1 Corinthians 13:1-3

I'm so glad you have joined us this morning on this, what feels like the first day of

summer in our church and in our church life, and especially a warm welcome to all of you

who have joined us from the Ethiopian Eritrean ministry.

We are so glad that you have joined us this morning.

This past weekend, a week ago now, I had the privilege of going to my 25th college reunion

which means 25 years ago I graduated, which now makes me feel very old, but it was a

sweet time of going back and reconnecting with friends, some of whom I haven't seen for years

and years, and being encouraged by seeing them and talking with them about how they have faithfully

sought to serve the Lord and to continue walking with Him through many seasons of life, many

challenges.

It was really a blessing to be with them.

But I was reminded by my friends there of what I was like when I was a freshman.

When I arrived, I had been a Christian for one year, and I was full of zeal and not a lot

of humility.

I walked into this campus fellowship and instantly saw all the things that they didn't do very

well and thought about all the ways that they could do things better.

They had a freshman Bible study, but I thought that wasn't enough.

So I created, you can only imagine this, I created among my peers, small groups on our

own for more time together of fellowship and prayer and Bible study beyond what they had

done because, well, what they were doing wasn't enough.

I also looked at them and I thought, gosh, I don't think they're doing very good outreach,

so I'm going to come and build my brilliant idea of renting a snow cone machine and putting

it in the college fellowship hall and hoping that people might come by and talk to us while

they had a free snow cone.

It was an abject failure.

And yet I thought, hey, at least I tried.

Look at me and how much I'm doing for the kingdom of God.

Well, as you might imagine, the staff who are still there say, well, yep, we survived Matt's

freshman and sophomore year, and in God's grace, there was some growth.

But at the beginning, there was in my heart such a pride, such a critical spirit, such

a puffing up of myself and what I thought I was going to bring to this group.

Underneath it, I think I had a desire.

I had a desire to make a difference and a desire for God's glory.

And that was a good thing.

But the bad thing was that I thought that I was the answer to that desire.

I thought I was going to bring the things that was actually going to change the campus

in the world.

I thought God was pretty lucky to have me on his side, to be honest.

And it was pretty selfish.

It was pretty self-centered and self-oriented.

And it lacked a lot of love.

I don't know if any of you can identify with that.

A desire to do something, a desire to serve, a desire to help, a desire to make a difference.

And yet, often unintentionally, that self-orientation finds itself right in the center of what we

do.

How often we think it's about us.

Fruit of it in my spirit.

I see it.

Even to this day, I can see it creeping in at times.

A critical spirit.

An impatience with others when they don't do what I think they ought to be doing.

A lack of teachability, where I hold everyone's advice at arm's length and sort of consider

it and think, oh, I wonder if I agree with that or not.

An unwillingness to listen to someone who I don't automatically respect for a particular

reason.

And interestingly, one of the other things that I've noticed that is actually a part of this

is self-pity.

When I fail or when I see my own weaknesses, I excuse myself.

I think of all the good reasons why, well, I know I couldn't do that.

And yet, that self-pity then also justifies my critical spirit in other people.

It wasn't just in my desire in ministry.

It was also, sadly, also true in my dating life for many, many years.

Thankfully, God confronted me on that before I got married and did some good work.

He's still at work in my heart.

These things are not gone.

But by God's grace, there has been some growth.

What about you?

Why do you do what you do?

What is it that drives your investment in serving, in helping, whether it be in church or in the

world?

What drives you as you're doing those things?

There are often, almost always, there's a mixture in that, in the answer to that question.

There are always going to be good things in there.

We're about to look at the passage in 1 Corinthians 13.

But it comes right after 1 Corinthians 12, where Paul has spent, if you've been here for a couple

of weeks, you'll remember this.

Paul has spent this whole time saying, each of you in the church has been gifted by the

Spirit of God.

And each of you is valuable and important because of the various and diverse gifts that God has

given you.

So don't puff yourself up about what you have.

Don't look down on other people because of what they have.

But each of you, bring your gift to the table and contribute it for the good.

So Paul isn't saying that we don't have things to bring and things to offer and ways that God

wants to use us.

