Sermon for Saturday
Charity suffereth long and is kind. Charity envieth not’ charity vaunteth not, is not puffed up. 1 Corinthians 13:4
One of my sisters used to recite an oddball definition of love: Love is a conglomeration of intermingled emotions predominated by an overwhelming desire to hug somebody. I suppose that definition catches at least part of the meaning. For as long as humanity has populated this planet people have been coming up with new definitions and descriptions for the word love. And nobody is certain yet that anybody has come up with the perfect definition. It is important that we know what love is, because the first three verses of this chapter make it clear that no life is worthwhile if love is missing. Because love is so critical, the rest of the chapter, beginning with today’s text, gives us a working pattern from which to identify, practice, and appreciate love.
Of all the wonderful attributes and illustrations concerning love that we find in this lovely chapter, the first two – listed in our text – are extremely important. To say that love suffereth long and is kind is saying much. Suffering long simply refers to patience, something that is in short supply with almost all of us. The lack of patience is the cause of most arguments and disputes among us. We resent those people upset our agendas, and hold it against them. Parents are impatient with children, children are impatient with their siblings, neighbours are impatient with each other’s projects, workers are impatient with each other’s work habits, teachers are impatient with students’ tardiness, and on it goes. The lack of patience is responsible for more bad feelings than just about every other cause. But love is patient. Love puts up with all sorts of lack of consideration and ignorance. The Lord Jesus was the model of patience, suffering long at the hands of those who didn’t know or didn’t care about Him. We could all do with much more patience, and we would be more patient if we loved people as we should.
Kindness is the second attribute of love. Someone once defined kindness as love in work clothes. It is true that kindness is more easily displayed toward those we love. If we really care for our family members, other Christians, our neighbours, our companions in class or workplace, we will be kind to them. We will do everything we can to make them happy and comfortable, to make sure they have the very best of what we can do for them. Love also makes certain that kindness is accompanied by truth. It is kindness to faithfully warn sinners of their need of the Gospel. It is kindness to encourage the downhearted Christian and to seek to restore the disorderly saint.
Love that is marked by patience and kindness is the kind of love the Lord recognizes. -Jim MacIntosh