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.

This Christmas season, the most excellent gift—God's love—shines brightest in the coming of Jesus.

A Familiar Passage in an Important Place

First Corinthians 13 is a well-known passage of Scripture, familiar even to people who don't read the Bible very often, because they've heard it at a wedding or seen it on a poster or bookmark. But it sits right in the middle of Paul's teaching on the gifts of the Spirit.

In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul begins talking about the gifts of the Holy Spirit—the word of knowledge, the word of wisdom, prophecy, miracles, and more. Here at Cross Connection Church, we believe what's called continuationism: that God continues to work by His Holy Spirit and these gifts are still in use today. Chapter 12 sets the stage on what the gifts are, and chapter 14 deals with their exercise within the church. Right in between, we find chapter 13.

Look at the verse immediately before it. In 1 Corinthians 12:31, Paul says, "But earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way." Then he leads right into what may be the best gift, the most excellent way—the gift of love.

The Gifts of God

In this Christmas series we are talking about the gifts of God. Pastor Jason began with the gift of gratitude, and today we come to the gift of love. The gifts of God are good gifts, because every good and perfect gift comes from above, from our Father in heaven. They are given to us for our enjoyment, for the praise and glory of God, and so that we can be a blessing to other people.

As a grounding statement for this passage: love is a good gift that God has demonstrated and given to us—for our joy, to bring praise and glory to Him, and to be a blessing to others.

What Is Love?

Before we get to what the Bible says, consider the culture we live in. Over the last four or five hundred years, as a result of Renaissance and Enlightenment thinking, the West has become highly scientific and reductionistic. We take just about anything in life and break it down to its constituent parts, trying to explain it naturalistically. When it comes to love, we tend to reduce it to biomechanical, biochemical mechanisms.

This week I went to Google and typed in, "What is love?" The first thing that pops up is a terrible 1993 song. After that come scientific articles. According to Harvard Medical, love breaks down into three categories, each characterized by its own hormones: lust (testosterone and estrogen), attraction (dopamine, norepinephrine, serotonin), and attachment (oxytocin and vasopressin).

So what is love? According to science, it's just the biomechanical interactions in your body and your brain's response to these chemicals. Does that answer the deep question of what love is? Reading it produced no hormone response of desire in me. It leaves something to be desired.

I Know It When I See It

What came to my mind was something I read years ago. In 1964, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart was writing an opinion as the court tried to define obscenity. He famously said, "It's not easy to describe or define, but I know it when I see it."

There's truth here regarding love as well. If we asked every person in this room, "What is love?" we'd get a lot of different ideas, and none of us would have a very good definition. That's why science struggles with it too—it only looks at the observable facts. But it's very hard to describe what is happening in the soul. We believe there is an immaterial part of humanity called the soul, and that's where we experience love. We know love when we feel it extended to us, and when we extend it to others, even though we cannot clearly articulate it. Reducing it to brain chemistry simply does not answer it.

The Three Loves of Scripture

Interestingly, the Bible also speaks of love in three categories. The first is identical to science: lust. In the New Testament the word is often epithymia, and sometimes eros, from which we get our word "erotic"—a deep desire or longing.

The second is affection. There are two Greek words: phileo, brotherly love or tenderhearted affection, used frequently in the Bible; and storge, an ancient Greek word for familial love, the affection you have for family members.

The third is the love spoken of here in 1 Corinthians 13—devotion. The Greek word is agape. If you read 1 Corinthians 13:4 in the King James Version, it says "charity," not "love." This is a self-sacrificial devotion, the highest form of love.

In the last century, C.S. Lewis, the great philosopher and Oxford professor, wrote The Four Loves. He observed, "Without eros, none of us would have been conceived, and without affection, none of us would have been raised." All of these matter. Within the confines of marriage, eros is good and important—without it, none of us would be here. And without that tenderhearted brotherly love, none of us would have been raised. I would add: without agape, without devotion, all of us would be damned.

The Gift of Love Is Essential for Life

Point number one: the gift of love is essential for life. This is true from the initial act of creation and for every true act of procreation.

God created as an expression of His nature. Everything seen and unseen, Genesis 1 and 2 tell us, is created by God. And 1 John 4 tells us that God's essential nature is love—"God is love." So God creates as an expression of His nature. There would be no creation, no life, were it not for God's love for all things.

We procreate as an act and expression of love as well. That's why we call it making love, and the fruit of two individuals coming together in marriage is children. So every act of procreation is an expression of love. Without love, there is no life.

The Gift of Love Shines in the Incarnation

Christmas is an annual reminder of God's great love, just as Easter is. The celebration of Christmas is the celebration of the incarnation—God coming into this world to extend His love. The very fact that God came in the form of Jesus Christ is an expression of His love.

You know the most famous verse in the Bible, John 3:16: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son." John says it again in 1 John 4:9–10:

In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

"Manifested" means revealed. Just as you must open a Christmas gift to reveal what's inside, Jesus coming to this world is the revelation of God's love. Point number two: the gift of love shines in the incarnation. The coming of Jesus declares to the whole world just how much God loves us.

