Last Friday I left home, only to turn around a block later because I forgot something.  It seems every time I leave, I have to come back for something I forgot.  Some people call this the "Midlife Mambo," go out - come back - go out - come back.  I guess it's just part of getting old.

          Edward Gibbon, in his book, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, listed five major reasons for the collapse of the Roman Empire:  (1) Family life disintegrated,  (2) Traditional ethical systems were ignored and discarded, and "anything goes" became the prevailing attitude of the day,  (3) Entertainment became perverse and immoral,  (4) Vast amounts of money were spent maintaining the military machine to defend the Empire,  and (5) The Empire's economy finally collapsed.  Today, you and I might well ask, "Is this history, or is this prophecy?"

          Lately we've heard a lot about how America is failing.  But we didn't come here this morning to hear a social commentary - leave that to the pundits!  We've come to hear from the Bible, that remarkable book from God.  The Bible is not a single book, but 66 smaller books, all aiming at a central point.  The 39 books of the Old Testament point forward to the promised Savior who was to come, and the 27 books of the New Testament point backward to show that Jesus is the Savior.  It's all about Jesus our Savior, and He's why we're here.

          The Bible is filled with brilliant words, words of Law and Gospel, of history and poetry, of wisdom and truth.  But most remarkable is that, though written by people, this is the true Word of the living God.  The Bible IS God's Word!  It doesn't "contain" God's Word - it is God's Word to us.

          One of the beloved chapters of the Bible is 1 Corinthians 13, powerful words written by a powerful man.  Amazingly, the words are written by a man who never married.  People often complain about what Paul wrote of the roles of men and women in church and about marriage, but no one ever takes issue with 1 Corinthians 13.  That's because most Christians believe the Bible is God's Word, and so they believe what Paul wrote, even if they may 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 eroticism 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.  It's love given without thought of receiving back, love that loves the unlovable.  It's God's love for us, but also love we can have for each other.  Let's open our Bibles and examine this chapter.

          "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 the gift of speaking in tongues which fascinated the Corinthians.  Without love, he said, the gift of tongues, or any gift, is noisy, meaningless and irritating.  But when real love enters the picture, gifts become good.  Love makes the difference, the difference between a lovely melody and the blaring of rap or hard rock.

          "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 is to speak God's Word to people, and it's a challenge.  But if it's done without love, it's nothing.  Love makes the difference, between honoring God and vaunting 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."  This is strong language.  He's saying that appearances are not enough.  Good-looking actions won't do.  If we do a good deed without 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 movie, "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, without George Bailey the town would be a terrible place.  His life made a difference.

          Love makes the difference between life and mere existence, between a miserable life and a good life.  Love can't solve all the world's troubles, but it can help us deal with them better.  Human love always has limits, but God's love doesn't.  God's love fixes all things.  His love transcends our temporary troubles and brings us real joy.

          Can you imagine a religion not based on love?  Moslems base their religion on rules, and their god Allah demands obedience; he has no love for people.  Mormons base their religion 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, all except Christianity.

          Christianity is all about faith and love, not rules.  God is love!  Yes, there are the Ten Commandments, but they help us live; they do not determine our relationship with God.  He loves us at our most unlovable.  He isn't attracted to us because we're pretty or handsome or if we are good people.  He doesn't love us for what we can do for Him.  God loves us just the way we are, because that's the way He is.  Love is the nature of God.  This is the love spoken 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 may not leave us that way for long.

          Walter Trobisch authored a little book called, I Loved A Girl.  It's a collection of letters between Rev. Trobisch, a missionary, 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 for 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 said real love puts the other person first.  Love makes the difference between selfish actions and actions that bless others.

          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 difficult to love another person, very difficult.  They've hurt us deeply and we can't find the heart to forgive them.  They've betrayed us and said things no one should have to endure.  They've lied to us and we feel we can't trust them any more.  But regardless of how badly people may treat us, 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 He helps us trust other people 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 welter weight 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 God's love can bring us out.  He comes near us and frees us from our self-made prisons.

          "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 because of their faith in God and they'll be surprised anyone noticed.  "Lord, when did we feed you or visit you or clothe you or help You?" they will say (Matthew 25:37).  Christians don't keep score, on family, on friends, or on co-workers.  They help others and rejoice in the love God has for us all.

          Dr. John Nash was awarded the Nobel Prize for Mathematics ten years ago.  Though haunted by mental illness most of his adult life, Dr. Nash's brilliance was made public in the recent movie, "A Perfect Mind".  In his acceptance speech at Stockholm in 1994, he said the following:  "I have always believed in numbers and the equations and logic that leads to reason.  But after a lifetime of such pursuits, I ask, what truly is logic?  Who decides reason?  My quest has taken me through the physical, the metaphysical, the delusional and back.  And I have made the most important discovery of my career, the most important discovery of my life.  It is only in the mysterious equations of love that any logic or reason can be found."

          Love makes the difference, dear friends, God's love and our love for each other.  Listen not to those who would tell us love doesn't matter.  Avoid all who would make us cynical about love.  Then accept the love God has for us in Jesus and then to pass it on.  Amen

Copyright © 2004 by Pastor Bob Tasler.  All rights reserved.