“A Better Way”
The church I attended this morning started a new sermon series called “A Better Way.” The title really caught my attention because wow, there has to be a better way than the way things are currently going. The scripture that lead into the sermon was 1 Corinthians 12:31b “But now I want to lay out a far better way for you.” The pastor proceeded to read I Corinthians 13 which are the verses that immediately follow “But now I want to lay out a far better way for you.” The pastor’s main point was we need to love each other and that isn’t what is natural for most of us especially if the other person isn’t reacting in love. To paraphrase David Ashcraft of LCBC: “I can’t tell you that if we love everyone around us it will change anything but that doesn’t matter because it is the right thing to do. It is the better way.” The sermon this morning reminded me of a blog post I wrote just about a year ago. I have taken the liberty of reposting it:
I don’t know about you but most mornings when I check my smart phone for the first time or turn on the television to catch the news, I find myself holding my breath as I wonder what the possible headline could be. The world seems to go from one crisis to the next barely catching its breath in between. I don’t want to oversimplify this but I think it always has. We just didn’t know. We live in an age of instant information we have access to more information at a faster pace. We are bombarded. Many feel overwhelmed. Many are overwhelmed.
As a follower of Jesus how do I navigate life in an ever-changing world? I think the answer is found in the question asked by the Pharisees – Which is the greatest commandment?
36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
The Bible tells us that God is love. 1 Corinthians 13 gives us the definition of love. There is an old song that states “What is the world needs now is love, sweet love.” I believe now more than ever (or maybe it has always been the case) the world needs love. God’s love. The last verse of 1 Corinthians 13 ( The Message) states what I want to strive to do: “Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.” Will you join me?
13 If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.
2 If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing.
3-7 If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.
Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.8-10 Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled.
11 When I was an infant at my mother’s breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good.
12 We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!
13 But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.
The Message (MSG)Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson
I totally agree, Ann; the worlds does need love. We need to love as God loves, without conditions.
Amen. Amen.