Many years ago, I worked in a Sylvania GTE factory that produced halogen headlights. There was a testing room in the factory where they illuminated the halogen bulbs and left them lit until they burned out. Sylvania quickly determined that the bulbs lasted too long, and they set about redesigning them so they would last for only a few years. The term for this in the industrial world is “built-in obsolescence,” that is designing a product with an artificially limited life span. This is a common practice in manufacturing.

The quality of “built-in obsolescence” is true of most of life, albeit the obsolescence is not necessarily by human design. Colloquially we might put it, “Nothing lasts forever.” This is true of nature and society. Winter yields to spring, spring to summer, and summer to fall. Childhood gives way to adolescence. Adolescence turns into adulthood, and adulthood eventually yields to old age. The institution of marriage, that was intended by God to last a lifetime, often ends prematurely in divorce. And even marriages that endure for decades and decades eventually end with the death of one of the spouses. Presidents can serve only two terms in office. CEOs come and go in corporations. And we work for a company for a time and then find new employment.

There is a profound impermanence to human life. Endings and changes seem to be built into the very fabric of creation. Is there anything that lasts, that endures forever? Is there anything in this life that extends to eternity? Indeed, there is! The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end.

And that brings us to this morning’s text from First Corinthians. First Corinthians 13 along with Psalm 23 and John 3:16 are probably the most familiar passages of scripture in our culture. First Corinthians 13 is a staple of wedding ceremonies, and rightly so. It is an unequaled ode to love.

But Paul was not addressing people who were united and enamored of each other. The Corinthians were not united in the same mind and purpose. As we learned last Sunday from First Corinthians 1, they were divided into factions.

In Chapters 12 and 14, we learn that the Corinthians were also enamored of spiritual gifts. But instead of understanding that the gifts of the Holy Spirit were intended to build up the body of Christ, the Corinthians saw the gifts as status symbols that exalted some members of the church over other members. 1 Corinthians 13 is somewhat of a digression in Paul’s discussion of spiritual gifts in Chapters 12 and 14. However, it was a much-needed correction for the Corinthians' unhealthy obsession with spiritual gifts.

They were very keen on speaking in tongues, particularly the tongues of angels. They believed they were speaking the dialects of the angelic hosts of heaven when they spoke in ecstatic utterances. From the vantage point of the Corinthians, they had already entered some expression of angelic existence. This may explain why they were not particularly interested in the resurrection. In Chapter 15, Paul asks them, “Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead?”

Now the gifts of the Spirit were and are a good thing. They were intended to build up the church until Christ returned. But they had a built-in obsolescence to them. They were only intended to last until the kingdom of God arrived.

What the Corinthians were lacking as they exercised these Holy Spirit-given gifts was love Abut not just any kind of love, agape (the Greek word Paul uses that is translated as love). Agape is the kind of love God has for His fallen creatures. It is the steadfast love of the Lord. This kind of love was necessary, in fact essential, to any form of genuine spirituality. Without agape, spirituality was empty and useless.

Paul wrote to them, “If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing" (1 Cor. 13:1-3).

Speaking in tongues of mortals and angels without agape was no different from pagan worship that rang a gong or sounded a cymbal when the devotee entered the temple. Having prophetic powers, understanding all mysteries, possessing knowledge about the age to come, and having faith to perform mighty acts of power without agape were equivalent to nothing.
Even charitable acts and personal sacrifice without agape produced nothing of lasting value.

At the end of Chapter 12, Paul promised to show the Corinthians a more excellent way (12:31b). Verses 4-7 of our chapter provide a truly profound description of agape in action. And this point cannot be made often enough in our modern world. Agape is not fond feelings. Agape is not romantic attraction. These are the normal connotations of the word “love” in the twenty-first century. To have agape towards others means to love others the way God in Christ has been towards us. Agape is doing, not feeling.

“Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things" (vs. 4-7).

A simple way to grasp my previous point is to insert the name "Jesus" for the word "love." “Jesus is patient; Jesus is kind; Jesus is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. Jesus does not insist on his own way; Jesus is not irritable or resentful; Jesus does not rejoice in wrongdoing but rejoices in the truth. Jesus bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” This is the way God loved us while we were yet sinners.

Conversely, if we insert our own name into the text, we realize just how high the calling of agape really is. Let me illustrate. “Charles is patient; Charles is kind; Charles is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. Charles does not insist on his own way; Charles is not irritable or resentful; Charles does not rejoice in wrongdoing but rejoices in the truth. Charles bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." Try inserting your own name!

Positively, love is patient. Love is kind. God is longsuffering with our sins. God does not unleash his wrath on us suddenly. Instead, God is kind and exercises mercy towards our waywardness. This is how we are to treat others.

Negatively, love does not envy. Unlike the Corinthians who were envious of each other, agape asks, “How can I best serve those for whom Christ died?”

Love does not boast. It is not arrogant. It is not a “windbag.” Love does not call attention to itself.

Love is not proud. It is not puffed up with an unrealistic and untrue assessment of self.

Love is not rude. It does not behave shamefully or disgracefully.

Love is not self-seeking. Love is not enamored of self-gain, self-justification, or self-worth. It seeks the good of its neighbor.

Love is not easily angered. It is not easily stirred to wrath with little provocation.

Love keeps no record of wrongs. Just as God does not reckon our sins against us, love does not keep notes on the slights and sins of others.

Love does not rejoice in evil. Instead it rejoices in what is true. Love does not take delight when someone else falls. It does not gossip about the misdeeds of others.

Love bears, believes, hopes, and endures all things. That is, love is tenacious and persevering; it can face anything and is absolutely confident in the future God has promised.

This is what agape looks like in action.

And now to return to my initial observation about life: ‘Nothing last forever.” There is a built-in obsolescence to it all. This is sadly true, with one notable exception: agape. Paul says, “Love never ends.”

Even faith and hope are temporal. Faith is trusting in God to forgive us and accept us. Hope is the assurance that we will live again in the resurrection when the present evil age finally comes to an end. Hope is the certainty that we will be with God for all eternity. But when we see God face to face, when we know as we are fully known, faith and hope will no longer be needed. We do not hope for what we can see. Love is the greatest of the three Christian virtues (faith, hope, and love) because love continues into eternity.

God is love, and those who abide in God abide in love. Prophecy and knowledge will come to an end. The partial will come to an end (spiritual gifts). Even faith and hope will end, but love never ends. The only thing we can take with us into eternity is agape.

We have experienced agape by the good gifts of faith and hope. They sustain us in this constantly changing and ending world of built-in obsolescence. We have trusted in God’s forgiveness and acceptance in the present. We hope in God’s future.

Now the upward call of God is to embody agape in the church and in the world. That is why we include “caring for people’s needs” in our church mission statement.

Patience with others and kindness towards all are the hallmarks of agape. This is not abstract. It is supremely practical. When the baby wakes up for the third time, and you say to your spouse, “Stay in bed; I’ll get him.” That is agape. When you say to your friend in need, “I’ll take care of it; I’ve got you covered.” That is agape. When you put the interests of others ahead of your own, that is agape in action.

Is there anything that really lasts in this life? Yes, indeed! It is God’s love for us in Christ, our love for God in response, and our love for each other in the selfless, sacrificial serving of our neighbor. This is fruit that lasts to eternal life. This is the singular fruit of the Holy Spirit: love. As Jesus is, so are we in this world.

Thanks be to God for love that never ends.

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Alleluia! Amen.