Love Outlasts Everything

A Sermon on 1 Cor 12:27-31 to 13:1-8

Introduction

• As a boy, I was always reminded by my parents that I should treat people like I want to be treated. This was the golden rule.
• Every religion in the world states their own version of this golden rule sometimes referred to as the “Ethic of Reciprocity”.
• Just to name a few:
• In Native American Spirituality, there’s a Pima Proverb that states, "Do not wrong or hate your neighbor. For it is not he who you wrong, but yourself.”
• Taoists has this to say, “Regard your neighbor's gain as your own gain, and your neighbor's loss as your own loss.”
• In the Analects of Confucianism, 12:2 states, “Do not do to others what you would not like yourself. Then there will be no resentment against you, either in the family or in the state.”
• "Don't do things you wouldn't want to have done to you” is from the British Humanist Society.
• "Do not do to others that which would anger you if others did it to you.” is attributed to the Greek philosopher Socrates in 5 BC.
• For Christians, our version comes from Jesus himself. In Matthew 7:12, Jesus states it in the positive form, “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”
• Jesus further develops this, when he was asked by a lawyer, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
• Jesus then answers back with another question, “What is written in the Law” How do you read it?”
• The lawyer replied, “Love God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. And love your neighbour as yourself.”
• Jesus already knew the lawyer would quote from the Torah. [Deuteronomy 6:5, and Leviticus 19:18.]
• “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.” [Luke 10:25-28]
• And from this we can say that true religion is based on love. Indeed a love that is eternal and must be part of every ministry and gift.
• You don’t need any proof of this because if you continue to read the passages in this account, Jesus further illustrates this truth in his telling of the Parable of the Good Samaritan.
• And so just to be clear, the love I’m referring to here is not the kind of love that we have for our spouses. It is not the warm and fuzzy feeling we get when we watch a drama or the feeling of admiration for a singer, actor, or a celebrity. We’re not talking about romance, or passion, or lust, or sex.
• In this modern age, we often think about love in terms of our emotions and our passion. It’s what we feel inside. It’s the adrenaline, the dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin chemicals in our brains and the corresponding effect of these chemicals.
• Why did Paul find it necessary to define Love to the Corinthians?
• Well, just like we are today, the Corinthians had misconceptions about love.
• Corinthian society at that time was like Vancouver today. Multi-national, multi-cultural, multi-religious. They were materialistic, individualistic, and sexually charged. 
• What kind of a city are you living in when a new word for an immoral act is coined after your city? Just like in Corinth when the word “corinthianize” also meant “to fornicate.”
• How would you react if 20 years from now, the Oxford Dictionary adds a new word to its collection and defines to “Vancouverize” as “to be hypocritical as to saying one thing and doing something else.” Or, “to be inconsequential and irrelevant as having the eloquence to say the right words but having nothing at all to show for in the face of challenges.”
• The Corinthian church was in the crossroads between the culture of their society and their new found faith in Jesus.
• I suppose, some church members chose to have a foot in each of the two worlds instead of choosing just one.
• The church was plagued with political divisions, discipline, litigiousness among each other, sexual immorality, marriage issues, and other things such as the abuse and misuse of spiritual gifts.
• This church was so endowed with spiritual gifts and many were abusing them for personal gain and glory.
• And so for Paul, to drive home the kind of love that he expects the Corinthian church to exhibit, he describes love as being patient, kind, generous and not jealous, humble, not rude but courteous, selfless and self-effacing, always pleasant in arguments, thinks no evil, and does not rejoice at injustice and rejoices when truth prevails.
• Each of these characteristics is a direct reproof and admonition of wrong conduct and behaviour by the church with their fellow Christians.
• Paul even goes so far to driving this point about love, that he begins to destroy the first misconception by the church about speaking in tongues or the eloquence of speeches.

A Clanging Cymbal

• Indeed, during the 1st Century, Corinth was a city very much like Vancouver. 
• How many times have you heard politicians talk on TV debates or townhall meetings and you’re listening to their well-crafted speeches and in the back of your mind, you do not believe anything he or she says.
• Their words have become white noise to you. They carry no weight anymore. Why? Because you’ve become tired of the cycle of good speeches and broken promises. Election after election.
• There’s debate whether the gifts of speaking and interpreting tongues still exist today.
• I, 100% believe Paul, when he says that speaking in tongues will become useless.
• Whether Paul’s prophecy already occurred within his lifetime or it happened when the canon of scriptures was completed or it’s still present today until Jesus returns, I don’t really know.
• Because Paul’s main point was, speaking in tongues with human fluency and angelic   gracefulness or interpreting these unknown languages will become useless someday but guess what? Love never fails!
• Let’s say you are the best speaker in your bible study group, or church.
• What good is your speeches if you can’t even show simple patience with a brother or sister who comes to you with questions. 
• You like to win every argument and you’re easily irritated and unpleasant during long debates and discussions.
• Someday, without the character of love in you and in your conversations with other people you’ll find that your speeches will become inconsequential. Meaning, your words will lose weight and will not make any transforming impact in anyone’s life. 
• Just like a politician with hollow words.
• How sad that would be. For you and for the people around you.
• The good news is, just as Jesus is eternal, love is also eternal and it’s never too late to put on the character of love, really the character of Jesus in your life today.
• Love is indeed everlasting.