But he is saying, as we bring those things, whether it's here in the church or in the

world, he's asking us a deeper question.

And that is, how do you hold those things?

How do you hold the things that God has given you, the gifts that he's given you, the contributions,

the opportunities to serve others?

What do you do with them?

That's what leads us to our passage this morning.

If you want to turn with me in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 13, it's page 940,

1 Corinthians 13 · chapter mention

50 something, 50.

It's in the bulletin.

Sorry, I forgot to look that up.

954.

So, and 59.

I'm getting hand signals.

This is good.

59.

For those of you who can find it.

We're going to be looking at just verses 1 through 3 this morning.

So, let me give you a chance to read it.

I'm actually going to begin with the last sentence of chapter 12 because I think it is a transitional

statement for us.

Let's read the Word of God together.

And I will show you a still, more excellent way.

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

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.

If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Please pray with me as we continue.

Oh, Spirit of the living God, will you search our hearts this morning?

Lord, we ask that you would search our hearts to see if there is any wicked way in us and

lead us in the way of everlasting.

Lord, will you search our hearts to see whether truly we do have love in our hearts?

God, I pray you would use me in my words this morning.

Lord, I pray that you would prepare all of our hearts for the Word that you have for us.

We pray this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Well, this is the beginning of, as you know, is one of the most famous passages in the Bible.

Many of you have heard it because it's read more often than I think any other verses in

the Bible at weddings, and therefore it is one of the most well-known verses.

And you know, using it in weddings is fine, but I want you to recognize that in the context

of what the Apostle Paul is communicating to the Corinthian church, the first application is

how do we live in community as a group of believers who follow Jesus Christ?

What characterizes the way that we relate to one another?

And particularly in this section, how do we, as we gather together like we are this morning,

how do we treat one another in the context of our corporate worship?

How do we do that?

And particularly the question of spiritual gifts has come up.

All of chapter 12 has given us a broad picture of spiritual gifts.

Chapter 14 will jump to the specific question of speaking in tongues and prophecy and what

is profitable and helpful and useful as we gather together in exercising these gifts.

But in chapter 13, Paul goes to the depths of our soul.

He goes to the depths of our heart.

And it's not a mistake.

If you've read 1 Corinthians, sometimes you think, chapter 13 feels out of context.

But I hope that you'll see it's not.

It actually is at the very heart of the matter.

Because what Paul says is love is the primary, the dominant characteristic that God desires

to be seen in his people and to be demonstrated to one another.

It is love that shows us that we are truly gods.

And it is love that displays to the world the kind of God we serve.

As we come together in these corporate worship and as we live our lives in various other ways.

He's saying this is the key to it all.

And that's obviously what we're seeing this morning in our passage.

One more thing just about context before we jump in is that look back with me at the end of chapter 12.

Verse 31.

But earnestly desire the greater gifts, the higher gifts, and I will show you a more excellent way.

Paul isn't saying that our gifting is bad.

Paul is saying our gifting is good.

Flip over to the beginning of chapter 14.

Verse 1.

Pursue love and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts.

Especially that you may prophesy.

Nick and Greg will explain that to you.

Why especially that when we get there.

But for now what I want you to see is that Paul is saying that love is the context.

Love is the underlying character quality with which we are meant to hold the spiritual gifts,

the way that we serve, the way we contribute.

When love is there, these gifts flourish.

When love is there, these gifts have their intended effect on those around us.

They have the intended impact that God gave them for us to have.

Which leads us, of course, to our verses.

Verses 1 through 3.

And you know what, friends?

This is a really simple message to preach.

There's only one point, right?

There's only one thing he's saying.

He says it three times, but there's only one thing he's saying.

Nothing matters.

No service, no gifts, no contributions.

Nothing matters when we don't have love.

That's the simple message that I want to explore this morning.

So we're going to look at it.

How does that message map on to what Paul is addressing in the Corinthian church?

So what happened, what it looked like back then?

Then we're going to look at how it might look today.

This question of how these things play out.

And then we're going to look at how we respond to this challenging passage.

And I will say this.

Greg next week is going to preach on how to actually do it.

