Quote from Forum Archives on February 10, 2003, 11:54 am

Posted by: bhfbc <bhfbc@...>

DON’T DIG UP BURIED HATCHETS
February 9, 2003

Text: 1 Corinthians 13:1-13

This is the month of love. At least, this is the month in which love, in
some form or shape, is celebrated. Valentine’s Day, February 14th, is
this week, and in places that put up decorations we see hearts and cupids
and flowers. Cards are exchanged - maybe even flowers and chocolates. I
don’t want to get anyone in trouble, especially myself. But the fact is
that the date is rapidly approaching, and we’re supposed to be thinking
about love.

Well, thinking about love is not something unusual for Christians. At
least, it’s not supposed to be. The foundational basis for the Christian
faith is love. John 3:16 starts out “…God so loved the world…” The
sacrificial act of the holy, mighty, awesome, righteous God Himself is an
act of love. There is no other motivation for it. God does not redeem us
because He has to; He doesn’t have to do anything for us. God does not
need us in order to be God. God does not redeem us for justice. If God
dealt with us with total justice, none of us would be going to heaven.
“There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who
understands, no one who seeks God.” (Romans 3:10-11) The only Biblical
reason and motivation given for God’s sacrificial act of redemption is
divine love. In the book The Faith of the Christian Church, Gustaf Aulén
writes, “The conception faith has of the divine Majesty is not that of a
God who in exalted eminence receives sacrifices from below, which are
meant to coerce him; it is rather the picture of a love which sacrifices
of its own and in extreme humility sacrifices itself. This is the way the
majesty of love appears to the eye of faith. In this experience faith
learns to know what divine love is. ‘God shows his love for us in that
while we were yet sinners Christ died for us’ (Romans 5:8). ‘By this we
know love, that he laid down his life for us’ (1 John 3:16).” (Gustaf
Aulén, The Faith of the Christian Church, Philadelphia: Fortress Press,
1960, p. 115) John also writes simply in 1 John 4:10-11 that “This is
love: not the we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an
atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we
also ought to love one another.” Then in verse 16, “God is love.”
Certainly, love should not be foreign to Christians, nor is it limited to
a one day of the year celebration.

Along with his fellow apostles, Paul knows that we need consistent
reminders of this. Toward the end of his lengthy letter to the Corinthian
church, Paul made love an issue for them to think deep on. Paul’s first
letter to the Corinthian church was probably painful to Paul. At the
letter’s beginning, he makes it clear to the reader that there are
problems he must address: divisions in the church, selfishness, greed,
drunkenness, legal squabbles, and sexual immorality. It would have to
pain Paul to have to address these concerns to men and women who should
have been living like Christ’s saved instead of like the pagan world
around them. But before he concludes his letter, he reminds his brothers
and sisters in Christ what is really important. Maybe he wrote to remind
himself as well.

“And now I will show you the most excellent way.” Paul begins bluntly
enough. In spite of all the instructions he has already given for
righteous and moral living; in spite of all the spiritual gifts he has
already described; in spite of his reminders to the Corinthians in
several places to be united in the Holy Spirit of God, Paul now intends
to show them something which is more important than even all of those.
That “something” is love.

Paul begins by writing that he can speak in tongues, prophesy, have great
faith, give away possessions to the poor, and even give up his life. He
can do any and all of these things, but without love, they are nothing.
In fact, without love, Paul writes that he is nothing. That is rather
striking. Unless you believe that Paul writes things he didn’t really
believe - and I don’t think that is the case because he wrote so
passionately under the guidance of the Holy Spirit - then we should
really be struck by what he tells us here.

