SERMON: Love Overcomes All I Cor 13:1-13 February 15,2004
Have you heard the story about the actor who was playing the part of Christ in the Passion Play in the Ozarks? As he carried the cross up the hill a tourist began heckling, making fun of him and shouting insults at him. Finally, the actor had taken all of it he could take. So he threw down his cross, walked over to the tourist and punched him out.
After the play was over, the director told him, “I know he was a pest, but I don’t condone what you did. Besides, you’re playing the part of Jesus and Jesus never retaliated. So don’t do anything like that again.” Well, the man promised he wouldn’t. But the next day the heckler was back worse than before and finally the actor exploded and punched him out again.
The director said, “That’s it. I have to fire you. We just can’t have you behaving this way while playing the part of Jesus.” The actor begged, “Please give me one more chance. I really need this job, and I can handle it if it happens again.” So the director decided to give him another chance.The next day he was carrying his cross up the street. Sure enough, the heckler was there again. You could tell that the actor was really trying to control himself, but it was about to get the best of him. He was clinching his fists and grinding his teeth. Finally he looked at the heckler and said, “I’ll meet you after the resurrection!”
You know, sometimes it is hard for those who profess to be Christians to behave like Christians should. We dress and act the part. We try to carry our crosses and walk the road Christ walked, but when someone does something we don’t like, when someone crosses us, challenges us, pushes us to the end our human limits and gets on our last nerve we tend to lose our composure and behave the same way the rest of the world behaves.
Let us turn this morning to our scripture found in 1Corinthians 13:1-3 that we might understand how we can always act as Christ would have us too. READ SCRIPTURE.
The Corinthian Church has been having an ongoing argument. Speaking in tongues is the greatest spiritual gift, no prophecy is, no teaching and preaching is. They were in upheaval over whose gift was the most important and most God-graced. So Paul writes to them to explain things. In chapter 12 of 1 Corinthians Paul challenges the Corinthians to stop looking at themselves and start looking at the group. He says that we are all part of one system, one unit developed to work together for the glory of God not of self. He points to that fact we are to work together collective in whatever way or with whatever gifts God has chosen for us. There are Lone Rangers and there are no Superstars in God’s kingdom. Each part of the body of Christ and each gift or talent is just as important as the others. Then he ends the chapter by saying but there is a way to use the gifts in the most excellent of ways. Then Paul does what Paul likes to do when writing he gives his message in the opposite context by pointing to what isn’t the way.
Verse 1 - On the day of Pentecost, when the very first gospel was ever preached, God gave the apostles the special gift of being able to speak in languages that they had never learned so that the peoples hearing them could understand what was being said. An amazing gift yet Paul is saying here that if God gave us the gift to speaking every human language possible and even gift of the language of angels but we did not have love we would be nothing more than a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
These are loud monotone instruments that on their own cannot create melody or harmony. Music soothes the soul, music moves you, it builds you up. You welcome it but a gong is made to grate on you, to offend your ears and get your attention.
Paul’s listeners would be intimately aware of this because daily on the streets of Corinth, the clanging gongs would call the people to worship at the pagan temples. As the people entered the temples they would each hit the gong to awaken the pagan gods so they would listen to their prayers. One person wrote gongs were used to”drive away demons or rouse the worshippers, but they created as much tranquility of spirit as constantly barking dogs.”
Paul here is specifically referring to the gift of tongues, but his words could be applied to any speaking that one may do to God, to another believer, or to an outsider about God when it is done without love. It’s offensive. Your words end up grating in people’s ears. You could speak the nicest most spiritual sounding words to someone, flatter them all you want, but if you don’t love thru respect, care, and truth your words are just ingratiating noise.
Verse 2 - This is even more pointed. If you are gifted to speak words form God, if you have insight into spiritual mysteries, if you have great knowledge, if you have great faith but you have not love, you have nothing, you are nothing. Faith we are told in the Scripture, is so important that it is impossible to please God without faith. And I believe all of us here have faith. But what is your faith? What do you believe for sure this morning?
So you believe that God is the creator of the world? Do you believe that Jesus Christ is His only begotten Son and that he came into our world and lived a sinless life? Do you believe the Apostle’s creed that you recite every Sunday morning? Do you believe that the Holy Spirit is your guide, your counselor and your comfort?
If you believe all those things, that fine and good I commend you for it but Paul is saying even if you know and believe all the right stuff but you do not have love than you are nothing. Paul is saying love is more important than faith. Not that faith isn’t important, but that faith is of no value unless it is backed up by love.
