WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.200 Well, it's a privilege to be here with you. I've 00:00:02.200 --> 00:00:06.440 already been blessed this morning and I hope 00:00:06.440 --> 00:00:09.179 we'll come out of this time strengthened by God's 00:00:09.179 --> 00:00:15.320 word. Now, all of us in this room have some kind 00:00:15.320 --> 00:00:17.879 of spiritual responsibility or at least looking 00:00:17.879 --> 00:00:21.640 to have some kind of spiritual leadership responsibility 00:00:21.640 --> 00:00:25.879 going forward. But what does it mean to be a 00:00:25.879 --> 00:00:29.050 spiritual leader? What does it mean? Well, I 00:00:29.050 --> 00:00:32.369 guess you can answer that in a variety of ways. 00:00:32.429 --> 00:00:35.189 There are different answers to that. But this 00:00:35.189 --> 00:00:38.329 lunchtime, I want us to focus on just one simple, 00:00:38.409 --> 00:00:43.030 crucial thing. And it is basically what this 00:00:43.030 --> 00:00:46.609 passage talks about. Leadership, spiritual leadership, 00:00:46.729 --> 00:00:51.869 is about love. It's about love. See, every leader 00:00:51.869 --> 00:00:55.880 is presented with a basic choice. as they go 00:00:55.880 --> 00:00:58.859 into ministry. Will I subordinate loving relationships 00:00:58.859 --> 00:01:02.500 to power, or will I subordinate power to loving 00:01:02.500 --> 00:01:06.239 relationships? There's a whole strain of philosophical 00:01:06.239 --> 00:01:08.400 thinking that goes from Nietzsche to Foucault 00:01:08.400 --> 00:01:11.620 that basically sees human beings as essentially 00:01:11.620 --> 00:01:15.299 driven by power. Nietzsche says we live by will 00:01:15.299 --> 00:01:18.599 to power, that all human interactions are about 00:01:18.599 --> 00:01:20.819 power. And to be honest, when you look at church 00:01:20.819 --> 00:01:23.780 history, you can kind of see. Quite a bit of 00:01:23.780 --> 00:01:28.439 that. People living out of power. Believers have 00:01:28.439 --> 00:01:32.700 sometimes been a bit more Nietzschean than showing 00:01:32.700 --> 00:01:36.680 the new life that Christ gives us. And that was 00:01:36.680 --> 00:01:38.260 definitely an issue for the Corinthians in our 00:01:38.260 --> 00:01:39.780 passage. Here we've got a bunch of believers 00:01:39.780 --> 00:01:42.340 who are rich in spiritual life. Yes, they've 00:01:42.340 --> 00:01:44.900 got spiritual power. They're gifted. They're 00:01:44.900 --> 00:01:48.530 passionate. They want spiritual power, they have 00:01:48.530 --> 00:01:51.530 spiritual power, but they are also divided, competitive, 00:01:51.909 --> 00:01:55.469 and full of one -upmanship. And they were swimming 00:01:55.469 --> 00:01:57.390 in the ethic of the Roman Empire, which was all 00:01:57.390 --> 00:02:00.709 about power. Chapter 1, they're full of factions 00:02:00.709 --> 00:02:03.909 and divisions. Chapter 11, they're treating each 00:02:03.909 --> 00:02:06.430 other badly as they take the Lord's Supper. And 00:02:06.430 --> 00:02:10.030 then 1 Corinthians 13 just comes like a kind 00:02:10.030 --> 00:02:14.750 of an exocet missile of love and explodes all 00:02:14.750 --> 00:02:17.930 of this. reworking their brains and our brains 00:02:17.930 --> 00:02:23.169 too and Paul here teaches them this is the way 00:02:23.169 --> 00:02:26.449 this is the excellent way not the way you've 00:02:26.449 --> 00:02:30.090 been going let me teach you let me show you how 00:02:30.090 --> 00:02:32.349 you should be dealing with one another how you 00:02:32.349 --> 00:02:34.909 should be using this power and here we get a 00:02:34.909 --> 00:02:38.509 simple vision of love now just to say I know 00:02:38.509 --> 00:02:41.490 that you've read 1 Corinthians 13 before okay 00:02:43.120 --> 00:02:45.139 This is the least obscure passage of the Bible 00:02:45.139 --> 00:02:46.979 I could choose to preach on in this setting. 00:02:47.759 --> 00:02:49.860 But brothers and sisters, this is not too ABC 00:02:49.860 --> 00:02:55.979 for you. It is not too basic. We need this. Evangelicals 00:02:55.979 --> 00:02:58.060 have sometimes spent lots of time in 2 Timothy, 00:02:58.259 --> 00:03:03.159 but somehow skipped 1 Corinthians 13. Most books 00:03:03.159 --> 00:03:05.280 on leadership contain many wise and helpful things 00:03:05.280 --> 00:03:07.659 about leadership, and yet often don't really 00:03:07.659 --> 00:03:10.120 talk about love, the centrality of love. It's 00:03:10.120 --> 00:03:12.669 kind of assumed. And even in training, now I've 00:03:12.669 --> 00:03:14.069 been involved in training leaders, it's very 00:03:14.069 --> 00:03:18.490 easy to assume these things. But 1 Corinthians 00:03:18.490 --> 00:03:20.990 13 breaks into our world and tells us that love 00:03:20.990 --> 00:03:23.830 is essential to ministry in the body of Christ. 