The Great Love Chapter

Yesterday our Pastor gave a sermon on I Corinthians Chapter 13, the Great Love Chapter. We hear this chapter recited at weddings more than anywhere else and so it was a nice surprise to hear a sermon on the subject and gain a new perspective on not only why it was written but how it applies to each one of us. One of the things that Pastor Swayze said really stuck with me the rest of Sunday and I wanted to share a few thoughts with you as you start 2010.

If you read through 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 you will notice that Paul is trying to tell the Corinthians what it is like to not have love. He starts out by saying that it does not matter what spiritual gifts you have if you don’t have love they mean nothing. One of the reasons he is telling the Corinthian people this is because they have become so enamored with spiritual gifts that they have lost sight of how they are treating each other. They stopped working together and basically had begun to try and trump each other in the field of spiritual gifts saying one was better than the other and forgetting that as a body, if they stopped working together it didn’t matter what gift they had, everything would fall apart. Pastor Swayze related love to, of all things the blood that flows through our veins. She said “if you don’t have the blood or love coursing through your veins then no matter how many other parts you have they won’t work properly, we need the blood (love) to survive and thrive.” I like that. She went on to point out that there are numerous diseases that can be cured or treated but most blood diseases are fatal and have no cure. How sad, to allow the fatality of self-minded thinking to squeeze the life right out of the body. If we have not love we are like a noisy bell or a crashing symbol. Did you know that the gong or bell was what called the people to worship? If we have not love Paul is saying, all it is, is a bell or crashing symbol. The ringing means nothing. Why respond if you are not going to truly worship?

The love that Paul is talking about here is not eros or passionate love or philos, brotherly love but agape love. Agape love is a self-sacrificing love. It is the love Christ showed for us on the cross when he gave his life for us. It is the love you show when you lay down your life for someone. John 15:12b says “Greater love hath no man than this, that he would lay down his life for his friends.” That is agape love. It is not just what love between a husband and wife is supposed to look like but also between friends. I would lay down my life for my sisters and my Mom, for my husband and my children but do I love my friends enough to lay down my life? Do I love them with agape love? Paul is challenging the Corinthians here. He is saying, if you don’t have that kind of love it does not matter what you have, it means nothing.

One of the things Pastor Swayze challenged us to do was substitute our names for the word love in verses 4 through 7. I tried, oh how pitiful when reading the chapter that way. I try to be more patient, more kind, not boastful or arrogant. I try to be accepting and truthful and love my enemies. But I fail, miserably, on most days. Now substitute the name Jesus for love. He was and is agape. And, because of Him I can be that way to. You see, he paved the way for me and you to give the agape love to every one of our brothers and sisters. His love never ends. His love endures all things, it is not jealous or boastful or proud. His love does not count up wrongs but rejoices in the right. And because He died for me and you, he says, you can live and give agape love. He renews the blood coursing through our veins because he spilled His blood for each of us. Praise be to God that He loved us so much he GAVE us his only son (John3:16).

That is true love. The agape love of the New Testament came as a baby, wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. As we celebrate this New Year and focus on the direction we will each go, remember the blood coursing through your veins. Each day you are given a chance to love with agape love. With a love that says I will lay down my life for you. Read through 1 Corinthians chapter 13. Are you searching for gifts but forgetting the most important ingredient. Take a moment to focus on what really matters. If you remember as your reading a brother or sister, aunt, uncle, cousin, parent, friend, child, anyone whom you have not shown love to, ask God to forgive you. Even better ask that person for forgiveness and love them better than you ever did before.

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous, it does not brag, and it is not proud. Love is not rude, is not selfish, and does not get upset with others. Love does not count up wrongs that have been done. Love it not happy with evil but is happy with the truth. Love patiently accepts all things. It always trusts, always hopes and always remains strong. Love never ends…..So these three things continue forever, faith, hope and love. And the greatest of these is love. (vs 4-8a, 13)





Love to all of you in this New Year!

Jane