TEXT: 1 Corinthians 13

1 Corinthians 13:1-131 If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.3 If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.4 Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;6 it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth.7 It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.8 Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end.9 For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part;10 but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end.11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways.12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.13 And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love. Luke 4:21-3021 Then he began to say to them, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."22 All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, "Is not this Joseph's son?"23 He said to them, "Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, 'Doctor, cure yourself!' And you will say, 'Do here also in your hometown the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.' "24 And he said, "Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet's hometown.25 But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land;26 yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon.27 There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian."28 When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage.29 They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff.30 But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.

"A MOST EXCELLENT WAY TO LIVE (AND BE CHURCH)"

TEXT: 1 Corinthians 13

What was it about Jesus that caused him to "stir the nest" and get religious folk so upset? I'm pretty sure that he could do it here as well.
Here at Metro the cover of our bulletin reads: "Expressing God's love the city and for all who live within it."
Gambrell Street Baptist in Ft. Worth, TX, has this theme printed on the cover of their weekly bulletin: "To love God… and to love people."
Noble, and I might add, ambitious themes. And you know, Jesus' home synagogue probably could have used it on their weekly programs. They would think of themselves as embodying the thrust of the mission which Jesus declared for himself when he read the text from the prophet Isaiah that Sabbath so long ago.
But Jesus would not let a situation which was going strongly in his favor stay that way. He quickly questioned how they were using their hands to make the prophesy come to pass and a loving crowd turned into a stoning party? They had been happy with him and then he goes and points a finger into their midst while they had been pointing it at others. Are we so unlike them?

I want to stir the nest as well. Could we find ourselves just as defensive and offended as that synagogue in Nazareth when Jesus asked them why they were not putting hands to their understanding of God's word to them. They had been quick to say "good word, teacher. That's our boy Jesus you know, grew up right over there." Then he asked them about their readiness to share the gospel with the oppressed in such a way as that the gentiles might be embraced by the love of God, were they willing to be an inclusive and loving congregation, and they were soon ready to run him out to the edge of town for a stoning party. Only Jesus didn't cooperate long enough to stay around.
All he really did was talk about what love would do if they put their hands to the task before them-a more "excellent way" (if you please) of being church.
Sometimes finding a better way of relating seems strange--even foreign--to us, especially if it has to do with "love." But then we take the risk and give it a try, only to have those to whom we are relating and are so unaccustomed to the new idea, they think we've gone completely bonkers.
That is one of the struggles of being a multi-cultural, multi-socioeconomic congregation.
So, if it's trouble to switch to a better way of relating to others why bother?
Greed and self-centeredness, jealousy and arrogant ambition all too often destroy that which we profess to be most dear to us. We grasp and grab after what we desire, only to rip it apart, or smother it, in our fear that we will lose that which is so important.
Such is the case with much of our society as evidenced by the shambles of our social fabric.
Such is the case of much of our economy as evidenced by the expanding number of persons who live below the poverty level, or on the verge of financial ruin in the middle class.
Such is the case with far too many of our families as evidenced by the plight of children and violence in our society.
Such is the case of many of our marriages as evidenced by the shattered dreams of our spouses.
Such is the case of many of our personal, individual, lives as evidenced by our aloneness in the midst of crowds as we compete to draw attention to ourselves.
Such is the case of many our churches as evidenced by the pettiness of most of our squabbling.
Such was the case of the church which Paul addressed at Corinth. That was the way that I've described our social environment, our families and our churches. That was the way which most of us travel--an idolatry where we make ourselves gods before whom all others must acquiesce. BUT Paul boldly declared that there is a more excellent adventure of relating for the Christian (and its not too shabby for the non-Christian either). That more excellent way is the way of love. But I must confess that it is a way that few seem to comprehend.
Marie Chapian, a contemporary counselor, unknowingly affirmed our text when she wrote: "To love is our highest calling, our greatest gift, sometimes our hardest task, but always our sweetest reward." Jesus, the one who has loved us and loves us still, shows us how. His way is the better way.

