When All Else Fails (sermon for 2.3.13)

Today's sermon stays with the theme of community.  I have talked a lot about this lately but I cannot stress enough the importance of building a community based on the love of Christ.  In doing so, we create a way of thinking that is contagious and that welcomes all of God's people to His table.  We are all God's people yet we seem to let the littlest, pettiest things divide us and it is essential that we are unified in Christ.  Today's scripture comes from 1 Corinthians 13:

13 If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³ If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,^[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.

⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

⁸ Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹ For we know in part and we prophesy in part,¹⁰ but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. ¹¹ When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. ¹² For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

¹³ And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

If you have been to any number of weddings it is likely that you have heard part of this scripture used in the ceremony because Paul shows the true meaning of love and the characteristics that go along with it.  It is important for us to pay attention to these characteristics but this will not be the focus of today’s message since I am sure that most of you have already heard several messages on verses 4-8.  For those of you who read last week’s sermon you know that I talked a lot about what it means to live in a community.  Today’s scripture continues the theme of community and shows us how important love is to the life of the community.  I want do a little word association activity with you.  I am going to use some of today’s scripture and substitute community for love: and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have community, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have community, I gain nothing.  Community is patient, community is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Community does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Community never fails.  In doing this, how does it affect the way we see those in our community.  Is our community kind or patient?  Is it easily angered?  Does it keep a record of wrongs?  The point of this is to show you that the kind of love that God has for us is the same, exact same kind of love that we are called to shared with others.  When all else fails, are we going to be there when someone needs us?  When all else fails, are we a community where people in need will turn to for help?  Are we a community that shows these kinds of characteristics?  

I have mentioned the fact Cheyanne and I are doing Financial Peace University by Dave Ramsey quite a bit but I have to tell you that that man is a great speaker.  He not only knows a lot about finances but so much of what he says can be used outside of that realm as well.  Last Sunday he said something that has stuck with me all week.  As soon as he said this I knew that I had to talk about it today.  Dave said the same cliche that we all have heard a thousand times.  He said that God will never give us more than we can handle.  At least for me, I have heard this when we are going through a tough time in our lives but Dave applied it to our finances.  When we are in need of money, we often pray that God will somehow, someway provide for us.  But if we are not smart financially, why would God give us something that we cannot handle?  If we are not responsible with our finances, why would God give us more of it?  When Dave said this, a light went on... And that light had nothing to do with money.  But when we ask for something from God we have to make sure that we have the right mentality to accept it, we have to make sure that we are responsible enough to take care of whatever we are asking for.  If you pray that God will make your faith stronger, are you ready to give up some of the things that has hindered your faith in the past?  Are you ready to accept what you are praying for?  This is a question that we all must ask ourselves, all the time.  We must continually acknowledge the fact that we may not be ready for the things we are praying for.  God will continually test us to see if we are ready as well.  A few years ago, I prayed very hard that God would help get my finances in order, and the crazy thing is that He gave me a few opportunities to do so and I did not take advantage of them.   I prayed that God would help me out financially, and He did!  But I did not take advantage, He gave me more than I can handle, if I were to get those same opportunities now, I would be better prepared to do so but I blew my shot because my heart and mind was not prepared for what I was asking.  Now Cheyanne and I must go about it in a more difficult fashion. God will give us glimpses but so often we do not take advantage of those opportunities.  All too often, we have to chalk those experiences up to “learning experiences.”  But that is ok too, because in realizing those opportunities, we can learn from them so we are better prepared the next time.  Dave also says that in order to get out of debt you must “live like no one else so that later, you can live like no one else.”  Our relationship with God can also be echoed in that quote.  We must live a Christ-like life on earth so we can live an eternal life later.  Our work on earth is where we pay our dues and our reward is eternity with a loving, caring, nurturing God.  Maybe you are praying that God will grow our community, make our community stronger, or maybe you are praying that God’s path will be shown to us, you must first prepare yourself for those prayers to be answered.  The easy part is praying to God, the difficulty is found in preparing yourself for those prayers to be answered.  A coach once told me that you must “have your head right and your tail wired tight” which meant that you must be in the right mindset.  You must first prepare yourself for the glory of God to be shown to you.  

Now I want to focus on the last aspect of today’s scripture, verses 8-12.  First, in verse 8 Paul says simply, “Love never ends.”  This makes an awful strong case for the eternity of heaven.  God’s love for us is so incredibly strong that it transcends death.  God’s love goes beyond the grave, it goes into eternity.  Second, Paul stresses the completeness of God’s love.  He says that all we see is a reflection in the mirror but we must take into consideration the historical context in which Paul is speaking.  The mirror as we know it was not invented until the 13th century.  However, Corinth was known for its mirrors of the first century.  Those mirrors were made out polished metal and only showed a skewed reflection.  Paul is making reference to the fact that in this life we can only see a reflection of God, an imperfect reflection at that, a reflection that often leaves us with mysteries and questions.  It takes every bit of our minds and faith to see just a reflection of God, our finite mind cannot fully understand our infinite God.  But Paul reminds that there is an eternal hope.  On earth, our minds can only understand God as a child understands the world but there will come a day where we will be able to see God face to face and finally be able to know Him in the same manner He knows each of us.  The importance of this scripture is that we will never see that day without love because God is love and only those who love will see Him. Third, Paul stresses love’s absolute supremacy.  Faith and hope are great, but love is still greater.  Faith without love is cold, and hope without love is grim.  Love is the fire which kindles faith and it is the light that turns hope into certainty.  

In closing, love is the glue that holds a community together.  Without love a community cannot flourish.  The community of Christ was built on the cornerstone of love because Jesus provided an example of what it truly means to love.  He took our sin to the cross, the unblemished lamb of God sacrificed himself so that we could enter into a relationship with God and be forgiven of our sin.  This community of Christ must also carry the cross out into the world.  We must prepare our hearts and minds for the glory of God to shown to us.  We are called to be a beacon of light into the world and the only way to do that is to be a radiating light of love.  While it is true that the purest form of community that I have tried to describe the last two weeks can only be found in heaven, we must do our absolute best to be a reflection of that community.  It might be the type of reflection that I described earlier but nonetheless, God calls us to be a reflection of His love.  When all else fails, we are left with love, a love that nothing or no one can take away from us.  If God has helped you prepare your mind and heart to accept Jesus’ saving grace, I encourage you to do so today.  The love of God already surrounds you, all that is left is for you to accept it.  If you would like to accept our invitation to become apart of this community, we have a spot open for you at our God’s table.  Amen.

God Bless,

Clinton

Fairview Christian Church