Scripture:
I Corinthians 13:1-13 NKJV
[1] Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. [2] 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. [3] 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. [4] Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; [5] does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; [6] does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; [7] bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. [8] Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. [9] For we know in part and we prophesy in part. [10] But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. [11] When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. [12] For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. [13] And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
Observation:
As I was praying and searching the scripture this morning I landed here in first Corinthians chapter 13. Honestly it’s been something I have been thinking about for a few days. All the characteristics that are explained in verses 4 through 7 are powerful. But I’m not trying to get ahead of myself. The letters that Paul wrote to the church in Corinth were designed to correct them, so you can imagine every topic that was brought into the picture is something that needed to be dealt with. It’s kind of interesting to me how the issues that were faced in the early church are still rather prevalent today as well. The reason Paul wrote this portion was that the church’s behavior did not reflect these particular characteristics. They were in fact doing the exact opposite, rather than being selfless they were selfish, they were missing their gifts to compete with one another rather than to build one another up. Arrogance, selfishness, and division, were the characteristics that were seen in the way they were treating each other. Now I know that’s not what a lot of us want to hear. But as the church age comes closer to experiencing the return of Christ, I believe it’s something that needs to be corrected. As we can see by the way Paul spells it out here in these verses. Love is the foundation the church should be standing on. So my attempt this morning is not for divisions or contention but the unity that should be found in the “CHURCH” that HE designed to kick down the gates of hell. The scripture that just came to mind is first John chapter 4 and verse 20, now listen I’m not trying to cut anyone. I’m doing my best to allow the Holy Spirit the ability to say what HE wants to. This has nothing to do with my heart at this point. But I can see Paul’s point. How is a church that is divided going to come together unless we learn how to love each other. But instead what we see in the American church is competition. Who can build the biggest platform, when what we should be focused on is building the kingdom. As Paul begins to teach on this topic, he brings the spiritual gifts to the forefront of the topic, speaking in tongues, prophecy, words of wisdom, faith, and so, but as he brings the to our attention it’s only to explain the importance of love. Without that one thing the rest is seemingly useless. Love is the cornerstone of everything the church should stand for. Without it every word spoken is just a noisy instrument. It makes no impact. As he moves forward I believe the description of what true love looks like is so powerful that pastors save these verses for one day a year. What love is the topic that fills the building they speak at, February 14th, or the week of. The very first characteristic that is described puts most of us out of the picture automatically. Love suffers, it doesn’t just suffer but it suffers long. It doesn’t stop. The burden that is on a heart of love suffers over the condition of those who are tied to them, there is no envy in love. It’s not looking at someone else’s spiritual gift and trying to top it. It doesn’t parade itself, and is not arrogant. I’m sure as we look at these characteristics we can see where the church is lacking in these particular areas, and if you don’t see room for improvement then maybe arrogance is the area that is most prevalent. I like the statement about truth, but more important the statement about bearing all things, with endurance. That’s something that is an issue if you ask me. What i see is the church’s stance is more along the lines of until we disagree. The division that is in the church is the reason why we have so many superficial believers. They believe only on a surface level. Not to the depth of seeing those types of things that the Bible speaks of. Love never fails. All the other spiritual gifts will go away. But love is the glue…. That Paul saw dissolving in the church. As he begins to bring this teaching to an end. He talks about his childish way, the competition and self motivation having gone away when he understood the power that is placed inside of love. As he strips away every other spiritual gift, bringing it to just 3. His desire is to express the importance of the one. Love…. It should be the cornerstone of the church…. But is it?
Application:
I have to be careful here, because honestly my desire is not to tear anyone down. In the past 16 years I have had the opportunity to attend several churches what I have been looking for is this characteristic, “LOVE” as described here in first Corinthians, but as we get closer to the return of Christ, the prophetic word spoken about the love of many growing cold includes inside the church. What we are ending up with is a building filled with people who only believe on the surface. Love is missing. We are chasing after the most of these and forgetting about the ones whom we are supposed to suffer long for. Rather than teaching people to love we are worried about filling a building, so we can have a larger payday. Let us not forget that love is the foundation. Instead of chasing those away we should be chasing after them. The buildings we call churches have lost the meaning of the “CHURCH” : it is to love those who are hard to love. But that’s not what we find. What we see is competition. Who can fill the building and build a bigger platform. It’s not about our platform, it’s about the platform the HE stands on. The platform of love. How can we say we love when the very first characteristic that is expressed in the description is something that we can’t do. We are not suffering, we are removing people who have been given spiritual gifts because they may out shine ours, rather than embracing them. But thanks to GOD, life is the cornerstone of the “CHURCH” the real “CHURCH” thank the LORD that there are people who don’t give up on people because they don’t fit the demographic. People who will chase after the least of these. Who will leave the 99 and chase after the one rather than ask the one to leave. Love is what we should find in GOD’S people. But that honestly is not what I have found in the buildings that I have gone to. I invested 6 years at one hoping to find it but got cast to the wayside. I will never fit the demographic. But all those whom GOD used in a mighty way …they didn’t fit a demographic either, In fact they were a thorn in the side of those who were trying to fill buildings rather than the kingdom. I want to see the power that is spoken about in the bible. In order to see that we will have to drop all the divisions, and come together to fill the kingdom rather than just a building. This life is not about our payday. I want to empty out hell. That will only be done if we learn how to love. We can not allow that to grow cold. My point to all this is to chase after the one, and find out why they are not coming to the church anymore. Get outside the 4 walls, the building is not the church your ability to love is. Stop chasing people away from the building because they don’t fit and embarrass the difference. They may be exactly what the church needs to show the love of Christ.
Prayer:
Father, give us a heart of love. Take away the division that we see in the buildings we are calling churches. We know that your church is not divided, it’s united. It loves in the manner that is spelled out in these scriptures. You don’t give up on us. The church that you are coming back for doesn’t have a label over the door. It’s not trapped in a building. It’s a church that worships in spirit and truth. It embraces the difference rather than discards it. We want to be used in a mighty way so what we ask for this morning is the ability to love. Remove any division from your “CHURCH” allowing us to get outside the wall of a building. The name of the building we attended is not what matters….. you are. Let us not forget the way you love us, as you sacrificed for us let us sacrifice for others. Let us get outside the idea of a comfortable life as our means of existence and place ourselves in the position that you desire for us, a position of love. One that would give everything to see one more come to the kingdom not a building. It’s in the mighty name of Jesus we pray amen.