What is your definition of love? The way you answer that question says a lot about you. The word “love” is pretty elastic; it can be stretched to mean all kinds of things. Maybe that’s part of the problem we have understanding love, especially as the Bible describes it.
Most people enjoy a good story. Wouldn’t you agree? Whether it’s a movie or a novel or a song, most people will listen to a good story to see how things turn out. Well, just think of the sheer volume of love stories that you’ve been told; think of the enormous number of love songs you’ve listened to; all of them putting their own spin on what love is; how to get it; how to keep it; and what happens when you lose it. And what do they say?
Most of the time, the storytellers tell us that love is first and foremost a feeling; an emotion; but not just any feeling; we are told that love is overwhelming; intoxicating; earth-shattering; and that feeling that feeling is just about the most significant experience that a human being can have. It outweighs everything. It is the deal breaker in every situation. We are told that if you’re feeling that feeling, go for it. Do it. Nothing is more important.
But then the storytellers also tell us that that feeling has a way of evaporating, and there’s nothing much you can do about it; and when it’s gone, it’s time to go looking to feel that feeling somewhere else with someone else. And so we’re left with the idea that number one, love is primarily an emotion or a feeling; and, number two, it is something over which we have little to no control. That’s a picture of romantic love that we get over and over again. Let me be very blunt and say that the storytellers have done us no favors by telling us this. Not only has this definition of love led people into countless disastrous relationships, it has also needlessly confused us when it comes to our relationship with God. How can that be?
Listen: in today’s Gospel lesson Jesus says this: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Now if the storytellers are right, and love is an earth-shattering feeling over which we have no control, these words Jesus spoke mean next to nothing. But if the love that Jesus was talking about is different somehow—if He was talking about something beyond fickle human emotion, then we’d better pay attention. We need only look at the man who spoke these words to see that He’s going deeper. Jesus would demonstrate, in the most dramatic way possible, that real love is deliberate, it is intentional, it may involve feelings but is not controlled by them, and ultimately, godly love is a matter of willing sacrifice. Godly love is a matter of willing sacrifice. Where do we see that? At the cross of Jesus.
When Jesus says, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind,” He’s not saying, “Hey, listen, you need to drum up some positive emotions towards God. You need to fall in love with God all over again.” We couldn’t do that if we tried! No, loving God with all your heart, soul, and mind is deliberate. It is a matter of mindset, of intention. It is routinely, consistently making choices that honor God as #1 in your life. And that is going to involve sacrifice. The sacrifice of what, exactly?
Basically, the sacrifice of yourself. To love God with all my heart, soul, and mind means that I acknowledge Him as God—as Lord of my life, and if He’s Lord of my life, that means I am not. If I am ever going to have a meaningful relationship with God, it has to start here. I have to give up being God. Are you doing that? If you’re not letting God call the shots in your life, do you realize what that means? It means you don’t love him like you should! It doesn’t make any sense: Oh, I love God, but I don’t care what He says. What should you do? Repent! Return! Come back to Jesus. Look at the price Jesus paid to forgive you. Have you really counted the cost of this forgiveness? It cost Jesus His life. He zeroes out your balance by suffering and dying on a cross! Do you see? Love is willing sacrifice. You and I cannot love God this way automatically. But we’ve been brought back into deep relationship with God by the willing sacrifice of Jesus. That’s love. The Apostle John said it best: “This is how we know what real love is: Jesus gave his life for us.” Willing sacrifice.
How do you respond to that? With thanks? With praise and worship? With faith? Yes, with all those, and also with love. And not love as just a feeling of gratitude, but a spirit of willing sacrifice. “If Jesus did that for me, then I want to do this for him.” And if I have to sacrifice some of my old prejudices, fine. And if I have to sacrifice some of my time to serve him, fine. And if I have to sacrifice some of my finances, fine! I love Jesus, I’m not going to say no to Him. Is that Spirit alive in you?
One way to tell is to think about your relationships. Think about the most important people in your life. Think about your friends and acquaintances. Do you remember what Jesus says about them? “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Do you see where this is going? Jesus is saying that the needs of the people around you should be just as important to you as your own. He doesn’t even say the needs of others should be more important—they should just be as important. Well, you probably guessed it; for us, even that is a sacrifice.
There is a bomb, a land mine, sitting there in the middle of all our relationships, just waiting to explode, and this is it. How do you set it off? When you go into that relationship, whatever it is, and the most important thing to you is getting your demands met, prepare for an explosion. When you insist that people need to sacrifice for you, but you see no need to sacrifice in return, get ready for an explosion. If you want to detonate the most important friendships in your life, then just insist, “You have to do for me, but I’m not about to do for you.” Then watch it go up in smoke!
If Jesus has come to you and claimed you; if you’re depending on Him to renovate your heart and soul and mind; if His willing sacrifice really is changing you, then that is going to spill over into the way you treat people. These two statements of Jesus go hand in hand. If the willing sacrifice of Jesus has captured your heart and you love Him in return, then you’ll bring that spirit into the way you deal with your spouse or your family or your friend or the person you just met. You will give up pride and the need to be right. You will give up some of what you have to meet someone else’s needs. You’ll look for reconciliation instead of revenge. Hopefully this doesn’t sound crazy to you, because it is the way of Jesus. Willing sacrifice is the way of life for Jesus and His people!
But let me just say one thing in conclusion. When you hear and when I hear the word “sacrifice,” we immediately don’t like it; we’re set against it. Why? Because it sounds like we’re losing something. It sounds like we’re going to go without. But here’s the secret:
No comments:
Post a Comment