November 20, 2015

“One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and took his place at the table. And a woman in the city, who was a sinner, having learned that he was eating in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment. She stood behind him at his feet, weeping, and began to bathe his feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair. Then she continued kissing his feet and anointing them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him—that she is a sinner.” Jesus spoke up and said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” “Teacher,” he replied, “speak.” “A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he canceled the debts for both of them. Now which of them will love him more?” Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the greater debt.” And Jesus said to him, “You have judged rightly.” Then turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.” Then he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” But those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” Luke 7:36 – 50

“He had given much thought to this, and was persuaded that the shortest way to come to G*d was by a continual exercise of love, doing all things for His sake. That we ought to make a careful distinction between acts of the understanding and those of the will, for the first were of little account when compared with the second. Our business is simply to love and be happy in G*d. That all possible mortifications would not serve to blot out a single sin, unless they were grounded in the love of G*d.” Brother Lawrence (1611 – 1691) The Practice of the Presence of G*d, “For All The Saints” volume II (p. 1021)

“That we ought to make a careful distinction between acts of the understanding and those of the will, for the first were of little account when compared with the second.” Brother Lawrence is making a wonderful distinction. He goes on to say that if our actions are not grounded in the love of G*d, they will have little effect on our salvation – I would say that this is true because G*d is love and our salvation is grounded in the love of G*d that comes to us as a gift, and without love, our relationship with G*d is of little account. We can try to intellectualize this relationship, but our reasoning will never trump love. We are closest to G*d when our will is tied to G*d’s love – and our actions flow out of love, not out of earning or achieving.

Have you ever witnessed someone doing something ordinary or even extraordinary and wondered why they did it? Just recently there was the story of a former soldier who during the campus shooting in Oregon, rushed toward the shooter rather than run away, and that was after he directed others to run away to safety. Why did he do it? Was it training? Eventually he was shot five times – he literally risked his own life for complete strangers. Why did he do it? Was it his faith, or was it something else emanating from deep within him? Is it possible for you to do something extraordinary in the name of love for people you do not know? Normally we do something for money, regularly we do something out of obligation, often we do things for people we love. And then, there are those times we do something only because we love Jesus.
Be on the look out this week for those actions you do out of love: those that are because you love someone, and those that are because you love G*d.

Pastor Dave