The epistle lesson for this coming Sunday is I Corinthians 13, the “Love Chapter.” Much to my astonishment, I looked in my files and discovered that I have never preached on this text on a Sunday morning. It has been the basis of about 100 of my wedding sermons, but never a text that I’ve used for a regular service. This week that will change.

The difficult thing about I Corinthians 13 is that, a superficial reading shows me that there are at least 20 sermons in this chapter. As I am digging into the text, maybe there are 40 sermons in these 13 verses.

Here are some opening thoughts: love is more than behavior, more than a sentiment, more than an emotion, and more than an attitude. It incorporates all of those aspects of our being and many more. Romantic love is wonderful; the love between close friends is fantastic; the love between parent and child is beyond description. Each different form that love takes shows me that there is more to love than I can wrap my mind around.

I can’t wait to see where this sermon ends up going. I have a hunch that I John 4:7 and 8 will provide the key: “Dear friends, we must love each other because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born from God and knows God. The person who doesn’t love doesn’t know God, because God is love.” As I turn my fact toward the perfect love that is Jesus Christ, not only can I understand love better, I can love others more completely.

I’ll tell you how this works out on Sunday.