With Friends Like These…

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become a sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.

God, I pray that you would give us insight and wisdom as we, Lord, consider your gifts today. The gift we're thinking about as we come to 1 Corinthians chapter 13 is the gift of love. I pray, God, that you would minister to us as we reflect on the truth of the gift of love. As we think about the way that you have loved us and what your love for us means for us, what it does in us, and what you desire to accomplish through us as a result of it. So, God, would you speak to us today? We pray that you'd meet us here. We trust, just as you said, Jesus, that wherever two or more are gathered in your name, there you are in their midst. We are grateful that you are here, and we pray, God, that you would minister your grace as we minister to you. We pray this in Jesus' name, and all those that agreed said, amen. You may be seated.

1 Corinthians chapter 13 is a well-known passage of Scripture, even to people who may not read the Bible very often, because they may have heard it at a wedding or seen it on a poster or a bookmark. It is a very familiar passage of Scripture. However, it finds itself right in the middle of a section where the Apostle Paul, who wrote this passage, is dealing with what are called the gifts of the Spirit.

When we talk about the gifts of God, as we are in this series right now, a lot of times that brings to mind the gifts of the Holy Spirit. In 1 Corinthians chapter 12, Paul begins discussing the gifts of the Holy Spirit, including things like the word of knowledge, the word of wisdom, prophecy, miracles, and various other gifts that he lists there. While we are not focusing on those in this series, we do believe that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are still in use today.

Here at Cross Connection Church, we believe in continuationism, which means that God continues to work by His Holy Spirit. Paul sets the stage in 1 Corinthians chapter 12 regarding the gifts of the Spirit. Then, in 1 Corinthians chapter 14, he discusses the exercise or use of those gifts within the church. Right in between those two passages is 1 Corinthians chapter 13. If you look at the verse that comes immediately before chapter 13, which is 1 Corinthians chapter 12, verse 31, Paul says, "But earnestly desire the best gifts, and yet I show you a more excellent way." He then leads into what I would say is perhaps the best gift, the most excellent way, which is the gift of love.

This Christmas season, as we approach Christmas in just ten days or so, we are talking about the gifts of God. Pastor Jason began this series a couple of weeks ago by discussing the gift of gratitude. Today, we will be focusing on the gift of love. I shared last week that the gifts of God are good gifts that He has given to us, because every good and perfect gift comes from above, from our Father in heaven. These gifts are given to us for our enjoyment, for the praise and glory of God, and so that we can use them to be a blessing to others.

We saw this with gratitude a couple of weeks ago when Pastor Jason spoke about it. Today, we will explore how this relates to love. As a grounding statement for this passage on love, let me propose that love is a good gift that God has demonstrated and given to us. He has given it to us for our joy, to bring praise and glory to Him, and to enable us to be a blessing to others as well.

Before we delve into what the Bible has to say about love, I want to rewind for a moment and consider our culture. Here in the West, over the last four or five hundred years, we have developed a highly scientifically oriented culture as a result of Renaissance and Enlightenment thinking. This culture is very scientifically reductionistic. What I mean by that is we tend to analyze and break down just about anything we can think of in life.

We have a tendency to break things down into their constituent parts and try to explain them naturalistically. We attempt to explain virtually everything with a naturalistic mindset. When it comes to love, we often reduce it to biomechanical and biochemical mechanisms.

This past week, as I was reflecting on this, I went onto Google and typed in the question, "What is love?" The first thing that popped up was a really terrible song from 1993 by a guy named Hathaway called "What is Love? Baby, don't hurt me, baby, don't hurt me, no more." You might be familiar with it; it's quite a dreadful song. That was the first result, but following that were numerous scientific articles about love.

I started reading an article from Harvard Medical on the subject, and it was interesting to see how science attempts to explain love. You can judge for yourself whether they do a good job. According to science, love can be broken down into three categories, each characterized by its own set of hormones. The first is lust, characterized by testosterone and estrogen. The second is attraction, characterized by dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin. The third is attachment, characterized by oxytocin and vasopressin.

So, what is love? According to science, love is simply the biomechanical interactions in your body and your brain's response to the presence of these chemicals and hormones. That explanation seems to cover everything perfectly, right? It answers the deep question of what love is, or does it?

In reality, that scientific explanation does not evoke any sort of hormonal response that elicits desire. It leaves something to be desired when we consider it. In fact, as I was reading through that, I was reminded of something I had read many years ago. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart, in 1964, was writing a court opinion while the Supreme Court was making a decision regarding obscenity and pornography. When discussing obscenity, he mentioned that it is not easy to describe or define, but he knows it when he sees it.