Faith

• Is faith anymore important than love?
• What is the best gift of all, the gift that is the sum of everything. A gift that you live for today and spend eternity with.
• Henry Drummond, a Scottish Christian missionary and evangelist in the late 19th century in his most popular work, a meditational treatise on Love called “The Greatest Thing in the World”, begins "We have been accustomed to be told that the greatest thing in the religious world is faith. That great word has been the key-note for centuries of the popular religion; and we have easily learned to look upon it as the greatest thing in the world. Well, we are wrong. If we have been told that, we may miss the mark.”
• Mr. Drummond was hardly the first evangelist to assert that love is the greatest thing in the world. 
• Paul summed up his arguments for love in his admonition of the Corinthian church in 1 Cor 13:13. “And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.” 
• Of course this was not by chance. Paul was making a very big point to the Corinthian Church.
• Actually, Paul mentioned faith just a few verses above in verse 2. He says, "… and though I have faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.” 
• When faith runs its course, and it will, at the end when Christ comes back, what must remain?
• Yes, it is love that remains. Love lasts forever.

Charity and Martyrdom

• In 1611, the King James Bible was finally unveiled. When the 47 scholars translated the Greek word “Agape” which was the word for God’s love, they chose the English word Charity.
• This English word Charity was widely used in 17th century to mean exclusively “the Christian love of one’s fellows.” It’s taken from old French, “charite”, and from Latin “caritas” meaning “Dear”.
• Nowadays, the word Charity is seldom used to transliterate God's Love. It's unfortunate, that that's happened. 
• Today, the word charity especially during tax season usually means a tax credit. 
• It’s an incentive program by any government to encourage people to give money to organizations that do the good work of helping the poor, the widow, the sick, the forgotten, and the heartbroken in society. Charities help find cures for the illnesses we suffer today.
• If you think of charity as merely an incentive to get a refund from your taxes, then this is charity without much love.
• I’m not downplaying the role of charity in today's world, my only point is that the word Charity is no longer an appropriate word to use for the selfless, gracious, and everlasting kind of love. 
• “And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor…but have not love, it profits me nothing.” This is from 1 Cor 13:3.
• Think about that for a second. It is entirely possible to give every material thing you have without ever loving and it does you no good at all.
• In this same verse, Paul also shows that even martyrdom does not profit anyone much less the martyr, if the motivation was hate not love.
• Unless we have love we can’t feel that closeness with God. God is love and love is God’s essence.
• One of the many things that I pray for is to have the character of God in my life. I know I can’t do it by my own will, no matter how much I tried. But when I have love, and when I experience love, and when I show love to others, that’s when I feel the presence of God in my life.
• Love is of God alone. God is there when love is present.
• A popular Christian song by Citizen Way, goes like this, “Mercy and grace and compassion, they're only words without action. I need hands that are open, reaching out to broken hearts. ‘Cause that's the only way this world will ever know who you are. Love is the evidence.”
• Jesus said, “By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” [John 13:35]
• One of the most noblest vocation is doing missions work. Countless many lives have been transformed by missionaries who travel to the unreached places in the world spreading the good news of God’s love manifested on the cross.
• I pray for more missionaries so that by the love that they show to the world, the world will know who Christ is.
• But the mission field isn’t in some tribal village in Africa, or a slum in Asia, or a drug-run city in South America. It’s actually just beyond the walls of this Church.
• The moment you step out of this Church, you are in the mission field.
• At my last church in Richmond Baptist, we have a sign at the main doors of the church building. It’s not posted outside before you get in the church building. It’s actually posted inside, seen by all people when they leave church after the service. And the sign says, “Welcome to the Mission Field.”
• Love indeed extends beyond one's own life because when you die, the people who felt loved by you will still remember you long after you're gone.
• Love is forever.

