1 Corinthians 13: More Than A Wedding Text

Sermon on 1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Text: 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, 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.

It won’t be too long before we enter the month of June. June is traditionally the month when many marriages take place. Likely, if you have attended a wedding, you have heard at least a portion of our text as one of the readings, if not the text for the sermon. It makes sense to talk about love on a wedding day. After all, you have the bride and groom professing their love for each other in front of God, family, and friends. So, what better place to turn to in the Scriptures to remind the couple of how they can put their love into practice. However, 1 Corinthians 13 wasn’t written primarily for weddings. Rather, God inspired the apostle Paul to write these words to show all Christians what true love is and how it can be put into practice. As we study this portion of God’s Word, we are reminded 1 CORINTHIANS 13: MORE THAN A WEDDING TEXT. As we look at the love that is described, we want to note 1. The Necessity Of Love, 2. The Character Of Love and 3. The Permanence Of Love.

Paul’s first letter to the congregation in Corinth must have been a hard one for him to write. He was writing to a church that was wrestling with all sorts of issues that threatened to tear the church apart. They were dealing with factionalism in the church. There were different groups and cliques that had developed in the church, and they didn’t get along. They were suing each other over trivial things. They were ignoring blatant sin in the midst. Another problem that they were dealing with was that many of the members were not thinking about how they were living was having a negative impact on the faith of their fellow Christians. They were only thinking about themselves. There was the problem of pride. Church members were puffed up about how they thought that they were more spiritual and more important than their fellow members. This was a congregation with many problems. That is the context that leads us to 1 Corinthians 13. Paul puts his finger on what was the root of all the problems in the congregation and that was a lack of love.

However, even though this congregation had so many problems, Paul didn’t give up on them and write them off. That’s because God doesn’t. God wants us to repent of our sins of lovelessness. God wants to forgive us, restore us, and help us live a new way. This new way is the way of love, the love with which God loved us. And so, Paul introduces this chapter by writing, “I will show you the most excellent way.” (1 Corinthians 12:31) Yes, there is a more excellent way for us to live. There’s always room for us to grow as Christians. God is always calling us to a more excellent way, the way of love.

As we look at this chapter regarding Christian love, we first note the necessity of Christian love. Paul writes, “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. 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. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.” (Verses 1-3)

The Corinthians prided themselves on how important they were in the congregation. They looked down on other members of the congregation, who didn’t have the same spiritual gifts that they had. They felt that they were more special and more spiritual than others. Paul says that if these gifts are used without Christian love, they are a big fat nothing. They were just selfish acts accompanied by obnoxious noise. These verses give us the opportunity to reflect on what we do for the church, the offices we hold, all that we do or give for the church. It all counts for nothing if we are not doing it out of love.

Next, we would like to look at the character of love. To define love, true Christian love, we first need to see the perfect definition of love – Jesus. He is the epitome of love, his love outshines all others, and his love is for you. Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:13) Jesus didn’t just say it, did he? He showed it by doing it. Jesus didn’t just die for his friends; he died for his enemies. Think of the fact that, as Jesus was being nailed to the cross, he prayed that his Father would forgive them. Jesus’ love goes even further. Paul reminds us in Romans 5:8, “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Although there was nothing lovable about us, Jesus chose to love us so much that he was willing to suffer and die to pay for our sins.

It is this love that enable us to have love. Without him, there would be no true love. His love changes everything because his love covered a multitude of sins. Because of his love, we can now love one another as Paul instructs us in verses 4-7: “Love is patient, love 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. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” Paul describes the character of love both in terms of what it is and what it is not.

“Love is patient, love is kind.” (Verse 4) Isn’t that how God is with us? Our God is patient with us. He is longsuffering. He puts up with a lot. The Lord was longsuffering with Old Testament Israel, despite their grumbling. Jesus was patient with his disciples, even when they didn’t get it right away. God is patient with us, too. Doesn’t it amaze you that God still has a place for us, even though we have tuned out his voice time and again? Love is patient and kind because God is patient and kind. We are his baptized children, meant to live that way, too.

“[Love] does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others.” (Verses 4-5) Here is what love is not. It’s not full of itself. Love is not haughty, treating others as inferiors or not worth our time. Think for example how Jesus reached out to little children, when his disciples tried to keep them away.

“[Love] is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered.” (Verse 5) Love says, “It’s not all about me. I can yield to others out of love. The world doesn’t revolve around me.” Love overlooks a lot of slights. Love doesn’t mind when others are praised.

“Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.” (Verse 6) So often in the world in which we live we see people condoning and even celebrating what God declares to be a sin. Abortion, homosexuality, easy divorce, living together – these are among the sins that our nation is accepting these days. Christians are becoming numb to them. We are told that we are being “unloving” or “judgmental” if we speak out. However, nothing could be further from the truth. “Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.”

“[Love] always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” (Verse 7) How like Christ this is! Jesus embodies true love. Think of all he endured for our salvation. Christ laid down his life for us. He, then, took it up again in victorious resurrection. By his death and resurrection, you are forgiven. You have the sure hope of eternal life.

You, also, have a new character. You are a new person in Christ. In Holy Baptism, you were given the gift of the Holy Spirit. In Holy Communion, we are strengthened in faith toward God and in fervent love for one another. Every day we put to death the self-centered Old Adam and put on the new man in Christ, who has received love and who is able to love. As John reminds us, “We love because he first loved us.” (1 John 4:19)

How do we love one another in the church? The most excellent way of love “does not keep a record of wrongs.” (Verse 5) We do not keep score. We don’t hold on to grudges. We forgive. If we have a problem with a brother or sister, we go to them and work it out. How do we love in the church? We do not gossip. We don’t tear down a brother or sister behind their back. Instead, we defend them and speak well of them. How do we love in the church? We take action. We take the initiative. We put love into action, helping others in practical ways. Love is more than just a warm, fuzzy feeling, but never doing anything. Love acts to help those around us.

Paul wraps up this chapter with a forward look to the permanence of love. “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. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 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. 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.” (Verses 8-12) All of those spiritual gifts that the Corinthians were clamoring for and bragging about would one day be gone. We don’t need them any longer because God has revealed himself to us in his Word. All those things will cease, but, as Paul wrote, “Love never fails.”

Paul concludes, “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” (Verse 13) Faith is important. Faith is trust in God’s promises. For now, we must walk by faith and not by sight. Likewise, hope is important. Hope is the forward look of faith, looking ahead to what God has in store for us. We don’t see it yet, but someday we will. On that day, hope will give way to sight, and we will see God face to face. Faith and hope are important for this life, but they will no longer be necessary in the life to come.

One thing will endure. One thing is permanent. One thing is eternal, and that is love. You and I will live in God’s love for all eternity. Our fellowship of love, our life together in the glories of heaven, will last forever. That is why Paul says, “The greatest of these is love.”

So, yes, 1 Corinthians 13 is a wonderful text for a Christian man and woman to focus on as they begin their lives as husband and wife. However, as we have seen, that chapter is so much more than that. It shows us how we, who have been made alive by the love of God, can reflect that love to those around us. May God help us to show the greatest of all Christian virtues throughout our lives. Amen.