Radical Love: Love Always - Sermon outline for March 1, 2020 (a blogpost for a sermon to be preached at Kenwood Church in Livonia, MI, on March 1, 2020)

RADICAL LOVE - Love Always- 1 Corinthians 13:7 - March 1, 2020

Prayer

INTRODUCTION

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.

They will know you are my disciples by your love.

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. Love never fails. 

1 Corinthians 13:4-8a

The importance of words

Always

1. LOVE PROTECTS ALWAYS

A.  Protects

STRONGS NT 4722: στέγω

στέγω; (allied with Latintego, toga, English deck, thatch, etc.; Curtius, § 155 Fick  Part 3:590); to cover;

1. to protect or keep by covering, to preserve: Sophocles, Plato, Plutarch, others.

2. to cover over with silence; to keep secret; to hide, conceal: ταμα ἔπη, Euripides,  Electr. 273; τόν λόγον, Polybius 8, 14, 5; for other examples see Passow, under the  word, 1 b. β.; (Liddell and Scott, under the word, II. 2); μωρός οὐδυνήσεται λόγον  στέξαι, Sir. 8:17; hence, ἡ ἀγάπη πάντα στέγει, 1 Corinthians 13:7, is explained by  some, love covereth (so R. V. marginal reading), i. e. hides and excuses, the errors  and faults of others; but it is more appropriately rendered (with other interpreters)  beareth. For στέγω means

3. by covering to keep off something which threatens, to bear up against, hold out  against, and so to endure, bear, forbear (τάς ἐνδείας, Philo in Flacc. § 9; many  examples from Greek authors from Aeschylus down are given by Passow, under the  word, 2; (Liddell and Scott, under the word, A. especially 3)): 1 Corinthians 9:12; 1  Corinthians 13:7; 1 Thessalonians 3:1, 5. 

Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

“Compare the note at 1 Corinthians 9:12. Doddridge renders this, "covers all  things." The word used here (στέγει stegei) properly means to "cover" (from  στέγη stegē, a covering, roof; Matthew 8:8; Luke 7:6); and then to "hide,"  "conceal," not to make known.”

Vincent’s Word Studies

“See on suffer, 1 Corinthians 9:12.  It keeps out resentment as the ship keeps out  the water, or the roof the rain.”

B.  Biblical illustration

Noah’s drunkenness and his sons (Ham’s shame, Shem and Japheth’s honor -  Genesis 9:20-27

1. LOVE TRUSTS ALWAYS

A.  Trusts

HELPS Word-studies

4100 pisteúō (from 4102 /pístis, "faith," derived from 3982 /peíthō, "persuade, be  persuaded") – believe (affirm, have confidence); used of persuading oneself (=  human believing) and with the sacred significance of being persuaded by the Lord  (= faith-believing). Only the context indicates whether 4100 /pisteúō ("believe") is  self-serving (without sacred meaning), or the believing that leads to/proceeds from  God's inbirthing of faith.

Pulpit Commentary

“Takes the best and kindest views of all men and all circumstances, as long as it is  possible to do so. It is the opposite to the common spirit, which drags everything in  deteriorem partem, paints it in the darkest colours, and makes the worst of it. Love is  entirely alien from the spirit of the cynic, the pessimist, the ecclesiastical rival, the  anonymous slanderer, the secret detractor.”

B.  Biblical illustration

Jesus and Peter in John 21:15-19

1. LOVE HOPES ALWAYS

A.  Hopes

NAS Exhaustive Concordance

Word Origin

from elpomai (to anticipate, expect)

Definition

to expect, to hope (for) 

NASB Translation

expect (1), expected (1), fix...hope (2), fixed...hope (2), hope (13), hoped (3), hopes  (1), hoping (4), set...hope (2), trust (1).

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

“(1) Of man, of whom love will ever hope the best, and deem reformation possible in  the most hardened offenders; and (2) of God, that He will bring good out of evil, and  that all the evils of this life will issue ultimately in the triumph of good.”

