1 Corinthians 13:1-8
“The Most Excellent Way”
By: Kenneth Emerson Sauer, Pastor of Parkview United Methodist Church, Newport News, VA
At a men’s retreat a truck driver told about the change Christ had made in his life, and he was asked to think of some specific way in which he was different.
After a pause, he said: “Well, when I find somebody tailgating my truck, I no longer drive on the shoulder of the road to kick up pebbles and rocks on them.”
How simple but profound is this understanding of what it means to love people in relevant and demonstrable ways!
Karl Menninger once said, “Love cures people—both the ones who give it and the ones who receive it.”
In our Epistle Lesson for this morning, Paul deals with some of the practical aspects of the Spirit of Love as it ought to manifest itself within Christians.
He is anxious for the church to follow the supreme way of life; the way that never fails; the way that…
…in the end leads straight to God’s plan for our lives---the way of love!
“Love is patient.”
Christ is patient and kind, and those of us who bear His name and are members of His Church---organic elements in “the body of Christ,” should manifest the same characteristics as Christ when dealing with relationships with other human beings.
Just think how patient Jesus was with his disciples and followers…
…with the multitudes that gathered around him…
…first to praise Him…
…then to curse Him.
How patient Jesus was with the sick and the poor!
How patient Jesus was with Pilate!
How patient Jesus was with those who crucified Him: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”
We are to love others as Christ has loved us, and love is patient toward all people.
Love endures all the weaknesses, ignorance, errors, infirmities, stubbornness, and weak faith of the children of God.
Love also endures all the malice and wickedness of the children of the world.
Love suffers all these things, not only for a time or a short season, but also to the end!
Love continues feeding the enemy when he or she is hungry.
If he or she thirsts, love still gives the person a drink!
“Love is kind.”
If someone were to pay us ten cents for every kind word we’ve ever spoken about people, and then take back five cents for every unkind word we’ve ever spoken about people, would we be poor or rich?
Kindness costs no money.
It’s as easy to go around with a smile as it is to go around with a frown.
Kindness is a big step in the Christian aim to “overcome evil with good.”
To pay a visit to someone, to say a kind word of cheer or comfort, to convey friendliness by a handshake…
…well, these are small tokens, perhaps of a loving spirit, but they are symbolic of the very nature and purpose of God.
Moreover, the consequences are incalculable.
When we treat others with kindness we send out into the spiritual and moral atmosphere of the universe in which we live ripples that never exhaust themselves!
Only God can calculate the full consequences.
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
Love “does not envy.”
It is impossible for love to covet…
…in fact, love is the complete opposite of that depraved attitude.
As John Wesley wrote: “Love cannot be upset over God’s bestowing any good gift upon any human being. If people who love have received God’s blessings, they do not bemoan others receiving the same benefits.
Indeed, they rejoice when others are also blessed.
If people who are loving do not have all these benefits, they bless God that at least others have them.
They are far more willing for others to receive blessings than for themselves to have them.
The greater one’s love, the more one rejoices in the blessings of all humankind.
The greater one’s love, the farther one is from every kind and degree of envy.”
Jealousy is a sin.
And a sin is like an infected wound: the infection spreads.
It is an infected wound in the soul and it breeds further infection…such as hatred and conflict.
Christian love values the spiritual over the material.
Jesus Christ is the supreme standard of this kind of love.
The love of the indwelling Christ centers it’s attention on the object of love…
…which is other than itself…
…and it rejoices in the wholesome success and prosperity of others.
This kind of love is not only unselfish, it is sacrificial.
“Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
Love does not “boast.”
Love is not rash or hasty in judging; it will not hastily condemn anyone.
Those who truly love their neighbors are not like the majority of people who even in cases of the most trivial nature, ‘see a little, presume a great deal, and so jump to the conclusion.’
Jesus gives pride a leading place in the list of vices that must be removed by the Christian when He says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
According to John Wesley, “Poverty of spirit is the foundation of everything.”
Those who are poor in spirit are the humble---they are the people who truly understand themselves and are convinced of their sinfulness.
They see themselves as utterly helpless to atone for past sins, unable to make any amends to God, or to pay any ransom for their souls.
“Poverty of spirit is a continual awareness of our total dependence on God for every good thought, word or deed.
Love’s humility is its greatness.
It is never boastful.
According to modern psychology, boasting about oneself is often the mark of inner uncertainty.
