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The Greatest Gift: Sermon · Beyond the Sermon

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  You're listening to Beyond the Sermon, the podcast of First
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  Methodist Church in Collingswood, NJ.
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  On our podcast, the goal is not just to share the sermons we've
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  preached, but to go beyond the sermon and talk about what we're
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  learning and what God is doing in US and in our community.
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  You can find more information about our church at
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  fumccollingswood.org. Thanks for listening.
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  Good. Morning.
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  Our scripture this morning is taken from the book of First
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  Corinthians. We'll begin in chapter 12.
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  We'll begin with verse 27, and we'll be reading through chapter
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  14, verse one. This first verse actually sounds
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  like Paul is talking directly to us this morning.
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  Here it is. Now you are the body of Christ,
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  and each one of you is a part of it.
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  And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles,
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  2nd profits, third teachers, then workers of miracles.
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  Also those having gifts of healing, those able to help
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  others, those with gifts of administration, and those
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  speaking in different kinds of tongues.
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  Are all apostles, Are all profits?
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  Are all teachers? Do all work miracles?
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  Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak tongues?
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  Do all interpret, but eagerly desire the greater gifts.
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  And now I will show you the most excellent way.
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  If I speak in tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I
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  am only a resounding gong or a clanging symbol.
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  If I had the gift of prophecy, and can fathom all mysteries and
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  all knowledge, and if I have faith it can move mountains, but
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  have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the
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  poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I
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  gain nothing. Love is patient.
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  Love is kind. It does not envy, it does not
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  boast. It is not proud.
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  It is not rude, it is not self seeking, it is not easily anger.
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  He keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil,
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  but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always
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  trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
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  Love never fails, but where there are prophecies they will
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  cease, where there are tongues they will be stilled, and where
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  there is knowledge it will pass away.
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  For we know in part, and we prophecy in part.
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  But when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.
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  When I was a child I talked like a child.
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  I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child.
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  When I became a man I put childish ways behind me.
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  Now we see but a poor reflection, as in a mirror.
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  Then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part.
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  Then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
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  And now these three remain faith, hope, and love.
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  But the greatest of these is love.
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  And one verse in chapter 14. Follow the way of love and
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  eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy.
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  This is the word of God for the people of God.
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  Thanks be to God, man. Thanks, Carrie.
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  Imagine with me for a moment that you've gone out to eat at a
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  restaurant and you order a big juicy cheeseburger with bacon
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  and mushrooms and onion straws and BBQ sauce.
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  Anyone just decide to do something different for lunch,
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  right? Anyway, your burger comes out
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  and it looks amazing and it smells terrific and you take
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  that first bite and oh man, it just tastes so good.
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  So you go in for another bite, bite #2 and there it is.
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  Your burger isn't ruined, but it's close because someone put
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  Pickles on your cheeseburger and you were pretty sure the
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  description didn't say anything about Pickles.
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  Anyone ever have that experience or similar experience?
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  It might not be Pickles for you, but I think you get the idea.
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  I think when we come to chapter 13 of First Corinthians, it can
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  feel a little bit like biting into a a a burger and getting a
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  pickle that you didn't expect. This famous love chapter, the
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  passage that we read at weddings when we extol the virtues and
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  characteristics of love. This must be proof that someone
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  just threw the Bible together from a bunch of unrelated
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  ancient texts, right? I mean, who would stick this
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  beautiful exposition about love in between 1st Corinthians 12
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  and 1st Corinthians 14, both of which are part of Paul's
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  discussion of spiritual gifts, their proper and appropriate use
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  within the church? Why put this this heartwarming
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  description of the love between a husband and a wife here of all
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  places? Unless, of course, First
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  Corinthians 13 isn't actually about marriage after all.
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  Or at least that wasn't the primary context that Paul had in
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  mind as he was writing to the church in Corinth.
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  No offense intended if you had First Corinthians 13 read at
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  your wedding, right? But I think if we took, if we
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  take a close look at this passage in its context, I think
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  we find that's exactly the reality, right?
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  That this isn't a section of Scripture that was just
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  haphazardly stuck into the middle of Paul's letter by some
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  later editor. And it isn't about weddings or
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  marriage or romance, after all, right?
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  The discussion of love in First Corinthians 13 is absolutely
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  central to the conversation we're having about spiritual
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  gifts, about how the members of the body of Christ are supposed
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  to relate to one another, and the character that God wants to
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  form in everyone who follows the way of Jesus.
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  So this morning we're going to take that closer look and see
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  what the Spirit is saying through Paul.
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  Because as we saw last week, Paul sees gifts as being one of
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  the keys right to the healthy operation of the body of Christ.
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  And in chapter 12, the different gifts of the Spirit are compared
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  to the different functions of different parts of the body.
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  Each believer a part of the body of Christ, even though different
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  people receive different gifts. That's what we talked about a
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  bit last week. And then then in the recap at
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  the end of chapter 12, Paul lists some of those gifts of the
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  Spirit that have been given to the church.
