Undivided Love

Mark 12:28-34

One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?"

"The most important one", answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. the second is This: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' there is no commandment greater than these."

"Well said, teacher," the man replied. "You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than burnt offerings and sacrifices."

When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions."

Over the next several weeks we are going to be looking at Jesus command, which we just read, "to love your neighbor as yourself." And I have realized as I planned for this series that it is not going to be an easy series for me. Loving my neighbor does not come at all naturally to me. And I'm not alone. I've discovered that loving neighbors is not a traditional American virtue. I've been reading a biography of Daniel Boone with Stephen. Why do you think Daniel Boone's family moved to the frontier? To get away from neighbors of course. And how did Abraham Lincoln end up in Illinois -- because his father could see the smoke from a neighbors chimney and that was too close. The same story over and over again. In fact the untold story of the settling of the American West seems to be about people trying to get away from each other. The way Americans have traditionally dealt with neighbors is to run away and hide -- or at least to put up fences. Good fences make good neighbors, right?

And that is exactly what my instinct is. It has often seemed to me that Robinson Crusoe did not have such a bad life. I would probably have been a hermit if Carol had not civilized me. I actually fit rather well in New England.

So when I come to this passage I respond quite differently to Jesus two commands. The first command I respond quite positively too. Yes, I want to love the Lord my God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength. I want everything in me to glorify him. I want my heart to belong to him. It seems quite noble to give myself completely to God -- in theory.

But loving my neighbor is like coming down from the mountain top to the slums. I know that it is something I am supposed to do, commanded to do. But it is not something I get excited about. It's a bit like giving blood. We know its a good thing to do, we feel a bit guilty about not giving more often than we do, but we don't expect it to be a pleasant experience. It's a duty, but its not a delight. Besides, we only have so much to give.

Here is my problem. The way that I often think about love is like this pitcher of water. I only have a limited supply, right? So I have to carefully ration it out. I want most of it to go to God, of course, but I want plenty left over for my wife and my children. And I need to leave some to honor my parents with. And of course I want to be loving to my Christian brothers and sisters. And in the end there should be a few drops left for needy people around me. My love is divided -- rationed. It's no wonder loving my neighbor seems like a chore and not a delight -- I'm already all loved out. I'm left quite dry. I don't have any more blood to donate.

What's wrong with this picture? It gives a completely wrong idea of what it means to love God. Loving God is not like taking a pitcher of water and pouring it out to him. That would be like taking a pitcher of water to Niagara falls, thinking we could contribute something to it. No, loving God is like taking an empty pitcher to Niagara falls to be filled. We bring absolutely nothing to God, but our need. So to love God is not to give something to Him, but simply to delight in Him -- to take joy in his presence -- to allow him to fill us. The most basic way that we show love to God is simply acknowledging our neediness to him -- crying out to him, and finding our satisfaction in Him alone.

Look again at the passage we just read. Verse 30: Love the Lord your God with ALL your heart and with ALL your soul and with ALL your mind and with ALL your strength. I think that we could substitute delight for love. Delight in the Lord your God with ALL your heart. Delight in Him with ALL your soul. Delight in him with ALL your mind and with ALL your strength.

Loving God is a bit like loving a majestic mountain or a great waterfall. I bring NOTHING to the relationship. I can do nothing to make the mountain more majestic or the waterfall more powerful. All that I can do is respond in awe and wonder at their size and power, and delight in their beauty.

When we begin to understand what it means to love God in this way, it completely changes the way we think about loving our neighbors. If loving God is like coming to Niagara falls for a drink, then loving people is just the overflow of that experience. Our love relationship with God is like a spring within us that naturally overflows into loving service for people around us. So loving God and loving your neighbor are two sides to the same coin. You cannot have one without the other. If you truly love God, it will naturally overflow into love for people. So here's a definition of love: Love is the overflow of our delight in God.

When I have trouble loving people, then the root problem is that I am not coming to the waterfall to have my love replenished. As we begin to think about loving our neighbors, my first prayer for myself and for all of you is that we will renew our first love. Make sure that you are drinking at the Niagara falls of God's love, delighting in him. Find your satisfaction, your security, your contentment, your joy in Him alone. If you are looking elsewhere for your delight you simply will come up dry.

But when we do find our delight in God, then it also becomes our delight -- our joy -- to love those around us in need.

1. When we delight in God we delight to love others . . . because love longs to express itself in giving.

When I was courting Carol I delighted to give her gifts. I was a poor graduate student, but I spent lavish amounts of money -- far more than I could reasonably afford. When we love we want to be able to show it. Lovers delight to give gifts.

But what can we give to God? There is nothing that he needs. God does a wonderful thing for us. He God graciously accepts our service to other people as service to him.

Look at Matt. 25:31-40 (p. 984) " . . . Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me." This is amazing. When you love your neighbor, or co-worker, a stranger, a needy child Jesus says -- you are really loving me. So our delight in God overflows into love for other people because it is the only way that we can truly express our love back to God.

2. When we delight in God we delight to love others . . . because lovers take delight in what the beloved delights in.

It is amazing what you begin to show interest in when you are in love. When I fell in love Canada was suddenly the most interesting, the most wonderful country in the world. I couldn't get enough of it. The study of Medicine suddenly seemed captivating. And suddenly I found that overnight I had become a dog lover.

Similarly, when we spend time delighting in God, we will start to take joy in what he delights in. What does God delight in? Showering love on unlovely people. Luke 6:35 (p. 1021) "Love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great and you will be Sons of the most high because he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as your father is merciful" If God delights in showing love and mercy even to the most unlovable people, then as we delight in him, we will share this delight.

3. When we delight in God we delight to love others . . . because our love will be rewarded.

Jesus said in the Luke passage that we just read that if we love our enemies, "your reward will be great."

And several times scripture says, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." In other words, you will be rewarded for giving. What is that reward? Well what is the reward for giving in any love relationship. When I give flowers to my wife, I don't expect a monetary reward. No, the reward for bringing her flowers is a deeper, more joyful relationship with her.

Similarly, the reward for giving away love is a deeper more lasting relationship with God -- greater joy in the presence of God.

Look at Psalm 15:1 Lord, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill? He whose walk is blamesless and who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from his heart and has no lander on his tongue, who does his neighbor no wrong and casts no slur on his fellowman .

Who is it that can come into the presence of God -- he who does his neighbor no harm. The reward for love of your neighbor is greater delight in God.

4. When we delight in God we delight to love others . . . because our resources in Jesus are inexhaustible.

In Luke 12:32-34 Jesus says to us: "Do not be afraid little flock . . ." Why? "For your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom." God has chosen to share his inexhaustible riches with us. What should be our response? "Sell your possessions and give to charity."

What will allow us to delight in selling our possessions to give to the poor? Only the assurance that we have nothing to fear. That we have a lasting treasure.
I have one simple concluding application: Spend time delighting in God this week.