What does it look like to actually love one another?

So if you're expecting that sermon today, come back next week.

Or pick it up on the website if you're just visiting.

It will be there.

But we're not going to spend as much time about what love proactively,

what the pattern is this week.

Because that's not what Paul is saying.

Paul is asking us simply the question,

do you have it or not?

What did it look like in the Corinthian context then?

What was the question?

He's raising a hypothetical question.

He starts all of these three verses with if.

Even if might be a better translation.

Even if I could do all of these great things.

Right?

The first thing he talks about is speaking in tongues.

Speaking in tongues of men and of angels.

Even if I have this great gift that you admire and exalt so high.

Then he goes on.

He says, even if I have, verse 2, prophetic powers.

An understanding of all mysteries and all knowledge.

And have all faith.

And if the translators were being consistent, there would also be an all in front of prophetic powers.

So we would see, if I have all of these things.

Right?

And Paul is, again, picking here on some of the things that the Corinthians have valued.

You go back to chapters 1 through 4.

And you see how much the Corinthians love their wisdom and love their knowledge.

And puff themselves up by thinking, what I have is greater than those poor people who don't have it.

He even says, if I have all faith, even to move mountains.

He's talking there about God's miraculous supernatural power to do things that are beyond the expectation of humanity.

Beyond our normal experience.

Beyond anything that we've seen.

Say, even if God is using me in those ways.

And then the third thing is he turns from the more spectacular.

In verse 3, he goes to, if I give away all that I have and give up my body to be burned.

Here he's talking about a kind of, a less spectacular, maybe in some ways.

But a more tangible and more physical reality of, I'm taking the things that I have and I'm giving them away for the sake of the gospel.

There's a little translation thing that I want to note.

If you look at the bottom of your page, there's a footnote.

If I deliver up my body to be burned.

There's a little number there and you go to the bottom.

It gives an alternate translation.

If I deliver up my body so that I may boast.

It's one word, it's one letter in the Greek.

It's 50-50 as to what it means.

I think both of them lead to it.

But the reason why I pointed it out is because if it really does mean, if he really intended to say that I may boast, that's clearer, I think.

That clarifies the intention that even if the other translation is better.

That I give up my body to be burned.

Paul isn't saying this is a commendable thing on its own.

But that this seems to be something done for spectacular effect.

So that people would look at me and think, what a great Christian I am that I would be so sacrificial.

What a great person I am that I would do these grand, make these grand costly acts for the sake of others.

Paul says, these things may be true in you.

God may be at work in you in these ways.

But if I have not love, they are nothing.

If there is no love accompanying, undergirding, shaping, and molding these actions, these gifts, these works,

then there is no spiritual benefit.

Now that raises a question.

What does Paul mean, have not love?

Does he mean, have not warm feelings for my fellow people?

Does it mean that I have the willies because I'm sort of excited about the possibilities of blessing other people?

No.

I hope you know this.

If you don't know this, you should.

Biblical, a biblical understanding of love is not simply nice feelings in our heart towards someone else.

Biblical love has to do with actions.

Actions that are not self-oriented, but are oriented for the good of others.

This is what we see in God himself.

God demonstrated his own love for us in this.

Not that he thought nicely about us.

That's not in the verse.

I'm not quoting that verse.

That's my interpretation, right?

God demonstrated his own love for us in this.

While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Love is an action in the Bible primarily.

It is also an attitude that results in action.

And it acts sacrificially for the sake of others.

This is not only the nature of God's love for his people, but it is to be the nature of God's people as they love one another.

1 John 3.

If you see your brother in need and you do not act accordingly, if you do not respond by seeking to serve him and take care of him, you do not love.

And you have no fellowship with God because of it.

Love is not simply caring more about others.

It is also about a forgetting of self.

This is the trickiest thing about love because it's not something that we can do.

Because even acts of love can so easily be infiltrated with our selfishness, can't it?

I love you because it makes our relationship more peaceable, more joyful, more happy.

And then I get along with you and that's nice.

I love you because people look at me and think,

he's a pretty good husband.

He's a pretty good friend.