I think there’s some truth to the concept of love as well. If we were to ask every single person in this room this morning, "What is love?" and we went around to discuss it, there would be a lot of different ideas. None of us would probably have a very good definition, description, or explanation of what love is. That’s why science probably has a difficult time trying to explain it. A lot of times, they are just looking at the facts and what they can observe, but it’s very hard to describe what is happening in our soul.

We believe that there is an immaterial part of humanity called the soul, and that’s where we experience these things called love or the emotions we feel. These experiences are very difficult to describe or define, but we know it when we see it or when we experience it. We recognize love when we feel the love of others towards us, and we know love when we extend that love to other people, even though we may not be able to clearly articulate exactly what it is. Reducing love down to what we see happening within the brain or within the body biochemically does not answer the question at all. It is simply an insufficient way of explaining or dealing with the issue of love.

Interestingly, the Bible, somewhat like science, speaks of love in three categories as well. When you start to look at this concept of love scripturally, you find that it also has three categories in which it discusses love. The first is identical to science: it is lust. When we read in the New Testament, we see this form of love. The Greek word often used in the New Testament is "epithymia," and sometimes we see the Greek word "eros," from which we get our English word "erotic." This represents romantic love, and we do see that category of love in the scriptures. A deep desire, a longing, or lust would be the words that come to mind, even though "lust" may not describe it perfectly.

The second form of love that we find in the Bible is what we might call affection. There are basically two Greek words used to describe affection. One of them is used in the Bible quite frequently: it is the Greek word "phileo." Phileo represents brotherly love or tenderhearted affection. A very similar word in Greek, which is not used in the Bible, is an ancient term that also conveys a sense of affection.

The Greek word "storge" speaks of familial love, the kind of affection that you have for brothers, sisters, and family members. This affection is one form of love. We have lust, which is a longing and desire, and then we have affection. The third form of love that we find in the Bible is discussed in 1 Corinthians chapter 13, where Paul emphasizes the importance of this more excellent form of love. This third form of love is devotion, expressed by the Greek word "agape."

In the King James Version of the Bible, 1 Corinthians chapter 13, verse 4 does not say "love suffers long and is kind," but rather "charity." The word that conveys this devotion is a self-sacrificial sort of devotion, and Paul describes it as the highest form of love. When we examine the scriptures, we see these three different categories of love: lust, which is epithymia or eros; affection, which includes brotherly kindness or brotherly love, known as phileo and storge; and agape, this deep, self-sacrificial devotion.

In the last century, C.S. Lewis, a great philosopher, author, and professor at Oxford, wrote a book called "The Four Loves." In this book, he makes a fascinating point: without eros, or lust, none of us would have been conceived. Without affection, none of us would have been raised. There is so much truth in this. He highlights that all of these forms of love are important. Sometimes, we might dismiss lust as wrong and bad, thinking we need to eliminate it. However, within the confines of marriage, it is very important and good. Without it, none of us would have been conceived.

Furthermore, without the tenderhearted affection of brotherly love, or phileo, none of us would have been raised. I would add that without agape, without devotion, none of us would be saved; we would all be damned.

When we start to look at the concept of love—not just scientifically or culturally, but biblically—we find that the gift of love is essential for life. It is essential for life.

And I believe that this is true from the initial act of creation and for every true act of procreation: the gift of love is essential for life. God created, I would suggest, as an expression of His nature. He created Genesis chapter 1, Genesis chapter 2; everything the Bible says, everything that is seen or unseen, is all created by God. He created as an expression of His nature.

In 1 John chapter 4, we are told that God's essential nature is love. God is love. So, God creates as an expression of His nature. There would be no creation; there would be no life if it were not for God's love for all things.

Procreation is also an act and an expression of love. That's why we call it making love. The fruit of two individuals coming together in marriage, the fruit of their love, is children. Every act of procreation is an expression of love. Therefore, it is clearly true to say that the gift of love is essential for life. Without love, there is no life.

It is important to call to mind that Christmas is an annual reminder for us, just as Easter is. We'll talk about that in several months. But Christmas is an annual reminder for each and every one of us of God's great love. The celebration of Christmas is the celebration of the incarnation; it is the celebration of God coming into this world to extend His love. The very fact that God came into this world in the form of Jesus Christ is an expression of God's love.