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  He talks about prophets then, or apostles and prophets, teachers,
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  miracles, helping, guidance, administration, tongues.
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  Now, two things quickly about this list.
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  One, this is a representative list, right?
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  It's not an exhaustive list of all the gifts that the Spirit
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  ever gives to Scripture. There are other spiritual gifts
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  that aren't listed here. They're talked about in other
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  places, or Paul talks about and Peter talks about and John,
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  whoever. But this isn't an exhaustive
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  list. These aren't all the gifts that
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  the Spirit gives to the church. That's the first thing.
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  Second thing, even though Paul begins giving a a numbered list,
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  right, this isn't an indication of priority.
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  All the gifts matter. All the gifts are given by the
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  Spirit. All the gifts are empowered by
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  that same Spirit. I think what's happening here is
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  that Paul begins listing some gifts and then somewhere in
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  there around teachers or so he he loses count and just be
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  starts listing them off then then, then, then, then, right.
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  It would be a little bit like me saying my family is made-up of
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  first Meg, second Timothy, then Benjamin, then Josiah, then Eli.
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  But just because I stopped counting it, it doesn't mean
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  that Meg or Tim are somehow more of my family than Ben, Josiah
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  and Eli, right? Are are you with me?
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  He's he's listing some things, but it's not an order of
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  priority. Then then Paul tells the
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  Corinthians to eagerly desire the greater gifts.
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  Wait a minute, Paul. You mean there are greater gifts
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  than miracles and healing and prophecy?
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  I I thought all the gifts were different but eagle or different
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  but equal. But why wouldn't I want the
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  greater gifts and and if there's a most excellent way, sign me
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  up. Why would I want the the halfway
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  way or the the good enough way? I want the excellent way.
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  And it's here that Paul makes it clear that all the gifts he's
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  been writing about tongues, prophecy, faith, generosity,
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  martyrdom, on and on and on. None of them matter if they're
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  not used in the service of love, if they're not done in a loving
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  way, if we're not being formed into people of love.
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  You want the most excellent way. It's the way of love.
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  And by love I don't mean some squishy, sentimental, feel good
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  emotion. It's the kind of love that God
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  has for us, kind of love He wants to put in us so we can
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  love others. This kind of love, I'm going to
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  call it holy love to distinguish it from from the other ways we
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  talk about love, right? Like romantic love.
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  And I love a good cheeseburger, obviously without Pickles.
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  But this kind of holy love, this is a kind of holy love that
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  looks like Jesus, Paul wrote in in First Corinthians.
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  He said love is patient, love is kind.
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  It does not envy, it does not boast.
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  It's not proud. It does not dishonor others.
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  It's not self seeking. It's not easily angered.
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  It keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil,
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  but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always
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  trust, always hopes, always perseveres.
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  Love never fails. This is the kind of holy love
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  that is the foundation of all the spiritual gifts.
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  All of them, none excluded. So if we're trying to exercise
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  our spiritual gifts for any other reason, if this kind of
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  holy love isn't being formed in US, if our lives and our
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  interactions with other people aren't increasingly being marked
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  by and and known by this kind of love, something's wrong.
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  Something's wrong. And, and that something needs to
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  be dealt with so that we can be brought into alignment with the
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  way of Jesus, which is the way of love, right.
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  That most excellent way because as Paul says, love along with
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  faith and and hope, that's what's going to last into
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  eternity. Spiritual gifts, all these other
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  gifts, they're, they're for today, but they aren't forever.
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  They're going to pass away when God's Kingdom comes in its
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  fullness. They'll disappear when God
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  brings the new heaven and the new earth, because then we'll no
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  longer need the gift of healing because there won't be any more
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  sickness or disease. We won't need the gift of
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  prophecy because God himself will speak to all of us.
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  We won't need the gift of mercy because we'll walk with the one
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  who is over all and in all and through all.
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  And so there'll be no oppression to undo, no injustice to, right.
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  But love. Love will last forever because
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  God is love. It's not just what God does,
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  it's who he is and love is, who he desires and intends for his
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  people to be. God wants to form his own
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  character in US. I don't think I'm going too far
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  out on a limb to say this, but here's my hot take for the
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  moment. For the morning, God cares more
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  about your character than he does about your gifting.
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  God cares more about your character than he does about
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  your gifting. And that's coming from the guy
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  who has 18 weeks set aside this year to talk about spiritual
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  gifts. That's saying something, right?
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  But I think that's what Paul's saying.
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  Who you're becoming is the most important thing about you.
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  Are you becoming a person of holy love?
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  Is that the character that's being formed in you?