B.  Biblical illustration

Abraham hoped (“contrary to hope”) for the fulfillment of God’s promise for a son in  Romans 4:16-18

1. LOVE PERSEVERES ALWAYS

A.  Perseveres

HELPS Word-studies

Cognate: 5278 hypoménō – literally, remaining under (the load), bearing up  (enduring); for the believer, this uniquely happens by God's power (cf. 1 Thes 3:5).  See 5281 (hypomonē).

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

“Sustains to the end, with unshaken confidence in the goodness of God, all the  persecutions and afflictions of this life.”

Pulpit Commentary

“Whether the "seventy times seven" offences of a brother (Luke 17:4), or the wrongs  of patient merit (2 Timothy 2:24), or the sufferings and self-denials and  persecutions of the life spent in doing good (2 Timothy 2:10).”

B.  Biblical illustration

No one details this better than Paul himself. In 2 Corinthians 11:23-33, he lists some  of the trials he faced.

He was …

• Imprisoned repeatedly
• Flogged
• Exposed to death again and again
• Received 39 lashes five times
• Beaten with rods three times
• Pelted with stones
• Shipwrecked three times

Just to name a few!

CHALLENGE

Read 1 Corinthians 13 every day.  Memorize 1 Corinthians 13:8a.  Protects, trusts, hopes, and perseveres- which is the easiest way for you to demonstrate love.  Which of these four do you need to develop in order to demonstrate the love of Christ more completely?  Pray every morning for growth in that area.

Radical Love: Love Rejoices (Properly) - Sermon outline for February 23, 2020 (a blogpost for a sermon to be preached at Kenwood Church in Livonia, MI, on February 23, 2020)

RADICAL LOVE - Love Rejoices (Properly) - 1 Corinthians 13:6 - February 23, 2020

Prayer

INTRODUCTION

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.

They will know you are my disciples by your love.

Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary

“Some of the effects of charity are stated, that we may know whether we have this grace; and that if we have not, we may not rest till we have it. This love is a clear proof of regeneration, and is a touchstone of our professed faith in Christ.”

This love is demonstrated by our actions and our attitudes.

“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. 

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. 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. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”

‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭13:1-13‬ ‭NIV‬‬

1. LOVE DOES NOT DELIGHT IN EVIL

A.  No delight in other’s wrong doing

Pulpit Commentary

‘The Greeks had a word, ἐπιχαιρεκακία, to describe "rejoicing at the evil" (whether sin or misfortune) of others (Proverbs 24:17); Schadenfreude, "malignant joy" (Arist., 'Eth.,' 2:7, 15). It is the detestable feeling indicated by the remark of La Rochefoucald, "that there is something not altogether disagreeable to us in the misfortunes of our best friends."’

Elliott’s Commentary for English Readers

“The attitude of our mind towards sin is a great test of the truth of our religious feeling.”

Benson Commentary

“Love rejoiceth not in iniquity — Takes no pleasure to see an adversary fall into an error or sin, by which his reputation should be blasted, and his interest ruined. On the contrary, the man influenced by this love, is truly sorry for either the sin or folly of even an enemy; takes no pleasure in hearing or in repeating it, but desires it may be forgotten for ever.”

Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

“Does not rejoice over the "vices" of other people; does not take delight when they are guilty of crime, or when, in any manner, they fall into sin. It does not find pleasure in hearing others accused of sin, and in having it proved that they committed it. It does not find a malicious pleasure in the "report" that they have done wrong; or in following up that report, and finding it established.”

B.  No delight in our own, personal wrongdoing

Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

“Neither in his own, nor in others; but on the contrary is grieved for it; he mourns over his own iniquities, the corruption of his heart, the infirmities of his life, his secret sins, which none know but God and his own soul; he is greatly troubled at the profaneness and immorality of the men of the world, and the sins of professors cut him to the heart: nor does he rejoice in injustice, as the word used here may be rendered, in any unjust action or injury, that may be done to any, yea, even to an enemy;”

1. LOVE REJOICES WITH THE TRUTH

A.  Truth

Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

“The word "truth" here stands opposed to "iniquity," and means virtue, piety, goodness. It does not rejoice in the "vices," but in the "virtues" of others. It is pleased, it rejoices when they "do well." It is pleased when those who differ from us conduct themselves in any manner in such a way as to please God, and to advance their own reputation and happiness.”

