Agape at the Final Judgment
by Rev. Paul Howden
February 3, 2008
Quinaquagesima
1 Corinthians 13:4-7

It was Russia, 1880. Black-robed monks surrounded the casket of their beloved leader, Fr. Zossima. Not everyone in the monastery was weeping. There was rivalry in the ranks. Fr. Zossima had led the young monks, but the older monks opposed him. They would not mourn. That was the scene in Dostoyevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov.  Fr. Ferapont was the ascetic leader of the older monks, and rumor reached him that Fr. Zossima’s cadaver was beginning to stink. In Eastern Orthodox tradition, that was a sign of sin and shame. The body of a saint would resist decomposition, giving off a pleasant odor, not putrefaction. Fr. Ferapont headed for the funeral room.

The door was noisily flung open. Holding his hands aloft, Fr. Ferapont suddenly roared: “Casting out I cast out!” and, turning in all directions, he began at once making the sign of the cross at each of the four walls and four corners of the cell in succession. All who accompanied Father Ferapont immediately understood his action. For they knew he always did this wherever he went, and that he would not sit down or say a word, till he had driven out the evil spirits.
“Satan, go hence! Satan, go hence!” he repeated at each sign of the cross. “Casting out I cast out,” he roared again.
He was wearing his coarse gown girt with a rope. His bare chest, covered with grey hair, could be seen under his hempen shirt. His feet were bare. As soon as he began waving his arms, the cruel irons he wore under his gown could be heard clanking.
One of the monks tried to step in: “Go away, Father! …it’s not for man to judge but for God…” Ferapont responded: “He did not keep the fasts according to the rule and therefore the sign has come. That is clear and it’s a sin to hide it,” the fanatic, carried away by a zeal that outstripped his reason, would not be quieted. “He was seduced by sweetmeats, ladies brought them to him in their pockets, he sipped tea, he worshipped his belly, filling it with sweet things and his mind with haughty thought… And for this he is put to shame…” [The Brothers Karamazov. pp. 401-404.]

It was this rancor, rivalry and self-righteousness that drove Alyosha, the youngest of the Karamazov brothers, out of the monastery. The strife between brothers was too much for him. There was division in the Church of Corinth, too: one faction for Apollos, another for Paul, another for Peter. Believers sued each other in court, and misunderstood the purpose of spiritual gifts. They thought tongues, prophesies, and healing were gifts for show, not for the edification of the brethren, the glory of God, and the extension of Christ’s kingdom. This kind of contention can happen today too. Satan causes strife and rivalry to erupt in families, work, and clubs. Such fighting, bickering, and tension can be overcome by the love of God. 
Agape love is our theme today. On this Quinquagesima Sunday we will examine the things that make for smooth relationships in the church, family, school, and work. Let’s read 1 Corinthians 13:4-7.

Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

We’ll go through these maxims one phrase at a time. “Love suffers long.” This has to do with patience with people. Patience is the opposite of short-temperedness. What does patient love among believers look like? Such love bears with annoyances or inconveniences without complaint. Patient love does not lose its temper when provoked. Without love, people become impatient, quick-tempered, and irritable. Is that how God is with you? Is He impatient with a hair-trigger temper when you sin? No. He is patient and longsuffering. He is your example! Exercise the same patience to others as God exercises with you. William Barclay told the following story: “Nobody treated Abraham Lincoln with more contempt than Edwin Stanton. Stanton called Lincoln ‘a low cunning clown.’ He nicknamed him ‘the original gorilla.’ In the 1800s a Frenchman named Du Chaillu who was wandering around Africa trying to capture a gorilla. News of that was in the newspapers. Stanton commented: ‘Du Chaillu is a fool to go looking for a gorilla in Africa when he could have found one so easily at Springfield, Illinois.’ Lincoln said nothing. Lincoln made Stanton his war minister because Stanton was the best man for the job. He treated Stanton with every courtesy. The years wore on. Then Booth murdered Lincoln in the theater. The President’s body was taken to a room. Stanton was one of the people standing over the victim that night, and, looking down on the silent face of Lincoln in all its ruggedness, he said through his tears, ‘There lies the greatest ruler the world has ever seen.’” The patience of love had conquered in the end. Love is patient. [From William Barclay, Corinthians p. 133.]

