The Priority of Love - 1 Cor. 13:1-14:1

1 Corinthians 13 ESV

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 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 have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Today is the last sermon in our series called “We are the Body.”

And in this series we’ve been looking at what the Bible is talking about when it calls the CHURCH, “the BODY of Christ.”

It’s such a perfect analogy… (I mean it better be… God himself made it up)… but it’s a picture of many parts... working together... as one unified whole…

The church is the visible manifestation of Christ in the world...

We’ve seen that the members of the church are dependent upon one another… if you are a follower of Jesus, you need all the other parts of his body, and the other parts need you.

Just like the various parts of your body, the people within a church realize are dependent upon one another… we realize that God has called us to build up his body and demonstrate him to the world...

We are talking about being connected to one another when all circumstances would say that is not a possibility.

How the members of the church are dependent upon one another

We are seeing the importance of serving one another even when we have to get creative to do so…

The body is an amazing picture of what it is to be the church… so to carry that analogy even further… we do not just have different parts… we are not just interdependent… we are interconnected.

We’ve seen that each part is given spiritual gifts by God to build up the body… motivations of grace… roles of ministry… activities that are manifestations of the Spirit’s power...

Every body has something that connects its various parts in order to provide life-sustaining nourishment… in a human body, that thing is blood.

It’s so important that we pay close attention to the health of the body of Christ, even as society is rightly concerned about the health of our physical bodies...

Your blood is fascinating...

The body requires each member playing it’s part…

You see, when you face one threat that seems really big, it can be easy to forget about other threats.

Or unless something isn’t going right in your body… but at any given time, your circulatory system is connecting each part of your body, giving it exactly what it needs.

Do you know what it is? It’s blood...

I’ve found it easy to forget that while I’m protecting against COVID-19, I could still get food poisoning if I ate bad meat...

But this is more than just motivations and ministries and manifestations...

Your blood is fascinating...

I could still catch a cold or get the flu....

Today we are going to see that each part needs to be filled with the same essential ingredient: love.

When your skin is cut open, your blood rushes to the surface to coagulate and create a protective barrier for you...

Here’s an interesting statement from the Surgeon General… he’s concerned about not having blood supplies in the hospitals when they need it because everyone is staying at home… he says: “You can still go out and give blood. We’re worried about potential blood shortages in the future. Social distancing does not have to mean social disengagement.”

When you are weak or tired, chances are there is some deficiency of some vitamin or mineral in your blood...

Your blood carries oxygen… it carries antibodies to fight disease...

When you are dealing with a physical issue and the doctors don’t know what is going on, what do they do? They run BLOODWORK.... and based on the bloodwork, they can often pinpoint which parts of your body aren’t working properly.

And based on the bloodwork, they can tell which parts of your body aren’t working properly.

[U.S. Surgeon General, https://www.redcrossblood.org/donate-blood/dlp/coronavirus--covid-19--and-blood-donation.html]

Your blood carries oxygen… it carries antibodies to fight disease...

I find it amazing that we could forget the need for blood simply because another threat seems more looming.

We need to pay attention to the health of our bodies… the health of our families… and the health of the body of Christ in this time.

And I would suggest to you this morning that... as blood is to your physical body... so LOVE is to the body of Christ.

Intro: Love is the lifeblood to the body.

Just like blood nourishes the body and flows between each part… in the body of Christ, love is the nourishment that feeds the body.

And in the body of Christ, love is the nourishment that feeds the body.

When you cut the body of Christ, it bleeds love.

Now some of you watching this morning may not be a part of the body of Christ… you may not be a a follower of Jesus...

If that’s you, I hope that “LOVE” is what you see from the church… I hope "LOVE” is what you see from people who you know who go to our church...

It’s not going to be love as the rest of the world defines it… it’s going to be love like we are going to define it today from the Bible… but I hope you’ve experienced what we are talking about.

I also want to just acknowledge that maybe you haven’t… unfortunately, not every church is going after this type of love… there are some that have gotten this wrong… WE have probably gotten this wrong from time to time…

and we are still growing to pursue the love that our Savior showed us…

So we would invite you to grow with us and explore his love with us through faith in him this morning.

And if you are a follower of Jesus, I hope that "LOVE” is your top priority as part of the body.

Especially in a time when we are scattered as a church…

in a time when it takes extra effort to be the body…

in a time when communication is not ideal and misunderstandings could potentially abound…

in a time when needs will likely be many…

We need to make sure we are focused on love.

Love is what ties together everything we have been talking about in this series so far.

So here’s our big idea for today:

Big Idea: Pursue love as your top priority as you play your part in the body.

Your Bibles are open to .

We actually started this series in 1 Corinthians 12, and so if you were with us for those sermons, you will remember that the church in the city of Corinth was a mess.

Paul had helped to plant this church, but since he left, a lot of things went wrong...