00:03:24.750 --> 00:03:26.909 And this isn't some kind of one -off message. 00:03:27.030 --> 00:03:29.449 It's not that Paul is feeling a bit gooey one 00:03:29.449 --> 00:03:32.650 day, so he composes a poem about love. No, this 00:03:32.650 --> 00:03:36.830 is the essential house rules for God's children. 00:03:38.000 --> 00:03:40.759 It's central to the Christian view of reality, 00:03:40.979 --> 00:03:44.460 isn't it? If the universe is basically matter 00:03:44.460 --> 00:03:46.639 plus energy, then of course everything is about 00:03:46.639 --> 00:03:50.159 power and the collision of forces. But if the 00:03:50.159 --> 00:03:52.120 universe is the creation of an absolute personal 00:03:52.120 --> 00:03:54.340 God of love, well, things are very different. 00:03:54.780 --> 00:03:58.300 If the world is the overflow of the love between 00:03:58.300 --> 00:04:00.240 the Father, Son and Spirit, then everything is 00:04:00.240 --> 00:04:03.560 different. It means that love is the ultimate 00:04:03.560 --> 00:04:05.539 reality and everything else is basically just 00:04:05.539 --> 00:04:10.020 footnotes. to that. The Bible tells us the universe 00:04:10.020 --> 00:04:12.900 is not ruled by a will to power, but by a will 00:04:12.900 --> 00:04:16.500 to love. And so at the heart of everything is 00:04:16.500 --> 00:04:18.540 other -centeredness. When we love, it's not just 00:04:18.540 --> 00:04:20.000 that we're doing a good thing. It's actually 00:04:20.000 --> 00:04:22.860 what we're doing, what we are designed to be 00:04:22.860 --> 00:04:26.680 and to do. So it's a basic choice for you and 00:04:26.680 --> 00:04:30.300 me. Will we subordinate love to power or power 00:04:30.300 --> 00:04:33.060 to love? The fruit of that decision is massive. 00:04:34.970 --> 00:04:37.050 So let's dive into 1 Corinthians 13 and get a 00:04:37.050 --> 00:04:39.430 vision, its vision for ministry. Firstly, we 00:04:39.430 --> 00:04:42.370 see the priority of love, verses 1 to 2. If I 00:04:42.370 --> 00:04:44.810 speak in the tongues of men or of angels but 00:04:44.810 --> 00:04:47.430 do not have love, I'm only a resounding gong 00:04:47.430 --> 00:04:50.009 or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy 00:04:50.009 --> 00:04:51.910 and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, 00:04:51.990 --> 00:04:53.829 and if I have a faith that can move mountains 00:04:53.829 --> 00:04:58.089 but do not have love, I am nothing. The point 00:04:58.089 --> 00:04:59.870 is simple, isn't it? We grasp it straight away. 00:04:59.889 --> 00:05:01.930 Without love, our gifts and our spiritual capacities 00:05:02.860 --> 00:05:05.899 are worthless they are useless and they're useless 00:05:05.899 --> 00:05:07.620 not because they're bad things they're great 00:05:07.620 --> 00:05:10.040 things the gifts of the spirit should not be 00:05:10.040 --> 00:05:14.319 despised 1 corinthians 14 1 tells us we should 00:05:14.319 --> 00:05:19.600 eagerly desire the gift of prophecy but the point 00:05:19.600 --> 00:05:21.519 is that spirit those spiritual capacities those 00:05:21.519 --> 00:05:24.579 gifts that power should be subordinated to the 00:05:24.579 --> 00:05:27.959 priority of love now the reality is that every 00:05:27.959 --> 00:05:32.209 leader knows that their ability to lead is really 00:05:32.209 --> 00:05:35.350 all about an ability to speak. Your speaking 00:05:35.350 --> 00:05:38.430 is kind of how you influence, how you shape. 00:05:39.610 --> 00:05:42.209 But the thing is, it's much easier to get a handle 00:05:42.209 --> 00:05:45.550 on someone's speaking gifts than it is on their 00:05:45.550 --> 00:05:48.110 love, isn't it? I mean, think about the leaders 00:05:48.110 --> 00:05:51.449 you know. Their fame and their position, their 00:05:51.449 --> 00:05:53.470 influence is often driven by their giftedness, 00:05:53.490 --> 00:05:57.170 isn't it? In speaking, knowing things, envisioning. 