1 Corinthians 13:1-13
If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
Love Makes Life Worth Living
How’s this for a sensationalistic sermon title: “Love Makes Life Worth Living”? To be fair, you could substitute “love” for literally anything else and it would still be sensationalistic, e.g. “Gummy Bears Make Life Worth Living.” Pretty dramatic, right? Any time you boil down the meaning or purpose of life to a single thing, you’re going out on a ledge.
But I don’t know that too many people would disagree with me when I say that love makes life worth living. I was in Walmart the other day and I saw something like 7 different love-themed t-shirts for sale. You turn on the radio and 90% of the songs you hear are either about how great love is or about how much it hurts to lose love.
Still, it grabs your attention when Paul says things like:
If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.[1]
If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.[2]
If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.[3]
Paul spent an entire chapter of his letter to the Corinthians writing a love song to love, and honestly nothing could be more fitting because it’s not an exaggeration to say that love is one of the few essential, defining characteristics of a Christian. Love guides us through life, and leads us into eternity.
I want you to think about the people that you have appreciated most in your life, i.e. the people who have been the most influential for you. Maybe it’s a coach or a teacher. Maybe it was your nana or the neighbour next door. Chances are that that coach was good at whatever sport you were playing, but I bet it wasn’t his skill that made you appreciate him. Chances are that that teacher knew a lot about whatever subject you were studying, but I bet it wasn’t her knowledge that impressed you so much. Chances are that your nana made the best cinnamon rolls, but I bet it wasn’t her breakfast that made a lasting impact on you.
In each of those cases I would guess that it wasn’t their skill, knowledge or ability that made such an impression. It was how much they cared. It was their love for you that caused them to use that skill, knowledge or ability for your benefit – to spend the extra time with you, to listen to you, to be there for you. It’s love that makes those coaches and teachers, nanas and neighbours so special.
It's love that makes skill, knowledge and ability beneficial. It's love that makes a Christian a Christian. Love is one of the few, essential, defining characteristics of a Christian.
It’s amazing how God works. Yesterday morning, just as our spring clean up was getting underway, a man pulled into our driveway asking for gas money to get to Grand Prairie. It wasn’t the best time for me. I was trying to get everybody organized. I had to make a supply run for leaf bags and hardware. I hadn’t finished writing my sermon yet.
I was tempted to come up with an excuse that would get him out of my hair. I was tempted to just quick get him gassed up and on his way so that I could get on with my day, but then I thought again about verse 3: “If I give all I possess to the poor… but do not have love, I gain nothing.”
Being a Christian is about so much more than what we do. It’s about why we do it. All the gifts that Paul lists in Chapter 13 – speaking in tongues, prophesying, wisdom, knowledge, faith, generosity, martyrdom – are all objectively amazing blessings from God. If you possessed any of these gifts you could honestly call yourself God’s gift to humanity. But God makes it clear that he’s not interested in whether we give that man $50 at the pump or $100. What he cares about is that we show love.
This is what love is and looks like and does:
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily-angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.[4]
You’ve probably heard those verses before, maybe on a wedding day. But even if you have them memorized, I want you to sit with them for a second. I’m going to read this description of love for you again, but this time I’m going to replace “love” with “I.” Does this describe you?
I am patient, I am kind. I do not envy, I do not boast, I am not proud. I do not dishonor others, I am not self-seeking, I am not easily-angered, I keep no record of wrongs. I do not delight in evil but I rejoice with the truth. I always protect, I always trust, I always hope, I always persevere.
Is that you? Even if you nodded along with a few of those phrases, which one made you stop and think? “I am not easily angered, I keep no record of wrongs.” Is that true? Or does the slightest little thing set you off? Do you hold onto the slights others have done to you? “I always trust, I always hope.” Do you? Are you always optimistic? Do you always put the best construction on everything and take everyone’s words and actions in the kindest possible way? Or do you assume the worst and let your imagination run wild with what you think other people meant by what they did or didn’t do, by what they said or didn’t say?
That’s a hard list to live up to. I sometimes wonder whether we should read it on wedding days, or if we’re just setting young couples up for failure and disappointment. But then I remember the words Jesus spoke in our Gospel today:
“A new command I give you,” he said, “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”[5]
God wants us to love each other, but he didn’t just tell us. He showed us. I’m going to read verses 4-7 again, but this time I want to substitute “love” with a different word:
Jesus is patient, Jesus is kind. Jesus does not envy, Jesus does not boast, Jesus is not proud. Jesus does not dishonor others, Jesus is not self-seeking, Jesus is not easily angered, Jesus keeps no record of wrongs. Jesus does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. Jesus always protects, Jesus always trusts, Jesus always hopes, Jesus always perseveres.
Where we have failed, Jesus prevailed. He was able to demonstrate the purest and most perfect love, a permanent, unconditional love for sinners like you. He is patient with you. Even when you are unkind, envious, boastful or proud, even though it would cost him a great deal to show you his love, he was willing to put your needs above his needs. He was willing to give everything up for you, because he does not allow anger to dictate his actions and he keeps no record of your wrongs. He is serious about them – he does not delight in evil – but in love he protects you even from your sinful self. He sacrificed himself on a cross as the payment for your sin, so that you could live in his love forever.
That’s why love makes life worth living. It’s not just that otherwise we’d be surrounded by selfish, grumpy know-it-alls. It’s that without Jesus’ love there’d be no life. But because of his love, not only are we free to try our best everyday to live up to his love, but we also have eternity to look forward where we will live in that love forever.
That’s what Paul means when he says, “Love never fails,”[6] and that love is the greater even than faith and hope. Faith and hope are two other essential, defining characteristics of Christians, but there will come a time when faith will be realized. We won’t have to trust in the promises of God when we get to heaven; we’ll experience them. We won’t need to look ahead to the glories God is preparing for us; we’ll enjoy them.
But even when we get to heaven, love will still make life worth living. Even in the perfect paradise of heaven, we will feel Jesus’ love for us everyday. Even in an eternal existence without sin or suffering, we will still find ways to show love to our Saviour and to our neighbour forever. There is a permanence about love that gives extra meaning to all the practice God gives us to put that love into action today.
That’s why I thought it was so ironic that Ermine showed up at church yesterday. I don’t know that I’ll ever see him again, and I’m sure I could have shown him more love. But as I filled up his gas tank and bought him some breakfast, I was thankful for the memory of 1 Corinthians 13 and for the opportunity to try my hand at the kind of love that Jesus showed me. With Jesus in mind, Paul’s words to the Corinthians don’t come down hard like a hammer. They lift up and encourage, they equip us to show Christ-like love to others.
Love makes life worth living – our love for others, but, much more, God’s love for us in Jesus. May we know his love for us and show it to the world. Amen.
[1] 1 Corinthians 13:1
[2] 1 Corinthians 13:2
[3] 1 Corinthians 13:3
[4] 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
[5] John 13:33
[6] 1 Corinthians 13:8