Love, Ministry, and Mission I Corinthians 16:14-25

Love, Ministry, and Mission

I Corinthians 16:14-25

Introduction: In a letter that is replete with harsh criticism and stern rebuke, Paul nonetheless lets the Corinthians see his pastoral heart. There is no doubt but that he loves those who have been under his care. In allowing that truth to shine through Paul is teaching by example how foundational “love” is to the Christian life. It is the kind of love that flows from the Gospel: God loved us so much that He sent His Son to die for us, for our sins, so that we could be reconciled to God. John said it in 1 John 4:9, “this is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him...” (I John 4:9). Paul said it also in Romans 5:8, “But commended his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” That depth of love, if we even begin to grasp the surface of it, will grab our hearts and motivate us to love God in return.

       And if we love God who we have not seen, we will also love our brothers and sisters who we have seen. Love God, love people. And remember God demonstrated his love in the Gospel. Love shows itself in actions.  Remember the story of the boy who was dying of a terrible blood disease. His only hope was a transfusion, but the problem was, he had a very rare blood type. Neither of his parents were a precise match, but his little brother Billy was.  The parents talked to their younger son, “Johnny is very sick, but you can save him by giving him your blood. We won’t force you, we want you to decide if you want to give your blood to save him.” The next morning at breakfast the younger brother announced he would do it, he would give his blood for his brother.  Later in the day, Billy’s mom noticed that one by one his friends were dropping in, and carrying away some of Billy’s favorite possessions. When his mother asked him what was going on, he said, “Well, I am giving my blood to Johnny, I won’t be needing those things anymore.  Mom, does it hurt to die?”  He thought that in giving his blood, he would be giving his life.  Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. That is the love we see in the Gospel. Love shows itself in actions, it certainly did at Calvary. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and gave his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

       As Paul draws this letter to a conclusion, that principle again bubbles to the surface.  We start this week where we ended the last message: “Let all you do be done in love.” (v.14).  Notice the letter ends with a reference to love.

The Maine Idea: Love for God and for His people should motivate us as we share in His mission in the world.

I. In love, Encourage Mutual Respect, including our Leaders (15-16).

¹⁵ Now I urge you, brothers - you know that the household of Stephanas were the first converts in Achaia, and that they have devoted themselves to the service of the saints-  ¹⁶ be subject to such as these, and to every fellow worker and laborer.

      Paul is “encouraging” or exhorting the Corinthians to live out their love. “Now I urge  you, brothers...” Parakaleo – The term that was used to describe Barnabas, the one called “Son of Encouragement” by the disciples. Paul has used this word several times in this letter (see 1:10; 4:13,16; 14:31; 16:12).  In Paul’s second letter to the church in Corinth one passage is particularly illustrative:

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,  ⁴ who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.  ⁵ For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.  ⁶ If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer.  ⁷ Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort (2 Cor 1:3-7).

Christ endured suffering so that we could experience God’s comfort. And so we seek to bring His comfort to those who are suffering. Then later in that letter he returns to the theme:

⁴ I am acting with great boldness toward you; I have great pride in you; I am filled with comfort. In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy.  ⁵ For even when we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted at every turn- fighting without and fear within.  ⁶ But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus,  ⁷ and not only by his coming but also by the comfort with which he was comforted by you, as he told us of your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced still more...” (2 Corinthians 7:4-7).  

Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit who would be our Comforter. One of the means he uses is to bring God’s people around us in our times of crises, so that we can “bear one another’s burdens...” Paul has written a stern letter, not out of anger (well, maybe a little righteous anger!) but especially out of love.  So now he is urging them, encouraging them, as brothers and sisters, to accept and learn from others that God was sending to them. Receive the comfort of the Gospel!

       Respect those who have been converts for a while – “elders.” Stephanas was one of the first converts in Achaia. We know from the first chapter that he and his household were among the few there that had been baptized by Paul, which probably implies that Paul had led him to faith in Christ. He devoted himself to serving the church. He had a track record that showed his commitment and that demonstrated his love.