Love Bears, Believes, Hopes, and Endures All Things

• [1 Cor 13:7]  "Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance."
• This was Paul's last statement which rounded up his definition of love to the Corinthian church.
• It's an excellent summation, in my opinion.
• It describes the enduring quality of love. It goes beyond belief, goes far beyond trust and hope, and really lasts a very long time. In fact it lasts for eternity.
• I am saddened to see many Christian brothers and sisters who after many, many years still hate people. 
• Some of them say, “I love the church but I don’t love the people.” or “I love Christ but not the Christians.” or “It’s hard with all the rules and the do’s and don’ts.” or “It’s just another bunch of hypocrites.”
• Pope Francis, in his book, the “Joy of the Gospel”, writes, “The pain and the shame we feel at the sins of some members of the Church, and at our own, must never make us forget how many Christians are giving their lives in love.”
• It’s so convenient to look at the wrongdoings of the few bad apples and be discouraged. Perhaps, we have lost confidence in church leaders who spread fear, anxiety, and hate. We’ve seen far too many Christians who wear their religion on their sleeves and instead of demonstrating the gift of love that they received, they squander it in the most embarrassing of ways.
• And yet we also know and see and prove, that the love of Christians brought on by the love of God, remains an ever present and steadfast force in the world. This kind of love that Paul has defined for us, has endured throughout history and today is still driving the growth in many parts of the globe. 
• Love bears everything. Every heartache. Every pain - physical, emotional, psychological, biological, spiritual. Every sadness. Every injustice. Every sickness. Every bad moment. Every bad luck.
• Love has a way of counteracting the effects of sin in the individual and the community.
• Love's enduring quality can transform both the giver and the receiver of love. 
• Jesus died for sinners, for all of us. This is the ultimate act of love for others. 
• “This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” 
• So, if you’re disheartened by religion, counteract it with love. 
• “Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening]” [1 Cor 13:7 AMP]
• Does it makes sense to spend today which is the beginning of your eternal life still harboring that hate in your heart, still worrying, still feeling defeated, still proud, still seeking your own glory?
• Love endures all kinds of baggage for all time.

Closing

• Do you know of someone who possesses all the characteristics of love that Paul described? 
• Yes, Jesus our Lord and Saviour embodies all of these traits. He does not show one trait to the exclusion of another.
• And the greatest demonstration of his love is at the cross. 
• Do you wonder why you and I, and every Christian in the world, are also capable of the kind of love that Jesus had for us. 
• In 1 John 4:19, the apostle John said, “We love each other because he loved us first. (NLT)” Some translations say, “We love Him,” meaning God, “because he loved us first.” Regardless, of what translation you follow, remember Jesus’ version of the golden rule, love God and love others. 
• Let me tell you right now, you can’t even follow that twofer commandment if you can’t accept in your mind and heart the idea that God loved you first. That’s why he died on the cross while we were still sinners and was brought back to life. That was all for you and for me.
• If you deny this, the love that you exhibit with others is more like an investment rather than love. You put in a little love and expect that you will get something back.
• Why give to people who can repay you? Isn’t it much better to give and expect nothing in return?
• That is why, I believe that we need to rethink what is everlasting in this world and in eternity. 
• Some Christians feel that if you started talking like this, that you are now advocating works. After all, we are saved by grace through faith not by our own efforts.
• And yet it is also clear from James that faith that doesn’t show up in actions for our brothers and sisters does not save anyone.
• If you simply believe but do not have the love of God, your belief is shallow and temporary.
• Notice, I said Love OF God and not Love FOR God.
• Like faith, and hope, and all spiritual gifts and ministries, Love is a gift. A grace that is given and is to be received.
• If you emphasize your Love FOR God then you are working for your salvation. You’re doing it by works.
• But if you receive the Love OF God, then your actions, the fruit of the Spirit, shows up organically. Your actions proceed from the love of God.
• Love therefore is not forced. But it is a decision, a willful act that does not come from selfish reasons but from God.
• Love is eternal.
• [1 Cor 12:31] “But earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way.”
• And what was that excellent way. The way of Love.
• To this day, many Pastors and church leaders, preach peace, faith, and righteousness.
• These are good things to preach about and who doesn’t want peace, or faith, or righteousness.
• But these things you can’t take with you to eternity.
• Jesus Christ came to this world to die and give us an abundant life in Him. Why?
• Because he loved us. And he did so first. Not the other way around.
• The gospel isn’t just that you believe and then you’ll have all these spiritual gifts and ministries and so you can just love yourself and wait for heaven.
• Practice love and practice it often. And with people of course.
• Eternity is a long time, and if we were to take something with us it is love which outlasts everything.
• And I will close with words from Henry Drummond’s “The Greatest Thing in the World.”
• “To love abundantly is to live abundantly, and to love forever is to live forever. Hence, eternal life is inextricably bound up with love. We want to live forever for the same reason that we want to live tomorrow.”