It's so easy for self to insert itself in the way that we love one another.

And Paul says,

if we have not love,

there is nothing of value that comes of it.

Look at it three times.

First one in verse one.

I'm a noisy gong, a clanging cymbal.

Not quite sure what these instruments were in the first century,

but whatever they meant,

they were making noise, not music.

And they were making loud noise.

And he's particularly talking about speaking gifts,

speaking the tongues of angels.

And what he's saying is,

if you're speaking in tongues in the service without love,

you're worse than that fan.

You're making lots of noise.

And it's not contributing.

It's distracting.

And it's not helping.

It's hurting.

But notice that the real fault is not just that the gifts are ineffective.

Verse two.

He doesn't say,

if I have all these gifts of prophecy and knowledge and wisdom,

and if I have this faith,

but I don't have love,

well, they don't amount to anything.

What does it say?

Look with me again.

It says,

I am nothing.

In verse three,

he says,

I gain nothing.

You see,

in the very core of this,

Paul isn't attacking the gifts.

Because you know what the weird thing is?

God uses people

even when they're not acting in love.

God in his gracious can use someone

who has spiritual gifts.

But what he is condemning here is,

he is saying,

you are nothing.

You,

the thing that you most long for

in your boastful pride,

in your puffing yourself up,

in the exercise of it,

God looks at you and he says,

no,

you are not great.

You are nothing.

Commentator,

Don Carson,

says it this way.

In none of these instances,

does Paul depreciate spiritual gifts.

But he refuses to recognize

any positive assessment

of any of them

unless the gift

is discharged in love.

Principally,

therefore,

any particular gift

is dispensable

so far as spiritual profit

or the attestation

of the Spirit's presence

is concerned.

What he's saying there is,

you don't have to have

any particular gift

or exercise any particular gift.

It's not necessary

for you to have spiritual profit

or that the Spirit is with you.

But love is indispensable.

When you don't have love,

you are nothing.

That's a sobering word for us,

isn't it?

Now,

maybe you're sitting there

and you're thinking,

yeah,

but the Corinthian church

was kind of crazy.

We've been looking at 12 chapters

of their craziness.

And,

you know,

does this really happen today?

Well,

clearly,

I think it does.

Partly because God's word

will speak to us today.

But also because

I've experienced

some of these things.

I don't know

if you've ever had

this experience.

When I worked

in campus ministry,

there were a couple years

when I worked

at Cornell University.

And during that time,

I don't know

how else to explain it,

but God was at work

in a special way.

And it was a really,

really sweet thing

to behold.

It was exciting.

It was exhilarating.

It was challenging.

It was stretching.

It was growing.

Just like in Corinth,

it seemed God

was doing great things

in some ways

among this congregation.

And yet,

the danger is that

in the midst

of all those great things,

they could be warped

and twisted

and actually not end up

having the kingdom

and the gospel shape

that God intended

them to have.

And they did not

produce the prophet,

the spiritual prophet

that they were meant

to have

because of this.

I saw this

among our students.

A certain faction

of them got very

caught up

in the immediate work

of God

in their lives,

in the way

that God was speaking

and giving them

impressions

about what they

ought to do

and not do.

They talked about

praying all night

and worshiping

all day

and there's something

in that

that was really sweet.

But as it went on,

the dark side

of what we see

in Corinth

but have not love

was also evident.

Students started

coming to me

and saying,

what's wrong with me?

Am I just

a spiritual dud?

Because I'm not

like feeling it.

And then later on

students came to me

and said,

I don't want to be

a part of this anymore.

All I feel

is pressure

to go do these things

or to be

this kind of excited

or to be

to, you know,

give up my studies

for the week

so that I can pray

all day

and all night.

I said,

I don't want to be

a part of this

ministry anymore.

Some of them said,

I'm not sure

I want to be

a part of this

faith anymore.

Other students

came and said,

should I be

trying to do that?

Is that what

it really looks like?

Do I have to have

these spectacular

experiences with God?

And so,

you see the fruit

of it.

There was

division.

There was

spiritual destruction

in people's lives.

There was

pride rampant

in certain circles.

