Love Is a Choice

Isn’t it funny how a decision that seems to be inconsequential can have such a profound effect on your life?  In late December of 1993 I decided to go out on a date with Diane. I don’t mean to be crass but that moment didn’t seem particularly special at the time. At that moment I did not plan, I could not see, I couldn’t have even guessed what that decision and the series of decisions that came after would lead to.

As I started to see I started to be more intentional about my decisions. In July of 1995 I asked her to marry me and in April of 1996 we got married. I made a decision. I made a choice to love her for the rest of my life.

We had it figured out. And by “it” I mean EVERYTHING. We knew how to have a successful marriage, we knew how to raise children we knew how to live life right.  RIGHT.  I just wish we would have written down some of the things we said back then.  I don’t remember what they were but I remember several times since then that my assumptions about life have been up-ended;  My supposed knowledge has been overturned; The power I thought I had was an illusion; the source of my sustenance was unknown to me at that time.  I have been driven to my knees in prayer asking God to guide me because I came to the end of all of my resources and I had to fully rely on God.

The Ashes of last year's Palm Sunday celebration,
a symbol of our mortality and penance. 

During times of uncertainty in life, in marriage I go back to the intentional decisions I have made and rest in those.  I made a decision to love Diane for the rest of my life.  It wasn’t until after that that I intentionally gave my life to Christ.  But Jesus was never far from me. My parents made the intentional decision to baptize me in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Even though I was wandering for several years the grace of God was sustaining me and drawing me toward God.

This is the first Sunday in Lent.  On Wednesday a few of us gathered to worship, to consider the impermanent nature of our bodies, to turn away from sin and to recommit our love to God. Making a decision to love God is a life changing moment.

Often times when there is a discussion about our life’s spiritual journey’s, the majority of people in a church will say that they have been in the church all their lives, can’t remember a time when they weren’t and don’t necessarily have a big life changing moment when they came to know Jesus Christ. That decision to go on a date with Diane didn’t seem very big at the time, but it has certainly changed my life.

We love God. That’s why we are here.  Just this week Eli asked me why we go to church. I told him we go to tell God we love him. If you really want to get down to the basics of an idea or of anything, try explaining it so a three year old can understand it. Week after week I tell the Young Disciples that come up here, in a variety of ways, that God loves them but how well do we do at loving God back?

Love is a choice. Love is a decision. Lent is a season of spiritual reflection.  Lent is a time to recommit our love to God and be intentional about demonstrating that love.

In the Gospel lesson today Jesus was tempted by the devil.  In this story the devil is a master negotiator but not nearly talented enough to derail Jesus trek on his way to the throne of Glory. The Devil started small and kept upping the ante. Too many of us take the bait, but not Jesus.  Jesus had fasted for 40 days, a good long time, he was famished.  Jesus was at his weakest or so it would seem.  If there was a time he would break, it would be now, or so it would seem. After 40 days of fasting, surely he would jump at the chance for some food.  So the devil said to Jesus, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread."

Our bodies have a variety of needs.  That is the nature of living a physical existence. We are spiritual beings in a physical body.  We have to tend to the needs of our physical body to be strong.  The devil saw that Jesus had not taken food for a good long time so he attempted to tempt Jesus into diverting taking his mind off the task of communing with God the father during his time of fasting. The devil was offering physical satisfaction so that Jesus mind would no longer be on divine things.

Love is a decision.  Love is a choice.  'One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'

Do you think Jesus made that decision to prioritize God in that moment, the moment of temptation?  It’s more likely that the choice was made long before and was able to withstand the temptation because of it.

Appealing to physical needs didn’t work so the devil offered something more enticing. The devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, 'He will command his angels concerning you,' and 'On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.'"

First of all Jesus doesn’t have to prove anything to anybody especially the devil. But what was being offered here is physical security. Isn’t it true that that is what we would desire next?  If we were lost and alone with no one to call on for help and no resources to draw from. The first thing we would need is food right?  And then next thing would be security, we would want to be out of harm’s way.  But again, Jesus knew who he was.  Jesus knew his source of security.  Jesus had already made the choice to come as a human and love us in a sacrificial way.  Jesus dismissed this second temptation with scripture that was part of his being, “do not put the lord God to the test.”

In the final temptation the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; and he said to him, "All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me."

When we have all that we need and when we feel safe it seems to be human nature to crave more. The devil offered earthly power. People crave power.  The people of Ukraine were becoming powerless so they demonstrated and took back some power.  Russia’s naval power in Crimea and the Black Sea was under threat so they are moving to secure that power.

I just watched the movie The Help. It’s set in the early 1960’s in Jackson Mississippi. It demonstrated the inequity between the white and black communities. How white folk were accustomed to a lifestyle that was only possible by having a class of people below them. It must be very hard to give up comforts of life when the very system you are living under says that they are yours to be had.

We may not be offered kingdoms. But we are tempted with power. Either the prospect of more power or the perceived threat of losing the power that we do have.

Jesus said to him, "Away with you, Satan! For it is written, 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.'"
Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.

So how is it with you today? You don’t know what trials and temptations you will face tomorrow but if you make a choice to love God and make decisions based on that love of God, you will triumph over all your obstacles.

Worship the Lord your God and serve only him. That is a choice. That is a decision. If we decided to love and worship the Lord our God and serve only him then that choice will change our lives.  It may not be the big grandiose moment of conversion like the Apostle Paul had on the road to Damascus but it will profoundly change the course of our lives and bring glory to God.

In the midst of being tested and humbled, cling to that which is real.  Hear the moans of the weak, and the suffering of the sick. Listen to the scriptures and songs; hear God calling you though them. See the evil and injustice that surrounds us. Soften your heart to react with love. Rejoice and be filled with the goodness of the Lord.