage” people to follow God.
I have heard preachers say that someday, at judgment, God would put your whole life on a large video screen for all to see. They have used this as a motivation to get people to live pure lives and repent of sin.
But it’s a lie. The Bible never says God will do that. What the Bible says is God wants to cover your sin and forgive it – not manipulate you with it. The Bible says God’s goodness or kindness leads us to repentance (Romans 2:4) not threats of humiliation, torture, and pain.
I also have heard people quote the Bible in a way that sounds ominous and threatening. They have turned Good News into scary news. For example, Paul never speaks of the rapture as a means to scare people or threaten people that they will be “left behind.” You show me a place where Paul speaks of Jesus’ second coming and I will show a place where his words are means to “comfort one another” and give hope, peace, rest, and anticipation.
We must beware; it becomes way too easy for us to use the Bible as a billy-club instead of Gospel – Good news. God is not a spiritual bully and God does not want his messengers to be spiritual bullies either.
6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
1. Truth Brings Freedom – Not Fear (1 John 4:18)
That is why we must understand that when it comes to love,
2. TRUTH IS RELATIONAL – NOT PROPOSITIONAL (JOHN 1:17)
For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. (John 1:17)
The Bible says, “speak the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15).Hear me, truth ceases to be truth if it is spoken in any tone other than love.
Sometimes we mistakenly believe that being “truthful” is the same as being “factual” or “correct.” But that is not accurate. I remember in the 70’s and 80’s there were evangelists who told us that in order to evangelize the lost we had to “speak the truth and let the chips fall where they may.” They implied that “truth” meant “correct propositional facts” and that it was not our responsibility to be concerned about how these words were received – our only responsibility was to simply make sure we got the lost all the right data necessary so they could make a choice.
But that’s not what you see in Jesus is it? The character of Jesus was always more important than the words he used. Take the woman at the well. There was something about the manner in which Jesus spoke to her that told her a lot more than simply propositional facts. There was something that whet her appetite to drink the water of life; it wasn’t the facts, it was love. The same can be said of Jesus’ encounter with Nicodemus. You see, like my speech to my dog, the medium was as much the message (if not more) that the propositional facts.
“Don’t Kill the Messenger!”
In Biblical times, kings would use messengers to deliver their messages. These messengers were selected for their ability not only to deliver the words of the king, but to deliver the tone in which the words were spoken.
If the king threatened to go to war against the enemy, he would send his messenger to reenact the anger and rage the king displayed. If the king was screaming and pounding his fists on the table while he gave the message, the messenger would scream and pound his fists in the same tone and manner.
Is it any wonder that the phrase was developed during this time that says, “Don’t kill the messenger?”
If the king invited people to a banquet and his spirits were high and happy, the messenger would act out that joy while delivering the invitation. Those who received it received not only the words of the invitation but the disposition and tone as well. (Borrowed from Darin Hufford’s book, “The Misunderstood God,” P. 81ff.)
Sadly God’s messengers do not re-enact God’s tone very well. It seems that the words of the Bible are all they need, but the only way the Bible can be properly interpreted is to take the tone of the Author’s heart into account. When a tone of condemnation is given to words of love or words of longing and invitation (as with repentance in many cases) the words take a different meaning; they lacerate the heart and cause it to cower from God. It is akin to the dog hearing kind words in a harsh tone. It may take years for those to whom such words were given to recover from the image of God they received. God’s words of invitation and love can easily be spoken to sound as if they are words of condemnation.
May I give you a suggestion? The next time you read the Gospels place a smile on Jesus’ face as you read his words. It can totally change what Jesus is saying. I suspect we often read the parables and other words of Jesus as if he is always uber-serious or even has a scowl. Why would we think that? If he is the fullest expression of God (because he is God) and if God is love and if love is everything we find in 1 Corinthians 13, then why would we think Jesus is “cranky?”
Let me go even further, try reading some of Jesus’ parables as if he might be using humor to make his point. Or give his words a sense of wonder and excitement. You may be surprised at how effectively it helps make the point.
For example, read this parable with different tones and see how it changes it.
“What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? It is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden, and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches.” (Luke 13:18-19).
