“Love Is . . .”
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ. Amen. In two weeks we will be celebrating Valentine’s Day. However, this year it will fall during the season of Lent, and our Lenten sermon series on “Questions at the Cross,” as listed in today’s bulletin. But, the Epistle Reading appointed for this morning happens to include the famous “love chapter” from 1st Corinthians, often read at weddings. So, today we’re observing Valentines’ Day a little early, as we consider St. Paul’s beautiful description of Christian love in today’s Epistle Reading, the love God has for us, and the love we in response show toward God and one another: “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it
is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily
angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but
rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes,
always perseveres. Love never fails.” St. Paul addressed this letter to the Christians at Corinth because
they had big problems. They were constantly fighting and arguing; they
were selfishly concerned only about themselves; instead of helping each other,
they were stabbing each other in the back; they were hurting each other and
ruining their lives all because of a lack of love. St. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians is also addressed to us, today,
because we are sinners too. Like the ancient Christians at Corinth, all
too often our lives are scarred by a lack of love. A lack of love in our
relations with others: fighting and arguing; selfishly concerned more about
ourselves than others; instead of helping each other, stabbing each other in the
back. We too end up scarring our lives and the lives of those around use
because of our lack of love. Jesus says, “The evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up
in his heart . . out of the heart come evil thoughts, hatred, adultery,
immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.” Don’t get the idea that
Jesus is just talking about someone else. He is talking about YOU, your
sinful heart, your sinful, scarred life. “But,” St. Paul says, “I will show you a better way.” The way of
love. “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast,
it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily
angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but
rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes,
always perseveres. Love never fails.” Love is PATIENT. St. Peter tells us that is why God is holding
off the end of the world, in his patience giving sinners like you and me a
chance to repent: “He is patient with us, not wanting anyone to perish, but
everyone to come to repentance.” God’s love is PATIENT. Love is KIND. In Acts St. Paul describes how God shows kindness
to us by providing for our daily, earthly needs: “He has shown kindness by
giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with
plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.” And in Titus, St. Paul
writes how God also shows kindness to us by providing for our eternal, spiritual
needs: “When the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved
us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.”
God’s love is KIND. Love is not SELF-SEEKING. In Philippians St. Paul beautifully
describes Christ’s selfless love for us: “Your attitude should be the same as
that of Christ Jesus. . . He humbled himself and became obedient to
death—even death on a cross!” Jesus put it this way: “Greater love
has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” In the
ultimate act of selfless love toward you, Christ gave himself up and sacrificed
himself for you. As St. Paul says in Ephesians, “Christ loved us and gave
himself up for us as a offering and sacrifice to God.” Christ’s love is
not SELF-SEEKING. Love is not EASILY ANGERED. Psalm 30 says of God, “His anger
lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime.” God is not angry
with our world; God is not angry with you. Jesus took away God’s wrath by
paying for your sin with his life and death. Because of Christ’s sacrifice
for you, God in his heart has for you no wrath, no rage, not one drop of anger,
but only and always love. Psalm 86 says, “You, O Lord, are a compassionate
and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love.” God’s love for you
will never turn to anger. God’s love is NOT EASILY ANGERED. Love KEEPS NO RECORD OF WRONGS. Psalm 103 says, “As far as the
east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”
There is no heavenly ledger keeping record of your sins. Your sins are all
forgiven, and forgotten. In Isaiah the Lord declares: “I am he who blots
out your transgressions . . . and remembers your sins no more.” God’s love
KEEPS NO RECORD OF WRONGS. Love NEVER FAILS. St. Paul asks in Romans, “Who shall separate us
from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or
famine or nakedness or danger or sword? . . . No, in all these things we
are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that
neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the
future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all
creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ
Jesus our Lord.” Through it all, God’s love NEVER FAILS. Jesus said, “The first and greatest commandment is this: ‘Love the Lord
your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your
strength.’” Respond to God’s love for you first by loving God and living
for him. Jesus continues, “The second greatest commandment is like it: ‘Love
your neighbor as yourself.’” “As yourself.” You cannot love your neighbor
unless you love yourself. Respond to God’s love secondly by loving yourself,
loving yourself with God’s love that keeps no record of wrongs. Do not torment yourself with your past sins and failures. God forgives
and forgets. As Psalm 32 says, “Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven,
whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man who sin the Lord does not count
against him.” God does not count your sins against you. The past is over; the
slate is clean; the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses you from every sin; God blots
out your transgressions and remembers your sins no more. Today really is the
first day of the rest of your life. Forgive yourself as God forgives you; love yourself as God loves you.
You are the beloved of the Lord. You are important and special to God. You are a
unique individual, created by God for a purpose and precious to him. Respond to
God’s love secondly by loving yourself. “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Finally, respond to God’s love
by also showing toward others in your life the Christian love St. Paul describes
in our text. “Love is patient, love is kind.” Elsewhere, St. Paul puts it this
way: “Therefore as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves
with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. . . Be kind and
compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God
forgave you.” Love is . . . patience and kindness. “[Love] does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. . . it
is not self-seeking.” St. Paul in Philippians, “Do nothing out of selfish
ambition or self-centered conceit, but in humility consider others better than
yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but
also to the interests of others.” Love is . . . serving one another. “[Love] is not rude . . . it is not easily angered.” In Ephesians
and Philippians St. Paul writes, “Let your gentleness be evident to all . . .
Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger.” “[Love] keeps no record of
wrongs.” Unlike God, most of us do keep a mental ledger of past wrongs
against us. But, St. Paul writes Colossians, “Bear with each other and
forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the
Lord forgave you.” Love is . . . forgiving and forgetting. “Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.” In
his explanation of the Eighth Commandment, “Thou shalt not bear false witness
against thy neighbor,” Martin Luther says: “What does this mean? We should
fear and love God that we may not deceitfully belie, betray, slander, nor defame
our neighbor, but defend him, speak well of him, and put the best construction
on everything.” “Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the
truth.” Love is . . . not gossiping, but always defending our neighbor,
speaking well of him, putting the best construction on everything. “[Love] always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always
perseveres. Love never fails.” St. John writes: “Beloved, let us
love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of
God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is
love. This is how God showed his love for us: He sent his only-begotten
Son into the world that we may live through him. This is love: not that we loved
God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
Beloved, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” Or, as Jesus himself said in beautiful and simple words at the Last
Supper, the night before he laid down his life out of love for us, “My command
is this: Love one another as I have loved you. . . By this all men will
know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it
is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily
angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but
rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes,
always perseveres. Love never fails.” That is Christian love. The love God has for you, and the love
you in response show toward God and one another, as he has loved you. Return to Top | Return to Sermons | Home | Email Church Office
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