00:05:58.129 --> 00:06:01.360 But these verses warn us. We may be eloquent 00:06:01.360 --> 00:06:04.939 preachers, great communicators, but in God's 00:06:04.939 --> 00:06:08.600 ear, without love, we're just spiritual noise 00:06:08.600 --> 00:06:12.779 pollution, just a gong. And actually, the same 00:06:12.779 --> 00:06:17.459 goes for essays and dissertations and PhDs. Without 00:06:17.459 --> 00:06:22.220 love, it's not worth anything. Does that sound 00:06:22.220 --> 00:06:27.790 a bit extreme? I blame Paul, not me. in verse 00:06:27.790 --> 00:06:30.870 3 Paul says something even more startling if 00:06:30.870 --> 00:06:33.410 I give all I possess to the poor and give over 00:06:33.410 --> 00:06:35.730 my body to hardship that I may boast but do not 00:06:35.730 --> 00:06:39.189 have love I gain nothing he said that sacrifice 00:06:39.189 --> 00:06:43.009 without love means nothing but you know we're 00:06:43.009 --> 00:06:45.829 called to make sacrifices Jesus calls us to sacrifice 00:06:45.829 --> 00:06:49.889 doesn't he of course but what Paul is saying 00:06:49.889 --> 00:06:52.209 is we might engage in an outward form of sacrifice 00:06:52.209 --> 00:06:54.529 that really has nothing to do with love there 00:06:54.529 --> 00:06:57.069 can be An engagement for the poor, commitment 00:06:57.069 --> 00:06:59.250 to ministry, a willingness to suffer that is 00:06:59.250 --> 00:07:04.250 actually, at its heart, devoid of love. And there's 00:07:04.250 --> 00:07:07.350 a reminder here that in Christianity, the noblest 00:07:07.350 --> 00:07:10.750 behavior is not martyrdom. It is love for your 00:07:10.750 --> 00:07:15.610 neighbor. So what we see here in these opening 00:07:15.610 --> 00:07:18.629 verses is that ministry is to be shaped around 00:07:18.629 --> 00:07:21.569 the priority of love. Because that is God's priority. 00:07:23.050 --> 00:07:25.949 And what a tragedy to give my whole life to something, 00:07:26.170 --> 00:07:30.610 to use the gifts that God has given me, to think, 00:07:30.610 --> 00:07:34.850 yes, I've given up so much. And yet, to find 00:07:34.850 --> 00:07:37.889 out at the end, when I stand before God, it was 00:07:37.889 --> 00:07:42.050 worthless. It was empty. That is pretty alarming, 00:07:42.050 --> 00:07:46.009 isn't it? But actually, it's something very positive 00:07:46.009 --> 00:07:48.209 and encouraging in this as well, because what 00:07:48.209 --> 00:07:51.339 this implies is that to... Have love is to have 00:07:51.339 --> 00:07:54.319 something greater than the gifts of Moses and 00:07:54.319 --> 00:07:57.139 Elijah. In other words, the love that you have 00:07:57.139 --> 00:08:01.220 been showing people is worth everything. It's 00:08:01.220 --> 00:08:04.220 worth more than any leadership position. It's 00:08:04.220 --> 00:08:06.199 worth more than any teaching gift. It's more 00:08:06.199 --> 00:08:09.600 significant than any theological education. Love 00:08:09.600 --> 00:08:13.120 is your treasure. And God will not assess you 00:08:13.120 --> 00:08:16.600 by whether or not you've moved mountains in ministry. 00:08:17.610 --> 00:08:19.829 Whether you've planted churches or preached to 00:08:19.829 --> 00:08:21.910 thousands or written great books or people know 00:08:21.910 --> 00:08:25.389 who you are, no, he will assess you by how you 00:08:25.389 --> 00:08:30.230 have treated people. Your kindness and your selflessness 00:08:30.230 --> 00:08:34.429 will be your crown. Now, when I think about my 00:08:34.429 --> 00:08:37.409 own ministry and my own lack of progress and 00:08:37.409 --> 00:08:40.169 love, it dawns on me that actually one of the 00:08:40.169 --> 00:08:43.029 reasons I haven't progressed more in love is 00:08:43.029 --> 00:08:46.879 because it simply hasn't been the priority. Other 00:08:46.879 --> 00:08:49.860 things have crowded it out, not bad things, but 00:08:49.860 --> 00:08:53.720 I've used other yardsticks often on my self -assessments. 00:08:55.299 --> 00:08:57.159 But that's why these verses are so good. They 00:08:57.159 --> 00:09:01.220 just recalibrate, don't they? Yes, spiritual 00:09:01.220 --> 00:09:02.840 gifts matter. Yes, of course, knowledge matters. 00:09:02.960 --> 00:09:05.019 Yes, of course, personal sacrifice matters. But 00:09:05.019 --> 00:09:07.240 the point in these verses is not that love is 00:09:07.240 --> 00:09:10.279 the only thing, but it is that love is number 00:09:10.279 --> 00:09:15.330 one on the list. It's top of the list. And so 00:09:15.330 --> 00:09:17.409 what this means is that love cannot be something 00:09:17.409 --> 00:09:21.629 where you opt in or out of. It cannot be a specialization. 00:09:22.210 --> 00:09:24.269 You can specialize in your theology, but you 00:09:24.269 --> 00:09:26.470 can't say, I'm sorry, I just don't do love. You 00:09:26.470 --> 00:09:29.049 can't delegate it to someone else. You can't 00:09:29.049 --> 00:09:30.909 say, look, I'm just not gifted in that area. 00:09:32.409 --> 00:09:34.490 You can't employ someone else on your ministry 00:09:34.490 --> 00:09:37.129 team to do the love while you do the other stuff. 