Christian Fellowship (8) What is Love? (5)

Driving home: Love never moves a man or a woman or a boy or a girl to act in social and moral sense. Love never moves anyone to behave rudely, peacefully, dishonorably, or indecently.

Explains the Greek root 'schema' (form/structure) and the 'alpha privative' (meaning 'not') to define 'unseemly' as acting against the proper form or standard, similar to how 'amoral' means 'without moral sensitivity'.

Now we come this morning to the fourth negative, love does not behave itself unseemly. And as we attempt to understand these words, consider with me first of all, a basic explanation of the meaning of the text. When the Spirit of God moved the Apostle to write, love does not behave itself, unseemly, what is God saying to his people? Well, when the Apostle wrote these words, he used a verb which has as its root, the noun in the Greek, schema. And you can get some idea where we get our word schematic. It comes directly from the word schema. And the schema of a thing is its form or its structure.

6:42 - 7:46 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Love never moves a man or a woman or a boy or a girl to act in social and moral sense. Love never moves anyone to behave rudely, peacefully, dishonorably, or indecently.

Quotes New Testament scholar Leon Morris, who describes the word 'unseemly' as a 'general term with a wide range of meaning,' supporting Martin's choice to retain the word for its breadth.

Phillips, in his paraphrase, seeks to capture the meaning by rendering it by the opposite grace. In Phillips' paraphrase, it says, love has good manners. And as I have wrestled with the whole question of how best to convey the sense of this negative aspect of love, I have chosen to stick with the old word unseemly. And the reason I have chosen to stick with it is it is much broader than the word rude.

10:39 - 11:16 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Love never moves a man or a woman or a boy or a girl to act in social and moral sense. Love never moves anyone to behave rudely, peacefully, dishonorably, or indecently.

Lists synonyms for 'unseemly' from Rodale's Synonym Finder (unbecoming, improper, indecent, boorish, etc.) to give a comprehensive sense of the word's negative connotations.

And this word is very broad in its significance. Leon Morris, a well-respected New Testament scholar, in his commentary on 1 Corinthians, mentioning the use of this word, the word writes, it is a general term with a wide range of meaning. And so I took my Rodale's synonym finder and looked up the old word unseemly. And here are some of the entries under the word unseemly.

11:16 - 11:51 Read in full sermon

The point: Love does not behave itself unseemly with respect to the differences of age, position which exist in the will of God.

Describes the physical necessity of foot washing in ancient Palestine due to dusty roads and sweat, setting the context for Jesus' act of servant leadership.

unseemly love will never move us to be indifferent to what God has given us in this world and in this world God has made up his world with people who are diverse in age and position and for our passage I want you to turn away to the world and to understanding both of the physical and the physical and the material and the material and of that to the physical and of the spiritual and Dirt would work its way through and attach itself to the sweat between the toes. People made of the same stuff then as you and I are made of today.

18:13 - 19:38 Read in full sermon

Driving home: It is one thing for Jesus in condescending love to say I will call you my friends it would be quite another thing for the disciples in arrogant cheekiness to call Jesus their buddy you see the difference for the superior…

Compares Jesus condescending to call His disciples 'friends' with the impropriety of disciples arrogantly calling Jesus 'buddy,' illustrating the difference between a superior initiating intimacy and an inferior presuming it.

And come in submission to me. In which I am your Lord. You who have an equal right to me. status among yourselves as my disciples as my subjects surely then if I the Lord and the teacher recognized as such designated as such addressed as such if I have done this then surely you who are brethren ought to be willing to take the posture of servants one to another now do you see that in this passage our Lord Jesus Christ uses the reality of their love him that did not behave itself unseemly now listen carefully the Bible says Jesus is not ashamed to call us brethren later on in this upper room dis...

23:14 - 24:34 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Would God that David had remained in this posture when under the influence of the love that does not behave itself unseemly his heart is smitten for such a quote little act of indiscretion

Explains the euphemism 'cover his feet' as relieving oneself, highlighting the Bible's use of delicacy and refinement even in describing bodily functions, contrasting with modern crassness.

those of you familiar with the Bible history how Saul filled with this murderous spirit of envy is chasing David around the wilderness of Judea when he's within the parameters or within the precincts of his home he seeks to kill him and in one of those situations we read in 1 Samuel 24 1 to 7 this interesting incident it came to pass when Saul was returned from following the Philistines it was told him saying behold David is in the wilderness of En Gedi and Saul took 3,000 chosen men out of all Israel this was his crack commando specially trained group of soldiers 3,000 chosen men out of all I...

32:45 - 34:14 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Would God that David had remained in this posture when under the influence of the love that does not behave itself unseemly his heart is smitten for such a quote little act of indiscretion

Contrasts David's heart being smitten for the 'little act' of cutting Saul's robe with his later, more grievous sins (lust, lying, murder), emphasizing the importance of a sensitive conscience regarding unseemliness.

and God has not yet changed his rank God has anointed him and installed him as king and until God deposes him he is my king worthy of the respect of a king though he's out to murder me then what happened so David checked his men with these words and suffered them not to rise up against Saul and Saul rose up out of the cave and went on his way and you'll notice that I omitted one little phrase in the midst of that account and you see what it is we read in verse 5 it came to pass afterward that David's heart smote him now notice not because he made an effort to kill Saul but he had cut off Saul'...

35:42 - 37:10 Read in full sermon

The point: Let's learn the proper terms of address. Don't talk about Bill Clinton, he's not Bill Clinton to you, he's President Clinton, he is Mr. Clinton.

