Dear friends, our world is a mixed-up place.  We're farther advanced than ever, but Christians are being persecuted in the arena once again - just ask John Ashcroft.  Blood games in the arena are back - just ask the teams in today's Super Bowl.  We know more trivia but less of what's important - just ask the young receptionist who read the words on my Lord's Prayer tie and said, "Nice tie, but what do the words mean?"  She said she'd never heard the Lord's Prayer before!

          Every time I read the Bible I marvel at what a remarkable book it is.  First of all, it's not a single book, but a compilation of 66 smaller books, and they all have a central point.  The 39 books of the Old Testament point towards the promised Savior Who was going to come, and the 27 books of the New Testament point back to show that Jesus of Nazareth is that promised Savior.  It's all about Jesus as our Savior.

          All along the way the Bible is filled with amazing words of Law and Gospel, of history and poetry, of wisdom and truth.  But most remarkable is that, though written by people, this book is the true Word of the true God.  The Bible IS God's Word!  Little wonder, then, that it's the best selling book in all of human history.

          One of the best chapters of the Bible is 1 Corinthians 13, the most powerful words of love written by anyone.  Amazingly, this chapter about love was written by a man who never married.  People often complain about what Paul wrote about the roles of men and women in church and marriage, but no one ever takes issue with this chapter on love.  That's because most Christians believe Paul is writing God's Word, and they believe what he says, even if they do so reluctantly.

          "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels," he says, "but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal."  Love makes the world go around.  Our greatest need in life is to be loved by someone.  But what kind of love is he talking about?  Hollywood love, with its erotic lust and selfishness?  I think not.  "Brotherly love" in which good friends mutually give and receive?  It's not that either.

          The Greek language has three words for "Love," and the love of 1 Corinthians 13 is sacrificial love, God's love.  It's love given without thought of return, love that loves the unlovable.  It's God's love, but also love we can have for each other.

          "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal."  In chapter 12 Paul wrote about the Gifts of the Spirit, including speaking in tongues which fascinated the Corinthians.  Without love, he said, the gift of tongues - or any gift - is noisy, meaningless and irritating.  But with love, all gifts are good, because love makes the difference, the difference between a lovely melody and the blaring of rap or most rock "music."

          "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 have not love, I am nothing."  Faith is wonderful.  Prophesy is great.  To be a prophet, speaking God's Word to people, is a challenge and an honor.  But if done without love, it's nothing.  Love makes the difference, between honoring God and honoring self.  If you speak God's Word for the benefit of others, you have it right.  Otherwise, it's just more selfishness.

          "If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing."  That's strong language.  He's saying that appearances are not enough.  Good-looking actions won't do.  If we do a good need but don't do it with love, it's all hollow and empty.  A martyr who dies without love is not a martyr - he's just dead.  Love makes all the difference.

          Can you imagine a world without love?  In the old Christmas classic, "It's A Wonderful Life", George Bailey is despairing of his life.  Nothing is going the way he wanted it to.  He wonders why he was ever born.  He's ready to commit suicide.  Just then along comes an angel who shows him what the world would have been like without George Bailey.  In a visionary flashback, the angel shows him that nothing is the same.  The woman he would have married lives a miserable life alone.  The town where he would have been a banker is a terrible place to live.  A rich guy controls everything, and without George Bailey the town would be a terrible place.  His life benefitted others;  hence, "It's a wonderful life".

          Love makes the difference between a miserable life and a good life, between a life and mere existence.  Our love can't solve the world's troubles, but it can help.  God's love fixes everything.  Our love always has its limits, but God's love doesn't.  His love transcends our temporary troubles and seeks to bring us real joy.

          Can you imagine a religion not based on love?  Moslems base their religion on a set of rules, not the love of Allah.  Mormons base their lives on rules that change with the whim of their "living prophet."  Eastern religions rise and fall on how a person achieves perfection.  Love has little to do with all religions, except Christianity.

          Christianity is all about faith and hope, not rules.  It's all about God's love, not His commandments.  He loves us at our most unlovable.  He isn't attracted to us because we're pretty or handsome.  He doesn't love us for what we can do for Him or because we're His good friends.  God loves us just the way we are, because that's the way He is.  Love is the heart of God.  This is the love of 1 John 4:7-8: "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God.  And everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.  He who does not love does not know God, because God is love."  God loves us just the way we are, but He won't leave us that way for long.

          Love makes the difference between mere actions and actions that count.  Walter Trobisch authored a little book called, I Loved A Girl.  It's a collection of letters between Rev. Trobisch and a young African Christian named Daniel.  In Daniel's first letter he confesses that he's had an affair with an attractive unmarried woman.  "I loved a girl", he wrote, and asks forgiveness.  Trobisch wrote back, "You didn't love that girl - you just had lust for her.  If you really loved her you would have respected her honor, or you would have waited until you were married."  He was saying real love puts the other person first.

          God's love puts us first.  He gave His only Son for us.  He knew most of us would not receive His Son, but He gave His Son anyway.  He knew we might reject Jesus, but that didn't stop Him from dying for us.  Christ died for us without thought of getting anything back;  He died for us because we needed the forgiveness He earned.

          Sometimes it's hard to love another person - very hard.  They've hurt us deeply and we can't find the heart to forgive.  They've betrayed us and said things no one should have to endure.  They've lied to us and we can't trust them any more.  But no one can force us to stop loving them!  God didn't stop loving the human race.  He will give us the heart to forgive those who've hurt us and help us trust once again.

          Rubin "Hurricane" Carter had a chip of hatred on his shoulder.  Arrested at age 10, he was pursued by lawmen all through life.  Through sheer determination, sweat and a lot of talent, he became the welterweight boxing champion of the world, only to be arrested and falsely imprisoned for murders he did not commit.  Though given a new trial, all the evidence to show his innocence was tossed out on a technicality.  He finally gave up hope of ever being freed until four people in Canada read about him and decided to help.  They moved nearby his prison, set up house and helped him finally to be freed by a federal judge.  After 23 years of false imprisonment, the "Hurricane" was now a changed man and said, "It was their hatred that put me in prison, but your love that got me out."  It's the same with us.  Anger, resentment, hatred and self-pity will lock us in our own prisons, and only God's love can bring us out.

          "Love is patient and kind."  It keeps no record of wrongs, and neither should we.  The past is the past.  On Judgment Day, the righteous will be reminded of what they've done for God and they'll be surprised.  "Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or in need or sick and help You?" (Matthew 25:37)  Christians don't keep score, on family, or on friends, or on co-workers.  They rejoice in the truth that God loves us all.  "Love Makes the Difference," dear friends.  May God give us all the power to accept His love and then to pass it on.  Amen

Copyright © 2001 by Pastor Bob Tasler.  All rights reserved.