Text: 1 Corinthians 13:1-13
Date: May 15, 2022
Event: The Fifth Sunday of Easter, Year C
1 Corinthians 13:1–13 (EHV)
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and know all the mysteries and have all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3If I give away everything I own, and if I give up my body that I may be burned but do not have love, I gain nothing.
4Love is patient. Love is kind. Love does not envy. It does not brag. It is not arrogant. 5It does not behave indecently. It is not selfish. It is not irritable. It does not keep a record of wrongs. 6It does not rejoice over unrighteousness but rejoices with the truth. 7It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8Love never comes to an end. But if there are prophetic gifts, they will be done away with; if tongues, they will cease; if knowledge, it will be done away with. 9For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part, 10but when that which is complete has come, that which is partial will be done away with. 11When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put away childish things. 12Now we see indirectly using a mirror, but then we will see face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, just as I was fully known.
13So now these three remain: faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.
Love Is Eternal
This morning’s service is focused on love. We heard Jesus’ clear command to his disciples on Maundy Thursday evening in our Gospel for this morning, “Love one another.” He demonstrated love that is God pleasing when he washed his disciples’ feet that evening. No one else was willing to humiliate themselves to do that lowly work, but Jesus did. He loved his disciples enough to give that brief but powerful demonstration of love.
In our Second Reading for this morning, the apostle Paul does a deep-dive on just what love is and looks like. These are famous words that are likely familiar to us and likely also familiar to those who have never even cracked open a Bible. These words are sometimes used at weddings even when the people aren’t Christians because the sentiment assumed is that of a mushy-gushy, romantic love being celebrated in that moment.
But this morning as we dig into these words, we will hopefully walk away with a better understanding not only of God’s love for us, but of our love for each other, love that should be expressed not only in words and actions, but even in the attitudes of our hearts.
And that’s exactly where Paul begins. He starts this famous chapter on love by addressing the importance of love not only as action but as attitude. If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and know all the mysteries and have all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away everything I own, and if I give up my body that I may be burned but do not have love, I gain nothing. Paul offers a lot of examples here in these opening verses, but they all make the same point. If I can do and actually accomplish amazing things, but I don’t have love as God defines love, it is all worthless. If I’m only out for self-glory or drawing attention to myself, if my motivation is skewed from love to selfishness, I am nothing.
What love, then, is Paul talking about? Well, he goes on to define it: Love is patient. Love is kind. Love does not envy. It does not brag. It is not arrogant. It does not behave indecently. It is not selfish. It is not irritable. It does not keep a record of wrongs. It does not rejoice over unrighteousness but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. This is a definition of God’s love. If you’re familiar with the Greek term, agape, a selfless, self-sacrificing love, that’s what Paul is talking about. Patient, kind, not envious, brag-y, or arrogant.
And this is where those quotes from this chapter can start getting skewed. Because Paul’s point here is not how great the love of the Corinthians has been. His point here is law. He showing where your love and my love have not measured up to God’s definition of love. We might well read these verses like this, Love is patient (but you’re not). Love is kind (but you’re not). Love does not envy (but you do). It does not brag (but you do). It is not arrogant (but you are). It does not behave indecently (but you do). It is not selfish (but you are). It is not irritable (but you are). It does not keep a record of wrongs (but you do). It doesn’t take long for the mushy-gushy vibe some people attach to these verses to evaporate, does it?
Here God forces me to take a step back and evaluate not just my actions and my words, but my very heart. How do I approach my relationship with other people? How do I consider my goals or accomplishments? What do I think about myself compared to what I think about other people? As you work through these thoughts with me, it’s not real pretty, is it?
Think back to this week, look at all the hats you’ve worn and the responsibilities that you’ve had. How have you been as a spouse? How have you been as a single person? How have you been as a parent? How have you been as a child? How have you been as a student? How have you been as an employee? How have you been as an employer? How have you been as a member of our congregation? How have you been as a Christian in general? As you carried out the tasks associated with those roles, did you do so with a God-like love, or did you come off as more of a clattering gong?
None of us probably failed in all ways at all times, but despite the best of intentions, did your selfishness slip in there? Did you have moments of weakness where you weren’t loving at all? Did you seek to use your love as manipulation rather than selfless self-sacrifice?
Of course you did. That’s Paul’s point. This is how we should love, but we don’t. And this is why we need God’s love so desperately. Because God’s love is always patient and kind. It’s never envious, bragging, or arrogant. God’s love is perfectly selfless all the time.
And we see that most clearly in Jesus. Our sin in general, and specifically this morning as we focus on our lack of love, needs forgiveness. Because this is sin that offends the eternal God. This is sin that leads to hell. This is sin that we cannot make up for. My lack of love to another person may be made up for with an apology, a gift, a change in approach in the future, or simply letting some time pass. But that lack of love can never be made up for in God’s sight. It is an eternal weight around my neck, dragging me to hell without hope.
And so God’s love is demonstrated most clearly for us in this: while we were still sinners, Jesus died for us. His death on the cross paid for my lack of love. He died for your selfishness. All of our problems with loving as God loves are solved in Jesus’ perfect life and innocent death. As we look, yet again, at his empty tomb, we see his victory, his inescapable proof of his love for us. His loving victory means we will not be in hell for our sins; we will be in heaven.
That love is then what motivates us to love one another, to look at the times we’ve failed to love this past week and strive to do better. To be that better spouse, coworker, neighbor, friend, parent, child, whatever roles we have, to let love, namely God’s love, flow through those responsibilities. In doing that, we give thanks to God for his love for us.
But love is special, it’s different than anything else. Paul makes this point: Love never comes to an end… these three remain: faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love. Why is love the greatest of the amazing triad of blessings of faith, hope, and love? Because it’s the one that never expires. We only need faith and hope when we are waiting for a promise. We have faith in God’s forgiveness and hope for eternal life because God has promised them, but we don’t have the full realization of all that God has promised just yet. But when God brings us home to himself, we will not need faith or hope. When you have something in your hand, you dob’t need faith that it’s there or is coming. And in that moment we will see God face to face! We don’t have to hope, even have confident hope, that heaven is waiting for us when we’re standing in that perfect place.
But love? Love will fill eternity. God’s love for us will be direct and inescapable, even more than it is now. Our love for one another will be perfectly refined, unhampered by sin and failure. Love will be our constant companion through the endless ages of eternal life. Never will we be apart from God’s love or apart from perfect love for each other.
That change is coming, but it’s not here yet. While we journey through this life we will need faith, trust, that God has forgiven us. We need hope, though not doubt, that God will follow through on his promises to us. And we need God’s love that envelops and restores us. God’s love will not fail for eternity and it will not fail us now. Jesus’ forgiveness is not in doubt. God’s eternal love is our possession now and forever.
Take comfort in that eternal love of God. Even when you fail to love or others fail to love you, God’s love in Jesus, your Savior, is a constant. He died for you; he was raised for you. He loves you now and forever. Rejoice in God’s love, and with his love, love one another, because Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Amen.