Little disagreements began turning into big divisions..

Opinions about things like who is my favorite preacher...

Or should we eat food that was previously sacrificed to idols...

Or who gets to eat first at the communion meal...

Or who has the best spiritual gifts...

All these different opinions were tearing the skin of the church… and what they were bleeding was not love.

And so Paul writes this letter to get them focused back on the centrality of the gospel… and the unity it provides...

Chapter 13 that we are studying today is sandwiched in between two discussions about spiritual gifts and being the body of Christ… in fact, it is the main point Paul wants to drive home about spiritual gifts...

He says in the last verse of chapter 12, “And I will show you a still more excellent way” [than any of the spiritual gifts]… and the WAY he is talking about is LOVE.

Some scholars even believe [what has become known as “the love chapter”] actually serves as the climax of the letter… This is top priority for Paul…

This is top priority for Paul…

So read with me beginning in verse 1.

Pursue love as your top priority as you play your part in the body.

We are going to focus on chapter 13 today, but chapter 14:1 is important for us to look at… because it is what Paul wants the Corinthian church to DO in light of chapter 13.

He’s not just talking nice about love to give them some warm fuzzy feelings… he wants them to PURSUE love… even as they earnestly desire to experience the spiritual gifts, especially the gifts that bring clarity to who Jesus is and what he has done.

is the foundation for WHY we must pursue love. This has to become our top priority… So today we are going to see three reasons why.... here is the first:

1) Pursue love because it is essential. (v. 1-3)

Just like blood is to every part of the human body, love is absolutely essential to the body of Christ.

Look at verses 1-3 again: “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 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 have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.” (, ESV)

Explain: Paul is saying that without love, our lives... our participation in Christ's body... is just Noise and Nothingness.

Remember, the Corinthians were fascinated by eloquent speech… and they loved the gift of tongues… but Paul says, “I could speak as fancy as the best speaker on earth or in heaven… if I don’t have love, I don’t have anything.”

He says it’s just meaningless noise at that point.... a gong or a clanging symbol.

So let’s just pretend that you thought I’m a really good public speaker… if I’m not speaking to you out of love, all that it is worth is this… [bang on cymbal]

People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.

He goes on… if he KNOWS a whole bunch of things about God… if I appear to have great spiritual insight… if I make big bold leaps of faith… but I’m missing this key ingredient of love, everything that I did amounts to nothing.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want my life to amount to nothing!

He says, “EVEN if I risk my life to tell others about Jesus… if I’m not doing that out of heart of love, there will be no reward in this life or the next.”

Those are some serious claims.

He is saying, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that love is THE essential ingredient to everything that you do.

Without love, your life is noise and nothingness.

Illustrate: It’s like an orchestra without specific notes to play.

It’s like trying to build a house without materials.

It’s like trying to bake a cake without the key ingredients of flour and sugar.

Love is essential.

And yet, how often do we emphasize other things in the church?

How often do we emphasize the eloquence of a speaker or the apparent knowledge of a student?

How often do we emphasize the talent of a worship team or the production value of a livestream?

How often are we WOWED by people who we think are risk-takers for Jesus, who dream big dreams and put it all on the line… but don’t care to examine if they are doing it out of a heart of love?

But don’t think about someone else… make it personal for you...

Apply: Has there ever been a time when you tried to serve someone else without the essential ingredient of love? Why was love missing? What was driving you instead?

I've heard people say (usually a little tongue-in-cheek), "I would love church if it weren't for all the people."

The church IS the people… and to be a part of the body will require you to love people.

Maybe instead of being motivated by love, you served someone because they made you feel guilty and you just wanted to get them off your back.

The church IS the people… and to be a part of the body will require you to love people.

The church IS the people…

Maybe you served someone to look good in front of others...

You were teaching a class or singing on worship team… and you were just hoping people would notice how awesome you were.

And part of you was hoping people would notice how awesome you were.

Maybe you served someone just for that warm fuzzy feeling you get when you do something nice… your motivation for serving is, “It makes you feel good inside.”

All of those motivations will taint the purity of your actions because they lack love.

Now maybe you are saying, "No, I always love people. I'm a lover not a hater. I mean, at least I love the people who don’t bother me… or disagree with me… or who like ME."

If you think you are a perfect lover, these next verses will check you on that...

Look at verse 4: Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. (ESV)

[4] Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant [5] or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; [6] it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. [7] Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. (ESV)

That definition of love doesn’t come from this world. That definition is other-worldly. Which is exactly why we need to PURSUE IT.

2) Pursue love because it is super-natural. (v. 4-7)

Explain: Often this passage is read at weddings… and everyone gets a nice warm fuzzy feeling because the bride and groom are in LOVE and they can’t imagine being anything BUT patient and kind… but just give them a week, and they will realize just how far short they will fall.

