#95 Love Never Fails! (21/09/03)

By Robert H. Schuller

We're on the 1st Corinthians 13. It's probably the greatest love passage ever written by anyone in literature. Now the shocking thing is it comes from a relatively obscure Jew, who had no teaching as far as we know in psychology, or philosophy. His name was Paul. We call him St. Paul. Remarkable man. Where did he get these gifts? Who was he writing to? Stop and look at it and you realize the human beings where no different 2,000 yeas ago then they are today. Because he was motivated to write about love. That the greatest thing in the world is love. Unbelievable.

And he closes this chapter with the last verse reading: "And now abides faith, hope, love. The greatest of these is love." He was not a psychiatrist, and yet when I attended the 1967 World Psychiatric Convention in Madrid, Spain, there were over 4,000 psychiatrists from all over the world including from Moscow and Russia. The atheists were there. It was a remarkable convention. And at the last plenary session in the morning to 4,000 people, 3 psychiatrists spoke. You've heard me tell this before. But it bares repeating.

The 1st psychiatrist spoke for 30 minutes on the human value called faith and the importance of it, the value of it. Contrast that with a lot of scientific materialist' who dismissed faith as an irresponsible, non-rational mental activity. The psychiatrists are saying, you got to have it.

The second lecture was on hope. It was not until 1959 that a psychiatrist dared to lecture on the word hope. Why? Because hope enters the spiritual dimension.
Hope! You've got to have it. Where does it come from? We don't know. What does it do? It works miracles. This is a scientific convention of the world's psychiatrist 4,000 in number. The first lecture on faith. The second lecture on hope. The third lecturer from Lima, Peru spoke on love.

The most healing, powerful force in the world is love he said. I went out of there 10 feet tall, because back in America theologians were confused about do we have a theology that really works, and is religion, is there a place for real religion in the future? The world Psychiatric Convention said yes. There's faith, hope, love.

St. Paul, that's where they got it. He wrote it 2,000 years ago. Where did he get the insight? I don't know, but I truly believe the writers of this book were inspired by a higher power. Paul got it from God. Wow.

And today I point out the verse; "Love never fails." It's possible to live personally beyond the possibility of personal failure. I didn't say financial. I didn't say fame and fortune. But I'm talking about personhood. Love never fails.

You can love and lose, but you can never love and fail as a person. If you understand what real love is, and we get it in the Bible, and it was taught in the Bible before any psychiatrist, psychologist, or humanist, or philosopher ever thought it up. It's in the word in agape in original Greek, and translated as the heart of Christian faith. Agape love, which is different.

There are 3 kinds of love.

I love you, because I want you.

It's legitimate. It's understandable. I have that kind of love for my wife. That's natural love. It can even be lust.

The second level of love is, I love you, because I need you. Needing is different than wanting. And that's okay. I love my wife, because I need her. I couldn't do this ministry without her.

Then there's a third level of love, and this is a total transcendent breakthrough into a consciousness of love. It is distinctively Christ oriented. I love you because you need me. Wow. That's transcendent. It's not found in the secular world without a spiritual consciousness. It is not found in the sensual world, or the sexual world without transcendence. I love you, because you need me.

Now living life in that level of love, I'll tell you, guaranteed, absolute promise. I'm right! Love never fails. You can love and lose, but you can never love and fail, as a person. It changes you, because you become a giving person. That emancipates you from all potential human sins, like greediness, and selfishness, and avarice. Phenomenal.

Dr. Beckering was a minister who ordained me when I came out of seminary. He served many years in this church. He's in heaven today. But Dr. Beckering was the minister who in the denomination on the West Coast of California nominated me with approval of the denomination headed by Ruth and Norman Peale, he nominated me to come and start this new church.
Dr. Beckering is probably the most valued man I ever had in the ministry short of my Uncle Henry. But, he told me once, I'll never forget it, he was pastor of a church in Chicago before he came to California. And he had his congregation most prestigious people: Judges and lawyers, and doctors, and corporate chiefs. And one of his parishioners was a very, very famous doctor, whose name was almost a household word in Chicago.

