Sermon on the Meaning of Love According to 1 Corinthians 13:1-7

In the Name of Love – A Quest for the Meaning of True Love

U2 Lyrics – Pride (In The Name Of Love)

One man come in the name of love, One man come and go One come he to justify, One man to overthrow

In the name of love, What more in the name of love, In the name of love, What more in the name of love

One man caught on a barbed wire fence, One man he resist. One man washed on an empty beach. One man betrayed with a kiss

In the name of love, What more in the name of love, In the name of love, What more in the name of love

Early morning, April 4, Shot rings out in the Memphis sky, Free at last, they took your life, They could not take your pride

In the name of love, What more in the name of love, In the name of love, What more in the name of love, In the name of love, What more in the name of love…

How Do We Know Love?

I want to lead you on an inductive study of love.  That means that we are looking at the evidence from Scripture and life for what love means in an attempt to define it and ultimately to have our lives corrected by that definition and shaped by it.

I want to start with Paul’s treatise on love in 1 Corinthians 13:1-7

¹If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. ²And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. ³If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

⁴Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant ⁵or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; ⁶it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. ⁷Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. (1 Corinthians 13:1-7, ESV)

Paul is responding to concerns mentioned in a letter to him and to reports of problems they are experiencing.  Apparently, their use of the Spirit’s gifts has taken a turn toward self-centeredness.  They are failing to see the gifts as designed to benefit the body and are focusing instead on how the gifts build them up and set them apart as special.  It is in this context that he addresses the need for love in relation to the gifts.

1. The Purpose Principle (verse 1)

How is a gong or cymbal supposed to function?

What happens when a gong or cymbal serves only to make noise?

What happens when I try to increase my value in the eyes of others instead of working to meet their needs?

A 55 year old woman has been distance-dating a man who has been married twice and who, in her estimation, based on 4 months of texting, emailing and phone calling, is a man of the highest quality.  She has made herself sick anticipating that when they meet he won’t think she’s enough.  In her thinking she only has worth if a man thinks she hung the moon.  If she were to love him as God designed her to love, she would be thinking of what might bless him as they interact.  She would be wondering if he is someone she could make a commitment to for the rest of her life because they make a good team that could affect the world in a positive way.

Instead, she is putting incredible pressure on him to be the one who invests her with the value and worth that only God can vest us with.  She is not fulfilling the purpose for which God put her here.  Instead of being a lover of others, she is unremittingly giving herself to a man in what seems to be unconditional love and commitment, but is really a bid for him to prove to her that she is worth something.

She has become that noisy gong or clanging cymbal, impressive in one sense, but isolated from her true purpose of making others sound better in harmony with her.  She is too concerned that they will hear her and be impressed, though she is not sure she is impressive.  It is painful to watch.

 

Increasing my value in the eyes of others competes with God’s calling on my life to love others.

 

2. The Impact Principle (verse 2)

What would you like about having all knowledge about the mysteries of God or the faith to be able to move mountains?

What possible downsides might there be to having such knowledge and faith?

Why would having those gifts not determine your value as a person?

Loving others sets the context for the powerful exercise of our spiritual gifts.  Communicating the knowledge of God and exercising faith on behalf of others is empty without love.  Without love we abuse the exercise of our gifts, doing it for show or to gain power or to abuse.  Wanting others to know the truth should only be motivated by love and is most readily received when that is the case.  Demonstrating faith reveals a spirit of superiority and disdain for those of lesser faith unless love is motivating it.

And though those who have great knowledge or great faith seem to be of greatest value to the church or any other organization, they are nothing when their gifts are unaccompanied by love.  Their value actually shrinks and they do more harm than good.

 

My contribution to the world is measured, not in gifts I bring to the table, but in the love I bring to the table.

 

3. The Reward Principle

Why might someone give away all they had?

Why would someone give their life away?

What if they did it to get a reward?  How would that change things?

Sacrifice of self for any reason other than love is a waste.  The suicide bomber who kills in order to obey God and earn heaven earns only hell.  The philanthropist who gives because he longs for some form of immortality, reaps only the fame of hell.  The woman who plays the martyr to her family hoping to force their love earns only their disdain.

In essence, every sacrifice that is not really birthed out of love, is a form of manipulation.  It is a pathetic effort to buy regard from others and earn merit with God.  But God is not persuaded, and humans are usually not either.  We can feel the subtle or not so subtle pressure of manipulation in our bones.  We may be impressed with someone’s sacrifice, but we shouldn’t be when it is not really moved by love.

 

Reward for self-sacrifice is directly proportional to whether I do it in love or not.  No love? No reward, no matter how great the sacrifice.  Great love? No matter how small the sacrifice, the reward is great.

 

Conclusion:

Love is the opposite of being about myself. It is being about others. Love is wanting God’s best for another and actively seeking to bring what is best to that person. Increasing my value in the eyes of others competes with God’s calling on my life to love others. My contribution to the world is measured, not in gifts I bring to the table, but in the love I bring to the table. Reward for self-sacrifice is directly proportional to whether I do it in love or not.  No love? No reward, no matter how great the sacrifice.  Great love? No matter how small the sacrifice, the reward is great.