You probably know the most famous verse of the Bible, John 3:16. What does it say? "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son." The fact that Jesus came into this world in the incarnation, and for the crucifixion and the resurrection, all of that is an expression of God's love. John 3:16 states it clearly, but John also reiterates this in 1 John 4.

If you are still in 1 Corinthians, keep your finger there, but turn to the right, closer to the end of the Bible, to 1 John 4. It's right near the end. Open to the very last book, Revelation. Turn back a few pages, and you'll find 1 John. In 1 John 4, we see again restated this truth that the coming of Jesus into this world, the incarnation,

What we celebrate at Christmas is an expression or demonstration of God's love. In 1 John 4, verse 9, it states, "In this, the love of God was manifested." Manifested means to be revealed. Just like when you have a Christmas gift and you don't know exactly what it is, you have to open it to reveal what's inside. Jesus coming into this world is the revelation of God's love. The verse continues, "God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him."

Verse 10 states, "In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the payment, the propitiation for our sins." When we see Christmas and think of this holiday, which celebrates the coming of Jesus into this world, the incarnation, it is an expression of God's love. It is the revelation of God's love for us. Though we may not be able to perfectly describe, define, or explain what love is, we know it when we see it.

Point number two on your outline: The gift of love shines in the incarnation. The coming of Jesus that we celebrate at Christmas is the shining forth of God's love. It declares to the whole world just how much God loves us. Typically, when we think of God's love demonstrated, we recall the verse in Romans, chapter 5, verse 8, which says that God demonstrated His love towards us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Often, when we think about God's love demonstrated for us, we think about Easter, Good Friday, the crucifixion, and Resurrection Sunday when Jesus rose from the dead. That is the demonstration of God's love for us. However, it is worth noting that there would be no cross, no Good Friday, and no Resurrection Sunday without the incarnation of Jesus coming into this world. The coming of Jesus as that little baby boy in Bethlehem is a beautiful demonstration of God's love for us.

So, what's love got to do with it, as Tina Turner asks? Everything. It's got everything to do with it. It's all about the love of God coming into this world. Jesus made Himself of no reputation. Paul says in Philippians, chapter 2, that He made Himself of no reputation, taking upon Himself the form of a servant.

He came in the likeness of man and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. All of this is an expression of God's love for us.

Now, there are many Christians, and maybe you're one of them, who have a difficult time with the Christmas holiday because of the commercialization of Christmas. I can understand the concern. Even if I don't entirely share it, I can totally understand the concern over the commercialization of Christmas.

Yesterday, my family and I were celebrating our daughter Addison's 10th birthday. As part of the celebration, we went down to the Civic Theater in San Diego to see the Nutcracker. The girls were really excited about that, while the boys were not so much. After the performance, we got back into the Suburban to come home. We have a little DVD player in the car, so the kids asked if they could put on a movie. We turned on the movie, and what was playing was the Charlie Brown Christmas Story.

How many of you know Charlie Brown Christmas? Of course! I can't watch it because I'm driving, but I'm listening to the dialogue and reminded of that scene in the movie. I can't see it, but I know what Charlie Brown says: "Doesn't anybody know what Christmas is all about?" What is Charlie Brown frustrated about? He is frustrated about the commercialization of Christmas. This was made in 1958, so if you think this is new, it is not. It has gotten a lot worse, maybe exponentially so, every single year. There are certainly a lot of trappings and attachments that have been hung onto the Christmas holiday.

Amidst all the joy and celebration of this holiday, we need to do our best to remind people that this holiday is all about the love of God as demonstrated in the coming forth of Jesus. Point number three on your outline: the gift of love is the gift that is Jesus. It has become cliché, but the old saying is true: Jesus is the reason for the season.

It's not necessarily a bad thing that it has become cliché because people at least somewhat know it, even if it's way at the back of their minds. The thing that's at the front of their minds might be Amazon Prime, lines at Target, or whatever it may be. All those other things can cloud this reality.

But we who know this to be true and understand the implications of the coming of Jesus to this world need to do our best to bring that up to the people we interact with. One of the wonderful things about this time of year is that we will end up at holiday parties, whether they are Christmas parties for work or family gatherings. It is highly likely that when you gather together with friends, family, or co-workers at this time of year, there will be a number of those people who do not really know the truth of what this holiday is all about.