Uses the example of addressing Bill Clinton as 'President Clinton' or 'Mr. Clinton' rather than 'Bill' to illustrate the proper verbal signals of respect for those in authority, even if their behavior is unseemly.

and rank and position and never never Timothy forget those distinctions and their appropriate verbal and non-verbal signals and symbols let's learn the proper terms of address don't talk about Bill Clinton he's not Bill Clinton to you he's President Clinton he is Mr. Clinton everybody on a first name basis now granted he did not help in his campaign by making a fool of himself by appearing on Arsenio Hall's show and jamming it up with his saxophone granted that was beneath his dignity and did I have Mr. Clinton here I would say Mr. Clinton you behave unseemly and I rebuke you in the light of t...

51:57 - 53:25 Read in full sermon

The point: You parents have a solemn obligation not to let your kids address adults by their first name.

Shares his personal practice of teaching his children to address close friends as 'Uncle' and 'Auntie' and others as 'Mister' and 'Missus,' even when not present, to instill respect for age and position.

conscience with us but we must seek an appropriate way that indicates in our hearts we accept the reality that almighty God has made these distinctions in rank this is why you parents have a solemn obligation not to let your kids address adults by their first name if they're very much a part of your life if they're very much a part of your life if they're very much a part of your life if they're very much a part of your life if they're very much very close you may want to do as we did very close friends they were uncle and auntie others were always mister and missus not just in the presence of...

53:25 - 54:53 Read in full sermon

The point: You parents have a solemn obligation not to let your kids address adults by their first name.

Explains his practice of referring to grown men in the church as 'Mr. Perosi' or 'Mr. Kitchen' in public meetings to model respect for maturity and position, especially for younger congregants.

conscience with us but we must seek an appropriate way that indicates in our hearts we accept the reality that almighty God has made these distinctions in rank this is why you parents have a solemn obligation not to let your kids address adults by their first name if they're very much a part of your life if they're very much a part of your life if they're very much a part of your life if they're very much a part of your life if they're very much very close you may want to do as we did very close friends they were uncle and auntie others were always mister and missus not just in the presence of...

53:25 - 54:53 Read in full sermon

The point: We are to recognize and to seek to inculcate in our children this recognition that love does not behave itself unseemly.

Quotes Matthew Henry's commentary on 1 Corinthians 13, where Henry states that 'charity or love is careful not to pass the bounds of decency' and 'behaves towards all men as becomes their rank and ours,' reinforcing the sermon's main point.

Greek phrase uke askemonae it behaves not unseemly it behaves it does nothing in decorous nothing that in the common account of men is base or vile it does nothing out of place or time and behaves towards all men as becomes their rank and ours with reference and respect to superiors with kindness and condescension to inferiors not a condescending spirit but the kind of condescension manifested by our Lord who being in the very form of God came in the form of a servant that's what he means by condescension with courtesy and goodwill to all men it is not for breaking order confounding ranks brin...

56:22 - 57:49 Read in full sermon

The point: We are to recognize and to seek to inculcate in our children this recognition that love does not behave itself unseemly.

Recounts his father's standard answer, 'Because I am your father and I said so,' when asked 'why,' illustrating a lesson in submission to parental authority and the importance of respecting rank.

why some of you have such a difficult time coming into a church where there's rule by elder because you were brought up in a home where your opinion had as much weight as your parents in fact often by sheer lobbying with threats and temper tantrums your will carried the day and suddenly you're in a framework where you're not even made privy to things that are none of your business and decisions are made concerning which you have no input and no knowledge and you find it very very difficult to live with that this is one of the reasons why you were brought in a in a in a context of unseemliness ...

57:49 - 59:18 Read in full sermon

The point: Love does not manifest in you let alone defiance of the accepted order of recognizing that God has made us and put us in different stations and ranks.

Compares the 'devilish hellish defiance' of age, rank, and station in rock and rap culture to the unseemliness that love avoids, highlighting a major motif of disrespect in modern society.

that's not enough I have too much regard for the nerve endings on my backside my self interest kept my mouth shut and as I got older he would then take me into his confidence and say now son I'm glad you obeyed on the basis that my will was expressed but now let me tell you what lay behind that decision so when you're facing that as a grown man you'll know the things that you need to consider when making decisions he wasn't being cruel he wasn't pulling rags he was teaching a lesson and some of you never learned from your parents and you never learned it from this crazy mixed up society and if...

59:18 - 60:45 Read in full sermon

The point: Love does not manifest in you let alone defiance of the accepted order of recognizing that God has made us and put us in different stations and ranks.

Describes his practice of opening doors and holding coats for women, even when they automatically reach for their own, to illustrate showing honor and deference to the 'weaker vessel' as an act of love.

one of the major motifs of the rock culture and the rap culture it's hate anything that's above me put everything beneath my feet and if you're honest you'll admit that that allegation is not an overstatement you want to know how to love love does not behave itself unseemly love does not manifest in you love does not manifest in you love does not manifest in you love does not manifest in you let alone defiance of the accepted order of recognizing that God has made us and put us in different stations and ranks and I want to append at the end as I close that applies to the distinction among the ...

60:45 - 62:15 Read in full sermon

The point: Real fellowship will exist to the extent that we have the love that does not behave itself unseemly.

Criticizes children answering the phone with a simple 'hello' or by recognizing his voice without proper etiquette, calling it 'unseemly' and a failure of parental teaching.

how to answer the phone in some other way then hello I'm shocked at the way some of your children answer the phone it's unseemly they recognize my voice it's unseemly that you've not taught them how to answer the phone in a gracious way some of you have done admirably I've commended you I've commended your children I've even sent little notes at times dear people you want serious religion you want this bad you want real fellowship among us real fellowship will exist to the extent that we have the love that does not behave itself unseemly love that does not behave itself unseemly and it's a bea...

65:13 - 66:41 Read in full sermon