It is one of the characteristics of an inner feeling of inferiority.
As Christians, we are to learn to have pity on those who are boastful.
We must treat those who are boastful with firmness, but also with patience and kindness.
Love “is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking.”
Just think of how gently Jesus dealt with the woman who touched the hem of His garment; how tenderly and with what deep feeling he shielded the woman who washed his feet with her tears and anointed them with her precious ointment.
How delicately and with what grace did Jesus speak to the woman who was accused of adultery.
Just think of how different many church meetings, council meetings, and other church related activities would be if we were all confronted and convicted by the words that Love is not arrogant or rude.
We can be sure that love is not arrogant or rude by walking closely with Jesus Christ!
Yes, love humbles a person’s soul to the dust.
True love is content to serve—even without acknowledgement…
…and is ever ready to perform the humblest of tasks.
Pride reaches up ambitiously to the heavens; it knows no limits…
…but love stoops down to the earth, and no humble task is too lowly for its service.
As John Wesley proclaimed: “The Christian cannot keep from wanting to ‘please everyone for the good purpose of building them up.’
Love will constrain the Christian, though without duplicity, to ‘become all things to all people, that by all means he can save some.’”
In becoming all things to others, “love does not insist on its own way.
Those who love others are not envious of their nice cars, big bank accounts, or nice clothing.
No, they desire nothing other than
the salvation of their souls!
Love “is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.”
Genuine love absolutely exterminates “thinking evil” of others.
Only persons of love refuse to rejoice in the mistakes of others.
Only persons of love weep over the sin or mistakes of their enemies and experience no pleasure in hearing about it or talking about it!
The Germans have a word that can’t be completely translated into English…
…but it’s meaning is to take a kind of malicious delight in the misfortunes of others.
Christians should never take pleasure in the problems of others…
…we are to leave that to the minions of hell!
“Those who love others are so far from making” the faults or failings of others “the subject of their conversation that they never speak at all about an absent person…
…except to speak favorably.”
As the founder of Methodism wrote: “A busybody, slanderer, gossip, or evil-speaker is the same as a murderer. One would just as well cut a neighbor’s throat as to destroy his or her reputation.”
Speaking evil about another person is such a grave sin…that we should be so ashamed of this evil that we would never even entertain the temptation to talk behind someone else’s back!!!
Love “always protects, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.”
Love encourages goodness and is always glad to hear about it.
This is one of the many great traits of our Lord Jesus Christ.
He was always on the lookout for any good quality in the life of others.
His eye alone saw the greater possibilities of the fishermen of Galilee that He chose to be his followers.
He marveled at the Roman centurion’s faith.
He could see the queen in the harlot.
Every human heart is hungering for this kind of treatment, and we are called to be the one’s who give it to them!
Many years ago when an old Scottish minister died it was beautifully said of him: “There is no one left in our village now to appreciate the triumphs of ordinary folks.”
That statement tells us all we need to know about that old minister.
He was a person who walked closely in the footprints left by Jesus.
I had a pastor in my teen years who treated me like I was the greatest thing since sliced bread.
It sure made me feel special…but at the same time I knew myself…
…and I just figured that he was mistaken.
Now when I look back on it…he was anything but naïve. He saw potential…where others…including myself—saw failure!
I later learned that he treated everyone the same way he treated me.
In the Conference that I grew up in…more people went into the ministry… at least in part…due to the positive, loving influence of that great humble man…than any other person I have ever known.
Children bloom in the sunshine of encouragement and positive feedback…
…and there is a child in the heart of all of us.
Love is always willing to think the best about others.
Those who love are always ready to believe whatever will benefit another person’s character.
Jesus Christ has such insight into human nature, that he is able to see hope where others see none.
He saw the possibilities in the fishermen of Galilee, of Mary Magdalene, and of Paul himself…when Paul was a bitter enemy of the Christian Church.
No one is beyond the redeeming love of Christ.
No one whom the world thinks of as worthless…is worthless through the eyes of Christians.
There is no end to the love of Jesus Christ.
The eternal quality of this heavenly love is what lies behind all the great assurances that Jesus gave to His fearful disciples in the upper room on the night He was betrayed.
He knew that love was stronger than death, that it transcended death, and that it would bring Him and His disciples together again.
“And now I will show you the most excellent way.”
And that way is Love.