       When Wycliffe translator Doug Meland and his wife moved into a village of Brazil’s Fulnio Indians, he was referred to simply as the white man (not a compliment!).  After they had lived there a while and learned the language and began to help the people, they started to call him “the respectable white man.” When he had been there longer and began adapting to their customs and culture he gained greater acceptance and called him “the white indian.” Then one day, as Doug was washing the dirty, blood caked foot of an injured Fulnio boy, he overheard a bystander say to another, “Who ever heard of a white man washing an indian’s foot? Certainly this man is from God!”  From that day, when they saw him coming, they would say, “Here comes the man God sent us!” So we show Jesus when we submit to one another, when we serve one another.

      Stephanas had showed the heart of a servant among the Corinthians. That kind of commitment to the church merited respect. He was a servant-leader. Paul says, “Be subject to such as these...” i.e., follow the leaders God raises up. It may be that Stephanas was in the position of an elder, but the principle here goes beyond that. We learn from each other. We believe in the priesthood of believers. And if we see those around us who have walked for a time with the Lord we should respect their experience and learn from them.

       Congregational government is a strong tradition in America, including among Baptist churches like ours.  I believe that stems from our idea of the “priesthood of believers.” So “we the people” elect officers to lead us. We try to discern who God is gifting and calling. This passage reminds us that their commitment to the church, their history of faithful service, their years of walking with Christ, all help us to discern God’s work and God’s call.

       Of course we know in a certain sense that love calls us to “...submit to one another in the fear of Christ...”  (Ephesians 5:21). That ties into Paul’s description of love in this letter, back in chapter 13,

⁴ Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant  ⁵ or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;  ⁶ it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.  ⁷ Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Remember what Jesus said, that by our love for one another people will know that we are His disciples.  “Let all you do be done in love.” Love for God and for His people should motivate us as we share in His mission in the world.

II. Love for the brothers leads to rejoicing and to the refreshment of fellowship (17,18).

¹⁷ I rejoice at the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus, because they have made up for your absence,  ¹⁸ for they refreshed my spirit as well as yours. Give recognition to such men.

       Paul found joy in the visit of these three men, brothers in Christ. Their presence “made up for” the absence of others from Corinth, and it brought “joy” to Paul’s heart to see them. Do you feel that way when brothers or sisters from the church come to you in your times of need?  Do you feel joy in your heart when you see them coming? Does their presence bring comfort? Paul rejoiced at their coming and says “they refreshed my spirit as well as yours.” There is something supernatural that goes on when we are in the company of other believers, and we know that they love us. They bring “refreshment” to our souls.  Paul says, “Give recognition to such men.” That is where we should be as a church family, and I hope that is where we are. Why is it “refreshing” to be together?  The story of Jesus and the woman at the well comes to mind.

⁷ There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give me a drink."  ⁸ (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.)  ⁹ The Samaritan woman said to him, "How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?" ( For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)  ¹⁰ Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water."  ¹¹ The woman said to him, "Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water?  ¹² Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock."  ¹³ Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again,  ¹⁴ but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty forever. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."  ¹⁵ The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water..." (John 4:7-15).

       The only One who can quench the deepest longing of our soul is Jesus. The “refreshment” we receive from being with God’s people is Christ, the water of life, flowing through them!  I look forward to Sunday mornings and to seeing God’s people come together for feeding on the Word and worship. Each one of us is a story of God’s faithfulness and His grace. I look forward to Sunday night and the teen meeting and the reminders of God at work in molding these future leaders of the church. Tuesday morning, 6:30, a few of us come together for prayer and encouragement (and a cup of coffee!) and it is a time of refreshment. We have a faithful group of prayers who meet Wednesday night to lift of the needs of the church, the community, and the world. Thursday night is a high point of our week as a small group meets in the parsonage for worship and fellowship.  There is joy in community, we were created to be interdependent, to bear one another’s burdens and to encourage each other in our walk with the Lord.  There is refreshment in the family. Love for God and for His people should motivate us as we share in His mission in the world.