Paul tells us not only how great love is, he tells us what love is. “Love
is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not
proud. It is not rude…”

Love is not rude. We could certainly use a lot of that elixir in our day.
In 1998, the director of the national Commission on Civic Renewal (I
didn’t know there was such a thing) said, “There is an overwhelming
consensus among the American people that basic norms of good conduct have
deteriorated in this country.” It doesn’t take much effort to conclude
that disrespect has become an epidemic. So many television shows, not the
least of which is found on MTV, elevate rudeness. They celebrate
rudeness. Courtesy and consideration for others go out the window and are
sacrificed on the altar of self-seeking, arrogant, selfish, rude
behavior. You see rudeness on the road with cut-you-off-at-the-pass
driving and accompanying hand gestures. You see rudeness at all kinds of
sporting events, even at the pee-wee and little league levels. One writer
asks, “Have we become brazenly ‘in your face’ at the expense of being
compassionately ‘in your place’?” While it is true that God’s presence
leads us to think of lofty, eternal, spiritual qualities upon which we
are to ponder, God’s love should also compel us to show courtesy and
consideration toward everyone we meet. “The oil of courtesy takes the
friction out of life.” (David C. McCasland, “Rudeness on the Rise,” Our
Daily Bread, Grand Rapids: RBC Ministries, February 14, 1999)

“[Love] is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it
keeps no record of wrongs.” When Paul wrote that love “keeps no record of
wrongs,” he was using an accountant’s term describing the recording of
figures in a book - the idea of a ledger where income and expenses are
kept. Love does the opposite - it does not keep a record of wrongs.
Instead, love forgives and refuses to keep the past hurts, arguments, and
grudges on the books. Love deliberately and consciously lets go of past
hurts and gives them to God - a truth that we will revisit in more detail
in a few weeks on the first Sunday of the 50-Day Spiritual Adventure.

An old saying used to describe reconciliation between rival parties is
that they “buried the hatchet.” In other words, the problems between the
parties have been put aside. A problem arises, though, when one party or
the other wants to dig up the buried hatchet. Haddon W. Robinson writes,
“It was said of one religious leader, ‘He never forgot slights done to
him, which was his fundamental weakness. He might bury the hatchet for a
time, but he gave the impression of always marking the spot.’ In
contrast, when Methodist minister William Sangster was addressing
Christmas cards, a friend noticed one name and remarked, ‘Don’t you
remember how he slighted you?’ Sangster responded, ‘Oh yes, I remember,
but I have remembered to forget.’” (Haddon W. Robinson, “Remembering to
Forget,” Our Daily Bread, Grand Rapids: RBC Ministries, December 8, 1998)

“Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always
protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never
fails.” Again, we should be amazed at the depth of Paul’s insight here.
Prophecies will fail; tongues will fail; knowledge will fail. Each of
these are no trifling matters in the spiritual or the secular arenas of
life. They are each critical in their own ways to the passing on of the
Word of God from one generation to the next. But, when this age is over
and we are gathered together in the Kingdom of God, we will be left with
only one thing. Prophecies will be fulfilled; we won’t need them anymore.
We will be speaking directly with the Father, the Son, and the heavenly
hosts; we won’t need speaking in tongues. Likewise, in the presence of
God, we will have all the knowledge we need. What is left? Love. We will
know firsthand the love of God, and we will love Him as we have never
been able to love Him before. No wonder Paul writes that “the greatest of
these is love.”

Should we Christians then leave love out of our lives while living in
this world? God’s Word, in many places, says unequivocally “no!”
Christians are to receive love - primarily from God - and to give God’s
love to others. Further, Christians are to know how love is Biblically
described and applied. 1 Corinthians 13 is one good place to learn the
meaning of love.

Valentine’s Day is a fun time to recognize and celebrate love for wives,
husbands, parents, children, other family members, and friends.
Certainly, enjoy the celebration. But, Christians, always remember that
just as Christmas - the celebration of the birth of Christ - is not
merely meant to be a one day holiday; remember that just as Easter - the
celebration of the resurrection of the birth of Christ - is not merely
meant to be a one day holiday, the celebration and application of love is
not merely meant to be a one day holiday. Christians are to love as their
Master has loved: sacrificially, sincerely, and continuously. “And now
these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is
love.” This is the most excellent way.

Rev. Charles A. Layne, pastor, First Baptist Church, Bunker Hill, IN

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