He Knows My Reluctance to Love
Scripture Reading: Luke 10:25-42
Meditation
Jesus knows that love is an art and that the art of love is to take notice.
Ever since his ministry began, Jesus has been trying to paint pictures of what life is like in the kingdom of God. As he paints, the strokes of his brush are vigorous and his colors are vibrant, full of life. His images are vivid. His canvas is broad—love for the neighbor as well as for the Messiah.
When once asked about the greatest commandment in the kingdom of God, he replied,
“ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.’ This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ These two commands are pegs; everything in God’s Law and the Prophets hangs from them.”1
But living such a life of love is often inconvenient.
The troubles of others invade at inopportune times. A life of love is costly. It requires unexpected expenditures: money, energy, and emotion. Loving others as well as one loves self is counter-intuitive. For sinners, inwardly bent toward their own needs, it’s unnatural to place the needs of the other over the wants of the self.
Though it is well received when given, such love is difficult to deliver. And so those who listen to Jesus begin to look for loopholes in the law of love. They want reasonable limits. Quotas. Narrowed definitions of “neighbor”—love ‘him’, ‘her’, but not ‘them.’
A religion scholar stands up in the crowd and challenges Jesus,
“Teacher, what do I need to do to get eternal life?”2
Jesus answers,
“What’s written in God’s Law? How do you interpret it?”
He said, “That you love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and muscle and intelligence—and that you love your neighbor as well as you do yourself.”
“Good answer!” said Jesus. “Do it and you’ll live.”
Looking for a loophole, he asked, “And just how would you define ‘neighbor’?”3
Jesus responds with a story.
A man on his way from Jerusalem to Jericho is robbed, beaten, and left for dead. Two religious men, a priest and a Levite, come upon the man but they fail to stop, refuse to help, and pass by on the other side. But a Samaritan—a mixed blood, and outcast, one hated and scorned by the Jews—when he sees the man in the ditch his heart goes out to him. He stops, cares for the man, takes him to an inn, and nurses him back to health.
After the story, Jesus asks the religion scholar,
“What do you think? Which of the three became a neighbor to the man attacked by robbers?”
“The one who treated him kindly,” the religion scholar responded.
Jesus said, “Go and do the same.”4
Love—true love—notices.
This type of love stands at attention. Its eyes are fixed, posture is strong, ears are perked, and heart is seized by the needs of another. No distractions. No competition. There is only undivided attention—focused devotion and concentrated passion. All of one for the all of another: full passion, prayer, muscle, and intelligence fixed on the neighbor. These are the marks of true love.
As Jesus and his disciples continue to travel, he enters the village of Bethany. A woman named Martha opens her home to him and begins to prepare a banquet. But while she is working in the kitchen, her sister Mary sits at Jesus’ feet, hanging on his every word. Martha, frazzled by her own busyness and frustrated by her sister’s perceived idleness, interrupts Jesus.
“Master, don’t you care that my sister has abandoned the kitchen to me? Tell her to lend me a hand.”
The Master said, “Martha, dear Martha, you’re fussing far too much and getting yourself worked up over nothing. One thing only is essential, and Mary has chosen it—it’s the main course, and won’t be taken from her.”5
Martha’s spirituality is trying to multitask. But in her activity, she supplants intimacy with the Savior. Doing for her Master replaces being with her Master. And eventually, her service crowds out affection.
Dirty dishes, casseroles, and table settings have taken precedence over Christ, the guest. Jesus tenderly admonishes her. He tells her that the moment busyness dominates; it slows the beat of love until intimacy lies cold in the heart.
The nature of Martha’s world is that the petty yells and grabs center stage while that which is most precious waits patiently and whispers in the wings. Whether it’s the Master sitting in the front room or a man lying in the ditch, that which is most needed is that which is most neglected.
In the kitchen or in the ditch along a dangerous road, that which is loved is that which is noticed.
Reflection
How is Christ calling you to love him with all your passion, prayer, muscle, and intelligence? How is he calling you to love your neighbor just as you would yourself?
What is the one essential thing in your life—the one thing needed?
How are you pulled away from the feet of Christ?
Is your life full of activity for Christ or intimacy with him? How can you stop and sit at the Master’s feet, hanging on his every word?
Prayer
Father,
In my life, love often takes the long way around. I often pass by on the other side, failing to slow myself or to take notice. When it comes to love, detours and distractions abound. All too many times, my activity gets in the way of intimacy. Your Son has so much to say and yet I am too busy to listen. Yet he doesn’t yell. He waits patiently for the activity to calm and the noise to quiet. He desires whole body listening—passion, prayer, muscle, and intelligence.
During this day, make Christ the center of my attention. When I fuss too much or get worked up over nothing, pull me aside. Slow me down. Turn my gaze to the only essential thing—your Son. Remind me that dirty dishes can wait but Christ cannot. Help me sit at his feet, hanging on his every word, and in this way may I be captured by his love.
It’s in the name of Christ that I pray. Amen.
1Matthew 22:37-40 2Luke 10:25 3Luke 10:26-29 4Luke 10:36-37 5Luke 10:40-42
All Scripture references in the meditation are marked by italics and are taken from the Gospel reading for the day. Those verses quoted outside of the chosen reading for the day are noted. All Scripture quoted in this post is taken from THE MESSAGE: Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 2000, 2001 & 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. All rights reserved.