B.  Righteousness

Geneva Study Bible

“Rejoices at righteousness in the righteous. For by truth the Hebrews mean righteousness.”

Pulpit Commentary

“Rejoiceth in the truth; rather, with the truth. There are many who "resist the truth" (2 Timothy 3:8); or who "hold the truth in unrighteousness" (Romans 1:18); but love accepts it, keeps it pure, exults in all its triumphs (Acts 11:23 2John 4).”

Bengel’s Gnomen

συγχαίρει, (rejoiceth with) congratulates, with joy. All truth cherishes joy.”

1. LOVE IS GRACEFUL

A.  Rejoice/Joy/Grace connection

HELPS Word Studies

“5463 xaírō (from the root xar-, "favorably disposed, leaning towards" and cognate with 5485/xáris, "grace") – properly, to delight in God's grace ("rejoice") – literally, to experience God's grace (favor), be conscious (glad) for His grace.

5463 /xaírō ("glad for grace") has a direct "etymological connection with xaris (grace)" (DNTT, 2, 356). S. Zodhiates (Dict, 1467) likewise comments that 5479 /xará ("joy") and 5485 /xáris ("grace") are cognate with 5463 /xaírō ("to rejoice"), i.e. all share the same root and therefore the same core (fundamental) meaning.

[The etymological link between 5463 /xaírō ("rejoice"), 5479 /xará ("joy") and 5485 /xáris ("grace") – i.e. that they are all cognates – is brought out by LS (p 1,976), Zod (Dict), CBL, Wigram's Englishman's Greek Concordance (Ed. Ralph Winters), Word Study Greek-English NT (Tyndale, Ed. Paul McReynolds); see also DNTT (2,356) and TDNT (9; 359,60).

TDNT likewise groups them as cognates, referring to 5479 (xará) as the noun-form (nomen actionis) and discussing them separately in terms of their distinctive connotations.]”

B.   Love rejoices!

CHALLENGE

Read 1 Corinthians 13 every day.  Memorize 1 Corinthians 13:7. Reflect upon a time when you “delighted” in the unrighteous actions of someone else.  Reflect upon a time when you “rejoiced” in the truth (righteous actions) of someone else.  Rejoice as much as is humanly possible this week.  Write down your reasons for rejoicing and how God’s  grace can be seen in them.

Radical Love: Love Does Not React Nor Respond - Sermon outline for February 16, 2020 (a blogpost for a sermon to be preached at Kenwood Church in Livonia, MI, on February 16, 2020)

2020 VISION: RADICAL LOVE - Love Does Not React Nor Respond - 1 Corinthians 13:5 - February 16, 2020

Prayer

INTRODUCTION

Love is patient.

Love is kind.

It does not envy.  It does not boast.  It is not proud.

They will know you are my disciples by your love.

This love is demonstrated by our actions and our attitudes.

“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. 

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. 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. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”

‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭13:1-13‬ ‭NIV‬‬

1.  IT IS NOT EASILY ANGERED

A.  Uses of the term

1. Tyndale renders it, "is not provoked to anger."

“While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols.”

‭‭Acts‬ ‭17:16‬ ‭NIV‬‬ (only other NT usage)

2. “Prone to violent anger or exasperation.”  (Matthew Henry)

3. Underlying word connotes the sharpening of an ax or sword.

B.  Our response to others

1.  We don’t react when “rubbed the wrong way.”

2.  We are no easily provoked.

3.  The example of Jesus

a.  His ministry

b.  His arrest

c.  His trial

d.  His death sentence

“We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.”

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭53:6-7‬ ‭NIV‬‬

4.  Calmness

St. Chrysostom says, "As a spark which falls into the sea hurts not the sea, but is itself extinguished, so an evil thing befalling a loving soul will be extinguished without disquietude."

1. IT KEEPS NO RECORD OF WRONGS

A.  Translational variances

1. The Greek word (λογίζεται logizetai) is that which is commonly rendered  "impute," and is correctly rendered here "thinketh."

2. Barne’s Notes of the Bible

“Love, so far from devising evil against another, excuses "the evil" which  another inflicts on her [Estius]; doth not meditate upon evil inflicted by  another [Bengel]; and in doubtful cases, takes the more charitable view  [Grotius].”

