1 Corinthians 13:1-13 “The Greatest Gift” 2/14/21

Valentine’s Day is an interesting holiday - Most of us probably know that the holiday is named for Valentine - But as for details, I would guess that many of us do not know much about him

Valentine was actually the name of several men in the early Church days - The earliest seems to be Valentine of who became in about 197 AD and was martyred in an early Roman persecution

The legend is that he tirelessly earned money to provide dowries for the poorer girls in his town - So that they might enter into more suitable

Another saint in the early Church was Valentine of - The legend about him contends that this Valentine was a who served during the time when the Roman Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, so he outlawed for young men, his crop of potential soldiers

Saint Valentine, realizing the injustice of that decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young couples in secret - When Valentine's actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death - He was martyred on February 14, 297 AD

The Catholic Encyclopedia also speaks of a third saint named Valentine - He was martyred in Africa with a number of companions, but nothing more is known about him

As a holiday, the day was established by the Roman Catholic in 500 AD - It is, however, no longer a Catholic holiday today, because it was deleted from the Roman Catholic calendar of in 1969 by Pope Paul VI - However, its religious observance is still permitted

The first association of Valentine’s Day with romantic is in the poem “Parlement of Foules” written by in 1382 - He wrote: For this was on seynt Volantynys day Whan euery bryd comyth there to chese his make.

Page 1 (For this was Saint Valentine's Day, when every bird cometh there to choose his mate)

Valentine’s Day is traditionally a day on which those in love express their love for each other by presenting flowers, candy, and sending greeting cards known as “valentines”1

Modern Valentine’s Day symbols include the heart-shaped outline, doves, and the figure of a winged Cupid - Since the 19th century, commercialization has caused handwritten valentines to give way to mass-produced greeting cards, candy packaged in heart shaped boxes, and a whole industry of romantic gifts and advertising

Our Valentine’s Day celebration may have become quite worldly - And while the world may have adopted the holiday - The world cannot claim love as its own

1 John 4:7 “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever has been born of God and knows God”2 - And a few verses later 1 John 4:19 tells us that, “We love because he first loved us.”

Love may come from God - Yet what the world calls love, and the type of love God created, are often very different things - My “Hot Illustrations” book shares a story of a boy who demonstrates a very Christlike love

Randy was a special-education boy - He was just bright enough to remain in a regular classroom, but was still noticeably different - Children can be so mean, and he was the constant butt of jokes by his classmates, but he was a happy child and never seemed to mind

Every day, as the neighborhood kids walked home from school, Randy’s mother would look out the window to see them all laughing and joking together—all except Randy

1 Some Valentine’s Day background: http://www.pictureframes.co.uk/pages/saint_valentine.htm and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentine’s_Day 2 Scripture quoted has been taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, © 2001 by Crossway (Good News Publishing, Wheaton, IL) Page 2 He was always walking behind the others, all alone - It was obvious that the other children felt uncomfortable around Randy and shunned him

One day Randy burst into the kitchen after school - “Mom, guess what?” he said, “Valentine’s Day is two weeks away, and our teacher said we could make valentines and give them to the other kids in our class!”

His mother’s heart sank as she pictured yet another opportunity for Randy to be excluded - “Mom,” Randy continued, “I’m going to make a valentine for every person in my class!” - “That’s very nice, Randy,” his mother answered, fighting back her tears

Over the next two weeks, Randy worked every afternoon on those valentines - The project was truly a labor of love - When the big day finally came, he was so excited about taking his valentines to school that he could not eat breakfast

But he was also a little worried - “I hope I didn’t forget anybody,” he said as he dashed off to school

That day, Randy’s mother made a fresh batch of his favorite cookies and prepared herself to comfort her son when he returned home brokenhearted from the valentine exchange - She was afraid of how disappointed he would be with the response he got from the other children

That afternoon she saw the same cluster of children walking home together - A half block behind them, all alone, was Randy

Much to her surprise, Randy came through the door with a huge smile on his face - “What is it, Randy?” she asked. “How did it go?” - With a shout of pure joy, Randy said, “Guess what, Mom! I didn’t forget a single kid!”

