21st Sunday after Trinity

SERMON - Choose to Love!

INI

Text: 1 Corinthians 13:1-8a, 13

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up, does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails…. And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

In Christ Jesus, our loving Lord and Savior, dear fellow redeemed:

Today I want to talk to you about the vital concept of biblical love. You notice that I said “biblical love” as opposed simply to “love.” The reason is because there is a concept of “worldly love” out there which dominates our culture today. It is in some respects similar, but in many respects the exact opposite of “biblical love.”

Both concepts of biblical and worldly love view love as an emotion. But worldly love—going all the way back to ancient Greece and Rome—views love as an emotion separated from and independent of intellect and will. It is viewed as something beyond a person’s control—something that strikes like Cupid’s arrow, and into which and out of which people simply fall. It is thought to be so sweet that people will sacrifice just about anything for it, because it makes them feel so good, and they believe it will make them truly happy! But when it is gone, it leaves gaping holes and a sense of emptiness. It is falsely assumed that there is little or nothing a person can do to restore it. Make no mistake—worldly love is real, but it is the product of the confusion sin brings into the minds and hearts of fallen mankind and is based ultimately upon selfishness.

Biblical love is, indeed, an emotion, but it is an emotion controlled by the minds and hearts of believers sanctified by the Holy Spirit. It is based upon a true understanding of God and the joy of knowing His plan to win us back from sin and rescue us from death. It is an emotion that then seeks to understand the needs of others, even as God has understood our needs. It is an emotion that, understanding the needs of others, is determined, as an act of the will, selflessly to meet those needs in any and every possible way. It is an emotion that reflects the very nature of God and leads not merely to happiness, but to ultimate joy and contentment.

My dear friends—let us, therefore, explore this concept of biblical love. I would encourage as you live out all of your relationships—CHOOSE TO LOVE! If you are a married couple suffering the disillusionment of unmet needs; if you are siblings exhausted by endless controversy; if you are employers or employees frustrated by the rat-race; if you are simply believers wondering how you can best help others in this troubled world—CHOOSE TO LOVE! Love is, after all, the greatest virtue, and love really is the key to every successful relationship!

I. Love is the greatest virtue!

The apostle Paul begins our text with these words: “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.” After suggesting the importance of biblical love, Paul then ends his discussion with this observation: “And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”

How can Paul come to the conclusion that “love” is greater than either “faith” or “hope”? After all, the Bible says, “Without faith it is impossible to please God” (Heb. 11:6). The Bible also says that without faith we cannot not be saved, “He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned” (Mk. 16:16). Faith is, therefore, vitally important! Beyond that, we might well ask, “What would life be without hope—especially in the midst of all of life’s trials?” Most people would probably agree that life without hope would hardly be worth living! Yet, Paul is correct—love is the greatest virtue, because of these three, love is the only one which will last throughout eternity. Faith and hope will cease when our eyes behold our Savior God in heaven, but love will remain.

To make his point Paul reminds us of what we know from experience. Humans are capable of doing many things. We can speak with great eloquence; we can possess all manner of wisdom and exhibit tremendous spiritual gifts. We can work hard and remove mountains—literally and figuratively. We can make great sacrifices—giving up our wealth and sacrificing our health for others. But if all of these things are not motivated by love, but rather by our own selfish designs and desires, they do not matter! Without love we are but clanging cymbals in God’s eyes—just so much noise in the wind! Without love, in spite of all of our talents and efforts, we are truly nothing at all, and everything we do will profit us nothing. Love is that important!

Why is that so? Love is that important, because it is the very essence of God. Think about it. Consider God’s other attributes. God is all-powerful, but the Bible never says that He is power. God is all-knowing, but the Bible never says that He is knowledge. Go down the line—God is holy, unchangeable, present everywhere, and eternal, but He is not holiness, unchangeableness, omnipresence, or eternity. Yet John writes, “God is love!” (1 Jn. 4:8b) God’s very essence is love! John goes on to explain: “In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 Jn. 4:9-10).