3.  Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

“but the meaning is, either that one possessed of this grace of love does not think of the evil that is done him by another; he forgives, as God has forgiven him, so as to forget the injury done him, and remembers it no more; and so the Arabic version reads it, "and remembers not evil"; having once forgiven it, he thinks of it no more; or he does not meditate revenge, or devise mischief, and contrive evil against man that has done evil to him, as Esau did against his brother Jacob; so the Ethiopic version, by way of explanation, adds, "neither thinks evil, nor consults evil"; or as the word here used will bear to be rendered, "does not impute evil"; reckon or place it to the account of him that has committed it against him, but freely and fully forgives, as God, when he forgives sin, is said not to impute it; or such an one is not suspicious of evil in others, he does not indulge evil surmises, and groundless jealousies; which to do is very contrary to this grace of love. “

4.  Pulpit Commentary

“The phrase seems to be a very comprehensive one, implying that love is neither suspicious, nor implacable, nor retentive in her memory of evil done. Love writes our personal wrongs in ashes or in water.”

B. Our attitude toward others

1.  We will not define others by what they have done.

2.  We will not impute evil to the actions of others.

3.  We will give people a second chance.

a.  Peter

b.  Paul

1. LOVE RELATES WELL

A.  We are not to be provoked because we live by the Spirit, not our human tendencies.

B.  We do not treat people as their actions/attitudes deserve.

“The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭103:8-14‬ ‭NIV‬‬

CHALLENGE

Read 1 Corinthians 13 every day.  Memorize 1 Corinthians 13:6.  Write down the names of those who can “easily provoke” you.  Ask God to forgive them, and ask God to forgive you.  Erase a “record of wrong” this week.  Christians have no room to be unforgiving.  Love does not allow for that.  

Radical Love: Love Honors Others - Sermon outline for February 9, 2020 (a blogpost for a sermon to be preached at Kenwood Church in Livonia, MI, on February 9, 2020)

2020 VISION: RADICAL LOVE - Love Honors Others - 1 Corinthians 13:5 - February 9, 2020

Prayer

INTRODUCTION

Love is patient.

Love is kind.

It does not envy.  It does not boast.  It is not proud.

They will know you are my disciples by your love.

This love is demonstrated in two major fields - others and self.

“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. 

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. 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. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”

‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭13:1-13‬ ‭NIV‬‬

1. IT DOES NOT DISHONOR OTHERS

A.  Our society today

1.  An atmosphere of disrespect

2.  The case of the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi

Shannon Schick in her blogpost “An Open Letter to Mrs. Pelosi”

“You didn’t use the time honored words to introduce the president. You allowed your personal feelings to override anything that looks like what you’re paid to do. You are paid to represent the American people and to do your best while you have the position. You’re not paid to have a temper tantrum upon your mini throne.

It’s OK, if you don’t feel love for the current president, but do you think that ripping up a speech that recognized and honored a baby born prematurely, a young lady receiving a big honor, a respected military man turning 100 years old, a soldier returning home, and more is the morally right thing to do? We wonder why there’s such a lack of respect for elders and authority in this country. You, ma’am, were a perfect example for the reason—you, you who are an elected “leader” of this great nation, acted like an enraged toddler whose Goldfish were taken away before you were ready. Sadly, you have repeatedly allowed the vitriol in your heart to overflow into your work.”

B.  Disrespect for human life

1.  The case of the elderly

2.  The case of the mentally ill

3.  The case of the different - race, religion, national origin, etc.

4.  The case of the unborn

C.  Christians should honor others.

1. IT IS NOT SELF-SEEKING

A.  It is an action verb.

“It does not seek its own interest.”

B.  Proper perspective

1.  Love is about others.

No one should seek their own good, but the good of others.

1 Corinthians 10:24

2.  Love does not hate itself.

C.  Christians should seek the interest of others. 

CHALLENGE

Read 1 Corinthians 13 every day.  Continue memorizing 1 Corinthians 13:5.  Apologize if you dishonor someone else.  Explain why you are apologizing.  Recognize self-absorbed behavior/thoughts by writing down incidents where you sought life for yourself instead of others.  Write down a more appropriate response/action.