( 1 Corinthians 13.1-13 ) - [ Deutsch ]
May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all.
Dear congregation
As I mentioned at the beginning of the divine service , today the theme of God's love for us human beings is at the centre of this divine service. More precisely, His ordeal for us, and His call to follow Jesus, for our world and our neighbour, out of divine love. The mathematicians among us would perhaps write down a formula that explains this connection concretely. God's Love = Jesus' Passion, Crucifixion and Death = Resurrection = Our Chance for Jesus' Love = Eternal Life.
God's love is a love that cannot be grasped from a human point of view, it is simply the deepest and deepest love there is, the agape love. By accepting and following this love, we are given the opportunity to practice true love, without conditions, without limits. And this love is what keeps the world in peaceful balance, what allows harmony in our being with our fellow human beings of different origins and cultures, and what makes us live like this. as God had hoped.
When I think of the word love, I have to smile. Some time ago I heard a story called "Honk, if you love Jesus". This is the inscription of a bumper sticker. The story tells of a man who had put such a sticker on the back of his car. One day, he waits disgruntled at a red light in this car, desperate about his work situation and sad that things didn't look any rosier in his family. He is so absorbed in his gloomy thoughts that he does not notice when the traffic light switches to green. As he ponders solutions, he remembers his heavenly Father, who loves him infinitely and does not leave him alone. Suddenly, the car honks behind him. The man looks surprised in the rearview mirror and thinks of his sticker. "It's nice that there's someone else on the street who loves Jesus," he thinks to himself and quickly cranks down the window to wave kindly to his brother in Christ. There's another driver honking, and another and another. Some wave their arms wildly, others stretch their heads out of the window, albeit with an inexplicably gloomy face, in greeting. The man can hardly believe his luck to share the street with so many co-religionists. He quickly unfastens the seat belt to get out and personally greet his newly acquired brothers and sisters in Christ. Only then does he accidentally look at the now green traffic light in front of him. Sighing, he realizes that he can't greet the new friends because he was standing at the traffic lights and had to drive on. So he puts on the seat belt again disappointed, while he is incredibly happy that there are still a lot of enthusiastic Christian drivers honking behind him, just as his sticker on the car had asked them. He drives happily waving across the intersection and just notices how only his car can manage it before the light changes to orange. "It's a pity," he says, "that I have to leave so many newfound brothers and sisters behind me," and continues in a good mood.
Whatstory has to do with our sermon text. Pretty much everything, because today it is precisely about this Jesus love, the perfect love of God, the agape love, so deep and intimate that we humans cannot grasp it and certainly cannot live it to its full extent. But it is precisely love that, if we lived it even a little bit like Jesus lived it, could change the world like no other virtue. Paul writes the following on the subject of love for the church in Corinth, in 1 Corinthians, chapter 13, verses 1-13.
1 If I spoke with tongues of men and angels, and had not love, I would be a sounding ore or a ringing bell.
2 And if I could speak prophetically, and know all mysteries, and all knowledge, and have all faith, that I might move mountains, and have not love, I would be nothing.
3 And if I gave all my possessions unto the poor, and gave my body to boast of myself, and had not love it would be of no use to me.
4 Love is long-suffering and kind, love is not zealous, love does not encourage courage, it does not inflate,
5 She does not behave improperly, she does not seek her own, she does not allow herself to be embittered, she does not attribute evil,
6 she does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but she rejoices in the truth;
7 She endures all things, she believes all things, she hopes all things, she tolerates all things.
8 Love never ceases, when prophetic speaking will cease, and tongues will cease, and knowledge will cease.
9 For our knowledge is piecemeal, and our prophetic speaking is piecemeal.
10 But when the perfect shall come, the fragmentation shall cease.
11 When I was a child I spoke like a child, and thought like a child, and was wise as a child; but when I became a man, I dismissed what was childish.
12 We now see through a mirror in a dark picture; but then face to face. Now I see piecemeal; But then I will know, even as I am known.
13 But now faith, hope, love, these three remain; but love is the greatest among them.
One of the most beautiful and well-known Bibletexts there is. About the most beautiful topic of all, love. No one can deny that, because where there is love, there is harmony, where there is harmony, people are happy, where people are happy, you are doing well and where you are doing well, you usually have the desire to do something good for others. There develops an inner gratitude and a need to let others participate in this love. That's exactly how Paul saw it. He sought to counsel the church in Corinth on how to deal with their problems, immorality, and idolatry. The solution was clear to him: the Corinthians obviously lacked love, more precisely, the love of God agape in their dealings with each other.
When we look at the world, the wars, the violence, the hatred of peoples, the persecutions, the negative headlines in the newspapers and the sad news from television and radio, it is not long to ask: "Why is that?"
Love is missing!, because people no longer care about their neighbour, because governments in many cases only work for their own gain, because people are disrespectful to the lives of others. But his world does not lack God's love for mankind, which has been abundant since creation and never ceases. In this world there is a lack of love among human beings, the love that God gives us through Christ's crucifixion and resurrection and that we are commissioned to carry on.
At that time, the church inCorinth did not understand this. But Paul understood, he was convinced of it, he knew that this was exactly what mattered, this agape love. And from this realization arose "The Song of Songs of Love", our sermon text.