What is true of this is true of almost any parable you read.
1. Truth Brings Freedom – Not Fear (1 John 4:18)
2. Truth is Relational – Not Propositional (John 1:17)
That is why we must understand that when it comes to love,
3. TRUTH IS A PERSON – NOT A PRINCIPLE (JOHN 1:14)
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)
The Gospels teach us that truth is a person with a personality and that personality is love. If you do not communicate love as part of the equation – you no longer have truth. Again, it is akin to a dog hearing kind words in a harsh tone.
Some seem troubled by the fact that God looks different in the New Testament than he does in the Old. That seems especially true when God’s supreme character (which cannot be disputed in the New Testament) is love.
John tells us in His Gospel (Paul affirms it in his writings) that there was a second big reason (other than salvation) that God sent Jesus into the world. It was so we would know what God is like. By watching Jesus was see “the fullness of God.” Passages like John 1:14; Colossians 1:15; and Hebrews 1:3, would suggest that the propositions and “laws” in the Old Testament did not give us a full or complete picture of God … only when God came in flesh did we fully see His character.
If Jesus is indeed what God is like (and he is) then God’s character is first and foremost a character of love. For example, regarding His character of love, it is unique to Jesus that we are told “love your enemies.” In the Old Testament love extends to our relatives and our neighbors but never to one’s enemies.
WRAP-UP
1. Truth Brings Freedom – Not Fear (1 John 4:18)
2. Truth is Relational – Not Propositional (John 1: 17)
3. Truth is a Person – Not a Principle (John 1:14)
That is why we must understand that when it comes to love,
4. TRUTH IS EXPANSIVE – NOT RESTRICTIVE (ROMANS 5:5)
God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. (Romans 5:5)
It wasn’t enough for God’s love to simply be God’s love. He poured it into our hearts so that it becomes our love too. And, as I said last week, we stand mid-stream and we share that some love with others. It expands and expands.
The Bible says Jesus brought “Grace and truth” (John 1:14, 17). They go together. Grace, truth, and love all desire to see those it loves set free not shackled with guilt. Truth, like love, is open, inviting, welcoming, and receptive. Evil is threatening, restrictive, closed, and foreboding.
On too many occasions we ask ourselves the wrong question. Jesus teaches us that instead of simply asking, “What is right and wrong” (which is propositional and opens the way to licensing “evil” via judging, self-righteousness, etc.) we should be asking “What does love require?” Look no further than the woman at the well, the woman caught in adultery or the rich young ruler for evidence.
The fullness of love is the keynote of Jesus’ Kingdom. It is the character of God that is poured into us (Romans 5:5). In Christ we discover God is not cranky and condemning but loving and redeeming.
And that should also be the disposition of His children. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
Let’s read our “Congregational Covenant of Love” together.
+++++++++++++++++++
** Much of the material for this sermon is derived from two specific books. 1) Darin Hufford’s “The Misunderstood God” and Henry Drummond’s “The Greatest Thing in the World.”
This sermon is provided by Dr. Kenneth Pell
Potsdam Church of the Nazarene
Potsdam, New York
www.potsdam-naz.org
+++++++++++++++++++
Congregational Covenant of Love
Heavenly Father, you have taught us that you are love and your Spirit has poured your love into our hearts.
Because you are patient and kind
We will be patient and bear with one another (Ephesians 4:2)
Because you do not envy
We will seek to make peace and build up one another (Rom. 14:19)
Because you are not boastful or proud
We will give preference and honor to one another (Philippians 2:3)
Because you are not rude and self-seeking
We will accept and encourage one another (Rom. 15:13-17)
Because you are not easily angered and keep no record of wrongs
We will forgive others just as we have been forgiven by you (Col. 3:13)
Because you do not delight in evil but do rejoice in truth
We will be loving yet truthful with one another (Ephesians:4:25)
Because you always protect, trust and hope
We will look after the interests of one another (Rom. 12:10) and carry one another’s burdens (Gal. 6:2)
Because you always persevere and and never fail
We will be devoted to one another in brotherly love (Rom. 12:10)
We thank you for showing us how to love and
We will reflect that love in our care for each other. Amen.(1 Cor. 12:25)