All this in spite of the fact that we do not deserve God’s love! In our study of Romans in Bible Class this morning, we considered these very thoughts: “When we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly…. God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:6,8). My dear friends, we were all by nature rebels—sinful and sinning, worthy of nothing other than God’s judgment. Even now, as God’s children, we must confess daily that we are sinful in thought, word, and deed. Still God loves us, for He is the very essence of love. He gave His only Son up for us, so that we might be redeemed, regained, restored, and remain a part of God’s family—all as a result of His eternal plan!

Yes, love is the greatest virtue, for it was love—undeserved love in the form of grace, which moved God to save our souls. It is through love that we now can reflect God in our relationships with others. The apostle John, upon identifying God as love and revealing the nature of His love, addresses this appeal to each of us: “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another” (1 John 4:8b-11). My dear friends—CHOOSE TO LOVE! Yes, CHOOSE TO LOVE, because love is the greatest virtue!

II. Love is the key to every successful relationship!

CHOOSE TO LOVE, because love is the key to every successful relationship! But how are we to love? What shape is our biblical love to take? In our text Paul defines love, and his definition, written under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, is the most wonderful definition ever composed. If understood and followed, it can and will bring success to every one of your relationships! Paul writes: “Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up, does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails” (1 Cor. 13:4-8a).

Paul speaks both in the negative—what biblical love is not, and in the positive—what biblical love is! First of all, biblical love “suffers long”—in other words, it is patient, and it is “kind.” Quite frankly, we could stop there. If in every relationship we would simply be both patient and kind, our relationships would only improve! We would have great marriages; we would enjoy our siblings rather than fight with them; we would be more productive on the job; we would find that people would respond positively to us, because love, manifesting itself in patience and kindness, heals, helps, and inspires hope!

Paul, however, goes on to describe more of what he means. Biblical love “does not envy…does not parade itself…is not puffed up.” Here Paul speaks to our attitudes, for biblical love reflects genuine humility rather than pride. Think about Paul’s beautiful admonition in Philippians. While he does not use the word “love,” this is the ultimate goal of his encouragement: “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men, and being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Phil. 2:5-8). How often pride prevents and interferes with the blessings God would bestow upon us through the humility of biblical love!

Biblical love “does not behave rudely” and “does not seek its own”—in other words, it is selfless rather than selfish. This is what, for instance, Paul counsels as he instructs husbands in Ephesians 5. He urges them to love their wives with a self-sacrificing love just like Christ had for us! Biblical love “is not provoked…thinks no evil” and “does not rejoice in iniquity.” Oh my, this love works hard to control the emotion of anger and to avoid everything evil, so that those things do not make inroads into and have an opportunity to destroy our relationships.

On the positive side, Paul says that biblical love “rejoices in truth.” So many relationships are undermined by lies. Lies arise most frequently because people are afraid that the truth concerning their mistakes and failures will disappoint those around them and damage their relationships. As Christians, we make no pretense at perfection. Let us, therefore, recognize our sins, confess them, and rejoice that they have been washed away by the blood of Christ. Do not allow Satan and his tool, fear, to cause you to be dishonest with others. Be bold in the Lord and strive always to “speak the truth in love” (Eph. 4:15). Biblical love “bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things”—in other words, it perseveres and, oh, how important that will be, for every relationship is filled with challenges. Your Lord, however, promises to be with you and enable you to meet each of those challenges every day!

Biblical love, Paul says, finally “never fails.” Why is it, then, that the relationships of Christians do not always succeed? Marriages between two Christians fail? Christian families do not always get along. Job situations for Christians do not always work out. It is because along the way we choose not to love. Perhaps, we are not even aware of those choices at times, but we choose by our words and actions to embrace the negative and reject the positive. My dear friends—do not allow that to happen, but rather focus your attention always on the love and mercy of your God. Then, when you fail to love as you ought, seek God’s forgiveness as well as that of others, and then go on! Should others fail to love you as they ought, then follow Paul’s advice: “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you” (Eph. 4:32). Yes, dear friends—CHOOSE TO LOVE! Amen.

—Pastor Paul D. Nolting
To God alone be the glory!