“’Love is kind.’ Kind love is considerate and helpful to others. Unkindness and inconsiderateness are too common. The inconsiderate person never thinks about the impact of his or her actions on others. The person who is always late and keeps others waiting is inconsiderate. The person who talks loudly on his cell phone to the disturbance of others nearby is inconsiderate. The teen who leaves his mess on the kitchen counter for someone else to clean up is inconsiderate. Anytime we do not think about the impact of our actions on others, we are being selfishly inconsiderate. We are thinking only of ourselves.” Love is kind and considerate. [Respectable Sins, Jerry Bridges. P. 105.]

“Love does not envy.” There are two kinds of envy. The one kind covets the possessions of other people. You see a bicycle; you want it; you covet it. I saw a hawk flying around with a snake in its talons. It was fascinating to watch the serpent writhe and coil trying to escape the bird of prey. Then another hawk flew into view. It tried to steal the snake. Several times the thief swooped in to nab it, but the first hawk was able to hang on to its dinner. That is one side of envy, simply wanting what belongs to somebody else. The other kind of envy is worse – it hates the fact that somebody close to you has something you don’t have. Envy will try to destroy or damage what the other person has. It is mean. In a rough neighborhood of Santa Ana I saw a car pull up alongside a beautifully restored old Chevy. The driver took out a revolver and shot the Chevy full of holes, then sped off. He marred the Chevy out of envy. Just before the ice skating championship years ago, Tonya Harding hired some thug to break the leg of Nancy Kerrigan, her competitor, with a baseball bat. That was envy. Parents may envy other parents whose children are better students or athletes. You may envy friends who have a nicer home or drive a more expensive car than you do. You may envy the person who has a better job. The possibilities for envy are endless. Whenever you compare yourself with anyone whose circumstances seem better, the closer that person is to you in age, talent and position the more prone you are to envy. You may not even want the better circumstances of your neighbor or friend; you just resent their having them. When tempted that way, realize that envy is a vile sin. The Bible says, “Love does not envy.”

“Love does not parade itself.” This means that love does not boast and brag. Braggadocio tries to win the applause of others. It is grounded in self-centeredness. How do people parade themselves? They drop names; they exaggerate their goodness, and minimize their weaknesses. They pretend to be more wise and wonderful than they really are. Christ-like love keeps in mind your unworthiness. “Love does not parade itself.” It is humble. If you think you are a great person, let another say it.

“Love is not puffed up.” This means being conceited. Do you remember the frog in Aesop’s fable? He tried to blow himself up into the size of a cow, and in the end, he burst. Don’t puff yourself up. You’re apt to pop. “Pride comes before destruction.” The person who has a high opinion of himself is prone to boasting and desirous of praise. Love, on the other hand, is modest and humble. “Love is not puffed up.”
           
“Love does not behave rudely.” This has to do with courtesy, tact, and politeness. Love asks us to become gracious in our manners. The etiquette books may take things a bit too far; using one fork for salad and another for desert, how to fold a napkin, the proper way to eat asparagus, and so forth. On the other extreme, the sixties generation tried to throw out formality and courtesy altogether. It was thought that social graces were fake and phony. What was the result? The coarsening of society with bad manners and rudeness! It is now hard to avoid profanities in public: whether you are watching a baseball game from the stands, sitting in the waiting room of the doctor, or walking through the hallways of a school, you overhear obscenities, and it coarsens our culture. It is time for the Church to rediscover courtesy and manners. Good manners are part of love: “love does not behave rudely.” Men should behave like gentlemen, and women should act like ladies. And children should honor and respect their elders. Courtesy is how we love in the little things of life.

“Love does not seek its own.” People who are self-seeking always want their own way. They want what they think is best for them. This is the opposite of agape love. Love looks out for others, seeks their best interests. What are your interests? What are your hobbies? Do you like to talk about them? Be willing to listen to the interests of others as well as your own interests. At Dunkin Donuts a few months ago, six people came in and sat down at a table with their coffee and donuts. One guy started telling about hooking up his washing machine at home. For the next 45 minutes he hogged the spotlight. He didn’t let anyone else talk. He wanted to tell about his washing machine. The other five got up and left the coffee shop shaking their heads. He probably didn’t even realize he had monopolized the conversation. “Love does not seek its own.” Jerry Bridges gives this example: “At this stage of our lives, my wife and I are interested in our grandchildren. We like to talk about them and show pictures of them to our friends. The problem is that our friends like to do the same. So when we are with them, whose grandchildren will we talk about? The answer, of course, is both if we and our friends are sensitive to the interests of each other. But if one or both couples are not sensitive, then the conversation is apt to be one-sided, or else we find ourselves waiting for our turn to share instead of showing a genuine interest in the other couples’ grandchildren.” Bridges explains: “Now, I’ve used a specific example of talking about our grandchildren only to illustrate the tendency to be so interested in our own affairs that we have little or no interest in the affairs of others. …A good test of the degree of selfishness in your interests would be to reflect on the conversation after you have been with someone, and ask yourself how much time you spent talking about your interests compared to listening to the other person.” You should be willing to listen because, “Love does not seek its own.” [Respectable Sins. P. 102-3.]