No Cross Without the Manger

Typically when we think of God's love demonstrated, we recall Romans 5:8: "God demonstrated His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." We think of Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday. But there would be no cross, no Good Friday, no resurrection without the incarnation. The coming of Jesus as a little baby boy in Bethlehem is a beautiful demonstration of God's love.

What's love got to do with it? Everything. As Paul says in Philippians 2, Jesus "made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a servant, coming in the likeness of men, and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross." All of it is an expression of God's love.

The Reason for the Season

Many Christians struggle with Christmas because of its commercialization, and I understand the concern even if I don't entirely share it. Yesterday my family celebrated our daughter Addison's 10th birthday at the Civic Theater in San Diego to see the Nutcracker. On the drive home, the kids put on A Charlie Brown Christmas. I was driving, so I couldn't watch, but I could hear Charlie Brown ask, "Doesn't anybody know what Christmas is all about?" He's frustrated about commercialization—and that was made back in 1965. This isn't new; it's just gotten worse.

Amidst all the joy and celebration, we need to remind people that this holiday is all about the love of God demonstrated in the coming of Jesus. Point number three: the gift of love is the gift that is Jesus. It's become cliché, but the saying is true—Jesus is the reason for the season. It's not bad that it's cliché, because at least people somewhat know it, even if Amazon Prime and the lines at Target are at the front of their minds.

An Opportunity to Share

One wonderful thing about this season is that we end up at holiday parties—work gatherings, family events—with people who don't know what this holiday is really about. I watched a documentary about how Christmas has become big business in China. They love the holiday, but over there it's entirely about Santa Claus, bells, and Christmas trees; many have no idea what it's connected to. I suggest that a lot of people here have the same problem. They may know the story a little, but not its real weight.

So we have a great opportunity. Be opportunistic, in a good way, looking for chances to share. You can say, "That whole thing in Bethlehem, the nativity scene—it's all about the love of God, that God loves you." Many people need to be reminded that God loves them. So many today are rejecting a certain image of God: an angry, cranky old man in the sky. I reject that too. That's not how God reveals Himself in Scripture. He reveals Himself as the God who loves us in spite of who we are—even when we were dead in trespasses and sins, He saved us according to His love (Ephesians 2).

The Joy of Isaiah 9

Joy to the world, the Lord is come. The advent of Jesus is the advent of God's love coming to this world, bringing joy. This is pictured most clearly in Isaiah 9.

Isaiah wrote this about 2,800 years ago, when the nation of Israel was divided. Ten northern tribes (Israel) had broken off from the two southern tribes (Judah), where Isaiah lived. The northern tribes—the region of Galilee—were about to be obliterated by the Assyrian armies and exiled, becoming the lost tribes of Israel. They were about to enter a dark period. Yet Isaiah receives this prophecy:

Nevertheless the gloom will not be upon her who is distressed... The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined.

The darkness will not last forever, because a great light will shine. Verse 3 continues:

You have multiplied the nation and increased its joy; they rejoice before You according to the joy of the harvest, as men rejoice when they divide the spoil.

This light will increase their joy like the joy of the harvest—imagine receiving a five-digit Christmas bonus, that kind of joy. And like the joy of dividing the spoil—to the victors go the spoil. Verse 4 says God will break "the yoke of his burden... the rod of his oppressor." This joy-increasing light will release them from oppression.

The Child Who Is Born

What is this light? Verse 6 answers:

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... The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

That child, that son, is Jesus—the light that shines to those in darkness, freeing them from oppression and increasing their joy exponentially. Point number four: the gift of love in Christ brings great joy. That's why we sing, "Joy to the world, the Lord is come; let earth receive her King."

This is why the message of the church is called gospel—good news. His coming means great joy, freedom from oppression, and an endless reign of a righteous King.

A Gift Meant to Be Shared

This gift is not meant to be kept secret. Back in 1 Corinthians 13, Paul reminds us that even the greatest gifts and sacrifices are nothing without love. We can and do give good gifts at this time of year, but if we don't extend and share the love this holiday is about, we miss the point.

It's wonderful to have time off, to celebrate with family, to give and receive gifts. But if we don't, with the gift we give, extend the good news of the gospel, we miss the point of this holiday. You may have many gifts under your tree—at my house there are about 26 Christmas trees, like a forest—but make sure you share the great gift of the love of God that brings joy and freedom from sin.

Point number five: the gift of God's love in Christ is meant to be shared with all people. Every year, this season brings that opportunity. We cannot miss its importance.

Remembering at the Table

So we never forget the greatness of God's love in Christ Jesus, on the night He was betrayed, the day before He was crucified, Jesus shared a meal with His disciples and gave them a sacrament—an activity to observe regularly to remember His body broken and His blood shed to demonstrate love. We call it communion. Today we will partake of the bread and the cup together.

Closing Prayer

Father, as we now prepare our hearts for this time of communion, help us to have fresh in our minds what this is all about and what it means. May it never become a meaningless thing 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 relationship with You—all an expression of Your love and grace. Jesus, You came to this world, which we celebrate at Christmas, for the very purpose of demonstrating Your love on the cross. May that be fresh in our minds, especially since You desire that we share that good news with others this time of year. Would You ready our hearts now as we worship You? We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.