LOVE WITHOUT LIMITS
Text: I Corinthians 13:1- 13
1 Corinthians 13:1-13 If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. (2) And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. (3) If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. (4) Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant (5) or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; (6) it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. (7) It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. (8) Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. (9) For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; (10) but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. (11) When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. (12) For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. (13) And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love (NRSV).
Luke 4:21-30 Then he began to say to them, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." (22) All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, "Is not this Joseph's son?" (23) He said to them, "Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, 'Doctor, cure yourself!' And you will say, 'Do here also in your hometown the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.'" (24) And he said, "Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet's hometown. (25) But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land; (26) yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. (27) There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian." (28) When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. (29) They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff. (30) But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.
Someone has said, “Love is stronger than steel; softer than a cloud; more supple that a bow; mightier than hate; warmer than an electric blanket; more refreshing than mountain water; deeper than the deepest well; and so all-encompassing that it contains all of the best and highest of which humans have been capable since the day of creation. And yet our world is filled with hurting people because those who have known and experienced the love of God have withheld His love from others in a million intensive ways; nor have we spread His love in positive affirmation to others as we should have. Thus, we might say the only thing in really short supply in our world is love. The only thing that keeps all of us from living in mansions of delight all across God’s world is lack of love.” (Wayne McLain and John Borchet. eds. The Newsprint Pulpit. Greenville: A Press Printing, 2001, p. 100). Love is indeed the greatest of the three between hope, faith and love Paul tells us.
Now if love is supposed to be the greatest, and it is, then why did Jesus’s preaching about love in Luke 4:21 -30 provoke those in the congregation so badly? It provoked them so badly, that they wanted to throw Him off a cliff! Was it because they had the kind of love that keeps score? What about us? Do we ever practice a love that keeps score? What if God’s love kept score? Who would be able to stand (Psalm 130:3)?
We all have gifts that God has given us for ministry. We all have journeys that we will take in our ministry. Unconditional love unlocks our potential. Without God’s love---God’s unconditional love in our hearts we are nothing! Today we look at the gifts, our journey and unconditional love.
GIFTS
What does it mean to have a loveless gift or gifts?
1) Boasting rights?: Did God allow us to be equipped with some gifts so that we could boast as if we had obtained them without His help? If we have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and … all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, [we are] nothing. (3) If [we were to] give away all [our] possessions, and hand over [our bodies to be burned (KJV)] so that [we] may boast, but [if we] do not have love, [we] gain nothing (I Corinthians 13:23 paraphrased) . Our motive for everything as we do as Christians must be love.
2) Selfishness?: Did God give us the gifts that He gave to us so that we would cultivate their fruitfulness for ourselves? No of course not!
3) Caste System?: Did God give to us the gifts that He gave to us so that we could create a cast system? The people at Capernaum didn’t like what Jesus said because it was favorable to the Gentiles whom they despised. After all, they were God’s chosen people but they had forgotten that God had called the nation of Israel to be a light o the Gentiles (see Isaiah 42:6; 49:6 and 60:3). Doesn’t Jesus call us to be salty and bright for the same reason (Matthew 5:13 - 16)?
4) Missing the mark of God’s will? : The people of Capernaum obviously missed the mark! Do we as Christians sometimes act like the people Capernaum? If we do not use the gifts that God gave to us as God intended, then do we not abuse the gifts and rob God?
5) Loveless gifts?: What if we are gifted, but lack love in the use of those gifts as God intended will it matter? Loveless gifts make a lot of boasting noise like a noisy cymbal but loveless gifts do not produce fruit for the forwarding of God’s kingdom! Could that be one of the reason that there are so many empty seats in churches?
Can boasting about our gifts cause “tunnel vision”?
1) Tunnel Vision: Tunnel vision is an actual condition of the eye where one’s field of peripheral vision has been reduced. Tunnel vision also has a figurative meaning---narrow point of view. Is that not what happens when people focus on their gifts like badges or medals?
2)Trophies?: Our gifts were not meant to be trophies! Our gifts are nothing more than loveless gifts if we do not do share God’s love and the good news of the gospel of salvation with the last, the least and the lost!
JOURNEY
Are we not all pilgrims on our pilgrimage in this life?
Someone (Fred Craddock) has said that the longest journey we will ever take is from our heads to our hearts. (David N. Mosser ed. The Abingdon Preaching Annual 2004. Gary Carver’s sermon: “From the Head to the Heart”. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2003, p. 68). It would be a sad thing indeed if someone went all through this life without having made this journey without their heart being touched and changed by God! Is this not a continual journey that we need to make?