A certainty

that God

must be speaking

through individual

people

and how necessary

it was

for everyone else

to get in line

or not.

what about our

church?

We're probably

not as prone

to that.

We're all

sitting there

on our hands

as we worship

and, you know,

we don't get excited

very much

as we maybe

could,

maybe should.

But friends,

I want you to see

that the spiritual

gifts

maybe,

maybe our

palette looks

a little bit

different than

the Corinthian church

but the danger

is still the same.

We've talked

about it before

but let me say

it again.

It seems to me

that the danger

in our church

is that

gifts of eloquence

and gifts

of teaching

are exalted.

to the detriment

of other things.

We want to be

a church

that pursues

a knowledge

of God

but that knowledge

of God

does not require

formal training.

It does not require

polysyllabic

theological definitions.

It does not require

even the ability

to speak

eloquently

about those things.

Hopefully,

you have known

some,

I have known

some saints

with very little

education

and yet

who know

the Lord

partly because

they know

His words

so well

and it is,

it has been

ingested

and digested

and it now

shapes their

thinking

and their lives.

Friends,

let us not

think that

if we teach

with great eloquence

and with great

precision

and with great

theological knowledge

and have not

love

that God

will be pleased

with us

and with our church.

we do not want

to forsake

those things

but we must

have love.

We must be thinking

how is it

that we love

one another

in this?

Friends,

some of you

have serving gifts

and maybe you feel

unappreciated.

maybe you feel

like you're

the second class

citizens

maybe like you're

over at that

large institution

over there

where the professors

get all the perks

and the janitors

clean up all the

dirty work

and you wonder

where's my honor?

Why doesn't anyone

pay attention to me?

Am I not serving

as well?

Friends,

God calls you

to the same thing.

Will you do it

in love?

Not because you

are honored

or respected

but because

to love

is to serve others

with or without

recognition.

And may we

as Nick preached

on last week

recognize that

not only do we

need one another

but we are called

to honor one another

in the diversity

of our gifts

and the diversity

of our things.

my fear is that

we have really

talented and gifted

people who can

fall into

exercising those

gifts without love.

We have hard

working servants

who can fall into

serving without love.

And we have people

in this church

who withhold

their gifts

because they do not

love the church

enough to engage

with it

and to get

involved.

Whether it's

for fear

of not being

valued,

whether it's

for fear

of failing

because you're

not sure

whether you

can do it

well enough,

some of you

are withholding

your gifts

because you

don't love

this church

enough.

how do we

respond to this?

What is it

that God

calls us to

in this?

Well,

I think there

are two things

that we need

to do

in response

to this passage.

First,

we need to

take an inventory

of our heart.

I'm going to

ask you a bunch

of questions

and suggest

a couple of

things for you

to look for

and I want

you to pray

that the Holy

Spirit will

help you see

if some of

these things

are true

in your heart

this morning.

How do we

know when we

are serving

without love?

Well,

think about

these things.

How do we

treat others

who may have

different gifts

from ours?

Maybe the way

they express

their faith

feels different

than ours

or maybe

we think

that they're

the way

that they're

doing their

gifts

or exercising

their gifts

are different

than ours.

Do we

criticize them

for not being

like us?

Do we have

disdain

and dismiss

them?

Do we take

them for granted?

how about

this?

How do you

respond when

a particular

role of

service or

of leadership

has been

denied to

you or

when you've

been replaced?

When someone

is coming

alongside or

coming up

after you

and you

suddenly feel

less valued

than you

did once?

Do you

respond in

jealousy

or anger?

Do you

want to

just take

your ball

and go

home?

Say to

heck with

this.

I'm not

going to

stay around

here.

How do

you respond

when

recognition

you've been

serving faithfully

for a while

and then

you stop

and you

think oh

surely

someone will

recognize me

and praise

me for it

and when

you don't

how do

you respond?

Bitterness?

Resentment?

Do you

seek to

get back

in the

game

and promote

yourself

so that

someone will

finally see

you?

How do

you respond

when you

see others

praised

and exalted?

Do you

stew

thinking that

should be

me?

Why don't

I get

that?