The priest and the Levite in the story of the Good Samaritan had faith. The problem was they had no love. So they walked by on the other side and just left the man lying there to die. In Galatians 5:6 Paul says, “The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.”
And then Paul goes on to say in verse three “If I give all I possess to the poor…but have not love, I gain nothing.” Notice that Paul doesn’t say, “If I give my 10% tithe every week.” He says, “If I give everything, if I empty my checking account, if I give all my retirement funds, if I sell my house, if I cash in my insurance policies, if I sit on the corner with nothing left but what I’m wearing and I’ve given it all away to help the poor, but I don’t have love then I am nothing at all.” Generosity is not enough.
“If I surrender my body to the flames but have not love, I gain nothing.” Paul is talking about martyrdom. He is talking about being so faithful and so committed to God that you end up dying because of your faith. How deep is your faith? How deep is your commitment? Are you willing to lay down your life for God, if it came to that? Even if you go to church every time the church doors are open, if you read your Bible faithfully, if you pray, and do all the things that Christian person ought to do but there is no love behind all that then it is nothing in God’s sight.
I use to think even preached, that this generation of believers over emphasized love in faith That God, Jesus was too much of love and not enough judgment, not enough rules, not enough repentance, not enough about forgiveness and yet when we look at Christ we can’t help but think of and see love. Did you know the only time Jesus said the exact words, the phrase “I love you” is in John 15:12 “I command you to love each other in the same way that I love you.”
Jesus didn’t have to say the words he taught love. He singled out the most important things in all of the Bible, the greatest of all things and wrapped it in love. “ He taught us to love God, to love our neighbors and to love our enemies. The greatest commandments in the Bible the single most important thing of all in the life of faith is wrapped in love. Matt 22:37-40 `You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 A second is equally important: `Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the other commandments and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments." And if that wasn’t enough he taught us to love our enemies not their good but for our own good to keep us from becoming the enemies. God, your neighbors your enemies just love them.
For Love covers faults and shortcomings and eliminates envy and jealousy. Loving those around us brings a wonderful dimension to our lives and enhances our Christian witness. Many people leave the church because they think the people in the church are hypocrites, judgmental, rude and self serving. No one has ever left the church left life in Christ because they were loved too much. No one remains in Christ’s love, demonstrates His love without being changed by it. We are not good followers of Jesus unless we practice what He taught – love others as he first loved us.
But even more than teach us about love Jesus practiced love. His life radiated love to those who knew him best. In describing the relationship between Lazarus and Jesus, John wrote, “Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. The Jesus said “See how he loved him! On two occasions John referred to himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved.
Jesus even exhibited love to those who were strangers who couldn’t follow all the ways of Bible. According to Mark 10:21 when a rich young man came to Him “Jesus looked at him and loved” Him even though the ruler didn’t do what Jesus said. Even though he wasn’t perfect Jesus loved him. He loved us while we were even yet sinners unconditionally before we did anything, said anything, lived anything. He loved us and gave his life for us on the cross – For God so loved the world. God’s love is not only unconditional but is also versatile. God loves and accepts each of us just the way we are. He loves us enough not to leave us that way but to challenge us to grow in his love. And he gives us the privilege of demonstrating our gratitude to him by loving each other in the same way.
Love is more important than spiritual gifts, more important than knowledge and prophecy, more important than faith, more important than generosity and more important than all that things that you might accomplish for the kingdom of God. “All you need is love” Love is so important it is almost cliche.
I find it very interesting that even though the world uses the word love a lot, very few people, even Christians, seem to know what love is. The world has us saying such things as Love is a fuzzy feeling. Love is a Miller Lite beer, I love you man. Love is never having to say you are sorry. McDonald’s - Lovin’ it.
But the Bible tells us in I Corinthians 13:4 – 8a. READ Love overcomes all, is all, is the greatest of all. And we don’t need a commercial or a clanging cymbal to tell us that. We have the life of Christ.
A survey of four to eight year olds reveals love is really quite simple. When asked to describe or explain love this is what they had to say.
Love is what is in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening your presents and just listen. If you want to learn to love better you should start with a friend who you hate. Love goes on even when you stop breathing and you pick where you left off when you reach heaven. When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of your eyes. Love is when your mommy sees daddy on the toilet and she doesn’t think its gross. Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other.
When my grandmother got arthritis she couldn’t bend over and paint her toenails anymore,. So my grandfather does it for her all the time even when his hands got arthritis too. That’s love.
In the mighty words of our God, our children and Nike --- love is just a matter of doing it.