One day this doctor had an almost fatal heart attack. And when the Pastor Beckering went to call on him in the hospital he didn't know what the mood of the doctor would be because the doctor was never sick. He was the doctor, never a patient. And when he stepped into the room the doctor was alone in the bed, and when he saw his pastor come in he said, "oh, come in Dr. Beckering, come in, I've got something to tell you."

Beckering said, "what is it?" He said, "oh, have I learned something being a patient here for the first time in my life I'm a patient, and I've really learned something. It's not what you do that really counts it's what you are. It's not what you do it's what kind of a person are you? That's the lesson that came out of the blue. I don't know why and how it relates to what I'm doing today, I guess I suddenly realized I can't do my work. I don't know if they'll let me go back to work. But it's not what you do, it's who you are." And Dr. Beckering, I know I'm a good guy, and your church helped make me into a good guy. Thank you.

Love never fails. You can love and lose, but you can't love and fail. Because love turns you into a beautiful human being. Yes. Having said all of that. How do you make it practical? Love must be very practical, it has to work in your house when the shades are drawn and the curtains are closed. What difference does it make there?

My family. My wife and I have been married 52 years. We have five children. They're all married. They're all happily married to Christian spouses. They're all in the ministry one way or another. They love Jesus Christ. Now I take that as the greatest compliment to my life, and so does my wife because they have seen us at our worst. They have heard us at our worst. They know what life was like in the Schuller house behind the draperies, and behind the curtains. And when we made mistakes we would say, " oh, forgive us kids. Forgive us. Don't blame Jesus Christ. We shouldn't have done it. Forgive us." They have learned honesty and humility, openness and transparency in the presence of Jesus Christ who lives in that house still today. That doesn't mean that they've always been positive. Or that there were no conflicts.

I'll never forget the one time when Sheila was about, maybe eleven and Bob was maybe about seven or eight. And we had a rule in the house, you know, after dinner Mrs. Schuller and I could go and take a cup of coffee and sit and relax and drink that cup of coffee in the living room and those two kids would have to clear the table, wash the dishes. And we were sitting there drinking our coffee one night when we heard Sheila say, "It's not fair." Bob said, "What's not fair?" "Well we and I have, you and I have to do all the dirty work and mom and dad can just sit there and drink coffee." And then we heard Bob say, "Yeah. Dad doesn't do any work. He just talks about thirty minutes every Sunday morning. That's it."

Sheila said, "You're right. Even his secretary writes his letters for him, I heard him say that once." It went from bad to worse. "And mom's no better," Bob said. "What do you mean?" "Oh, she just gets in the car and goes to the store and goes shopping. That's a lot of fun. We get stuck with the dirty work. All these dirty dishes."

Arvella said, "Time for us to get up and talk to those kids." So we got up and we talked. We tried to communicate to them that I work more than thirty minutes a week and that Mrs. Schuller, who had no housecleaner, no maid, no servant, is kept pretty busy. Working about sixty hours a week for me in this ministry, at no charge and then keeping the house clean and doing all the cooking. By the time they got the whole story they said, "Sorry mom, sorry dad."

Our home has been a home of love. I want you. I need you. But you need me. That's love at its deepest level, and that will inspire you to be sensitive to their feelings. Listen to what they're probably saying in silence. Hear where their heart is talking. I love you because you need me. And if your child is caught in some problem, drugs or sex or whatever, show the love at that third level. I love you. Not because of what you're doing, but you need me. And I'm here. I'm here to help.

Just read these words again. Listen to them for just a moment. Paul is not just philosophical. He's very practical, Very practical. Go out of here. Take this with you. Take this to your home today. Take this to your work tomorrow morning. Take it when you drive the car in heavy traffic. Love is very patient and kind. Kind, do you miss kindness in a lot of the people you run into? It's never jealous or envious. Wow. Never boastful or proud, never haughty or selfish or rude.

