Love in Action

Series on I Corinthians

VIII Material Concerns

C Greetings, Text: 16:19-24

Title: Love in Action

Introduction

The closing words of Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians are simple, straight-forward, and yet reveal the Apostle’s heart. I remember in seminary, John Murray was one of my professors. One of the outstanding theologians of his day, he was so articulate that I can’t remember finding a word in any of his sentences which wasn’t necessary and full of meaning. If you were to read his lectures you would conclude here is the most precise, exacting, demanding theologian alive. But when i walked into his study he was the most humble gracious man i ever met. He had a way of making you feel important, and he was patient and kind with every student’s effort, no matter how clumsy. People often assume because Paul was the great theologian of the faith that he was perhaps unapproachable, severe, or stern. But his is the man who said, By the grace of God I am what I am, and his heart is opened to us in these closing verses. Here we see his love for the body of Christ and his passion for fellowship. This is displayed in his emphasis on three things: the greeting, the guideline, and the grace.

I The Greeting

Paul had spent time in the Roman province of Asia. Primarily he labored at Ephesus, but he had connections with many churches, Laodicea, Colosse, and Hieropolis. The greetings these brethren send in verses 19-21 are due no doubt in good measure to the good will sown by Paul in his labors and his letters, The churches in the province of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Priscilla greet you warmly in the Lord, and so does the church that meets at their house. All the brothers here send you greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss. I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand. Likewise Paul maintained good relationships with fellow-workers. Rather than envy Paul exuded encouragement. Therefore, he brings greetings from teachers as well, and thus he admonishes them to greet one another with a holy kiss. In modern Europe and in other parts of the world people greet one another with a kiss, not on the lips but on the cheek, They also did this in Bible times. We generally shake hands although persons of both genders will occasionally embrace a person. Our customs are not likely to change because of the current situation in our culture, but we are also likely to miss the enthusiasm and heartfelt love with which these brethren received one another. Notice these greetings are in the Lord in verse 1. In the Lord differences are eradicated, resentments are erased, and forgiveness reigns. If you know Christians that would have a hard time meeting one another with this kind of enthusiasm, then most likely you are looking at a deeper problem. We really need to forgive as God for Christ’s sake has forgiven us, and to receive one another in love. Jesus died that we might have an unclouded fellowship with God and with one another. Because it’s an imperfect world we need to work harder at loving one another. This is a real concern of Paul who is not just a great Christian theologian but a caring person. Thus he signs his letter in his own hand with some difficulty as implied in Galatians 6:11, See what large letters I use as I write to you with my own hand. He probably had an affliction of the eyes, but he did this to show his love.

II The Guideline

Paul’s concern for the body of Christ is reflected not only in our attitude in receiving one another, but in his standards in verse 22, If anyone does not love the Lord-a curse be on him. Come, O Lord! There can be no true fellowship outside of Christ. Biblical fellowship, communion, belongs only to the redeemed. The Apostle is not just talking about the separation between believers and unbelievers in terms of their confession of Christ. The test is not in words but in love. He says if any man does not love the Lord let him be cursed. Those who do not love are lost. They remain under the curse of God. Paul is not saying something new here. This is the gospel. Jesus said, I am the way the truth and the life, no man comes unto the father except through me. But, Paul is talking here about the authenticity of our confession. The issue is, do we love Jesus? Union and communion is not achieved simply because we have the same statement of faith. It depends on more than our theology. It has to do with our commitment to love because He first loved us. The ultimate separation turns on whether we believe in Jesus or not, but that belief is not measured as much by the degree of our theological sophistication or expertise, as by our love. Paul adds the Aramaic word “maranatha” which was taken over into the Greek in which he writes. It is a word meaning “Come o lord.” It is a prayer for the return of the Lord, a prayer for the right judgment to be made. In that last day the righteous, who are the true believers will shine forth. Empty professions will mean nothing. Love will remain forever as Paul has reminded us in Chapter 13 of this letter. Paul looked to the future. Christa McAuliffe who died as an astronaut once said “I touch the future” She wasn’t talking about soaring in space. The full quote is “I touch the future, I am a teacher.” Daniel Webster said, “If we work upon marble, it will perish. If on brass, time will efface it. If we rear temples, they will crumble to dust. But if we work upon men’s immortal minds, if we imbue them with the just fear of God and love of their fellowmen, we engrave on those tablets something which no time can efface and which will brighten to all eternity.”

III The Grace

Because verses 23 and 24 are the usual blessing at the end of Paul’s letters we are inclined to overlook its significance, The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. My love to all of you in Christ Jesus. Amen. Paul meant it as a prayer and a blessing; a benediction which acknowledges the true source of all joy, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Here is our strength and our seal. In these words he prays down upon their heads and ours, all the blessings God has to give, because they all come through Jesus. A preacher once said of his mother that she was love personified. As a boy he found her sitting at the table with an old tramp one day. While shopping she met a tramp along the way, and invited him home for a warm meal. The tramp said, “I wish there were more people like you in the world.” The mother replied, “Oh, there are. But you must look for them.” The old man shook his head, and said “But, lady, I didn’t need to look for you. You looked for me.” And that’s the story of our Savior’s life, death and resurrection. He came looking for us in the sick, the maimed, the lame, the bruised, the broken hearted, the wretched wanderer, the poor and forgotten, the prisoner, and the lonely rich. He found you didn’t he? Rather than dismiss the blessing because Paul always uses it, we should think for a moment about the fact that he never misses it. You see in spite of all his efforts to help he knows that it is only the grace of God that makes a difference. Nothing we do amounts to a hill of beans if the grace of God is not in it. This is a prayer for the grace of God in our lives, and the Apostle adds in this instance an assurance of his own love. Two things make this unusual. First, Paul has had to say some difficult things to the Corinthian Christians and they need this assurance of love, but also we need to remember that they were pretty unlovable. They had said demeaning things about Paul and continued to do so, if we look at his second letter. They were unforgiving and intolerant of one another, and tolerant of evil and sin, and yet Paul loved them. We have probably stopped loving people for less. At one time Andrew Carnegie had 43 millionaires working for him. A reporter asked him how he achieved that. He said they weren’t millionaires when they started. They became millionaires working for me. How did you develop these men he was asked. “By looking for gold” he replied. When you mine gold you must remove tons of dirt, but you don’t go looking for dirt. You look for gold. In spite of all the hard things Paul had to say to the Corinthians, he was still looking for gold.

Conclusion

Actually love is revealed as the heart and soul of Paul’s life and ministry. It isn’t just the beautiful rhetoric of I Corinthians 13. It’s real. It is a love that is enthusiastic, and a love that knows that knowledge is only the foundation of the temple. The building in which God dwells is love, and it is a love that loves the unlovely, just as Jesus loved us and gave Himself for us.