ing and ripening all through his character as Paul gets old, but the hand that wrote, “ the greatest of these, is love,” when we meet it first is stained with blood. Nor is this letter to the Corinthians peculiar in sin gling out love as the surnrnum bonum . The master pieces of Christianity are agreed about it. Peter says, “Above all things have fervent love among your selves.” A bove all things. And John goes farther, “ God is love.” You remember the profound remark which Paul makes elsewhere, “ love is the fulfilling of the law.” Did you ever think what he meant by that? In those days men were working the passage to heaven by keeping the Ten Commandments, and the 110 other commandments which they had manufactured out of them. Christ came and said, “ I will show you a more simple way. If you do one thing, you will do these 110 things without ever thinking about them. If you love, you will unconsciously fulfill the whole law.” You can readily see for yourselves how that must be so. Take any of the commandments. “ Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” If a man love God, you will not require to tell him that. Love is the fulfilling of that law. “ Take not his name in vain.” Would he ever dream of taking His name in vain if he loved Him? “ Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.” Would he not be too glad to have one day in seven to dedicate more exclusively to the object of his affection? Love would fulfill all these laws regarding God. And so if he loved man you would never think of telling him to honor his father and mother. He could not do anything else. It would be preposterous to tell him not to kill. You could only insult him if you suggested that he should not steal ^ how could he steal from those he loved? It would be superfluous to beg him not to bear false witness against his neighbor. If he loved him it would be the last thing he would do. And you would never dream of urging him not to covet what his neighbors had. He would rather they possessed it than himself. In this way “ love is the fulfilling of the law.” It is the rule for fulfilling all rules, the new commandment for keeping all the old commandments, Christ’s one se c r e t of the Christian life. Now Paul has learned that and in this noble eulogy he has given us the most wonderful and original account extant of the summum bonum . We may divide it into three parts. In the beginning we have love contrasted; in the heart of it, we have love analyzed ; toward the end, we have love defended as the supreme gift. The Contrast Paul begins by contrasting love with other things that men in those days thought much of. I shall not attempt to go over these things in detail. Their inferiority is already obvious. He contrasts it with eloquence. And what a noble gift it is, the power of playing upon the souls and
wills of men and rousing them to lofty purposes and holy deeds! Paul says, “ If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not love, I am become sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.” We all know why. We have all felt the brazenness of words without emotion, the hollowness, the unaccountable unper suasiveness, of eloquence behind which lies no love. He contrasts it with prophecy. He contrasts it with m ysteries. He contrasts it with fcdth. He contrasts it with charity. Why is love greater than faith? Because the end is greater than the means. And why is it greater than charity? Because the whole is greater than the part. Love is greater than faith because the end is greater than the means. What is the use of having faith? It is to connect the soul with God. And what is the object of connecting man with God? That he may become like God. But God is love. Hence faith, the means, is in order to love, the end. Love therefore obviously is greater than faith. “ If I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.” It is greater than charity again because the whole is greater than a part. Charity is only a little bit of love, one of the innumerable avenues of love, and there may even be, and there is, a great deal of charity without love. It is a very easy thing to toss a copper to a beggar on the street; it is generally an easier thing than not to do it. Yet love is just as often in the withholding. We purchase relief from the sympa thetic feelings roused by the spectacle of misery at the copper’s cost. It is too cheap — too cheap for us and often too dear for the beggar. If we really loved him we would either do more for him or less. Hence, “ If I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, but have not love, it profiteth me nothing.” Then Paul contrasts it with sacrifice and m artyr dom : “ If I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profiteth me nothing.” Missionaries can take nothing greater to the heathen world than the impress and reflection of the love of God upon their own character. That is the universal language. It will take them years to speak in Chinese or in the dialects of India. From the day they land that language of love understood by all will be pouring forth its eloquence. It is the man who is the missionary, it is not his words. His character is his message. In the heart of Africa among the great lakes, I have come across black men and women who remembered the only white man they ever saw before—David Livingstone; and as you cross his footsteps in that dark continent, men’s faces light up as they speak of the kind doctor who passed there years ago. They could not under stand him but they felt the love that beat in his heart. They knew that it was love although he spoke no word. Take into your sphere of labor where you also mean to lay down your life that simple charm and your lifework must succeed. You can take nothing greater, you need take nothing less. You may take every accomplishment; you may be braced for every sacrifice but if you give your body to be burned and have not love, it will profit you and the cause of Christ nothing.
24
THE KING'S BUSINESS
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs