“Once when Jesus was in one of the cities, there was a man
covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he bowed his face to
the ground and begged him, ‘Lord, if you choose, you can make me
clean.’”-Luke 5:12
It
is tough to talk about love these days. The word has been torn
apart and rendered almost meaningless by popular culture. Today
love has become an overpowering romantic feeling celebrated in
movies as two young, beautiful people experience its power. But
in the Christian life love is so much more than this. It is the
core of the greatest commandment, love your God and love your
neighbor, it is about dignity, joy, and trust. And it is about
choice. In this passage from Luke we see Jesus practicing the
Christian art of love by choosing to heal the poor leper. This
choice conferred more than health on the leper, it restored his
ability to experience love. The leper had been cast out by
society and was not allowed to touch or be touched by anyone.
He was alone and unloved. Jesus’ choice was a restoration.
And so too is it for us. What you must understand about the
God you worship is that you were chosen. Just like the leper,
you have been chosen to be loved, to be made whole. And this
love is not a passing, emotional, flight of fancy. The love
that God has for you is eternal and enduring and it will never
leave you. All of us want to be chosen, all of us want to feel
the type of love that only God can provide. As you enter this
holiday season that can be such an emotional roller coaster as
you simultaneously experience the love you have in your life
while also mourning the love that is absent, I want you to
remember that in those difficult times, when you are remembering
your father or mother, sister or brother, husband or wife, son
or daughter and you are missing them and mourning them that in
that moment Jesus Christ is choosing you, choosing you to love,
you to console, you to heal. Advent is a season of love and it
is also a season of choice, a reminder that God chose to love
this world, and chooses every day to love you.
Prayer: Holy God, thank you for choosing me. Thank you for
loving me. Help me over the days ahead to love others as you
love me. Amen.
