LESSON: 1 Corinthians 12:31-13:5b

TITLE: Love Does Not Insist On Its Own Way - God

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INTRODUCTION:

OPENING ILLUSTRATION: Story of the time of milkmen.

A five year old boy who was afraid of the dark.

His mother, hoping to help him overcome fear, encouraged the little boy to bring in the milk.

He was too afraid, but she persisted.

Go ahead, she said, God is outside and he will protect you.

The boy thought about that for a minute and then moved toward the door.

He fearfully turned the knob to open the door, reached out his little hand into that cold, black morning and shouted:

If your out there, God, hand me the milk!

  1. Is there any doubt that God is out there.

    1. We do believe that God is out there and in here.

    2. We do believe that God is ever-present.

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MAIN BODY:

  1. But what kind of God is out there and in here.

    1. We come from Calvinist roots.

    2. With those roots comes the doctrine of predestination.

      1. God has determined how our lives will be lived.

      2. Everything is done according to the divine plan.

ILLUSTRATION:

Sitting in an ICU waiting room and talking with a person who was a good friend of Gerry.

        1. Gerry is very ill and survival is in doubt.

        2. The friend was deeply concerned about Gerry's survival.

        3. The friend said something that was and is deeply troubling to me.

          1. If the person dies it is God's will; or if they live, it is God's will, Gerry is in the hands of God.

          2. I could not let the moment go.

            1. My experience has taught me how devastating this position can be.

            2. I have seen too many people, angry with God and life, enter into a state of anger and rejection.

          3. I took a moment to talk with the person about the theological and psychological impact of their position.

        4. We have all the human aberrations of love and no justice, where is God.

          1. The 1993 movie Schindler's List asks us, Where was God in the Holocaust?

          2. Where was God in Bosnia?

          3. Where is God when a child is killed, or when cancer strikes?

  1. That is a position taken by a number of people.

    1. I must confess that I do not know exactly what this person was saying.

    2. I do know something of the theology behind such a position.

      1. Theology is the study of God.

        1. Theos = God

        2. Logos = Something said, but also reasoning, a reasoning based on faith.

      2. How much time do we spend seeking to understand God?

      3. Do we believe that God is all mystery, and unknowable?

    3. I also know what this position communicates about the theology of suffering and God's role in suffering and death.

      1. God is in control and everything that happens, happens because God desires it to happen.

        1. It happens for several reasons.

          1. It happens for the purpose of getting our attention.

          2. For waking us up to our condition.

          3. To discipline us.

        2. These are valid reasons, but do they come from God?

      2. It strikes us at several levels.

        1. The level of our knowledge and understanding of God.

          1. What we will learn

          2. What we will accept as truth.

        2. The level of faith.

          1. The amount of faith

          2. The quality of faith

        3. The level of trust.

          1. The essence of trust

          2. The amount of trust.

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  1. What is implied when we take a position that God insists on God's own way, regardless of the situation in which we find ourselves.

    1. From my own personal theology of God, God does not insist on God's own way.

      1. Can we agree that the 10 Commandments contain something of the mind and will of God?

        1. It says Do not Murder, does God prevent murder?

        2. It says do not steal, does God prevent stealing?

        3. It says do not commit adultery, does God prevent adultery?

        4. It says do not covet

        5. Honor your Father and Mother.

        6. Yet these commandments are also broken.

      2. We, obviously, have the freedom to choose.

      3. On what foundation will our choices be based?

    2. The phrase of our text can be better understood from the different ways in which it has been translated:

      1. Love is not selfish (Good News)

      2. Love seeketh not its own, (KJV);

      3. Love does not demand its own way (LB);

      4. Love is not self-seeking (NAB);

      5. Love does not seek its own (NASB);

      6. Love is not selfish (NEB);

      7. LOVE DOES NOT INSIST ON ITS OWN WAY (NRSV);

      8. does not pursue selfish advantage (Philips);

  2. How does the idea that love does not insist on its own way apply to God.

    1. Can we agree that God is the source and definer of love

      1. Primarily, we know the love of God in and through Jesus Christ.

      2. Jesus is God revealed

      3. What did Jesus teach?

        1. What did he teach about God?

        2. What did Jesus encourage people to do in relation to God.

      4. Acts 10:34-43 (NRSV)

Then Peter began to speak to them: "I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ--he is Lord of all. That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced:

        1. God shows no partiality

        2. Whoever loves God and does what is right is acceptable to him.

how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.

        1. Jesus went about doing GOOD, NOT HARM

        2. Jesus healed all who were oppressed by the devil.

We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name."

    1. What was Jesus, in and with love, seeking for humanity?

      1. The good of the other

      2. How is that good to be developed?

        1. By Force?

        2. By Intimidation?

        3. By outside Control?

        4. No, Good is developed by Loving Persuasion.

      3. How is that good to be encouraged?

        1. By creating an understanding of life that allows us to see our character flaws and personal mistakes.

        2. By teaching that there are alternatives that can create a positive and constructive world view.

        3. Then by supporting the individual who chooses alternatives so that the person can create a more successful life.

    2. If God were in control of all of life, how different it would be.

      1. There would be integration.

      2. There would be human health and happiness.

      3. There would material and spiritual prosperity for all people.

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CONCLUSION:

  1. God does communicate that the present system will not continue indefinitely.

    1. There will be an new world order.

    2. People are given a choice.

      1. We can choose God and the new world order.

      2. We can choose to reject God and be absent from the new world order.

  2. Does God insist on God's own way? NO!

    1. God desires us to have the information and the alternatives that we need to make positive and constructive choices.

    2. ACTIVE PARENTING TODAY.

      1. Three kinds of parenting styles.

        1. The dictator

          1. I am in charge so you do it my way.

          2. It works until the rebellion, which will occur.

        2. The doormat

          1. The child is in charge.

          2. The parent does what the child desires.

        3. The democratic.

          1. Choice within limits.

          2. Enough alternatives so that the child can develop the skills needed to make the best choice.

      2. The purpose of parenting is:

The purpose of parenting is to protect and prepare our children to survive and thrive in the kind of society in which they live.

  1. God is the divine parent.

    1. God does not insist on God's own way.

    2. God wants us to survive and thrive in the kind of society in which we live.

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