Sunday Sermons
IF I Have Not Love
“If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:1-3).
“If I…”
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Unlimited Tongue Speaking Ability:
Even though Paul spoke in tongues more than any of the gifted Corinthians (1 Corinthians 14:18), nevertheless he still speaks here hypothetically. That is, if Paul himself had the highest degree of tongue speaking possible, exhausting all the languages of men, including the angels, the rest of what he says would follow.
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Unlimited Knowledge:
If all God’s truth was revealed through Paul personally, even the secret things of God (Deuteronomy 29:29), without love, he would still have accomplished nothing. Unlimited knowledge cannot justify or excuse the absence of love in one's life. Yet man tends to make certain concessions and allowances for the super-smart. Arrogance is not seen as a sin or even a flaw in the professor, scholar, or philosopher. Our society allows the scientist on the "cutting-edge" of discovery to act like a heel, because after all, “he or she is getting things done and is involved in such important work”. Their intellect too often excuses the lovelessness and lack of social skills they demonstrate. God disagrees. “The permanent danger of intellectual eminence is intellectual snobbery. The man who is learned runs the grave danger of developing the spirit of contempt” (Barclay, p. 131).
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Wonder Working That Moves Mountain Ranges:
Even if Paul had miracle-working faith to the extent that he could move the Rocky Mountains, without love, he would still have accomplished nothing.
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Giving Everything:
If Paul had given every possession he had to feed the poor, and even if he sacrificed his own life – yet if love is not the motivation, if love is not present, then it is all pointless and worthless.
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Giving Your Life:
“Death at the stake might be faced in mere fanaticism, in ambition for a reputed sainthood, in stubbornness, or in pride” (Erdman, p. 132). “If the motive which makes a man even give his life for Christ is the motive of pride and self-display and self-glory, then even martyrdom becomes valueless. It is not cynical to remember that many a deed that looks sacrificial has been the product of pride and not of devotion and of love. There is hardly any passage in scripture which demands such self-examination from the good man as this passage does”(Barclay, p. 132). The point is clear, all loveless abilities, endowments, and sacrifices, are, from the Christian point of view, simply good for nothing. Consider that Paul is speaking of things done in the name of Christ, things that are done to expand the kingdom of God, and if this is the case, then obviously the following are also pointless without a love for God:
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If I become the world’s richest person.
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If I win five consecutive Super Bowls
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If I am the most valuable player every year
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If I am voted the world’s most attractive person
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If I win the Noble Prize
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If I write books that are best sellers
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If I win one Academy Award after another
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If I develop a cure for cancer (not pointless for those you help cure)
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If I baptize 10,000 people in my lifetime (not pointless for the people you baptize)
“I am Nothing”
Not, almost nothing, but “nothing, nothing”, that is, the greatest personal accomplishment or sacrifice, even having miraculous abilities – even abilities beyond other miracle workers are all worthless without love. God does not give me some credit for such things, but rather no recognition whatsoever. Jesus emphasized this same point in Matthew 6:1ff.
“A Noisy Gong or a Clanging Cymbal”
Now men might still be impressed with a loveless speaker, and many of the Jews had been impressed with the loveless Pharisees (Matthew 6:2). “But let's not hear the preacher brag or the loveless speaker, let's not see him strut. He's as offensive as the rattling of garbage-can lids. Without love, the most inspired teaching and speaking is noise! That’s God’s view of it” (McGuiggan, p. 174). This not only applies to loveless speakers, but loveless givers, and those who make tremendous sacrifices without love being the motivation. In other words, any loveless act is annoying, empty, irritating, and is like having to listen to nothing but cymbals. It is something that can quite easily give one a headache.
What the Church Needs
It is tempting to underestimate the importance and power of love. While miracles were used to confirm the truthfulness of the gospel message (Hebrews 2:3-4) and many Christians have thought that being able to perform a miracle would be quite an advantage in bringing people to Christ (as it did in John 3:1ff), this section reveals the “limitations” of miracles when it comes to evangelism and spiritual growth. One could perform miracles and yet not be spiritual or have a genuine love for God. Judas had been given the power to perform miracles and he betrayed Christ (Matthew 10:1). The Corinthians had many spiritual gifts and yet they were very immature at times (1 Corinthians 3:1). Miracles brought a number of people to follow Christ, but miracles by themselves did not keep people with Christ (John 6:26-27). In fact, we might be amazed when we discover that there were many people who saw the miracles of Jesus who never converted. Jesus condemned various cities in which He performed many of His miracles and yet the overall populations of these cities rejected Him (Matthew 11:20). “Then He began to reproach the cities in which most of His miracles were done, because they did not repent”). This might be a verse that we find unbelievable, that is, “How could someone not believe in the presence of the power of God?” “How could someone not repent after seeing people healed, or the dead raised?” Even if we could walk into a hospital and heal someone or even raise the dead, there is no guarantee that anyone who saw this would cry out, “What must I do to be saved?”
John 13:34-35
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another”.
This verse reminds me where the real power lies, and what real accomplishments are the eyes of God. Maybe this is one more reason why God decided that the miraculous would not be inherently part of His church over the ages, because what really leads to congregational growth, edification, or evangelism, is members practicing the love described here and in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. I believe we tend to underestimate the power of love to drawn men to God and the amount of effort it takes to develop the real thing. Gordon Fee has something interesting to say at this point, “Because of the lyrical nature of this section, it is easy to think of love as an abstract quality. That is precisely to miss Paul's concern. Love is not an idea for Paul, not even a ‘motivating factor’ for behavior. It is behavior. To love is to act; anything short of action is not love at all” (p. 628). Compare with John 14:15 and 1 John 3:17-18. More is under consideration here than just "the right motivation". Not only do these acts need to be motivated by love, but the person doing them needs to embrace, in their life as a whole, the biblical ethic of love in these areas and beyond. For example, to be motivated to pray to God out of love is pointless, if I'm treating my brother or spouse in a loveless way (Matthew 5:23-24; 1 Peter 3:7). To tell my parents how much I love them, and then to dishonor them by casting aside their wise counsel, is not love in its truest sense.
God Is Delighted When…
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We have learned patience
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We have overcome jealousy, and can sincerely rejoice when others prosper
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We have learned humility and can laugh at yourselves
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We first consider the feelings of God and others
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We put ourselves second and learn to be selfless
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We have anger under control
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We are forgiving
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We love the truth, even when it requires much of us