III. Love for the brothers is evident in our genuine affection for one another (19-21).

¹⁹ The churches of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Prisca, together with the church in their house, send you hearty greetings in the Lord.  ²⁰ All the brothers send you greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss.  ²¹ I, Paul, write this greeting with own hand.

       Paul sends from the churches of Asia, from Aquila and Priscilla, and from all the brethren, greetings in the Lord. He is writing a personal letter, responding to needs in the fellowship, but he is also speaking for others in the body of Christ, others who share in the struggle of living as pilgrims in a fallen world. No one was writing off the Corinthians, we are one in the Lord, part of His church.

       Aquila and Priscilla, together with the church in their house send greetings. The early church, in most settings, probably met in homes. Eventually the synagogue model that they were accustomed to probably moved them to look for larger meetings places where they could gather together when it was safe to do so.  But even from the beginning, we read in Acts 2, they were meeting “from house to house.” That kind of community, openness is part of God’s design for the church. And so, “All the brothers send you greetings...”  The call to “Greet one another with a holy kiss” – should be read along those lines: a culturally appropriate sign of affection, something visible that can be seen and understood by others.  In Brazil everyone greets each other with a “hug” and a tap on the back. Woman greet other women, and men greet women, with a “beijinho,” touching cheeks and kissing the air.  Men don’t kiss men! (except once my son-in-law, but that is another story!).  For an American like me, a handshake please!

       Paul writes the personal greeting with his own hand, just so there would be no question that the letter was from him.  They were his people and he wrote from his heart. Love for God and for His people should motivate us as we share in His mission in the world.

IV. Love is the indispensable factor that should characterize true faith (22-24). (see I John, love for God and love for the brethren are connected, in fact, inseparable!).

²² If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed. Our Lord, come!  ²³ The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you.  ²⁴ My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen.

       Paul, in concluding his letter, returns to the “more excellent way” he had set forth in I Corinthians 13, the way of love. Now abide faith, hope, and love, these three, but the greatest of these is love.  It all starts with love for God.   Paul said, “...If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed...” There is a play on words here.  Two Aramaic words, transliterated into Greek, are set side by side,  “...Anathema...”  “Maranatha!”  The love for the Lord Paul speaks of in verse 22 is fileo, “tender affection.”  Paul’s preferred word for “love” in this letter has been “agapao,” to love sacrificially, unconditionally (as well as the noun form, agape). Remember the exchange between Jesus and Peter after the resurrection?

¹⁵ When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love [agapao] me more than these?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love [fileo] you." He said to him, "Feed my lambs."  ¹⁶ He said to him a second time, "Simon, son of John, do you love [agapao] me?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love [fileo] you." He said to him, "Tend my sheep."  ¹⁷ He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love [fileo] me?" Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, "Do you love [fileo] me?" and he said to him, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love [fileo] you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep” (John 21:15-17).

It may be that Peter didn’t pick up on the parallel terms he and Jesus used, until the third time that is, and he was grieved by his own dullness.  Was he capable to unconditional, sacrificial love? Was he even capable of “tender affection”?  Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all in Christ... My love be with you all in Christ Jesus...” Paul ends expressing the heart he has revealed throughout this letter, his love for them all in Christ. The last word, so to speak, is Jesus.

What is God saying to me in this passage? Love for God and for His people should motivate us as we share in His mission in the world.

What would God have me to do in response to this passage? Do you love Jesus? He gave His blood in dying for you. If you love Him, carry out the mission He has entrusted to you, “feed His sheep,” use your gifts for his glory. You are the person God has sent to your 8/15, to those in your sphere of influence.   Love them enough to point them to Jesus. Pray about who you can invite to our Easter service.  Let’s see what God will do!  AMEN.