I was watching a documentary about a year ago, and it was interesting to see how in China, Christmas has become a really big business. They have been creating all this stuff that they have been shipping over here for us to buy for a long time. They have also embraced the holiday cheer and enjoy this American holiday called Christmas. However, over there, it is entirely about Santa Claus, bells, and Christmas trees. Many people have no idea whatsoever what it is connected to. The whole point of this documentary was to highlight that here you have a retail industry in China that has totally bought into this American holiday and loves the whole thing, yet they have no idea what it is connected to.

I want to suggest that there are many people here who have the same problem. They may have heard or known the story a little bit, but they do not understand the real weight of what it is all about. We have an incredibly great opportunity, and I encourage you to be opportunistic in looking for chances to share with people. As you gather together, there will be individuals who simply do not know the reality of what this is all about and that it is a demonstration of God's love.

You can say, "Listen, that whole thing that happened in Bethlehem, and you've seen the little nativity scene, and maybe you understand or know a little bit of the story of Luke, it's all about the love of God." There are many people who need to be reminded that God loves them. In our culture today, many are rejecting a certain form of God that is portrayed as an angry, upset, cranky old man in the sky. I reject that too. That is not how God is revealed or how He has revealed Himself in the Scriptures.

God has revealed Himself in the Scriptures as the God who loves, who loves us in spite of who we are. Even when we were dead in trespasses and sins, God saved us according to His love—the manifold love of God.

Read Ephesians chapter 2, and you will see it very clearly expressed in that passage. Love is a good gift from our good God, demonstrated and given to us for our joy, for the praise and glory of God, and for the blessing of others. Jesus is the gift of God, the gift of love given for our joy.

It's been a popular Christmas song for a very long time: "Joy to the World, the Lord is come. Let earth receive her King." The advent of Jesus into this world is the advent of God's love coming to this world, bringing joy. It's the coming of joy. This is most clearly pictured in one of the classic Bible passages in the Old Testament, Isaiah chapter 9. Would you turn there if you could? Open to about the middle of your Bible. You'll probably be somewhere around the Psalms. If you are, turn to the right. You're going to find a big 66-chapter book called Isaiah.

As you are turning there, let me provide a little bit of context to set the story for what's going on, because we're going to begin reading at verse 1. Verses 6 and 7 are very classic Christmas verses. You may have seen them on a Christmas card before: "For unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given." That whole passage is a very classic Christmas passage. However, the verses that precede that, beginning in verse 1, are really important.

Now, this was written about 2,800 years ago by a man named Isaiah. He was a prophet in the nation of Israel. At the time that he wrote this, the nation of Israel was a divided nation. The nation was split in two. There was a group of tribes; the nation of Israel was made up of 12 tribes. Ten of those tribes had kind of broken off from the two tribes in the south. Those ten tribes were in the northern part of the nation of Israel and were called Israel. The two tribes in the southern part of the nation were called Judah, and Isaiah lived in Judah.

At the moment that he was writing this, the northern ten tribes were about to go through a really bad period of time. In the 8th century BC, 2,800 years ago, the Assyrian armies moved into the northern ten tribes and completely obliterated the nation of Israel. They became, at that point, what's called the lost tribes of Israel. They were exiled to Assyria, split all around the Assyrian Empire, and effectively destroyed. So, the northern ten tribes, the region of the nation of Israel called Galilee, was about to enter a really dark period of time.

In Isaiah, he receives this prophecy from the Lord. Isaiah chapter 9, verse 1 states, "Nevertheless, the gloom will not be upon her who is distressed, as when at first he lightly esteemed the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward more heavily oppressed her by the way of the sea beyond the Jordan in Galilee of the Gentiles."

What is Isaiah saying? He is saying, "Listen, darkness is going to come to the people in Galilee." Zebulun and Naphtali were two tribes of Israel that were in that part of the world, or in that part of the nation, at that point in time. He says darkness is about to come. The Assyrians are going to come and wipe these people out. However, that darkness is not going to be forever.

In verse 2, it continues, "The people who walked in darkness, those people who were in that oppressed part of the world, have seen a great light." That darkness is not going to last because those people are going to see a great light. "Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined." Isaiah indicates that they are going to go through a dark period of time. It will be very oppressive and difficult, but there is going to come a light that is going to shine. This is the first indication of this wonderful thing that is going to come: a light is going to shine to those who are in darkness.

In verse 3, it says, "You, God, have multiplied the nation and increased its joy." This light is going to shine to those who are in darkness, and it is going to increase their joy. "They rejoice before you, God, according to the joy of the harvest." What kind of joy is it going to be like when this light shines to those who are in darkness? It is the joy that is associated with the harvest.

