1 Corinthians 13:1-13THE MOST EXCELLENT WAY

And now I will show you the most excellent way. 13:1If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong

or a clanging cymbal. 2If 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 have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

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

8Love 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. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11When 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 childish ways be -hind me. 12Now we see but a poor 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.

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

Two weeks ago, the Apostle Paul addressed us all with his declaration: Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant. With these words he promised to give us all the informa-tion we need about spiritual gifts. And in the three Second Lessons we’ve read since then, he has cer-tainly kept his promise!

He began by reminding us that we became Christians through one very important gift – the gift of saving faith, faith that can only be created in us by the power of the Holy Spirit. He went on to tell us about the various gifts, kinds of service, and kinds of working he has given to believers, that is, the holy Christian church, the communion of saints. He informed us that every member of the Church is given a unique set of gifts to meet the unique needs of the situation in life they are in.

To help us understand how these various gifts are to work together, he compared the Church to the body of Christ, a human body. Just as the human body is comprised of many parts – all actively contributing to the overall welfare of the body – so the individuals in the Church are given different gifts to perform dif-ferent functions needed in the Church.

As many, we work together as one to serve the common good and carry out the Lord’s will here on earth. Paul listed some of those gifts. We learned that some were for the people of that day and are no longer needed now. We learned that some gifts may be more prominent, and thus may be considered more im-portant, but that all gifts are vital to the Lord’s people. And in our Second Lesson for today, he directed our attention from all the other gifts to the greatest gift of them all!

He says now I will show you the most excellent way. The greatest of all gifts is more than a gift, it is a way, a way of living. And the really good news is that this gift, this most excellent way of living, is be-stowed upon all Christians, without exception. There is no doubt about it, we’ve all been given the ability to love!

To illustrate the importance of love, Paul selects several of the most sought-after and treasured gifts in the Corinthian congregation. The gift of tongues was highly prized, but the ability to speak in the heavenly language of angels was just noise, if it was used without love. The ability to fully understand God’s Word is one gift we’d all like to have.

But again, if this gift is used for any other reason than love for God and our fellow man, it is nothing. Even the gift of a faith so powerful it could move mountains or move someone to sacrifice all he is and has, doesn’t do him any good if he doesn’t also have love. Without love, nothing of what we think, do or say pleases God in the least. Only love transforms our words and actions into something good!

Okay, now that we know how important love is, we need to know what love is. And in the paragraph that begins with verse 4, we have one of the most beautiful and complete explanations of love that exists. As much as we may think we know what love is, we are influenced by a world that has no real concept of love. Its definitions of love, in fact, are often at odds with the Lord’s.

Love is not a higher form of like. Love is nothing you can earn. Love is nothing you offer in return for something you get. Love is not merely an emotion you fall into, nor is it a condition which requires no ef-fort on your part to maintain. Love is none of these things. Remember, love is a gift which is a way of life, something you deliberately put into practice.

This, Paul says, is what the way of love is. Love is patient, love is kind. Love, at one and the same time, is passive and active. Love is a willingness to put up with the wrongs done against it, patiently. Love is a willingness to react to situations that call for assistance without being compelled to do so, kindly.

As you can tell, love is a choice, a decision to put up with injustice being done to you, while trying to cor-rect injustice being forced upon others. Love is a way of life that is chosen. It is a decision you can only make by the power of the Holy Spirit of God. Paul then goes on to show us various aspects of love, indi-cators, if you will, that love is present.

Love does not envy, that is, it isn’t focused on self and what it wants. Love’s concern is broad, it in-cludes others, even at a cost to itself. As a result, love does not boast, it is not proud. It sees no need to call attention to itself. It certainly sees no reason to think more highly of itself than it does of others. Love lives in the realization that we are all precious to the Lord, we are all dearly loved by him – that we all have had our sins forgiven through the blood of Jesus Christ!

Love is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love is so unlike the attitudes of this world! Love doesn’t say or do anything that might hurt others, even if it feels good to do so, even if it is entitled to such words and actions. Love is founded on the will of God, first and foremost, not on us and what we want. Since God is love, that is always our will.

In a world in which many things can anger us, even in circumstances where anger may be justified, love isn’t easily brought to the point of anger. In most cases anger doesn’t produce anything of value for oth-ers. Love manages anger so it is able to actually do something beneficial for others. It goes without say-ing, therefore, that love doesn’t keep a running tally of ways it has been misused by other people.

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. With these words, Paul contrasts the truth of God’s Word with the evil found in any message that contradicts Scripture. Because love is only of God and from God, love rejoices in the truths of God and soundly rejects anything that is not. Only those who have the truth can truly love!

Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. In the present time, love is pro-tected and persevering. With the Lord at its right hand, there is no trial or hardship that can overcome it. It survives and thrives as the victor over Satan and all the evil he brings into this world.

As it looks to the future, love trusts and lives in hope. No matter what may happen, love’s faith in the Lord’s promises remains, it is absolutely convinced that God will ultimately deliver it to a better place. And in that confidence, what we call hope is really certainty, for hope that rests on God is a certainty! Now we know what love is!

So, why is love the most excellent way? Aren’t there other gifts that as just as good? No, Paul says, Love never fails. Love is permanent – it will never come to an end. The other gifts will eventually be phased out, no longer needed. In heaven, there will be no Gospel preachers – we will hear directly from the Lord, himself. In heaven, all will speak the language of angels – it won’t need to be acquired or ex-plained. In heaven, we will no longer live in ignorance – the Lord will reveal everything to us!

Our spiritual gifts here, as wonderful as they are, simply won’t be needed in heaven. When the Lord re-turns, the need for spiritual gifts will disappear along with the gifts themselves. A tremendous change awaits us. Living now is like being a child. Knowledge and abilities are limited to children - compared to what they will one day be when they grow up. When we reach heaven, we will grow up!

What we know and experience now is limited – like a child’s. Only in heaven will we see God perfectly – face to face – not like a reflection in a mirror. Only in heaven will we know God as well as he knows us. Then and there, we will all be restored to the full image of God. We will be able to live with the Lord for-ever and ever in a love that never ends.

That’s what makes love the most excellent way! Paul confirms that when he says now these three re-main: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. Of all the spiritual gifts, the greatest are faith, hope and love. All Christians have these gifts. But finally faith will be replaced by fulfillment. Hope will be changed to reality. Those gifts will pass away at the Judgment Day.

But love, which is the essence of God, will not pass away. It will only increase to the point where all of God’s love will be felt by all who are with him in heaven. Thank God! His love endures forever! Now that we are no longer ignorant about spiritual gifts, what are we to do with this knowledge, particularly about love, the greatest gift and the most excellent way?

Two uses present themselves. We know that love is the gift of God to us all. God gives gifts to be used! The Lord expects that we will adopt love as our way of living and do whatever it takes to live in love. It may be going against the grain, but our Lord demands that we be aware of the way we live and do every-thing with his power to live in love, the most excellent way.

We also know that perfection in such a life is not possible. None of us will ever be able to live in love all the time in every situation. We are part of the imperfect until the Lord returns. We will sin, we will not love as we should or as we want. And if we ever wonder about how the Lord will treat us because of our lack of love, or worry about our salvation because of our failures, these words are written to comfort us.

For in reality, God is love. Our Lord Jesus is love. Therefore we live in this assurance: Jesus is patient, Jesus is kind. Jesus does not envy, he does not boast, he is not proud. Jesus is not rude, he is not self-seeking, he is not easily angered, Jesus keeps no record of wrongs!

Amen.