Why? Because this kind of love is NOT NATURAL… it’s SUPER-NATURAL.

Now while this passage can certainly apply to all types of relationships of love, interesting enough… the context of this passage has nothing to do with weddings… the context is love in the church... the body of Christ... as they consider how to use their spiritual gifts.

Paul is setting the standard of love for Christ’s body… and the standard of the love of Christ himself. Remember, the body grows up INTO CHRIST in every way… The type of love he describes is the love most clearly seen in the gospel.

Let’s just spend a few moments thinking about the love that God showed us in the gospel as you read this description of love…

What he describes is the love that Jesus shows us in the gospel:

Love is PATIENT - The Lord LOVES so much that he is PATIENT toward us, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. []

The Bible describes us (apart from Jesus) as foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. God’s Love is patient to endure such hostility from sinners… and it is also kind… When the goodness and loving KINDNESS of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy… his love is KIND. [ ESV]

God had no need of envying or boasting or being arrogant...

For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, ( ESV)

Instead, Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God this thing to be held onto… [he didn’t envy…]

but instead he emptied himself... he took on the form of a servant...

who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (ESV)

He was born in the likeness of men…

And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. ( ESV)

Instead of being rude and dishonoring us, he took OUR SHAME and dishonor upon himself… and he set it aside, nailing it to his cross. (Col 2:14)

He did not insist on his own way… the night before his death, he prayed to the Father, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done.” ()

But both he and God the Father knew this was the only way… and in the greatest act of love ever committed, Jesus willingly laid down his own life as his Heavenly Father poured the cup of wrath... that OUR sin deserved... upon the head of his innocent son...

He didn’t do it because he was easily angered or resentful… it wasn’t that kind of wrath… he did it for exactly the opposite reason… because of his love.

Now it’s important that we understand, God was not taking sin lightly and just giving us a free pass… he was not rejoicing at our wrongdoing (that would not be loving), but rather God was showing us just how much our wrongdoing cost… separation from the Father… so that we could come to rejoice in the TRUTH that Jesus paid that cost for us.

And so for the JOY that was set before HIM, Jesus bore all things… even our sin… in his body on that cross...

He believed and hoped all things… that his Father would right all wrongs and raise him from the dead...

And because of the joy that was set before him, he endured all things… even the cross. ()

And we know that his faith… his love… his hope… did not put him to shame...

God DID vindicate him… and raised him from the dead...

And highly exalted him… and gave him the highest name...

That at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth...

And every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is LORD to the glory of God the Father.

The Love that Paul describes 1 Corinthians is the love that God has shown you in the gospel...

And it’s the love with which he wants to FILL you as you put your faith in him...

It starts with you believing that he has loved you in these ways.

His love is intense and perfect and sure and beyond any natural love you have ever seen.

And your love starts by putting your faith in the love of the only Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ.

Your sin is what stands in the way of your love, and he wants to rescue you from that.

If you have never put your trust in his work of saving love, I would urge you to do that today.

And as you put your faith in him, it’s a love that is supernatural and ONLY comes as he fills you with the Holy Spirit.

How does your love measure up against what Paul describes here? I guarantee that if you are honest with yourself, it doesn't.

Just think about your time with your family this week… do you even get past the first two words? Were you ALWAYS patient? Always kind?

Kids, were you ever jealous of something that your brother or sister had or some attention they received? Adults, were you ever envious of the situation of someone else who seems to have it easier than you during this season of trial in our society?

In the church, have you ever insisted on your own way… maybe you made a big deal about small preferences or disagreements instead of bearing all things and pursuing the priority of love?

Have you ever believed less than the best about God’s ability to work in another person’s heart?

If we are honest with ourselves, our love doesn’t measure up. It can’t. This is a love that I LONG to show perfectly… but in my natural state, I fall far short.

And that's because this type of love only comes from God. It’s super-natural.

Just as much as spiritual gifts are supernatural motivations and empowerments, so is the priority of love..

Apply: And each of us needs to accept that our natural love falls short… That’s the only way we can pursue the supernatural love of God. Go to God and ask him to fill you with his love.

That’s the only way we can pursue the supernatural love of God. Go to God and ask him to fill you with his love.

Go to God and ask him to fill you with his love.

Apply: Surrender your own definition of love... forsake the world's cheap imitation of love... and pursue his. Go to God and ask him to fill you with his love.

When you are getting ready in the morning, ask the Lord to fill you with HIS love.

When you aren’t sure you have anything left to offer the people in your family because all of your energy was spent on zoom meetings and decision making, recognize your need before him and ask him to fill you with his love afresh.

When you are unmotivated to care for the needs of your church family, ask him to carry you beyond yourself and your desires… to move toward other people in love.

Now that kind of love seems hard... it wars against the desires of our flesh… it is costly to us... and so we can ask, “is it even worth it?” Is this love even worth it? The answer is yes.