On more than one occasion I have wished that there was a simple definition for love--that somehow said: "Love is this and here's how you know you have love." Yet, love is elusive. Someone comes to me and says, "David, I love him or her, but..." and then goes on to describe a relationship that is outside of my willingness to endorse as healthy. Then the person asks, "David, is it wrong? How can it be?" And I stutter and stammer for an answer. That seems to be the nature of love--elusive, and so often--dare I say it--situational. Even the great love chapter here in I Corinthians does not define love. Paul declared that love is the better way of relating--he even placed it up there with faith and hope--in fact greater than faith and hope. Yet, love remains undefined so that we can know when we have it.
And maybe that's the problem. We want to define love, like we want to define relationships, so that we can possess it. however, rather than being something which we can possess, love is something which we have only by giving.
A contemporary counselor has written, "Love is a central condition of human existence. We need it for survival; we seek it for pleasure; we require it to lend meaning and purpose to ordinary existence; we suffer its loss with grief and often despair." I ask, "Why?" Because we look to love as something to possess to be complete.
Scott Peck responds to our dilemma in words from one of his books. "I define love thus: The will to extend one's self for the purpose of nurturing one's own or another's spiritual growth." Hear that? not getting to have, but giving or extending to grow.
Everything in creation obeys the law of love. After all, doesn't scripture declare that "God is love?" No tree bears fruit simply for its own use. No flower blooms for its own beauty. The sun does not shine for itself. It is only men and women who in everything seek their own benefit.
On one occasion Jesus said to his disciples, "Greater love has no individual than this; that he or she lay down her life for a friend." Great love is in the extending of oneself for another. Revolutionary. Yes, and a better way.
But if it is all in the extending, won't we soon run out? Good self centered question that I ask myself. Hear Jesus again. "Give and it shall be given to you, pressed down and running over."
Then why don't we buy into this better way. The truth is that we are afraid that we will be left all alone.

We are terrified of aloneness. Now I know many of us like to have periods when we are by ourselves. And there are a few souls who have chosen the life of solitude--but even most monastics live in communities of silence. We are just not made that way. We are made to live in some kind of community. God saw that Adam was alone and said, "It's not good!" (By the way, God didn't say "Adam should get married", or seek to imply that every man or woman should be married. God simply acknowledged that to realize the fullness of what it means to be created in the image of God, we need to live in community with others with whom we can give and receive companionate love.)
Yet, isn't it interesting that the church, God's gift to those who are disciples of God's Christ, Jesus, could become a place of aloneness. Yet, our competitiveness, and our fear of being exposed to each other for what we are, creates dreadful aloneness. Remember, Adam and Eve were for a time "naked and unashamed" with one another.
While it is true that loneliness can be a positive emotion if it brings you to a better awareness of yourself and your needs leading to positive change, for the most part, the terror of aloneness immobilizes one to the experience of love.
Once again I cite Scott Peck who has pointed out that great relationships cannot be constructed by individuals who are terrified by their basic aloneness. Genuine love not only respects the individuality of the other but actually seeks to cultivate it, even at the risk of separation or loss.
The ultimate goal of life remains the spiritual growth of the individual, the solitary journey to peaks that can be climbed only alone..."sacrifices" on behalf of the growth of the other result in equal or greater growth of the self. it is the return of the individual to the nurturing relationship or society from the peaks he or she has traveled alone which serves to elevate that relationship or society to new heights. So you see, Paul would write. While we may want everyone to be like us, or think we must be like them, in order for everyone to be happy, there is a better way. Don't be afraid of your aloneness. Give of yourself and open yourself to receive from others, and there you will find love.

Paul's letters to the churches who were struggling with healthy relationships with those who were part of the church, with themselves and with those outside of the church contained such admonitions as "Pursue love...(1 Co 14:1)" "Put on love...(Col 3:14)." "Through love serve one another...(Gal. 5:13)." So let's look briefly at the dynamics of applying love as described in this love chapter (1 Co. 13) by hearing it again.
Are you afraid to love that way? Then may I suggest that you move with me back to faith and hope. Faith in Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, and Hope that God will complete or accomplish in you what has been begun through the reclamation work of the Holy Spirit. Remember, "Love never fails." That is a statement of the absolute permanency, supremacy and completeness of love. When it comes to relationships, that's a better way than what so often passes for love in our society.

And so I urge you to consider this better way. The experience of loving is the Christian's most excellent adventure. It is putting our hands, our hearts, our gifts, out lives to the task of the gospel-the love of God spread abroad in the world.
"Love, beyond pleasure, is a dedication of the self through trust and commitment to an expanded experience in relationship. Because it is a willing and conscious utilization of all our capacities for generosity, altruism, empathy, service, self-sacrifice, and devotion --transcending a narrow concern for self and survival-- love defines the humanity that sets us apart from all others." So lets get moving toward a better way. It's a way worth pursuing!