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  Because God is looking for people who are willing to be
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  formed into his character, willing to be formed into people
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  of the kind of love that Paul talks about here in First
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  Corinthians 13, people who can be entrusted with his presence
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  and his power. As important as spiritual gifts
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  are in the life of the church, and I think they're, they're
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  really pretty important, But as important as they are, if we're
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  not operating from this foundation of holy love as the
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  motivation and the purpose and the objective of what we do,
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  even in our exercising of our spiritual gifts, the power of
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  the Spirit isn't going to be there.
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  We're going to be a clanging Dong and a clashing.
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  Cymbal. If I stand up here to preach and
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  the purpose in my heart is direct to correct someone who
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  made me angry this week, if the objective I'm aiming for is for
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  people to come up to me after the service and say, oh great
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  sermon pastor, you really hit it this time.
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  If the motivation in my heart is anything other than loving you
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  all with the holy love of Jesus, then my words are just that
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  clashing symbol. Jesus said that we would be
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  known as his followers by the spiritual gifts we use.
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  No, everyone will know that we are Jesus's disciples if our
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  theology is spot on. No, everyone here, here it is,
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  right? Everyone will know that you are
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  Jesus's disciples if you show up at church on Sunday morning.
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  No, Jesus said. By this, everyone will know that
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  you are my disciples if you love one another, not when you do.
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  If you love one another, it's a choice we can make.
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  It's a choice we have to make to love one another.
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  Paul echoed this idea in his letter to the Ephesians when he
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  instructed them in chapter 5 to follow God's example, therefore
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  as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as
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  Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering
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  and sacrifice to God. Follow God's example because
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  you're His children, all right? Think about all the things kids
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  do because they see mom or dad doing.
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  Follow God's example, which he gave us where?
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  In the person of Jesus, right? In God's own incarnation into
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  humanity. What's this example?
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  It's to walk. To continue in the way of love,
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  just as Christ showed us the ultimate picture of love by
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  giving himself for us. And I'd argue he gave himself
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  for us long before he was nailed to a cross.
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  Or it's like Paul prayed for the Ephesians church a little
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  earlier in that letter in in what I think is one of the key
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  passages in all of Scripture, Paul said, I pray that you being
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  rooted and established in love may have power together with all
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  the Lord's holy people to grasp how wide and long and high and
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  deep is the love of Christ. To know this love that surpasses
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  knowledge that you may be filled with all, filled to the measure
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  of all the fullness of God. Paul's prayer for the church was
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  that their foundation would be love, and only from that
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  foundation would would come all the power they would need not
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  just to operate in their spiritual gifts, not to change
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  the world, not even to lead people to Christ.
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  No power to grasp the width and length and breadth and depth of
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  the holy love of Christ that they would know this love.
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  Not just a mental knowing about this love.
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  I can memorize First Corinthians 13 versus 4 to whatever it is,
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  but if I don't actually experience that love, if I don't
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  know that love and walk in that love, that was Paul's prayer,
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  that they would have a deep, transforming experience of the
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  love of God so that they would be filled to the measure of all
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  the fullness of God, the God who is love.
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  That's a radical idea filled with all the fullness of God,
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  all the fullness of God. I, I, I can't get my mind around
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  that. But that's the offer, friends.
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  God wants to form us into people of love and, and so fill us with
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  his presence and power when it comes to this conversation we're
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  having about spiritual gifts, First Corinthians 13 and, and
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  this holy love that Paul is describing.
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  It's not just an unwelcome pickle on your cheeseburger,
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  right? It's the hamburger Patty, the
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  most important thing, right in the middle, right where it
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  should be. And so the question I think we
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  have to ask ourselves is this, what kind of person am I
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  becoming? What kind of person am I known
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  to be? Do the people closest to you
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  experience you as a person who protects and trusts, or do they
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  experience you as as a person full of anger?
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  Do strangers in the grocery store or dare I say it, driving
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  down to 95 or Route 70, do they experience you as a person who's
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  patient and kind? Or is someone selfish, proud.
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  You might fill in some other adjectives there.
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  Are you, am I? Are we being formed more and
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  more into persons of holy love, this kind of person who who
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  shares God's very character, someone who can be entrusted to
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  carry God's presence and power to advance his purposes in the
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  world? If so, three cheers.
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  But are there some holdout areas in your heart, in your life that
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  Jesus still wants to deal with? And if not, if that doesn't
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  describe the kind of person you're becoming, the kind of
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  person you're known to be, would you ask him this morning to do a
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  transforming work in you? Would you give him permission
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  and freedom to deal with anything that's in the way of
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  you becoming that kind of person so He can shape you into a
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  person of holy love? As we move toward our
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  celebration of communion this morning, would you ask God to
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  pour His love into you in such a way that you experience that
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  love for yourself and it becomes the very foundation of the life
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  you live, the very foundation of the person you are becoming, so
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  that love becomes the defining mark of your life?
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  I don't want to rush past this. So.
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  So I want you to take a moment with me here.
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  We're just going to have a moment of silence, reflection,
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  and confession. We prepare to meet the Lord at
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  His table this morning. Let's pray together.