00:09:37.850 --> 00:09:39.990 No, brothers and sisters, you've got to do this 00:09:39.990 --> 00:09:43.960 one yourself. and so if love has reached a low 00:09:43.960 --> 00:09:45.980 ebb in our life we need to sit up and take notice 00:09:45.980 --> 00:09:48.320 we need to put it back on the top of the list 00:09:48.320 --> 00:09:52.580 yes let's study the doctrine of god but even 00:09:52.580 --> 00:09:54.539 better is to study to be like the god you are 00:09:54.539 --> 00:09:58.159 studying this is crucial isn't it because as 00:09:58.159 --> 00:10:01.220 leaders we shape the communities and the congregations 00:10:01.220 --> 00:10:03.899 and the groups that we lead inevitably they do 00:10:03.899 --> 00:10:06.899 start to take on something of the priorities 00:10:06.899 --> 00:10:09.419 and the character that we live out as leaders 00:10:09.419 --> 00:10:12.870 loving leaders tend to develop loving communities. 00:10:12.950 --> 00:10:19.690 Not absolutely, but they tend to. Love is our 00:10:19.690 --> 00:10:25.149 priority. Secondly, the practice of love. Okay, 00:10:25.190 --> 00:10:26.629 I've done the theory, done the priority. We need 00:10:26.629 --> 00:10:29.710 some action, don't we? And the rubber needs to 00:10:29.710 --> 00:10:32.750 hit the road. Well, 1 Corinthians 13 is action 00:10:32.750 --> 00:10:37.720 -packed. Because all these words in verse 47 00:10:37.720 --> 00:10:40.360 are verbs and not adjectives. As my kids are 00:10:40.360 --> 00:10:42.639 learning in primary school, a verb is a doing 00:10:42.639 --> 00:10:46.840 word. Okay, so love does stuff and it doesn't 00:10:46.840 --> 00:10:50.200 do some other stuff. Love, in other words, is 00:10:50.200 --> 00:10:52.120 not just something inside of us, a kind of feeling, 00:10:52.179 --> 00:10:56.200 an attitude, but it can be seen. And here, these 00:10:56.200 --> 00:10:59.019 verses describe for us what love does do and 00:10:59.019 --> 00:11:01.840 what it doesn't do. In other words, if you have 00:11:01.840 --> 00:11:05.759 love, You will do things you never imagined doing. 00:11:06.279 --> 00:11:09.220 And you will not do some things you could easily 00:11:09.220 --> 00:11:13.659 imagine doing. And what Paul's doing is he's 00:11:13.659 --> 00:11:17.059 holding up a mirror to the Corinthians and actually 00:11:17.059 --> 00:11:20.200 maybe to you and me as well. And he's rather 00:11:20.200 --> 00:11:23.159 uncomfortably exposing their faults and their 00:11:23.159 --> 00:11:26.220 behavior. He is actually twisting the knife a 00:11:26.220 --> 00:11:28.419 little bit here. So when he says love is patient, 00:11:28.480 --> 00:11:32.240 he's kind of saying, because you're not. When 00:11:32.240 --> 00:11:33.679 he says to the Corinthians, love doesn't boast, 00:11:33.960 --> 00:11:36.539 he's actually saying to them, actually, that's 00:11:36.539 --> 00:11:39.679 exactly what you guys do. How about you and me? 00:11:40.240 --> 00:11:43.639 We need help, don't we? Don't we need help? Goodness 00:11:43.639 --> 00:11:46.559 me, we're all a bit of a mess. We've all fallen 00:11:46.559 --> 00:11:49.360 short. Even now, there are things on our consciences. 00:11:51.360 --> 00:11:53.860 Let's go through this. Firstly, love is patient. 00:11:54.539 --> 00:11:57.340 If nothing else, ministry involves bearing with 00:11:57.340 --> 00:11:59.500 people. You can start with vision and pizzazz, 00:11:59.519 --> 00:12:02.960 the flush of energy that comes from starting 00:12:02.960 --> 00:12:05.620 something new, but you will only ever finish 00:12:05.620 --> 00:12:09.740 if you do it with patience. Love is kind. Love 00:12:09.740 --> 00:12:13.120 is kind. I've learned in my own ministry, people 00:12:13.120 --> 00:12:15.360 look at me and listen to me essentially through 00:12:15.360 --> 00:12:17.759 my kindness. It's partly... being a pastor of 00:12:17.759 --> 00:12:20.139 a small church. And a lot of my ministry has 00:12:20.139 --> 00:12:22.259 been amongst the disturbed and the slightly dangerous. 00:12:22.559 --> 00:12:25.340 And what I have realized over the years is that 00:12:25.340 --> 00:12:30.100 when I fail to love that, it rings like an alarm 00:12:30.100 --> 00:12:33.740 bell. But when I do love, it opens up doors. 00:12:33.840 --> 00:12:35.539 I almost need people to kind of get sick and 00:12:35.539 --> 00:12:37.240 go to hospital so I can visit them so they feel 00:12:37.240 --> 00:12:38.820 loved, and then they will listen to the preaching. 