Surprised by the Appearance of Love

Have you ever found yourself trying to avoid certain people keeping them at arms length. It's interesting that these two words often appear side-by-side. It's possible to be patient with someone but I think I know I might I might put up with you like staying alive from you, avoid you. The hallway avoid a conflict, but Paul doesn't stop with exercising patient has the audacity to tell us the true love demonstrates kindness and that requires contact, kindness you keep people at arms length or do you draw near, so that you can show true biblical kindness today on wisdom for the heart.

Stephen Devi continues through his series entitled true love. It comes from first Corinthians 13 and Stevens exploring what true biblical love looks like in today's lesson working to look at two ways that God describes love.

Love is patient, love is kind. Could you use help with either of those today stay with us. What if someone was following us around taking pictures of us throughout the day. What if we were surprised by snapshots that were delivered to us in the mail that had been taken out the day are our facial expressions close-up at the captions of our words underneath our actions recorded in the living color, undeniable, irrefutable proof that was made I was doing that I was saying how much of it will bring us embarrassment at the end of the day. How much of it would bring us joy, would we be surprised by the snapshots of of loving actions that those photographs would send this or would they be catalogued. Images of selfish words and self-centered living. You know it's it's as if the apostle Paul has been roaming through our neighborhood with a divine camera he's been cataloguing. In fact, some for some time what what love looks like.

And he has delivered to us copies of the picture. They are undeniable proofs of love in action. Let's look at a couple of snapshots in first Corinthians 13. This will be undeniable evidence of what true love looks like an action. Look at verse four. Love is patient, love is kind. These are the first of 15 verbs.

These are two positive statements followed up with eight negative statements will reserve comment on these eight negative statements for next session. The first two descriptions are nothing less than too surprising snapshots of love surprising in that they reveal love in places where you would not expect to see them if you wanted to see love you would not look where Paul is looking.

We could translate these first two positive verbs. This way you might write in the margin of your Bible. Just you capture the sense of an action verb. Love exercises. Patient and love demonstrates kindness first love exercises patient's this verb from Mac growth than that of means long suffering. In fact, it might be translated that way some of your translations. The word macro is used it in our own English language is a prefix for something as large or or broad as opposed to micro which is used for something small like a micro chip. Oh, the other half of that word refers to passion. It's used of something literally bursting into flame in our modern world we we would call this long used. Love macro for Mexico literally could be defined as taking a long time to burst into flame long confused patient's this is agape, and by the way, this word chosen by the Spirit of God to describe agape has nothing to do with patients things this word is always used in reference to patient with people is one thing to exercise patience over the broken down lawnmower right if you do exercise it or the computer that the crashes or that photocopier that keeps keeps on jamming or that that vending machine you put your $0.75 and there the candy bar, slide all the way to the edge, but that doesn't and you you you push on the machine and you hit the glass and you take it and you threatened that all sorts of things. It just won't fall well this has to do with exercising patient like that with people and don't we push and hit and kicked him threatened people that are evidently difficult is what Paul has in mind as you would need to exercise used patients. These are people you like to shake or push or threaten. And at that moment in the course divine snapshot is taken. Look at the photograph you're in the middle of that scene. One of the pictures revealed our church is blessed with so many teachers I know there are many here tonight. It is in a particular honor to teach teachers but you know what it's like to exercise patience with the class going.

Maybe you'll understand or identify with this incident submitted by John Pugh, from Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, an elementary teacher was helping one of her kindergarten students get his cowboy boots on before leaving for home. He asked her for help. She could see why even with her pulling and pushing the boots just didn't want to fit on all the way. They seem too small, but she persisted and by the time she got the second on she worked up a sweat. She almost cried when the little boy said to her, these are the wrong feet. Boots can sometimes be hard to tell. She looked closely and certify worshiped didn't hold and finally got the boots often.

She managed to keep her tools together. They were to get the boots back on the right feet.

Finally, just as she was finished, he said, you know, these are my boots. She bit her tongue rather than scream once again. She struggled to help them pull the ill fitting boots off his little feet. No sooner had I gotten the boots off. He said see there. My brothers boots but my mom said I could wear.

She did not see laugh or cry, but she mustered up what patience she had to wrestle the boots back on his feet. One more time and finally she finished helping him and was coaching asked that where your mittens and he said I stuff them in the toes of my boots.

