1 Corinthians 13
In this day and age we need power. We have too many words, too much preaching, too many arguments, we need power. The early church always operated with power and that power came from God. It didn’t come from money, it didn’t come from support networks or any kind of program. There was no 7 steps to salvation, 4 steps to heaven, 3 steps to whatever you want because somehow religion today is all about you. They lived humble lives, but you knew there was power in their living.
I see two types of power, there are more, but for simplicity, I see two. The first is the miraculous. The second is love. We don’t know much about either of them. The miraculous goes beyond our wildest dreams, dead men rising, lame people walking, blind people seeing. It defies the very nature of physics and science. I looked up the chemical composition of water once. Then I looked up the chemical composition of wine. They were nothing alike. But this type of power is evident throughout the Old Testament and new, and I believe it’s of God and He wants to restore that power to us because through it we get a new glimpse of who God is. You see power isn’t for us. It’s for us in the sense that we use it, but the end goal has to be God and His glory. There’s another name for when you use miraculous powers for your own gain. Witchcraft. Sorcery. I don’t believe these come from God, but one’s anointing may still remain even if you fall out of the will of God. Think back to Matthew 7 (Lord Lord didn’t we cast out demons and perform many miracles in your name?) But beloved, God does not change. If He can do those things through men 2000 years ago, He can do it now.
The focus of this talk, however, is not on the miraculous because there is a greater power. Greater than the gifts of tongues and prophecy, greater than martyrdom, greater even than faith. What is it about love that makes it so powerful? You see faith can let you speak in tongues, but love will let you speak with healing. Faith will allow you to prophecy, yet without love, it becomes like witchcraft or sorcery. Faith will let you move mountains, but love will move hardened hearts. James says faith without works is dead, I say faith without love is dead. Because there are those who have faith in Jesus because they don’t want to go to hell or they want to live a good life. At best, it’s pragmatism, at worst selfishness. Pragmatism says “this is the most logical way,” selfishness says “this is what’s best for me,” love says “I will do this even at the cost of myself, even if I don’t get anything because I love You.” Don’t you see the difference?
How do you know if you love someone? Test yourself. Are you patient, are you kind, are you rude, do you keep a record of wrongs? Do you always protect, trust, hope persevere? The nature of love is at first adjectives and then actions. Isn’t it interesting in those verses, that the verb form of love is never used. It’s always agapay which is the noun form. I do not mean to say that love is only an action because there is a feeling associated when you think about someone you love. It however isn’t the fast heartbeat swooning fuzzies. I think there is a lot of joy and peace. Comfort. You want to do things for them regardless of whether you’re thanked or not. I’m talking in human terms, but this also applies to God. These verses 4-7 blow my mind. And we can ask ourselves what does it mean to be patient? What does it mean to be kind, or rude or self seeking? That person talks too much and takes too long to do this, and if you’re impatient, it probably means you don’t love them. Love protects, trusts, hopes, perseveres. If you don’t trust someone, then you can’t say that you love them. So they betrayed your confidence. Well if you can’t trust them you can’t love them, why? Because if you had truly forgiven them, if you truly kept no record of wrongs and weren’t self seeking and were kind and persevered, you would trust them. What if trusting them would hurt others as well? I don’t think we should blindly trust everyone. We are called to point people out in their sin and engage people who are living incorrectly. The easier thing is to not associate with them, but the harder is to start asking questions and see what’s going on.
I’ve read verse 8 many times, but this time it’s new to me. Love never fails. Let me say it again, love never fails. Prophecies cease, tongues stilled, knowledge passes away, but love never fails.
And this next part that says when I became a man. Well, when did you become a man? Or are you still in spiritual infancy? It seems that one of the prerequisites of spiritual maturity or manhood is the realization and the actualization of love.
Love greater than faith, greater than hope, the power available to all of us. I may not be able to out argue people, or even debate at a high level, but because of what God’s done for me, I can love people. And we can love people. Who cares if you can’t win an argument? Love all the more. We have too many words, too many arguments, too much preaching. We need power. And that power is love.