Look at verse 8: “Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” (, ESV)

13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Here’s the third reason you must pursue love as your top priority as you play your part in the body.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

3) Pursue love because it is eternal. (v. 8-13)

Explain: Love never ends. Like NEVER.

Like NEVER.

A lot of things SEEM like they will never end… but they will.

Corona Virus Quarantines will end…

The 2020 election season will end…

Kids, your school year… and your years of schooling… will end.

The waiting for that event that you anticipate so much in the future but just never seems to come… that waiting will end...

The short span of your life will end.

The waiting for the return of Christ will end.

And after all those things end, love will continue to be the top priority of God and his people.

For the Corinthian church, they needed to understand that the things they made top priority like different spiritual gifts such prophecy and tongues and heightened knowledge… those things will pass away… but love will remain.

Paul isn’t clear about when those gifts pass away here… that’s not his point… his point is that they are temporary in light of eternity...

If we think about how the original audience would have understood this and how Paul probably intended it, they all expected Jesus to return SOON… like in their lifetime...

Not clear about WHEN they will pass away... the original audience and Paul expected Jesus to return SOON (didn't expect some lengthy church age, the canonization of scripture, etc.)... most reasonable reading is that he is talking about the return of Christ, the Kingdom and eternity. The point is, love is the thing we will have for all eternity, so we need to start pursuing it now. It is THE primary indicator of maturity in a church.

They didn't necessarily expect some 2000 year church age in which scripture would no longer be written and it would be compiled for all saints for all time...

The most reasonable reading of this passage is that Paul is talking about the return of Christ, the Kingdom and eternity....

When the PERFECT comes...

His point is that love is the perfect thing we will have for all eternity, so we need to start pursuing it now.

LOVE will be the primary experience of our eternal state… when we start to love as God loves, we know we are getting ready for heaven.

In this way, LOVE is THE primary indicator of maturity in a church… the love of Christ is what we are growing into as a body.

Paul uses this analogy of a child and an adult: A lack of love is childish… it would be potentially understandable in an immature church… they are still growing into what it means to be the body of Christ...

But for a church to grow in maturity, it must grow in love.

Grown adults HOPEFULLY don’t fight over things that kids do: Mom, he’s looking at me funny… Dad, he took my toy and I had it first...

Grown adults HOPEFULLY don’t fight over things that kids do: Mom, he’s looking at me funny… Dad, he took my toy and I had it first...

Sadly you hear churches… often very old churches… fighting about those types of things…

But while those things are understandable in children… they have no place in a mature body.

As a church pursues maturity in Christ together, they put behind them childish ways.

They learn to forbear and forgive...

They learn to be humble and patient and kind to one another…

Because they are experiencing more and more of what it is to be the body of Christ.

Our whole goal in this series (and beyond) has been to grow in Christ-like maturity as stewards of God’s powerful grace.

And we CANNOT do that unless we love one another with the essential, super-natural, eternal love of Christ.

Church splits…

Right now, the reflection of Christ’s body is just a dim mirror to the glory of our Risen Lord...

But there is coming a day when we will be like him… just like him… the perfect reflection of our Savior… because we will see him as he is.

That’s the reality we need to be pursuing.

We have SOME knowledge of him now… (and we need to respond to what we know… that he is love and he calls us to reflect his love…)

but there is coming a day when we will know fully… we will see all the glory of who he is… all that it meant for him to love us… we will KNOW it... even as we have been fully known.

You have a choice… right now… to make decisions according to things that are fleeting… what you see, what you feel...

Or you have a choice respond to what is eternal: to live by faith… to endure in hope… to participate in the body of Christ out of love...

These things will not disappoint… they will abide… remain forever… and the greatest of them is LOVE.

The worship team can come, and as they do, I want to ask you this:

Apply: Are you pursuing love which is eternal, or other motivations and activities that are not?

I want to challenge you this week: evaluate your heart: Has there ever been a time when you tried to serve someone else without the essential ingredient of love? What was motivating you instead of love?

Apply: Are you pursuing love which is eternal, or other activities that are not?

I want to challenge you to this week to recognize your need for God’s power in this and go to him, asking him to fill you with his love.

This week is Holy Week… we are reading scripture together: I would challenge you to look for the ways Christ loved people in the final days before his crucifixion.

Ask God to fill you with that same quality of love.

And then I want you to identify at least one other person in the body of Christ toward whom you can show self-sacrificing, Christlike love. (this week) (one person in addition to your family)

Maybe it’s serving them in some way (like a meal or a phone call).

Maybe it’s extending forgiveness where you have withheld it in the past… or humbling yourself where you’ve offended someone else and you apologize.

Maybe it’s sending an encouraging email or note that builds someone else up.

Pursue love as your top priority as you play your part in the body.