Opening Prayer: Lord
Jesus, be my one thing, be my first
and truest affection. May nothing else
in all of creation compare to the love and affection I have for you. Amen.
Scripture: Luke
10:38-42
Journal: What
are the greatest affections of your heart and life these days? How do they compare and/or relate to your
affection for Jesus?
Reflection:
There
is a created order to all things; an intentional design. When that
created order is followed, life is the result. But whenever that created
order is not adhered to, there is chaos. That's why Jesus, when he was
asked by "an expert in the law" in Matthew 22 which commandment was
the greatest, immediately responds (from Deuteronomy 6:5): "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul
and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.
And the second is like it: love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law
and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." For there is
even—and most particularly—a created order to our "loves." Unless
we love God with all of our being first, we can never truly love anyone
or anything else with the love that we were created to love them with. As Henri Nouwen put it years ago, "The
second love, can only be a reflection of the first."
Therefore, when we love something or
someone more than we love God we have gone against the created order—which
produces all kinds of disorder and chaos. The saints and the poets knew
this well and have discussed it in detail through the ages. In fact,
centuries ago Ignatius spoke of this very phenomenon when he used the term disordered
affections. It is a phrase that has really had some life in me
lately.
I actually think that's what Jesus was getting at when he was talking to the rich young ruler. He looked at him and loved him because He realized that the real issue was that this young man's affections were disordered. And Jesus wanted so much more for him than that. That's why He tells him that there's still one thing he lacks. One thing. It is the same one thing that Martha lacks here in Luke 10. That one thing is making Jesus our one thing. That one thing is having Jesus as our first and truest affection. For if Jesus is our first and truest affection, then the other things (or the many things in the case of Luke 10:41) of this life seem to fall in order. Our lives become centered on and rooted in the love of Jesus.
Unfortunately disordered affections can be a very difficult thing to recognize. Because the things that end up occupying most of our time and energy (which is a very good way to tell what's really in the center of our lives) are often very good things: job, work, accomplishments, reputation, service, ministry, achievements, hobbies, exercise, even family activities. But Jesus was pretty direct in saying that when anything takes precedence over our affection for him, we have made that thing the center of our lives--a spot that was designed only for Him to occupy. So the questions we are left to answer regularly are: What occupies most of our time and energy and focus these days? What is our one thing right now? And what does it really look like to hold Jesus as our first and truest affection? The answer to these questions can give us a pretty good idea about whether our lives, and our affections, are properly ordered.
I actually think that's what Jesus was getting at when he was talking to the rich young ruler. He looked at him and loved him because He realized that the real issue was that this young man's affections were disordered. And Jesus wanted so much more for him than that. That's why He tells him that there's still one thing he lacks. One thing. It is the same one thing that Martha lacks here in Luke 10. That one thing is making Jesus our one thing. That one thing is having Jesus as our first and truest affection. For if Jesus is our first and truest affection, then the other things (or the many things in the case of Luke 10:41) of this life seem to fall in order. Our lives become centered on and rooted in the love of Jesus.
Unfortunately disordered affections can be a very difficult thing to recognize. Because the things that end up occupying most of our time and energy (which is a very good way to tell what's really in the center of our lives) are often very good things: job, work, accomplishments, reputation, service, ministry, achievements, hobbies, exercise, even family activities. But Jesus was pretty direct in saying that when anything takes precedence over our affection for him, we have made that thing the center of our lives--a spot that was designed only for Him to occupy. So the questions we are left to answer regularly are: What occupies most of our time and energy and focus these days? What is our one thing right now? And what does it really look like to hold Jesus as our first and truest affection? The answer to these questions can give us a pretty good idea about whether our lives, and our affections, are properly ordered.
Prayers
Closing Prayer: When at last I cling to you with all my being, for me there will be no more sorrow, no more toil. Then at last I shall be alive with true life, for my life will be wholly filled by you. (Confessions by St Augustine)
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