This thirteenth chapter of Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth is commonly known as the love chapter. It’s a favorite of many Christians, and particularly a favorite to use during Christian marriage ceremonies. In fact, if you have been to a wedding that I have officiated (as some of you have), then you have heard me read part of this chapter during the service. You see, every wedding that I have had the privilege and honor of officiating (as well as the one that I was actually a participant in), these words have been read and expounded upon during the homily portion of the service. I don’t go into the text and bring out Greek words, original meanings, and unique phrasings within the chapter. Instead, I mainly just point to the common sense meaning of this text as it comes to us in vv. 4-8a. I tell the two being joined as husband and wife about the fact that Paul was writing to a group of Christians that had confused love for something else in an effort to remind them about what true love really is. I remind the two being married about the fact that the only true love that we have is a love that seeks to bring honor to God and seeks the welfare of His kingdom. I do this so that those being married, as well as all those in attendance, will stop looking at love in the sense in which we define it today and start defining love in the sense that God created it; that we will stop trying to change the definition of love from that which God intended. The word love has become highly subjective in our modern world. It’s possible for us to tell someone we love them and then turn right around and say that we love a good pulled pork sandwich. Now, Amy will attest to you that my favorite food is barbecue. I could eat it every day. However, it’s comical to think that my affection for a great rack of ribs is anywhere close to the devotion that I have towards my wife. So, how are we supposed to understand love in God’s terms? How does that differ from what we define love as today? Well, that is exactly what Paul lays out for us in this chapter. Simon Kistemaker, a retired seminary professor whom I had the privilege of learning under, beautifully sums up this chapter by saying that “[Paul’s] presentation of love, however, is without sentimentality, devoid of sensuality, and free from sexuality.” In other words, love isn’t about the butterflies in your stomach, but about our being shaped into who God would have us be.
The first thing that we see here is the imperative or importance of love. Paul says that it doesn’t matter if he speaks as a man or an angel (obviously something that he can’t do), whether he has the power to prophesy, understand all things, or cause miracles to occur, or whether he gives generously or even becomes a martyr; all those things are nothing without love. Now, Paul isn’t trying to say that none of those things matter, he’s just saying that none of them really matter without the right motive or desire. The desire behind all that we do must be love in order for it to be of any good. Look, you can give a ton of money to a local charity, but if it is for the wrong reasons, then it isn’t really a good work. Sure, some good may come out of it, but in-and-of-itself, it is not a good work. Well, what makes a good work? When we looked at the book of James a few months ago, we said that good works were those things that flowed naturally out of our faith in Jesus Christ. Our thanks, our love for God, manifests itself in the form of good works. You see, the Greek word here that is translated as love is the word agape. Now, this particular word isn’t just a generic type of love. It is a love that exists between God and man. It is a love that begins with God, who communicates that love to us through numerous means (God’s providence, the gift of His Son, the Holy Spirit, or the works of creation just to name a few), and we are to reflect that love back to Him. Now, it is possible for us to have this type of love for another person, but that love must be built upon and rooted in our love for God first and foremost.
The next section of Paul’s chapter on love is what I call the demonstration of love. As I said, this is that part that I typically read at weddings. This section speaks to the character of love, or perhaps we could say the characteristics that this agape love ought to have in our lives. Being patient or forbearing, meaning slow to anger, just as God is patient with us. You know that someone truly loves you when they have the ability to be patient with you. Patience is also one of the fruits of the Spirit as they are given to us in Galatians 5. Another fruit of the spirit comes next; kindness. This is the only time the verb “to be kind” is used in Scripture. Kindness is the extending of the love of God to others. Continuing on in our text, we see next that love doesn’t envy or isn’t jealous. Now, this isn’t the good type of jealousy (i.e. God being jealous for us). This is the type of jealousy that we think of with the sin of covetousness. Love doesn’t boast or brag. Love isn’t arrogant or rude. Paul has already touched on some of this in his opening to this chapter about it not mattering who you are or what you do or have done, true love is what matters. Paul goes on to say that “[love] does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.” In essence, if we are demonstrating this agape love, then we are not forceful or behaving indecently or keeping count of errors, but we simply seek the truth of God. “Love searches out the truth and rejoices when that truth is triumphing over wrong. Love and truth are inseparable partners residing in God himself. God shares these characteristics with His people. He endowed them with love and truth, which, though tainted by sin, are renewed in Christ Jesus through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (Kistemaker).”