I remember the story of the nurse who said, "I passed the test for my RN, but almost didn't make it because I missed one question and that was a last one. That question was what's the name of the cleaning lady on the floor where you work. I didn't know that. So I didn't answer it. And then he took off so much because I didn't know that. I said 'Prof. that's not fair.' He said 'It's very fair.' I said that question has nothing to do with being a nurse.' The doctor said 'Its there because it has everything to do about being a nurse. You're interested in all people if you're a nurse. They come from the low and the high levels of life. That immigrant who cannot speak English, who carries the mop through the hallway on your floor, find out her name.'

Love is never haughty or selfish or rude.
Love does not demand its own way, does not hold grudges, will hardly
even notice when others do it wrong. Wow.

You know, yesterday I had an amazing experience; I never had it before. My granddaughter whose the oldest in the Milner family, is into dance and has been studying it for many years and she said "Hey, dad we have our annual recital this Saturday at three o'clock I hope you can come." So I made arrangements to go. She said, "I'm on points now." Wow. You know in ballet being on points is when you stand straight up on the very tip of your toes and hers were bleeding a little after the recital. Most of them have the same experience, it is painful, but it was gorgeous. I never saw her so beautiful, in her beautiful skirt, blouse, she and a number of other girls in a fabulous performance. Oh, I wish they could do it here. It's like they were worshiping God. Wow.

And then the most touching thing. The youngest group. They were probably three and four year olds. There were about seven or eight of them and they had their little skirts. They're all girls, they had costumes and they all stood straight. They came on stage and stood great. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, the last one here was the littlest I think and they all chimed in, the music came and they did their little dance with a head here, and a head there and a hand here and a foot there and a twist like this. See I've got talent you never saw this.. At any rate the last little girl here didn't move. She didn't move her head, she didn't move an arm or a leg, she didn't.. she was frozen and everybody began to notice it. And then she was crying, just crying. Everybody else did their little performances. The dance teacher came out and put her arm around her and whispered to her, but she didn't move. The dance teacher raised the hands at the appropriate time as the others. When she let them go they dropped. The dance teacher made her move forward, pulled her back, then she stopped and she kept crying. Just standing there crying alone unmoving while the others performed.

Suddenly everybody in that crowded auditorium at Chapman Memorial hall were focused on that poor little kid. The dance teacher came out again put her arms around the little girl, lifted her up and she put her little arms around the teachers neck, sobbing as she was taken from the stage. It was sad. But I saw love between that dance teacher and that little girl, it was a love that said, "I love because you need me."

And as the show was almost over, one of the last acts back came those eight little kids again. This time in different costumes and performing to different music and guess what? The little girl was there at the end she came back on stage at least and got her costume on. And the music started and all the kids did their thing, but she didn't move. Everybody was focused on her nobody noticed the performers. And then they saw the dance teacher come out and lift an arm and the other arm, and then turn her body gently to match the other turning bodies, and then pushed her slowly forward to take the step and back and whispered something in her ear all this time. Don't know what she said? Something happened. Maybe it was the music. Music has a marvelous way of setting us free. The song said it so well; maybe it was the music. I think it was the teacher because suddenly the teacher slipped away and she moved with the others and everybody applauded. She turned her head with the others and everybody applauded. She moved forward, she was bringing the house down. She was the show of the day. It was fantastic! Did the whole gig and it was perfect.

And when it was over all of them except for her did what they were supposed to do, turned and walk off the stage to the applause of the crowd. She didn't follow. She turned because there was her dance teacher with her arms open and she put out her little arms to the teacher and the teacher reached out pulled her up and the little girl put her face in the neck of the teacher and left laughing.

I love you because you need me. That teacher is something else. And the way that teacher helped and encouraged, motivated, and supported that little child. That's what Jesus Christ has done for me many times and He's doing it today. He comes to me and He doesn't say I love you because I need you, He doesn't say I love you because I want you. He says, "I love you because you need me."

Step into this kind of a faith and then I don't know what you'll do, but I'll know what you will become. And what you are is more important than what you do. So love never fails to make you into a beautiful person.

Thank you God, we've learned something from the Holy Book and we're following. Feels good, it's the truth and we embrace it. Thank You Jesus Christ, You're the love that lifts me. You come and when You find us faltering You lift us and we embrace You, like a child em