How about

this?

How do

you respond

when you

fail?

When

something you

thought you

did well

is then

critiqued,

shown to

be in

need of

improvements?

Do you

give up?

Withdrawal?

Stop

trying?

Do you

defend

yourself

or excuse

yourself?

Friends,

these questions,

these heart

probing

questions

are things

that we

ought to

ask

ourselves.

More

particular

ways for

us to

see

whether or

not

our service

is

characterized

by love.

Our

contribution

is

characterized

by true

love

for

others.

Paul

says there

is a

more

excellent

way,

a more

excellent

way of

living

in love.

Greg's

going to

give us

the details

of what

that looks

like next

week,

right?

But friends,

if we

see these

things,

may we

repent

of them

and may

we ask

God to

work in

our

hearts

because,

you know,

when we

actually do

get to

serve others

in love,

it's amazingly

joyful.

It's really

freeing.

You stop

thinking about

yourself,

you have so

much more

energy and

so much

more time

to actually

think about

others and

you find

great joy

in seeing

them succeed

and in

seeing good

things happen

regardless

of whether

anyone recognizes

your service

or not,

whether anyone

recognizes your

contribution or

not.

And it's so

wonderful

to be able

to love

like that.

And I pray

that you will

seek that

and long

for it.

and my

guess is

if you're

like me,

you will

try to

do that

and you

will fail

because we

all have

this in

our hearts,

this boastful

pride

lurking there

somewhere.

It may be

more or less

controlling in

our lives,

but it is

there.

Let us

seek to

know it

so that we

can repent

of it.

But secondly

and most

importantly,

let us look

to the one

who can

actually help

us in

that moment.

For friends,

this passage

is a call

to serve

with love.

And where

else do we

go to find

help to do

that than

our loving

Savior?

He who had

all the gifts

and all power

of divinity,

he who deserved

all glory and

honor and

recognition,

he who needed

no justification

for his life

because he was

perfect in

every way.

He who lived

to do the

Father's will

in perfect,

in perfection,

this Jesus

Christ

showed us

the way

of love

by humbling

himself,

by becoming

obedient to

God,

by taking on

the form

of humanity

itself.

And not only

stepping into

the humanity,

but stepping

into its

sufferings.

And ultimately

taking upon

himself the

sin of

this rebellious

humanity that

he entered

into to

identify with.

This Jesus

came

with great

love,

forsaking all

all of his

benefits for

our sake,

ultimately

taking upon

himself our

sin and the

judgment that

it deserves

before a

holy God.

God

judged

Jesus

for your

pride.

He

put to

death

Jesus

for your

boasting

and for

your

loveless

service.

Friends,

what a

Savior we

have.

Because he

did this for

us so that

we might be

set free.

He shows

us by

his example

how to

do it,

but he

also changes

our hearts

so that we

are able

to do it.

Because when

we know

that all

of the

gifts that

we have

come from

him,

that he

has given

us life

and freedom

from having

to justify

ourselves and

our lives

by what we

do,

trying to

make God

as well as

everyone else

accept us

and think

well of us

because of

our performance,

because of

our actions,

because of

the things

we do,

because of

our small

groups and

snow cone

machines.

he set us

free from

thinking that

any of those

things are

needed for

God to

accept us

by purchasing

our salvation

at the cross.

And in doing

so, he sets

our hearts

free.

And so when

we go to

him and

look to

him and

meditate on

his work on

the cross for

us, friends,

this is the

way to walk

in the more

excellent way

of love.

Let's pray.

Lord, search

our hearts.

Show us

the reality

of the depths

of our

motivation,

why we do

what we do.

Lord, we

know that we

are incapable

of this kind

of selfless

love apart

from you.

Lord, we

ask that you

would show us

your great

love for us,

help us to

understand it.

Lord, to

take it in,

to believe it,

to trust in it,

to glory in it,

and to revel

in it.

Lord, because

it is you

who first

loved us.

And by a

knowledge of

your love,

then, we

are able to

know the

way of love

and to love

one another

for your

sake.

Help us,

Lord, we

pray, in

Jesus' name.

Amen.