Change of stage: The year is 1757. An intelligent, highly gifted man, who was unable to complete a course of study despite a high level of education, works as a craftsman in a small family business. As he struggles through an inner time of crisis and ponders the meaning of life, he realizes that he is missing something existential. He realizes that there is a gap in his life and that this gap is called "love". And the way there , the man understands after a long struggle, is to follow Christ, because Christ is love . And he gives his whole life to Jesus Christ. He even addresses him a letter, not written in ink, but with "heart blood", with his inner concern: to live holy through the love of Christ. And he does, until the end of his life.
Again someone had understood it, again one had convinced himself of it and knew what was important. This man was a Paul of his time, the song writer Gerhard Tersteegen. And this incident led to the writing of his probably greatest work, and later one of the most famous church chorales: "I pray to the power of love" (verses 1 and 2 sung by the small choir).
- I pray to the power of love,Which is revealed in Jesus;I surrender myself to free impulses,By which I was loved worm;I will, instead of thinking of myself,Sink into the sea of love.
- How have you weighed me so much,
And yourheart longs for me!
Pulled strong and gentle by love,
Does my everything also lean towards you.
Thou sweet love, good nature,
You have chosen me, I have chosen you.
"I pray to the power of love revealed in Jesus." The power of love is powerful. Love moves mountains. It brings light into the darkest room. Paul also believes in the power of love. He describes love as the most important, the greatest thing ever. He writes that even if he could talk to men or tongues of angels or prophetically, or give all his possessions and himself but did not have love, then it would be of no use.
If we are honest and look at love from Paul's point of view, the expectation is really high. Love is patient and kind. She is not dogged, she does not brag or look down on others. Love does not hurt and does not seek one's own advantage, it does not allow itself to be irritated and is not resentful. She does not rejoice in injustice, but rejoices when truth wins. Love takes everything upon itself, it never loses faith or hope and lasts until the end.
Do we understand the scope and depth of this agape love? Do we grasp what is actually required of us? Better yet, does God understand what He is asking of us? Hand on heart, who of us is always friendly, hopes and thinks only the best, always thinks first of the other, then of himself, is never irritable and impatient? I think I speak for most, if not all, of us when I say that we humans – even with the best intentions and intentions – quickly reach our limits. The secret of agape love is that it is something superhuman, something wehave to receive anew every day. And only one great giver comes into question: Our loving three-einger God! God knows you and me, he knows that this divine agape-l iebe is impossible for us by our own strength, because he demands are high. Ican always try to grow beyond myself and let myself be inspired by God's love. This love is clear and pure, absolute and good. The is because of his unconditionale love, through Jesus' death and resurrection, is the only hope for us, for only in this way can we live and give away small fractions of this love. God knows that we cannot do it on our own, and that is precisely why he gives us the opportunity to give our best. And when we fail, he catches us and always gives us the chance of a newbeginning. Again and again, without conditions. This is real love, a love of the gods – a love whose possibilities were actually embedded in us from the beginning, even before we were even a thought. But a love that , because of our human nature, we cannot let work perfectly ourselves. BUT! Like Paul and Gerhard Tersteegen, we can choose this love by following Jesus. And where we are impatient or unkind, dogged or bragging, haughty or hurtful, selfish or dishonest , we can count on God reaching out to us, catching us, letting the well of his love for us swell over us, and giving us a A fresh start ispossible. (Small choir sings verses 3 and 4)
- I love and lived quite in compulsion,As I lived without you;I did not want you, oh so long,But you love and sought me,Evil child of evil seed,In the high, fair name of Jesus.
- The deepest impulses of the father's heartIn this name open; A fountain of joy, peace and love, now so close, so mild. My God, if only the sinner knew! His heart would soon have to love you.
And one final thought. Paul describes love as eternal. Prophetic talking, speaking in tongues, and knowledge will cease, but faith, hope, and love never cease.
They are the three components that every person needs in his life.
As Christians, faith is relatively easy for us, although we too sometimes have doubts. But basically we believe in the holy Creator who created the world and us. We believe that He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to earth so that we might be cleansed by His blood, and stand before Him immaculately and receive and transmit His divine love. We believe in the resurrection and that only through Christ can we have direct access and a relationship with our Lord. We also believe that one day Christwill return and we will live with Him in eternity. We understand the sentence from the Letter to the Hebrews in chapter 11:
"But it is faith, a firm confidence in what one hopes, a conviction of facts that one does not see." (Hebrews 11:1)
We believe in the Trinity, even though we have never seen it. We feel their existence and feel part of their eternal, heavenly family.
Hope is what we cling to. Faith without hope would be pointless to us, for there would be no hope of Christ's return or eternal life. We hope by the power of the Holy Spirit that we will see and experience in heaven the perfection we are waiting for here on earth.
And finally, as the crowning Spitze, enthroned above allthat is important in ourpyramid of life, Paul writes: "... but the greatest of these is love." For love is God himself. In 1. Brief des Johannes im 4. Chapter, verse 8 is written:
"He who does not love has not known God; for God is love."
God is eternal, and God's love is eternal. It is powerful. It embraces us and preserves us forever.
(Small choir sings verses 5 and 6)
- O Jesus, that thy name should remain,
In the heart, press him deeply!
May Your Great Love of Jesus
To be shaped in my mind!
In word, and work, in all beings
Be Jesus and nothing else to read.
- Glory be to the high name of Jesus,
In which the source of love springs,
From which all the brooks came here,
From which the sel'gen crowd drinks there.
How they bow endlessly!
How they fold their happy hands!
And the love of God, which surpasses all humanity, fill your hearts, that you may carry it within you, and thereby give your neighbours faith and hope in love for eternity, through Christ Jesus,
Amen.
