Motive
1 Corinthians 13:10 ,“But zwhen that which is perfect is come, then that which is yin part shall be wdone away.” [1]
I. Telling
A. Familiar
B. Foreign
II. Teaching
A. Focus
B. Future
III. Trusting
A. Follow
B. Forfeit
Introduction: Tomorrow we celebrate Memorial Day. It is the day that we remember those who gave of themselves so that we might have what we have today. But this Memorial Day comes with loss. We remember Wayne.
The theme for his funeral message was from what we call the Love Chapter. 1 Corinthians 13 was what came to my mind the instant that I learned of Wayne’s passing. Today we will expand on that as we consider the reason people do the things that they do in serving others.
Wayne was a wounded veteran of the Vietnam War. It was a much contested war during a much contested time. People were rebelling against all sorts of things and it seemed everybody had a different motive for rebellion. We were driven in different directions all at the same time and it showed up in rioting and all sorts of unrest.
Anger seemed to be the only thing that most people had in common. Civil Rights were being challenged. Gender equity was being challenged. The rich who were paying for their college students were being accused by the ones who were reaping the benefits of wealth. It came to such a powder keg that some college students at Kent State were killed by some National Guard personnel who were afraid for their own lives.
Nobody believed in the governments of the world and people were carrying placards that said, “God is dead.” If you were to ask any of the demonstrators why they were motivated to do all that they were doing they would simply hold up two fingers and say, “Peace.”
Wayne Kennedy found himself in the Army and in a foreign country. What was his motive for being there? Ironically what the folks back home protesting were saying is exactly what Wayne was really fighting for, Peace. Amazing!
Wayne had no hatred in his heart for the people of Southeast Aria. None at all! What Wayne did have was love for his country. That was Wayne’s motive for being in Vietnam. He was doing what he was told. Wayne prayed over the order that was made for his life and he went where he was sent. That is what our veterans do. That is what our Savior did.
Today we will examine the difference between someone being motivated by love and others who are motivated by many other self-serving reasons. In the end of it all there will only be God’s perfect love left. That is the one thing that we will keep when we get to heaven.
No matter how hard we work or connive or trick or try; there will be nothing else that we will take with us to heaven except love. If we are truly Christians we would be attempting that here before we get there. The apostle Paul knew the difference. He tried the other ways to find contentment and all else failed until he met the Risen Lord.
Scripture: The scripture today is 1 Corinthians 13:10. Please stand if you’re able.
Prayer: Let us pray. Be seated.
Message: Follow as we hear 1 Corinthians 13 again. We hear eloquent speakers that can make a person feel that they have all the answers to everything. They know how to say what makes the audience happy no matter whether they agree with the audience view or not. And then there is the spiritual tongue which is a gift of the Holy Spirit. Is there ever a time that it is used to draw attention to the one using it? Both examples of speech can and are often used to show love. It may scare you to hear someone quietly uttering things that you don’t understand but for the one whom it is intended it is the most calming of voices you will ever hear.
Telling someone what they need from God comes from God in both cases. God uses us as His voice very often. Sometimes it is amazing when you hear yourself say a thing that you didn’t know was needed by a bystander who needed to hear it so much.
The right word may come from someone who knows you well that you are very familiar with, even sometimes family. I think back many years ago to a mission trip when we took a group of teenagers on a “World Changers” mission trip to inner city Philadelphia. It was a very busy week. The directors of the trip split the many church groups up so that we would form new friendships and have no hidden agendas or motives of competition. One of the drivers who took us back and forth to the projects we worked on had a husband who had planned to be with us. Near the end of our time she confided that her husband was at home with terminal cancer. He didn’t want her not to come.
There was another guy from Silver Spring Maryland. That is the town next to Takoma Park where I lived as a young child. He was Korean. We didn’t know each other and could not speak each other’s language. For some reason we hit it off and we did understand each other.
You know me! The evening of our last night I felt God’s presence to have our group to lay hands on that lady and pray. We found a quiet place. It was a Southern Baptist thing mission trip. They don’t do that sort of thing. The kids and the other counselors joined us and laid hands as I prayed. When it was over I was soaking wet from tears and sweat. Everybody was sobbing and holding each other. I had to get away. I went outside to compose myself and to be alone with God. Kneeling there in the shrubbery and thinking I was alone, I opened my eyes and there was my Korean brother. He had been there the whole time crying with me. I long to see him again.