Page 3 Randy was so focused on giving, that he did not consider the response he got - He was so concerned about others that he was blind to the fact that he was being slighted3

God, on the other hand, knew very well that humankind’s response would fall short - But God loves us so much that He gave anyway - John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life”

Today we heard the words of 1 Corinthians 13 - It is a passage where the apostle Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, provides an excellent definition of love

You may already be aware that in Greek, the language of the New Testament, there are 3 different words for love - One common word for love in the Greek language is eros, which suggests physical sexual desire and not much else

Eros might be better translated “lust” and it is the root of the English word erotic - Eros never occurs in the pages of our Scriptures

Another word phileos suggests the esteem and affection found in a casual friendship - You probably already know that phileos is part of the city of Philadelphia’s name which means “the city of brotherly love” - Although I’m not sure I experienced a lot of brotherly love, the last time I was on the Schuykill Expressway in rush hour

Because neither eros or phileos come close to describing the kind of love that God led the Apostle Paul to communicate, he chose a relatively rare Greek word for this amazing passage on love

The Greek word, agape, describes a love that is based on the deliberate choice of the one who loves - Rather than the worthiness of the one being loved

3 Hot Illustrations, © 2001, (Youth Specialties, El Cajon, CA) Page 4 This kind of love goes against natural human nature - It is a giving, selfless, expect-nothing-in-return kind of love - The kind of love that the fictitious Randy, in my earlier illustration showed with his Valentines

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

Love is patient - Those following the ways of the world may avoid people who are difficult - But that attitude is in sharp contrast to the love described by Paul

True Godly love puts up with people who are easier to give up on - It loves and is kind even when there is no love or kindness shared in return

Love does not envy - If we love someone with a Christlike love, we are too busy rejoicing that they have received blessings to be envious of those good things - If we truly love others, we will even set aside our own plans for the good of another

Love is not easily angered - In other words, love is not over-sensitive - When we truly love others, we are quick to forgive and careful not to be touchy concerning other people’s words or actions towards us

Love does not delight in evil, instead it rejoices in the truth - The Godly love described in this chapter has nothing to do with evil, but has everything to do with what is right and true - It believes all things and hopes all things

This does not mean that love is blind or naïve - When we love, we may recognize problems and failures in people, but we do not lose faith in the possibilities of what people might become - Love never gives up, knowing that God can change any life for the better

Page 5 Finally, love endures all things - Love accepts any hardship or rejection, and continues to love even in the face of adversity - The love described by Paul in this “love chapter” means determining what is best for another person and then doing it4

In our Gospel reading, is recorded telling us to even show this love to our enemies - Matthew 5:44-45 record His words, “But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust”

Jesus gives us several reasons why this love is a good idea - It is a mark of maturity, proving that we are children of the Father, and not just little children - It is Godlike - The Father shares His good things with everyone - All may enjoy the blessings of sunshine and rain

Loving our enemies is a testimony to others - Warren Wiersbe said that, “God expects us to live on a much higher plane than the lost people of the world who return good for good and evil for evil. As , we must return good for evil as an investment of love.”5

John 13:34-35 records Jesus’ words - He said, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

May that Christlike love be so obvious in our lives - That everyone not only recognizes us as followers of our Lord Jesus Christ - But they will want the same perfect love for themselves

So, on this Valentine’s Day celebrate love - Not the type of love the worldly person might snicker about - But the amazing love that is a gift from God - Pure, holy, and strong enough to even be shared with enemies

4 Some exposition of 1 Corinthians 13 inspired by or adapted from an article on “Love” in The Nelson Study Bible, © 1997, (Thomas Nelson Publishing, Nashville, TN) 5 Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, © 2003, ( C. Cook, Colorado Springs, CO) Page 6