Paul finishes off this section on the character of love with those famous words, “[love] bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” In other words, there is nothing that you won’t do for something or someone that you truly love. There is a selflessness to true love. There is absolutely nothing that you could propose to me that I wouldn’t endure for the sake of my kids’ welfare or the welfare of my wife because I truly love them. Do y’all know who Devon Still is? He’s a defensive lineman for the NFL’s Cincinnati Bengals. Well, do you know who Leah Still is? She is Devon’s 5 year old daughter who has neuroblastoma, a type of cancer. The story of this little girl has become quite popular over the past year and a half, largely due to the strong faith and resolve displayed by this family. I saw a video recently of Leah poking her father in the stomach a bunch of times and asking him if he felt anything yet. When the folks recording this event asked what they were doing, Devon told them that his prayer for so long had been that God would take the cancer that his daughter was fighting and put it in his body. You see, his daughter was trying to help Devon answer his prayer by transferring her cancer to him; such an innocently sweet moment. While Devon admitted that his daughter was twice as strong as he was when it came to this fight, he would do anything; endure any pain, in order for his daughter to be spared the pain that she lives with on a daily basis. That is a love that is willing to do anything for the sake of another. That is a love that sums up what we mean when we read the word agape. This man cares not for himself, but seeks more the welfare of another.
Finally, Paul has this last section on love. In this section, Paul speaks to the immovability or stability of love. He begins with those beautiful words, “Love never ends.” Now, of course love never ends because it comes from God. We’re told that in 1 John 4. God doesn’t end, therefore love never ends. As Paul goes on to point out, prophecy ends, speaking in tongues ends, and knowledge has its limits. These are things that were seen as indicators of those who loved God and were committed to His kingdom, but they all had their limits. They all have their temporary, earthly function. Paul spends a great deal of time then talking about things that are partial becoming full and things that are imperfect becoming perfect. We find those famous words, “When I was a child, I spoke like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.” A little later on, “Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.” What does all of this mean? It speaks to the permanent nature of love. It speaks to the fullness that a proper application of the word love employs. When I was in youth ministry, I used to always laugh at the kids who would tell me that they loved someone, only to find that they didn’t love them a week or two later. Now, we laugh at this and brush it off as childish behavior, but we shouldn’t be so quick to do so. You see, I don’t view a great deal of difference between this and the couple who pledges to love one another in the sight of God, only to get divorced a year or two later because they’re not happy and marriage isn’t what they thought it would be. There is no such thing as falling out of love in God’s eyes. As I’ve said many times before, marriage isn’t about our happiness but about our faithfulness to God. God doesn’t call us to enter into marriage to make us happy, but to join us together with someone who we can work beside in honoring God through faithful support, devotion, and possibly raising children. We have to grow up! We can’t keep using a childish definition of love, but the full definition of agape, a love that generates from God towards us, that we reflect back to God.
As somewhat of a way of drawing the audience back to the focus of the chapter, love, Paul ends with this final verse. “So now, faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” Now, unfortunately, there have been those both inside and outside of the church that have looked at this statement and taken away from it that the only thing that matters is love. Look, I like the Beatles too, but when it comes to a right relationship with God, you need more than love. Saying that love is the greatest of these three is like me saying that one of my three children is the smartest. All three have proven themselves to be pretty sharp thus far. So to say that one is the sharpest isn’t to call the other two idiots, it’s just pointing out which of the three seems to be a little bit brighter.
The Christian faith as it exists today ought to be the response to the revelation of the Creator as the God of love. Out of love for those who did not love, the Father gave the Son, the Son gave His life, and the Father and the Son together have sent the Holy Spirit, to save sinners from misery and lead them into glory. The mark of the Christian life is Christian love, whole-hearted obedience to God and a sacrificial mindset when it comes to our neighbors. Christian love is to be devoid of all self-concern. It seeks the good of others over the good of the self. Remember, love is a principle of action rather than an emotion. It is a matter of doing things for people out of compassion for them. Whether or not we feel personal affection for them is irrelevant. It is by our active love for one another that followers of Christ may be recognized.
It is by God’s action of love that we know just how much He cares for us. It’s not because He gives us everything that we want, but because He was willing to go to the greatest lengths imaginable to redeem us. He was willing to give up His one and only Son, to forsake Jesus, all for our sake. Friends, don’t turn love (either our love for one another or God’s love for us) into something that it’s not. Don’t make yourself the center of your definition of love. Place God at the center of your love, where He rightly belongs. I can promise you, that if God is the basis, standard, and center of your love, then you will experience this wonderful gift from God like you never have before. Glory be to God; in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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