From
John 15:1-15
H,
It is apt that we are called to love, isn’t it? We are
told this is how we make our home in God: the commandment is to love the
disciple (fellow Christian) next to us for proximity and extend it to the
furthest cover of that holy love. If anyone doubts that this thing of ours in
character extends to strangers and unbelievers then the story of the Good Samaritan
speaks to that. We are told, further on, to love our enemies and to conquer
evil with good loving. It is flower power with the mark of the divine.
We keep talking about eternal character but it starts in
this temporal space, with this sandy plain and with the faulted stars of
others. It is not a romantic view that justifies holding people in hand when
the way to love them best is to stop being an influence. Nor is it an
intellectual excursion into the right words or actions. It is, rather, our life
long journey into passionate concern for others and how they end up. It is not charity
in the sense of pity or the petty puppy love a ’superior’ suggests toward
his/her ‘inferiors’. It is not a
pseudo-spiritual way of talking or praying or the gift of ‘advice’ that really
means judging with a foul mouth. It is a heart toward the truth and always
that.
To love is to make our home in God. To receive His love
is the start but to spread it out in His character is the end game. We are not
just “hearers” but “doers”. It is better to give than to receive. These words
tell us that though there is all the room to bask in the majesty and glory and
grace and love of God the better step, the friendship stage with God, is to let
that light shine through us so the whole world might be a little clearer. Till kingdom
come
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