Someone may seem foreign to you and you might think you have nothing for them. I’m sure Wayne felt that too yet there he was in Vietnam protecting people from others who wanted to harm them and him. Though the opposing sides looked the same the love for their own kind was not in them. It was there in Wayne Kennedy and it was perfect love.
Next in the “Love Chapter” Paul spoke of prophecy. A person might actually know what is going to happen in the future. Some folks are rich because they can read the stock market. If they use that for God’s glory more power to them. If that is their motivation then that is a very good thing. If that is used for self-gratification then it will not last.
Prophecy can be either forth telling, which is what we just described, but sometimes prophecy is foretelling, which is telling others the truth that they need to know about the present time. An example might be your child who is preparing for college or an occupation. We know where we have been and through our experiences we can tell the next generation what we think is for their best to do. If it is because we only want a legacy for ourselves we might not be motivated from a standpoint of love.
Teaching is another way of saying prophesying. What is your motive? To show how smart you are? I know there is a bunch of surveying going on and I know what the politicians are telling us who need to prepare for disaster relief. Telling what I have been told so that others will think I know more that they know is the wrong motive. Truth is; nobody knows until it is done. God loves making fools out of people who say they know. What is you motive for holding back that which you are not sure you know and might scare or cause someone to do something that would later prove to not be good? What should your motive be? LOVE!
When that which is perfect comes that which is incomplete shall be done away with. That’s the second half of our focal verse today. There is that old saying that I like to quote; “Faith may be lost in sight, hope ends in fruition, but charity extends beyond the grave through the boundless realms of eternity.”
We live this life in Jesus trusting that He will lead us to the next place He has to take us. That place will eventually wind up where Jesus is. To follow Jesus means that we must forfeit all that we believe we can count on within our own self. It is not an easy thing to remain faithful when God allows so many roadblocks and hurtles but we must continue on with the hope of receiving the prize which is paradise with Jesus.
When we have received Him face to face we will not need to continue trusting and not seeing that which we trust in. We will be face to face with Jesus and we will see God.
When that which we have hoped for our whole life is received, we will not need to hope for it anymore. We have all thought that we have hope; maybe a new car or some other worldly thing. When we finally received it there was a flaw and we were left hoping that what was imperfect would be corrected. You see, that is not hope at all. That is wishing for a thing.
When we have finally received that perfect thing, which is eternity with Jesus, then our need to continue in hope will no longer be necessary. There is only one true hope that will be finally fully realized that will satisfy our perfect need. That is everlasting life with Jesus.
Prayer: Let us pray
Invitation: Yesterday afternoon Rachael and I had an opportunity to celebrate our neighbor’s birthday. There happened to be some folks there that served in the military while Wayne served. The motive for their bravery was just as was said in this message. They loved their country.
One of Wayne’s cousins was there at the celebration. She was present with the family at his funeral and agreed with what we already know. Wayne was motivated by love. We know that.
The invitation today is one of self-examination. This is the fifth Sunday of this month. Merry Oaks normally observes the Lord’s Supper every fifth Sunday. Nobody should ever partake in Communion until an examination of self has satisfied the fact that though we are all sinners, we are forgiven when we know ourselves and expose our sins as we accept His forgiveness that Jesus paid for on the cross.
Today we will not observe Communion. That will be next Sunday if God wills. For today let us examine our reason for doing what we do as we walk this life as a Christian in a foreign land. What is the motive for conducting your relationship with other Christians and non-believers? If your motivation comes from a place not based in Perfect Love then now is the time to ask God to remove those reasons that serve only to make things better for you in this earthly life.
Perfect Love will live long after we leave this life and we must decide against that which serves to serve self. Self-serving love will not last beyond the grave. To know and show God’s Perfect Love we must once and for all decide to love even more than we feel loved. Then you will understand the love of Jesus.
Consider as we sing…
z Comp. John 15:15.
y ver. 10, 12. ch. 12:27.
w Gk. as ver. 10, 11. Rom. 3:31. ch. 2:6. & 15:24, 26. 2 Cor. 3:7, 11, 13, 14. Gal. 3:17. & 5:4, 11. 2 Tim. 1:10.
[1] The Holy Bible: King James Version (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., 1 Co 13:10). (2009). Logos Research Systems, Inc.