00:12:40.779 --> 00:12:43.320 No one's interested in my gifts or how well I 00:12:43.320 --> 00:12:45.460 speak or my preaching or my leadership. They're 00:12:45.460 --> 00:12:47.600 interested in how I love them. Love is kind. 00:12:48.320 --> 00:12:51.639 Love does not envy. Love does not envy. There's 00:12:51.639 --> 00:12:53.620 a terrible chronic disease amongst people in 00:12:53.620 --> 00:12:56.580 ministry. It's called comparisonitis. It's the 00:12:56.580 --> 00:12:59.340 compulsive comparing of myself with other people. 00:12:59.360 --> 00:13:02.639 It is very debilitating and very, very destructive, 00:13:02.820 --> 00:13:05.879 very corrosive. But love does not envy. Love 00:13:05.879 --> 00:13:09.960 doesn't boast. There are lots of very obvious 00:13:09.960 --> 00:13:12.019 ways of doing this and subtle ways of doing this. 00:13:12.100 --> 00:13:14.080 But it is strange when you're at the foot of 00:13:14.080 --> 00:13:16.580 the cross to boast about yourself, isn't it? 00:13:17.639 --> 00:13:20.639 Love doesn't boast. Love isn't proud. Literally, 00:13:20.740 --> 00:13:25.379 it isn't puffed up. It is very easy to secretly 00:13:25.379 --> 00:13:28.000 nourish the belief that I am remarkable, unique, 00:13:28.179 --> 00:13:31.200 superior, and different from all the other leaders 00:13:31.200 --> 00:13:35.559 around me. And I would not be surprised if that 00:13:35.559 --> 00:13:38.460 is going on in our hearts. But not be surprised. 00:13:41.899 --> 00:13:45.200 But love is not proud. Love is not proud, is 00:13:45.200 --> 00:13:49.399 it? Time helps us with that as we fail and mess 00:13:49.399 --> 00:13:52.399 up and get things wrong. It kind of chips away 00:13:52.399 --> 00:13:55.700 that kind of narcissism that easily grows within 00:13:55.700 --> 00:13:59.799 us. Love does not dishonor us, does not dishonor 00:13:59.799 --> 00:14:01.860 others. We need to be careful that parent position 00:14:01.860 --> 00:14:03.620 don't lead us into the mistreatment of other 00:14:03.620 --> 00:14:06.679 people. There is the old adage that so you know, 00:14:07.240 --> 00:14:09.100 Someone, not by the way they talk to the king, 00:14:09.320 --> 00:14:11.679 but by the way they talk to their servants. How 00:14:11.679 --> 00:14:13.860 do we talk to those who don't have power around 00:14:13.860 --> 00:14:16.679 us? Love does not dishonor others. Love isn't 00:14:16.679 --> 00:14:19.980 selfish. Selfishness qualifies everything that 00:14:19.980 --> 00:14:24.120 we do. People sniff it out in us. Last week, 00:14:24.159 --> 00:14:28.220 I had to repent because basically we had a member 00:14:28.220 --> 00:14:30.139 of our congregation who's quite frail, elderly, 00:14:30.259 --> 00:14:31.559 and we're having a weekend away, and we just 00:14:31.559 --> 00:14:34.500 said, I don't think we can take you. It's too 00:14:34.500 --> 00:14:38.409 difficult. And he was quite hurt. And I reflected 00:14:38.409 --> 00:14:40.309 on that. I thought, actually, you're absolutely 00:14:40.309 --> 00:14:43.269 right. We have not stretched for you. We've not 00:14:43.269 --> 00:14:45.190 gone the extra mile for you. And that is not 00:14:45.190 --> 00:14:46.610 the community we need to be. So we basically 00:14:46.610 --> 00:14:51.850 had to repent. And we've tried to sort that out. 00:14:52.389 --> 00:14:54.889 But love is not selfish, is it? It's not self 00:14:54.889 --> 00:14:57.509 -centered. It's not going the easy way. Love 00:14:57.509 --> 00:15:00.730 doesn't get easily angry. Ministry is permanently 00:15:00.730 --> 00:15:03.909 frustrating. I think a lot of pastors really 00:15:03.909 --> 00:15:07.480 struggle with anger. either suppressed or overt, 00:15:07.659 --> 00:15:11.899 because things constantly get in your way. People 00:15:11.899 --> 00:15:15.120 don't do what you're asking them to do. It's 00:15:15.120 --> 00:15:18.259 very strange. It's been so sensible, so obvious, 00:15:18.399 --> 00:15:22.519 and you don't want to do it. We need to be aware 00:15:22.519 --> 00:15:25.600 of that growing anger and impatience within us. 00:15:26.139 --> 00:15:29.639 Love doesn't keep a record of sins. It's strange, 00:15:29.700 --> 00:15:31.559 isn't it, that we should keep a record of wrongs 00:15:31.559 --> 00:15:34.240 when we ourselves confess sins all the time. 00:15:34.980 --> 00:15:37.379 It's strange to keep a record of sins when the 00:15:37.379 --> 00:15:41.039 Lord has wiped our record clean. Love doesn't 00:15:41.039 --> 00:15:44.620 delight in evil. I think the Corinthians might 00:15:44.620 --> 00:15:46.919 have been shocked by some of the stories we've 00:15:46.919 --> 00:15:50.240 had in recent years. Been looking down their 00:15:50.240 --> 00:15:53.919 spiritual noses at us. Love doesn't delight in 00:15:53.919 --> 00:15:56.299 evil. Love perseveres. Verse 7, it always protects, 00:15:56.460 --> 00:15:58.700 always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 00:15:58.899 --> 00:16:01.019 We're called to persevere in loving people. It's 00:16:01.019 --> 00:16:04.639 one thing to care for people for a season. But 00:16:04.639 --> 00:16:07.120 to do it for years and through difficult circumstances 00:16:07.120 --> 00:16:11.899 is very tough. So here we get to see love in 00:16:11.899 --> 00:16:15.720 practice. It's an action. It's a behavior. It's 00:16:15.720 --> 00:16:19.740 basically other -centeredness. And that is at 00:16:19.740 --> 00:16:22.320 the heart of all ministry. Other -centeredness. 