Reading: Luke 18:18-30
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Someone told me that if a marriage makes it past seven years, then the statistical chances of divorce drop exponentially. I wonder why that is. Maybe the first years are so stressful – the adjustments of living with someone new, the major change of caring for a family, and the immaturity of youth are factors that lead to divorce.
Or maybe people learn how to work through difficulty and realize that love is not just a feeling but a commitment as well.
How many times have you heard someone justify their divorce by saying, “We just fell out of love?” Do you know of couples that experienced the struggle of the “empty nest,” and divorced once all their kids left the house?
Perhaps many failed marriages occur because couples forget the reason for their relationship. A relationship that was once fueled by passion has fizzled out into a mere business relationship. “Did you get the kids from school? What’s for dinner? Are all the bills paid?” Romantic dates have given way to the hectic life. “What is the purpose of your marriage?” Would love be a part of your answer?
Our reading today in Luke 18 is about purpose and love. The story is of a rich man who asks Jesus what he can do to get to heaven. What a typical human question to ask. As a teacher, it reminds me of all the times my students asked, “What is the minimum we have to do to get an ‘A?’” This man wants the minimum.
Jesus offers a curious response, instructing him to obey the last six commandments. Of the Ten Commandments, the first four deal with our relationship with God while the last six address our relationship with man. The rich gentleman confirms that he has obeyed those six. This provokes Jesus to give an even stranger response. “Go sell your posessions and give it to the poor.”
Why instead of then telling the man to follow the first four commandments, Jesus tells him to do something difficult? The answer is that Jesus is making a point about the Law. As Jesus tells the Pharisees in Matthew 22, the first and greatest command is to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” It is what suspends all of the Law and Prophets. It’s as if Jesus were saying, “Okay, here’s the test. Here’s what it means to have heaven. It means to follow me. It means to love me. Do you love me more than your stuff? Would you do this for me? Would you make this sacrifice, not out of obligation and reward but out of a general desire to follow me?” The man walked away.
And so with that one response, Jesus tells us what it means to follow Him. The central purpose for our relationship with God is not to get something but to love someone.
Ephesus left their love for God. Over time, church became a tradition. It became a set of rules. It became a get-together. It wasn’t about loving Jesus. Maybe it was about the doctrine. Maybe like the Pharisees they were so consumed with protecting the faith that they just followed the rules and the policies. Like the Pharisees, they honored God with their lips but their hearts were far from Him.
Why do we exist as a chuch? Why do we exist as a human being? The Westminster Chatechism answers this profoundly and beautifully. “Man’s chief purpose is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” Do you wake up in the morning and say, “My purpose today in everything I do is to worship God, to enjoy Him?” What a discipline that is, but it ought to be our goal – as an individual and as a collective Body of Christ.