The story says in two years to be eligible for parole blame or have a little agape for scenes like that. Interesting that it's interesting to me that the first snapshot of love, whether you and I think we've got it or not, he goes right for the soft spot.me, but he touches the nerve immediately is working to talk about indescribable limit tell you that life is a law used. This is love acting toward unloving acts. I found it interesting that the Pharisees in the days of Paul held that the theory of recompense or compensation that is you return to others what they deliver to you. That's why Jesus Christ teaching was so radical it was. It was no longer an eye for an eye and a tooth for tooth, which was in fact the basis for justice and remuneration. Now it is self-effacing self defrauding self emptying love toward another.

How unlike the world who lives by the motto on get mad get even right, do unto others before they do unto you is the law of the jungle. Jesus Christ said here's a here's a new motto endure suffering without retaliation. Paul writes to the Romans do not repay evil with evil Romans 1217 Chrysostom the church leader said that this work for patients describes a man who has been wronged. Who has the power to avenge himself, and who will not do it. Paul writes to the Thessalonians. Using the same word for patients.

He says we urge you, brother, and admonish the unruly encourage the fainthearted. That is, those prone due to worry and discouragement help the week. That is a reference to the morally unstable seem to constantly need encouragement do the right thing.

The kind of people you say. Finally, I just just just leave me alone just go do what you know to do. Paul then closes know by adding after that description be patient with them all the same word here belongs used with them see anybody can love the lovable right.

Anybody can exercise patience with considerate anybody can put up with the neat. The orderly the strong to refine the polite, this is not the patient's of agape. This is not the snapshot of lobby anybody can do that. This photograph of this kind of agape catches us when we exercise patience with those who can't seem to get there boots on.

Need help and a lot of it. Why go through the sweat of it all. Why bother because the physician has attributed to his patient inherent worth and value.

Therefore, he has chosen to serve him. Even though the outlook is bleak and this person can take nothing from him but his time and his energy was and this is the agape of God, even though we were sinners, Christ died for us. Romans five.

This is true, genuine God like Christ imitating sacrificial surprising love that is patient toward the irritable, the unexpressive, the disappointing, the unlovely, this is the surprising snapshot. Have you been caught. Have I been caught in a photograph with this kind of love lately. Love expresses patience. Let's move on. Agape does not stop with being patient with the unloving Paul writes further that this love is also kind being kind counterpart of being patient.

In other words, while patients will put up with anything from anybody kindness will give away anything to another, it's possible.

Think about it, it's possible to be patient without being kind. It's interesting that these two words often appear side-by-side. It's possible to be patient with someone when I been kind I might I might put up with you by staying alive from you right avoid you in the hallway avoid a conflict, but Paul doesn't stop with exercising patience.

He has the audacity to tell us the true love demonstrates kindness and that requires contact Jesus Christ telling his disciples to love their enemies doesn't simply tell them to feel kindly you know about them is literally be kind to them. He is the model we follow for agape is truly the expression of the attributes and character got this. This is the kindness of God that leads us to what repentance same word kindness were to demonstrate to others what God leads us toward Peter writes we have tasted the kindness of the Lord.

First Peter 223. Same word were being called to demonstrate the kindness toward the world and God demonstrated toward us.

Remember Paul's injunction to feed your enemy when he's hungry and if he's thirsty, give him water to drink and in so doing your gun a heap coals of fire upon his head, and you say I like that part coals of fire, I can do that.

That's a love for me.

Paul is describing a deed from his culture that we could easily misunderstood. Misunderstand nobody in Paul's day had matches in the pantry.

You can keep a fire going coals went cold you were desperate did matter. If you are away on a trip for you.ill doubled over in pain for several days you are unable to attend the fire coal turned to dust nothing you could do is go to a neighbor you take along that brazen balance on your head seen him do it. Third World countries balancing supplies on crude days.

Now you go to your neighbor and you have your brazen and you'd asked for some coals that your neighbor gave you all. Let's just say up a handful of them that could be a problem because if you lived at some distance. By the time you got home. Those coals would be cold but if he was kind to you.

He would he coals of fire upon your head. He would load your brazen down so that by the time you got home you had a hot coals whereby you can immediately cook and eat will be warm. This is nothing for a friend to do to a friend right or maybe even to do a stranger but an enemy is one of the kinds of photographs that continue to surprise the world world magazine, which I subscribed to carried in their spring edition 2006 and article written by an atheist he was.