“When God measures a man, he puts tape around the heart---not the head.” (Croft M. Pentz. ed. Zingers. Nashville: Tyndale House Publishers, 1990, p. 185). Measuring the wrong things says something about our selfish ambition! Loveless gifts make a lot of boasting noise like a noisy cymbal but they do not produce fruit for the forwarding of God’s kingdom.
Did we truly have God in our hearts? Do we totally surrender or partially surrender our hearts to God? “There is the story of a little four year old girl who went to her pediatrician for a check up. As the doctor looked in her ears he asked “Do you think that I’ll find Big Bird in there?” The little girl was silent. Next the doctor took a tongue depressor and looked down her throat. He asked “Do you think I’ll find the Cookie Monster down there. Again, the little girl was silent. Then the doctor put a stethoscope to her chest. As he listened to her heart he asked, “Do you think I’ll find Barney in there?” “Oh, no,” the little girl replied, “Barney’s on my underpants; Jesus in my heart”. (David N. Mosser. ed. The Abingdon Preaching Annual 2004 Edition. Gary Carver. “From Head To Heart”. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2003, p. 69). When God looks at our hearts, what does He see?
Can we rely on our own strength to stay strong in our hearts? Scriptures tell us that the heart is vulnerable. Are we exempt from struggles with our vulnerabilities in heart?
1) "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life" (Proverbs 4:23 KJV).
2) The heart is devious above all else; it is perverse—who can understand it? (Jeremiah 17:9 NRSV).
3) Proverbs 3:5 says “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight” (NRSV).
We should never rely on our own strength and insight because we will fail when we do. Therefore, the journey to our hearts cannot be a “one and done journey” if we are to trust the Lord with all of our hearts in our daily lives!
UNCONDITIONAL LOVE
The kind of love that Paul talks about in I Corinthians looks for the best in people.
1) Looking for differences: Paul was obviously addressing the shortcomings of some of the people of Corinth who were boasting about their spiritual gifts and superiority. Those with lesser gifts were obviously felt inferior. They were not looking for the best in each other. Do we honestly always look for the best in people? What about our own evaluation? Do we set ourselves above others? Do we think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think (Romans 12:1) ?
2) Self-examination? It often seems that we would rather love those just like us than to reach out to our neighbors, enemies and even strangers (Matthew 5:46). Wasn’t that the problem that Jesus encountered at Capernaum? They wanted to throw Jesus from a cliff for even suggesting that they demonstrate love to Gentiles.
3) Sacrificial love: Our Lord calls us to unconditionally love our neighbors, enemies and strangers. “A woman, carrying her baby on her back, was trapped by a prairie fire. As she looked about, she realized there was no way of escape. Hurriedly she took the baby off her back and began digging a hole in the earth with her bare hands. She then placed her child into it and covered the child with her body. Later the woman was found dead, but the child was saved”. Galaxie Software. (2002). 10,000 Sermon Illustrations. Biblical Studies Press What this mother did for her child mirrors what Christ has done for us! . Jesus died for us all and John 3:16 says it all: "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life” (NRSV).
4) Transforming love: Jesus died on the cross as the sacrificial lamb for both His friends and His enemies to take away our sin. How well do we score at loving those around us?
Can others tell that we are the disciples that Jesus has called us to be by our love?
1) The Church through the ages: In his book The Quest for Character, Chuck Swindoll describes the church’ well: “When the early church met, magnetic charm brought joy. When they prayed, there was power. When they gave, there was generosity. When they embraced, there was love. When they spoke, there was authenticity, When they left, there was tears. [Over two thousand years] “… the church continues. Our family is bigger and more influential. But is it better? Think that over and pause in His presence today”. (Charles Swindoll. The Quest for Character. Chicago:Moody Press, 1987, p. 148). That describes the Church of Acts 4 which exemplified the more excellent way that Paul spoke of (I Corinthians 12:31).
2) Litmus test: The new commandment Jesus gave to us was to love one another because others will know we are Christians by our love! (John 13:34-35) .
Jesus came as God in human flesh to show us how much God cares. Jesus demonstrated how deep and far God’s love goes when He died on a cross for you and me. That is the kind of love is unconditional because it that does not keep score of wrongs. Others will know that we are His disciples by the way that we love others (John 13: 34, 35). That is what the aim of love is, to show the love of Jesus reflecting in the way we love others. That is the kind of love that goes the distance.
In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