“Love is not provoked.” The word for provoked could also be translated “touchy,” or sensitive to slights. Such people let things get on their nerves. They may get easily angered at anyone who crosses them. This is not the way of love. We need to give each other room to move, and latitude. Much of this irritability comes from a love of perfection, a desire that programs and meetings be run perfectly. Perfectionists can get impatient with people who are imperfect. Those who are easily irritated need to remember that perfection exists only in God. “Love is not provoked.” Love is not touchy.

“Love thinks no evil.” This means that love keeps no record of wrongs. Don’t dredge up skeletons in the closet. My wife and I have read a book by Sigrid Undset, a Norwegian author who wrote nearly a hundred years ago. Kristen Lavransdatter is the title of the Trilogy. [Read these three books. Some of the best in all literature! Get the translations by Tina Nunilly.] The wife in the novel, Kristen, is good in many ways, but she has a flaw: she remembers the wrongs that her husband committed years ago, decades ago, and she brings them up to make him feel guilty. Instead of forgiving him these sins, she holds them in her heart and when she is irritated with him, she dredges them up. It nearly ruins their marriage. Love is not like that. Love thinks no evil. It keeps no record of wrongs. It is not touchy. Love makes allowances for people’s foibles and flaws and willingly forgets them. It doesn’t bring them up in order to humiliate, or lay on a guilt trip. “Love keeps no records of wrong.”

“Love believes all things.” Barbrooke Grubb relates that the Lengua Indians of the Chaco in Paraguay have an interesting way of hunting ostrich. There are termite hills four or five feet tall in some parts of the Chaco. On top of these termite hills grow a certain vine. The Indians learned that if they put one of these vines on their head they could get close enough to the big birds to shoot them with their bow and arrow. The ostriches think the Indians with a vine on their heads are termite hills. “Love believes all things.” Does this mean we are to be naïve like the ostriches of Paraguay? No. In relation to others, this means giving people the benefit of the doubt. When somebody rubs you the wrong way, try to put the best possible spin on what they did. This doesn’t mean you should believe the telemarketer who wants to sell you land in Florida. “Love believes all things.” It simply means that you give people the benefit of the doubt. Give them the best analysis. Put the best possible spin on the actions of others. Don’t judge motives. Don’t be suspicious and assume the worst about others; assume the best. “Love believes all things.”

This is all the farther we can go today. 1 Corinthians 13 spells out what godly love entails. We often associate this chapter with weddings and romance. Yesterday there was a wedding here. The couple was so emotional they laughed and cried and forgot their lines. There were some cute moments. But this chapter, 1 Corinthians 13, should be associated with the Final Judgment. 2 Corinthians 5:10 says, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.” You will one day stand before the dreadful Judge King Jesus, and He will ask you, “Why did you fail to love like I told you to?” The Judge will have a record of all the times you disobeyed the 1 Corinthians 13 commandments to love your neighbor. You will stand justly condemned. Our Holy God demands this kind of love from you. Do you practice agape love every hour? No. You and I fall short of the glory of God. We fail God’s standard, and thus we will be deserving of Hell.

This is where the cross comes in, and the love of Jesus for you. The Lord shows His love for you on the cross. Your sin was placed on Him and He suffered the punishment you deserved (Gal. 3:13). Moreover, His obedience is transferred to you if you trust in Him. In gratitude for His forgiveness, dedicate yourself to love.

1 Corinthians 13 has little to do with romance or sex. It has to do with godly actions and attitudes. It has to do with getting along with people. Practice love diligently. Make it one of your goals this season of Lent. It is a virtue that grows with exercise. Strive to put it into practice in every detail of your life. Practice it in your family, and the family of God. Let the world know we belong to Christ by the active, sacrificial, tangible love we demonstrate one to another. As you come to the Holy Communion ask the Lord’s grace to help you grow in love.