Faith Hope Love Part 3 = 1 Corinthians 13

Sermon 6-28-09 1 cor 13 faith, hope love pt 3 = love kkkkkk
Faith, hope and love. The series
Love is a very complicated topic. The first words I heard today…
How much do we know about love?
Eros, phileo, agape
I love taco johns

What we call love is almost always a collection of broken people demanding that the object of their love somehow make them whole
We define love by our dysfunction instead of allowing love to reshape our lives.

There is a better way
God is love- 1 jn4 – this is a sermon all by itself
But love is the core, the mark of the Christian
You can do all the religious things but if you have not love, they aren’t spiritual
When we talk of the character of love, we’re talking about the c of God

So what do we know about love?
3 points = love is not 4 points = positive ideas about love

Love is not attraction
I think you are beautiful
You send me into orbit
What happens when you lose your beauty?
We all know beautiful people who are not beautiful inside
What happens when I really learn about the nature of love?

Love is not dependence
Two dominoes leaning on each other
I can’t live without you
A story- What does your fiancée see in you? She thinks I am handsome, bright, and a good dancer. And what do you see in her? She thinks I am handsome, bright, and a good dancer.
The scripture says - Love is not self seeking

Love is not desire
There needs to be some
desire in a relationship
It cannot predominately
focus on what I get from you- size of the dowry

so if that is what love is not, here are some handles on love

Love is indiscriminate
The shade of a tree
The fragrance of the rose
The light of a lamp
Love has no particular object. It just is.
If we only love those who love us, what is that?

Mt 543"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor[h] and hate your enemy.' 44But I tell you: Love your enemies[i] and pray for those who persecute you, 45that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

The rain falls on the just and the unjust
There are no good and bad people
God so loved the world that he gave…………

Love is truly generous
Not coercive, manipulative
or controlling
Gives expecting nothing in return
How can we learn this?
Expose your false love, your selfishness
Look what shows up in its place
Love is not self seeking

Love is unselfconscious
It is blissfully unaware of itself
It becomes a natural part of who we are
Imbedded into our dna – our true north
We don’t even know that it is happening
The left hand does not know……
When were you hungry and we fed you? Mt. 25

To love someone is to forgive
To not be bound by unpleasant circumstances
Father forgive them…
This is a weird story……..The well, well story
A girl lived in a small fishing village where she became a single mother. Her parents beat her until she stated who the father was: “it was the Monk who lives in the temple outside the village. Her parents and all the villagers were outraged. They hurried to the temple after the baby was born and left it in front of the Monk. Then they said, “you hypocrite, this child is your! Take care of it!” All the Monk said was, “very well, very well.” He gave the baby to one of the women in the village to care for, and the master provided for the expenses. The holy man lost his reputation in the area, his disciples left him, and no one went to consult with him. When the girl saw this, she couldn’t hold back any more and she finally revealed the truth. The child’s father wasn’t the monk, but a neighbor boy. When her parents and the whole village learned this, they returned to the temple and bowed down before the Monk. They begged him for forgiveness, and asked him to return the child to them. The master returned the baby, and all he said was, “very well, very well.”

And so, love exists outside of, in spite of, circumstances.

Love asks us to God asks us to change our life paradigm
Now we see a dim reflection in a mirror
The embryo story

Once upon a time a man had a conversation with an embryo.
He said, “Hey, look at you. All curled up in a ball with your eyes closed. Wake up. Shake it off. The world outside is vast and intricate. There are wheat fields and mountain passes and orchards in bloom. At night there are millions of galaxies, and you don’t want to miss the beauty of sunlight or the joy of friends dancing at a wedding.”
Why little embryo do you stay cooped up in the dark with your eyes closed?”
The embryo answers:
There is no “other world” I only know what I’ve experienced. You must be hallucinating.

There is a more excellent way, and it is the way of love. God is love.
Love cannot be controlled by our brokenness or dysfunction. It is out there, all around us, just waiting for you to turn it loose.

Let us Pray.