“Loving Enough to Be Hurt” (1 Corinthians 13:5) for COSLHS Chapel Feb. 11, ‘14

1.                   In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.  Well, we’re very close to celebrating Valentine’s Day aren’t we?  But, what is Valentine’s Day and why do we celebrate it?  Church tradition teaches us that St. Valentine was a physician and priest living in Rome during the rule of Emperor Claudius.  St. Valentine became one of the noted martyrs of the 3^rd century.  A martyr is someone who is willing to die for their faith in Jesus as their Savior.  Valentine’s Day is the day the church commemorates his death that occurred in 270AD.  Church tradition suggests that on the day of his execution for the Christian faith, Valentine left a note of encouragement for a child of his jailer written on an irregularly shaped piece of paper.  This greeting became a pattern for millions of written expressions of love and caring that now are the highlight of Valentine’s Day in many nations.

2.                   So, as we approach Valentine’s Day are you ready to give that special something to your sweetheart?  For this reason, in the message from God’s Word today we’re going to be looking at what it means to love as a Christian.  No, not the way that the world loves in a conditional manner.  If you do something for me, then I’ll love you back.  But, in a way of loving that’s unconditional, not asking for anything else in return.  We’re going to look at 1 Cor. 13.  The message from God’s Word is entitled, “Loving Enough to Be Hurt.”  Dear Brothers and sisters in Christ.

3.                   Tom told his wife right after they got married that he wanted no children. At the age of three he had a dog named Murphy. He loved Murphy very much, and he and Murphy were always together. When Tom was four years old, Murphy disappeared and never returned. Tom loved his dog so much that he was deeply hurt.  From that time on, Tom never loved anything like that again. So when Tom grew up and became married, he vowed he would never have children because he knew he had a great capacity to love and love would result in being hurt. Tom didn’t want his child to hurt him.

4.                   In one way, we can say that Tom was selfish. On the other hand, we can come to this very important conclusion: To really love, you must love enough to permit someone to hurt you. To give you an idea of how open one becomes to hurt, just listen to the words of 1 Cor. 13:4-5, “Love is patient. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is no proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered” and, “…it keeps no record of wrongs.”

5.                   The love that 1 Cor. 13 talks about opens us up to be hurt by the one we may really care about. I’m sure that there are some people here this morning who’ve built a wall around themselves because they were hurt by someone they loved.  You opened yourself up, revealed your true feelings, gave yourself to someone, and that person hurt you. And now, you won’t love again.

6.                   And maybe there are some people here this morning who just won’t love. Won’t let anyone get to know them too well.  People who put on a mask, but who are inwardly hurting. Why? Maybe, you got hurt by someone you loved, and it still hurts today, a boyfriend or a girlfriend broke up with you or you were betrayed by a really close friend. Maybe your mom or your dad never paid too much attention to you.  All this hurts so much that you’ll never really love again.

7.                   A woman says, “I won’t be hurt again,” and she gives up on her marriage. A teenager says, “I won’t be hurt again,” and he runs away. A father says, “I won’t be hurt again,” and clams up.  But, Paul says in 1 Cor. 13:5, “Love keeps no record of wrongs.” Love pays the price for being hurt. Love will go on loving regardless of what others do. Love will realize in advance that there will be hurt. True love is worth the hurt.

8.                   The Bible is the story of God loving people. God placed two people in the Garden of Eden. They weren’t placed there as robots. They weren’t mechanical. They had free wills. God said, “I’ll love you people enough to permit you to hurt Me. I’ll reveal to you My perfect plan. I’ll walk with you as your best Friend. I’ll love you with everything I have, knowing that you can hurt Me” – and they did!  And then God chose Israel and the Jewish people to be His own. He said, “I will be your God, and you will be My people. I will make you a nation above all nations.  You will be a royal nation, a holy people, and a delight to Me.” God said, “I’m going to love you with everything I have.”

9.                   So God opened Himself up to Israel, and they hurt Him! Then God came down to our earth and became a Man—Jesus Christ.  He opened Himself up to men and they hurt Him! Jesus laid aside His divine powers. He laid aside His authority, and opened Himself up to people. In doing so, He was hurt by those He spent so much time with, even by His own disciples.  He traveled to His hometown of Nazareth and spoke to the people He grew up with, and they hurt Him. They rejected His teachings. He opened Himself up to Judas and allowed Judas to hurt Him. He loved Peter, and Peter hurt Him. He loved Saul of Tarsus, and Saul hurt Him. He loved the teachers of the Law who resided in the Temple, and they hurt Him. My friends, the only way God could love people was to permit them to hurt Him, and everyone did, but He still loved.

10.               And so we see that we can’t love without being hurt. The Apostle Paul traveled from town to town because he loved people, fighting illness, storms, thieves and poverty just to bring the message of forgiveness. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4:8-9, “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” He loved, and got hurt!  Hurt people often run away. Hurt people fight back. Hurt people are bitter and angry. Hurt people quit. Hurt people call you names, blame you for their problems and give excuses. Hurt people will not allow anyone to get close to them. We live in a community of hurt people, yet God is giving the message clearly to all of us that we can’t love without being hurt.

11.               The songwriter, Jim Gilbert, wrote, “I love you with the love of the Lord.” That’s what God does in His people. God loves us and forgives all our sins even though we’ve hurt Him so many times. He loves and forgives us because His Son, Jesus Christ, made a supreme sacrifice on the cross to save us from our sins. Now we who have received that love are capable of loving others even when they hurt us.

12.               Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.  Yes, we love one another. We love one another because God has loved us and forgiven us all our sins for Christ’s sake. Like our heavenly Father, we love knowing full well that at times we will be hurt in the process of it all. And that is why St. Paul closes his love chapter with these words, 1 Cor.13:13, “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”  May we love in such a way that Jesus Christ is showing His love through us to those we come into contact with not only this Valentine’s Day, but throughout the year.  Amen.