(remember, these are unedited/draft show notes, not a transcript — listening is always better…and if you listen AND follow along below, you’ll see how)
Focus Question:
Why keep no record of wrongs?
Intro:
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Today we get to the famous “love chapter” in 1 Corinthians, and I can’t help but being a bit reflective. In the big picture, it’s nestled in the middle of Paul talking about the use spiritual gifts in and for the church. But as I often do here, sometimes I’ll use the focus question to highlight some non-standard thing…something that’s not part of the main point you’d hear about in a sermon.
The focus question today is really an invitation for you to reflect. We often hear the words of this chapter used in weddings…and so my question for you to reflect on today is, “Why keep no record of wrongs?”
New Testament segment:
Passage: 1 Corinthians 13
Translation: CSB (Christian Standard Bible)
Verses: 13
Words: ~276
Paul describes the nature of love with two positive statements, then eight negative ones (the last element has a positive counterpart), and then four positive ones. The preponderance of negative statements can be linked with the problems in the Corinthian church that Paul addresses in this letter. All qualities of love are qualities of God the Father and Jesus Christ: the Christian should live as Jesus lived.(1)
So what about not keeping a record of wrongs? My friends, isn’t that the very outcome of grace — that your sins are as far away from heaven as the east is from the west?
Turning back to Isaiah, we’re at a place in the text where Isaiah begins talking about…
How to Prepare for the Coming Glory: “Hold Fast My Covenant.” Isaiah guides the people of God of all ages into the reviving power of the truths and promises of chs. 1–55, so that they may prepare for the salvation that will renew all things forever.(1)
Old Testament segment:
Passage: Isaiah 56-57
Translation: CSB (Christian Standard Bible)
Verses: 33
Words: ~900
Finally, our Wisdom Segment is going to be a little longer today because, well, Psalm 69 is a little longer.
David typified the suffering of the righteous believer at the hands of the godless, but this concept finds its fullest expression in the travails of Christ (compare 69:9 to John 2:17 and Ps 69:21 to Matt 27:34, 48). (See “Christ in the Psalms.”) David S. Dockery, ed., Holman Bible Handbook (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 1992), 340–341.
Wisdom segment:
Passage: Psalm 69
Translation: CSB (Christian Standard Bible)
Verses: 36
Words: ~591
The bottom line:
In this Psalm
David laments during an unknown crisis when he was being persecuted severely and unjustly for sins he had committed (vv. 5, 26). His emotions are raw, and the imagery is vivid. The NT applies many of the psalm’s sentiments to Jesus, who also suffered like David, only more so…. (3)
This strikes me particularly, and relative to our focus question about not keeping a record of wrongs because just yesterday I heard from someone I once called a dear friend. Sadly, I experienced the angst of being put in a box and not being allowed to get out. Completely ironically (to me, anyway), I recently had a non-believer friend ask what I was studying for, and he told me he thought I’d be a great pastor. I asked why, and the thing that he told me is exactly the quality that this other former friend said I didn’t have and was holding against me.
All this talk of spiritual gifts is powerful, but it’s useful to remember one thing that we touched on yesterday…our gifts aren’t for our own glory, but for use in community for the glory of God. But as Paul put it in what we read today, it’s all for naught if not undergirded by love. Why? Because life is messy, and we are imperfect. May we all continue to grow in the giving of grace that keeps no record of wrongs.
Love you!
Roger
ForTheHope is a daily audio Bible + apologetics podcast and blog. We’ve got a passion for just keepin’ it real, having conversations like normal people, and living out the love of Jesus better every single day.
Roger Courville, CSP is a globally-recognized expert in digitally-extended communication and connection, an award-winning speaker, award-winning author, and a passionately bad guitarist. Follow him on Twitter -- @RogerCourville and @JoinForTheHope – or his blog: www.forthehope.org.
Sources and resources:
(1) Douglas J. Moo, “The Letters and Revelation,” in NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible, ed. D. A. Carson (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2018), 2072.
(2) Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 1342.
(3) D. A. Carson, ed., NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2018), 854–955.