It's likely that there are not too many farmers in the room today, so connecting to harvests may not resonate with everyone. But imagine for a moment that you received a really big Christmas bonus. Maybe you did, maybe you didn't, or maybe you would love to. But imagine it was a five-digit bonus. That kind of joy is like the joy of the harvest.

He says this light is going to shine to those who are in darkness, and it is going to increase their joy, like when the harvest comes in or when you receive a big, huge bonus. But it is not just like the joy of the harvest. In verse 3, it also says, "as men rejoice when they divide the spoil." Who receives the spoil? The victors go to the spoil. So imagine if you are in a battle and you are on the winning side, and you bring in the spoil.

It's going to be that kind of joy. That kind of joy is going to come from this light that will shine on those who are in darkness. What else is going to come? Well, verse 4 says, "For you, God have broken the yoke of his burden and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian." God says, "Listen, you're in darkness now, but light is going to come and shine on you." This light is going to increase your joy exponentially, and this joy-increasing light will release you from the oppression of the enemy. All of those things are going to happen.

What is this light that brings joy and freedom from oppression? That's where verse 6 comes in: "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace, there will be no end. Upon the throne of David and over his kingdom to order it and establish it with judgment and justice. From that time forward, even forever, the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this."

Who is the child that is born, the son that is given? Clearly, that's Jesus. Jesus is the light that shines on those who are in darkness, freeing them from the oppression of the enemy and increasing their joy exponentially.

Point number four on your outline: the gift of love in Christ brings great joy. That's why we sing, "Joy to the world, the Lord has come. Let earth receive her king." The King of kings, the Lord of lords, the Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace—He is the one who will bear a righteous reign for eternity.

This is why the message that the church has is called the gospel. Gospel means good news. That's the message that you and I have. That's what we're able to bring when we interact with family members, friends, and coworkers who don't know the gift of Jesus. We have this good news of the gospel. His coming means great joy. His coming means freedom from oppression. His coming means an endless reign of a righteous king. The gift of Jesus is the gift of love that brings great joy, and this gift is not meant to be kept secret.

This gift is meant to be shared. Back, if you will, to 1 Corinthians chapter 13, where we started. In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul says we can and do give good gifts. At this time of year, we can have gifts and we can give gifts. However, if we don't, with those gifts, extend and share the love that this holiday is all about, we're missing the point.

It's a wonderful thing to have some time off work, to celebrate with family members, and to give and receive gifts. All those things are joy-producing, happy, wonderful experiences. But if we don't, with the gift that we give to someone else, extend the good news of the gospel, we're completely missing the point of this holiday.

This Christmas, you may have a lot of gifts under a Christmas tree. If you're at my house, there are like 26 Christmas trees—I'm not kidding. It's like a forest. You may have a lot of Christmas trees and a couple of gifts, or you may have a lot of gifts under a Christmas tree. You might have all of those things, and those things are wonderful.

However, we need to make sure that we share this great gift of the love of God that brings great joy and freedom from oppression, freedom from sin. Point number five on your outline: the gift of God's love in Christ is meant to be shared with all people. This is a great opportunity every single year at this time to take advantage of that opportunity. We cannot miss the importance of this time of year and what it means, as well as the opportunity that it brings. Just so we would never forget the greatness of God's love in Christ Jesus.

Jesus, on the night that he would be betrayed by one of his followers, the day before he would be crucified, had a meal with his disciples. He gave them what we refer to as a sacrament. He provided them with an activity to observe on a regular basis to remind them of his body that was broken and of his blood that was shed, to demonstrate love. We call it communion.

Today, we are going to partake of communion, the bread and the cup. Anthony and the worship leaders are going to come up and lead us in a song. Our ushers will distribute the bread and the cup in just a moment. I want you to hold on to the bread and the cup, and we will partake together in a few minutes.

Father, I pray as we now prepare our hearts for this time of communion that you would help us to have it fresh in our minds what this is all about and what it means that we are doing this. May it never become a meaningless sort of thing that we observe. May we always be reminded of the greatness of your body broken for us and your blood shed for us so that we could be restored to a relationship with you. All of this is an expression of your love and your grace.

Jesus, you came to this world, and we celebrate your coming at Christmas. You came for the very purpose of demonstrating your love on the cross. We want to keep that fresh in our minds, especially since you desire that we share that good news with other people, not just during this time of year, but at all times. So God, would you help us to have our hearts readied right now as we worship you? We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.