00:16:22.360 --> 00:16:24.539 Not thinking about myself, but thinking about 00:16:24.539 --> 00:16:29.440 others. In Acts 20, when Paul is doing his farewell 00:16:29.440 --> 00:16:32.720 speech to the Ephesian elders, right at the end, 00:16:32.720 --> 00:16:37.509 he says, It is more blessed to give than to receive. 00:16:37.789 --> 00:16:39.710 That's the last thing he says to them. And you 00:16:39.710 --> 00:16:42.110 kind of think, oh, that wasn't what I was expecting 00:16:42.110 --> 00:16:47.009 you to say. Other -centeredness is at the heart 00:16:47.009 --> 00:16:49.190 of what it means to be an elder, of what it means 00:16:49.190 --> 00:16:51.769 to be a leader. Of course, in leadership abuse, 00:16:51.889 --> 00:16:54.330 people reverse that. It's more blessed to receive 00:16:54.330 --> 00:16:59.330 than to give. Other -centeredness. I think actually 00:16:59.330 --> 00:17:02.370 people will put up with a lot in us if they... 00:17:02.720 --> 00:17:06.160 basically experience that we love them. They 00:17:06.160 --> 00:17:08.680 might go, oh, his preaching could be better, 00:17:08.740 --> 00:17:11.960 but he is actually very loving. There are better 00:17:11.960 --> 00:17:14.819 evangelists around, but she does welcome in the 00:17:14.819 --> 00:17:18.059 needy into our home. There's others with better 00:17:18.059 --> 00:17:22.740 leadership skills than him, but he does actually 00:17:22.740 --> 00:17:26.019 remember what's going on in my life. Yeah, she 00:17:26.019 --> 00:17:28.940 may not be top flight academically, but you know 00:17:28.940 --> 00:17:34.680 what? She is really kind. Love is a doing word. 00:17:34.880 --> 00:17:37.579 Why not do a little love audit on your life today? 00:17:38.420 --> 00:17:41.500 What does our love look like? How are we treating 00:17:41.500 --> 00:17:45.180 one another? Thirdly, the permanence of love. 00:17:46.119 --> 00:17:48.539 Now, as I've just said, the Corinthians prioritised 00:17:48.539 --> 00:17:51.599 spiritual gifts. They love spiritual gifts. And 00:17:51.599 --> 00:17:54.039 Paul marvels actually in the letter how gifted 00:17:54.039 --> 00:17:56.480 they are. So back in chapter 1, verse 5, he says, 00:17:56.519 --> 00:17:59.500 in every way you were enriched in him in all 00:17:59.500 --> 00:18:02.269 speech and all knowledge. And chapters 12 and 00:18:02.269 --> 00:18:05.809 14 show us the extent of the Corinthian gifting. 00:18:07.329 --> 00:18:09.410 And we would love a bit more gifting, wouldn't 00:18:09.410 --> 00:18:10.829 we? I mean, in our churches, wouldn't we love 00:18:10.829 --> 00:18:12.789 a bit more gifting? There just aren't enough 00:18:12.789 --> 00:18:15.950 gifted people around to do the ministries. There's 00:18:15.950 --> 00:18:17.990 no lack of gifting for the Corinthians. No, there 00:18:17.990 --> 00:18:21.369 was an abundance of giftedness amongst them. 00:18:21.470 --> 00:18:23.809 They were overflowing with gifts. We wouldn't 00:18:23.809 --> 00:18:28.130 mind a bit of that, would we? But Paul... kind 00:18:28.130 --> 00:18:30.750 of turns that on its head in verses 8 to 12. 00:18:31.410 --> 00:18:34.250 Because here their giftedness is relativized. 00:18:34.470 --> 00:18:36.529 And what he basically tells them is that their 00:18:36.529 --> 00:18:39.670 spiritual gifting is a temporary thing that is 00:18:39.670 --> 00:18:44.130 coming to an end and is passing away. Gifts are 00:18:44.130 --> 00:18:46.269 like stabilizers. You know, stabilizers on little 00:18:46.269 --> 00:18:48.950 bikes with kids. You know, you see someone kind 00:18:48.950 --> 00:18:51.730 of riding around when they're 18 with stabilizers 00:18:51.730 --> 00:18:54.190 on. It's a bit weird, isn't it? But when you're 00:18:54.190 --> 00:18:56.970 three, that's fine. Stabilizers aren't meant 00:18:56.970 --> 00:18:58.829 to be permanent. They are a temporary stage. 