He was actually disturbed by his atheist friends because I never never did anything good for anybody even quite connect the dots. He was even watch the Salvation Army and other faith-based ministries respond to all hundred hundreds of churches to Hurricane Katrina and he lamented in a newspaper column and read it for you and I quote notable by their absence were teams helping could come from rationalist societies, freethinkers, clubs and atheists associations. The sort of people who scoff at religions, intellectual absurdity. He said it was a Christian who was the most likely to take the risk and make the sacrifices involved in helping others that interesting that he noticed he went on to say that the other things like drug addiction and AIDS offends Christians, but they are the ones willing to change the fitted bandage cleaned them up babe. I listened this conclusion. The only possible conclusion I can draw is that Christians have moral imperatives that make them morally superior to atheists like me.

So it should be as all the way back to the early church in the second century.

In fact, the pagans were so startled by the kindness of the believer. For those he didn't even know that according to Tertullian, they were nicknamed the changing of one Greek letter from Christiani Wichman follower of Christ to Christiani made up of kindness.

Can you imagine the church of the 21st century, earning the nickname made up of kindness.

Let's practice tonight even in the way you leave the parking lot. Okay, put agape to work with.

We surprise anybody by our kindness thereto demands that these verbs difficult demands that they make these verbs of love first, the demand that we develop this kind of love through a relationship with the Holy Spirit I mentioned earlier, these are the fruits of the spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness is might say, long-suffering goodness same words there.

They are side-by-side again. Don't just take it from people give back to people. These are the results of surrender to the spirit of God so you don't you don't send in a drama not okay, and then leave here and I am going to be kind. You know your kidding. Leave me alone trying to be patient. You know know you pursue the spirit of God and these things sleep into our character. Neither patience or kindness can be developed apart from the spirit. Secondly, neither patients or kindness can be demonstrated apart from suffering these two action verbs invite difficulty patients demands. What irritating people to be exercised so you ask God for more patients. He said you somebody really irritating answers your prayer, this word relates to being a long fuse as it relates to people all Stephen you want to be patient.

I'll exhibit a and there's the picture he may send you suffering which allows you to act in kindness because kindness demands unloving conditions to be practice patients demands irritating people to be exercised, kindness demands, unloving conditions to be practice. You don't practice these in private. You gotta go public with these and not just any kind of public Linsky, a Greek scholar at these two actions are not revealed and surroundings of friendship and affection for each individual embraces and kisses the other. These are actions in a bad and self centered world, and that's why these photographs are so rare so hard to find, 1975 child by the name of Raymond Dunn was born in New York State, the Associated Press reported that his birth, the school fracture and oxygen deprived patient calls severe retardation. As Raymond grew the family discovered further impairments.

His twisted body suffered up to 20 seizures per day. He was found to be blind and virtually immobile.

He had severe allergies that limited limited him to only one food found after numerous attempts to find something he could easily digest. It was a meat-based formula by Gerber foods, but in 1985, Gerber stopped making the formula.

The Raymond thrived on Carol Don's mother scoured the countryside purchased case after case of accumulating all she could but by 1990 supply was running out in desperation, she appealed to Gerber for help with the help her and her son. The employees of the company were given the news. This article read.

They not only listened, but they responded in an unprecedented action. Volunteers donated hundreds of hours to bring out old equipment set up a production line obtain special approval from the USDA and produce the formula.

All for one boy January 1995 Raymond Dunn, Junior, known as the Gerber boy passed away. This article ended by saying that during his brief lifetime he called forth a surprising thing called kind's what a rare photograph. Can we as people of God be any less with the world be surprised by the appearances of love in our lives. Paul says let me show you a more excellent way to live.

Let me show you a way to live by agape. Okay, let's hear it. Be patient with irritating the kinds of the unloving can you give me anything different that no utilities giving using giving the Corinthians were the North Carolinians a different way to feel he's giving us a different way to so with the outside of these two first to surrender to the spirit and invites suffering so that we can demonstrate to our watching world. By the way, has there cameras ready all that they may take pictures of the patients of agape kindness of agape, which become amazing your refutable on denial, evidence of this godlike Christ honoring genuine. I hope this time in God's word has helped you today. You've tuned into wisdom for the hearts with Stephen Davey, if you joined us late and want to go back and hear what you messed we've posted this lesson to our website. You'll find us online@wisdomonline.org.

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We post each day's lesson to that website so you can go back and get caught up. Stevens currently working his way through a series entitled true love. It comes from first Corinthians 13, where God describes what real biblical love looks like you can go back and hear the previous lessons in the series and I hope you'll join us in the days ahead as we continue working through it. We have a monthly magazine that we send as a gift to our wisdom partners. We call it heart-to-heart magazine. Each issue features articles from Stephen on a relevant topic. There's also a daily devotional that takes you deep into God's word on a daily basis. As I said it's a gift that we send to all of our wisdom partners.

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