00:18:59.069 --> 00:19:02.529 And Paul's basic point is that these spiritual 00:19:02.529 --> 00:19:05.809 gifts are stabilizers for God's people. The prophecies, 00:19:05.809 --> 00:19:07.650 the tongues, the spiritual knowledge, he says, 00:19:07.750 --> 00:19:09.930 they will go silent and they will disappear. 00:19:11.250 --> 00:19:12.809 Now, in church history, there's been some debate 00:19:12.809 --> 00:19:15.289 about when this moment is. I don't want to get 00:19:15.289 --> 00:19:17.029 into that with a bunch of theological students, 00:19:17.150 --> 00:19:19.869 but I think most modern commentators say this 00:19:19.869 --> 00:19:22.150 is really about the return of Christ. The point 00:19:22.150 --> 00:19:24.450 is the spiritual gifts are temporary blessings 00:19:24.450 --> 00:19:27.230 looking forward to the end of time and judgment 00:19:27.230 --> 00:19:30.130 day. And that's clear from the way that they 00:19:30.130 --> 00:19:32.450 are described in verses 11 to 12. Can you see 00:19:32.450 --> 00:19:34.849 that? When I was a child, I talked like a child, 00:19:34.910 --> 00:19:37.150 I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. 00:19:37.170 --> 00:19:38.910 When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood 00:19:38.910 --> 00:19:41.730 behind me. For now we see only a reflection, 00:19:41.910 --> 00:19:44.470 as in a mirror, then we shall see face to face. 00:19:44.490 --> 00:19:47.089 Now I know in part, then I shall know fully, 00:19:47.150 --> 00:19:50.609 even as I am fully known. These spiritual gifts 00:19:50.609 --> 00:19:54.309 were imperfect, childish things, a mere dim reflection 00:19:54.309 --> 00:19:56.769 of what is coming. They communicate something 00:19:56.769 --> 00:20:00.130 of Christ, but the reality is Christ, but they 00:20:00.130 --> 00:20:04.869 belong to this age. which is passing away. Perfection 00:20:04.869 --> 00:20:07.589 comes in the future. And when we have that perfection, 00:20:07.789 --> 00:20:13.910 we won't need those spiritual gifts. Now, when 00:20:13.910 --> 00:20:17.910 people walk into a church, almost the first thing 00:20:17.910 --> 00:20:22.089 they notice about the church is the gifts, how 00:20:22.089 --> 00:20:25.109 good the music is, how good the leader is at 00:20:25.109 --> 00:20:27.329 leading, how good the praying is, how good the 00:20:27.329 --> 00:20:30.750 preaching is. But the funny thing about that, 00:20:31.200 --> 00:20:33.920 is that it means that the first impression people 00:20:33.920 --> 00:20:37.680 get is largely based on the things that are most 00:20:37.680 --> 00:20:41.700 temporary and childlike about the church. The 00:20:41.700 --> 00:20:43.480 things about the church that won't be in heaven. 00:20:45.420 --> 00:20:47.420 See, Paul's getting us to look at our giftedness 00:20:47.420 --> 00:20:49.420 in a new way. He's showing us that the giftedness 00:20:49.420 --> 00:20:53.119 is not a sign that we have arrived, but a preparation 00:20:53.119 --> 00:20:56.259 for the arrival of Jesus. They're not a sign 00:20:56.259 --> 00:21:00.180 of spiritual maturity. but a preparation for 00:21:00.180 --> 00:21:03.960 spiritual maturity. So let's not overestimate 00:21:03.960 --> 00:21:06.680 ourselves by our gifts, and let's not be discouraged 00:21:06.680 --> 00:21:10.539 by our lack of gifts. To do that is to assess 00:21:10.539 --> 00:21:13.220 ourselves by what is most temporary and what 00:21:13.220 --> 00:21:16.779 is most passing. Paul's big point is verse 8. 00:21:17.000 --> 00:21:21.240 What lasts is love. Literally, love won't collapse 00:21:21.240 --> 00:21:25.400 or fall over. Now, knowing that something lasts, 00:21:26.089 --> 00:21:28.190 Changes the whole way you relate to it, doesn't 00:21:28.190 --> 00:21:30.430 it? You know, whether it's a cooker or a car 00:21:30.430 --> 00:21:32.650 or a mobile phone, you choose something that 00:21:32.650 --> 00:21:35.490 lasts and you invest in it because it lasts. 00:21:36.089 --> 00:21:38.609 In other words, Paul is saying, invest in that 00:21:38.609 --> 00:21:43.670 which truly lasts. Invest in love. Because love 00:21:43.670 --> 00:21:45.890 is part of the perfect grown -up age that is 00:21:45.890 --> 00:21:49.609 coming. And as Jonathan Edwards said, heaven 00:21:49.609 --> 00:21:52.509 is going to be a world of love. We're going to 00:21:52.509 --> 00:21:55.200 live in that world in the future. And so Paul 00:21:55.200 --> 00:21:57.960 ends in verse 13 with this very striking verse. 00:21:58.059 --> 00:22:00.119 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three, 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:05.980 but the greatest of these is love. Now that triad 00:22:05.980 --> 00:22:09.660 is mentioned a few other places in the New Testament, 00:22:09.680 --> 00:22:13.000 but the point here is that love surpasses all 00:22:13.000 --> 00:22:17.220 of those things. Love is more important. In the 00:22:17.220 --> 00:22:19.420 new creation, faith and hope will merge into 00:22:19.420 --> 00:22:22.180 sight, but love will continue and become even 00:22:22.180 --> 00:22:25.000 bigger. It will not pass away. It won't be replaced 00:22:25.000 --> 00:22:27.700 by something bigger and better. It will be the 00:22:27.700 --> 00:22:31.519 oxygen and the fuel of our world. This is what 00:22:31.519 --> 00:22:33.059 we're designed for. This is what the Father, 00:22:33.079 --> 00:22:35.380 Son and Spirit have been doing. And this is what 00:22:35.380 --> 00:22:37.880 they have been preparing for us, a world of love. 00:22:38.519 --> 00:22:41.920 And so in the new creation, we will be busy loving 00:22:41.920 --> 00:22:46.859 and being loved. So let's invest in that. That's 00:22:46.859 --> 00:22:50.000 a very wise investment. Let's throw ourselves 00:22:50.000 --> 00:22:54.420 into acts of love and promote compassion and 00:22:54.420 --> 00:22:57.980 mutual care. There are lots of things we can 00:22:57.980 --> 00:23:00.920 waste our time doing, but you will never waste 00:23:00.920 --> 00:23:05.279 your time becoming more loving. It will be what 00:23:05.279 --> 00:23:10.339 you have been destined to be forever and ever. 00:23:11.339 --> 00:23:13.839 So here we have 1 Corinthians 13, and we are 00:23:13.839 --> 00:23:16.079 called here to subordinate. our relationships 00:23:16.079 --> 00:23:18.759 not to power but to love, to live under the priority 00:23:18.759 --> 00:23:22.460 of love, to practice love, to get a big view 00:23:22.460 --> 00:23:26.380 of the permanence of love. And as you do that, 00:23:26.400 --> 00:23:29.460 you can know that 1 Corinthians 13 has been lived 00:23:29.460 --> 00:23:33.660 out for you. Forget the Corinthians, the Lord 00:23:33.660 --> 00:23:35.640 Jesus was the ultimately gifted one, wasn't he? 00:23:35.660 --> 00:23:38.200 The one who possessed all power, who had infinite 00:23:38.200 --> 00:23:42.220 resources and gifts at his disposal. But he emptied 00:23:42.220 --> 00:23:46.500 himself. He became nothing. for you and me. He 00:23:46.500 --> 00:23:48.680 endured subordination to the power schemes of 00:23:48.680 --> 00:23:51.799 men. He was envied. He was dishonoured. He fell 00:23:51.799 --> 00:23:55.400 into the hands of evil men. But he did it for 00:23:55.400 --> 00:23:57.859 you and me. He did not seek his own good. He 00:23:57.859 --> 00:24:00.819 did not keep a record of our wrongs, but rather 00:24:00.819 --> 00:24:03.900 took the record of our wrongs. And so 1 Corinthians 00:24:03.900 --> 00:24:08.640 13 is the very means of our salvation. How can 00:24:08.640 --> 00:24:11.400 we live for power when we've got a saviour like 00:24:11.400 --> 00:24:16.960 this? How can we subordinate people to our power 00:24:16.960 --> 00:24:20.779 when Jesus was subordinated for my salvation? 00:24:21.240 --> 00:24:23.539 How can I thirst for control when I have a king 00:24:23.539 --> 00:24:26.559 who's given up control? You are much loved and 00:24:26.559 --> 00:24:29.700 you are destined for a world of love. And much 00:24:29.700 --> 00:24:34.319 loved people love other people. This is the heart 00:24:34.319 --> 00:24:37.839 of all ministry and all leadership. Shall we 00:24:37.839 --> 00:24:45.180 pray? Lord Jesus. We are astounded at your infinite 00:24:45.180 --> 00:24:49.440 love. It is incomprehensible. You who are adored 00:24:49.440 --> 00:24:52.099 by a hundred million angels and the seraphim 00:24:52.099 --> 00:24:56.299 bowing down before you. You made yourself not 00:24:56.299 --> 00:25:02.319 just a man, but you went to the cross. You have 00:25:02.319 --> 00:25:05.960 endured shame and hatred. You have borne the 00:25:05.960 --> 00:25:09.000 record of our wrongs. You were envied. You were 00:25:09.000 --> 00:25:14.069 boasted over. And yet you did that out of love 00:25:14.069 --> 00:25:18.390 for us. And we praise you. Oh, Lord Jesus, help 00:25:18.390 --> 00:25:22.609 us. Help us with all the pettiness in our lives 00:25:22.609 --> 00:25:25.970 and the self -centeredness and the self -promotion 00:25:25.970 --> 00:25:30.789 and the sore little egos. Help us. We need your 00:25:30.789 --> 00:25:33.890 fullness. We need your presence. We need your 00:25:33.890 --> 00:25:39.369 life. We need the transformation. Of the gospel 00:25:39.369 --> 00:25:42.630 in our lives. Please Lord Jesus fill us afresh. 00:25:43.509 --> 00:25:48.049 Renew us. And prepare us for this world of love. 00:25:49.309 --> 00:25:49.970 Amen.