All You Need is Love

August 30th, 2009
Mark 7: 1-8, 14-15, 21-23

7Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him, 2they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them. 3(For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their hands, thus observing the tradition of the elders; 4and they do not eat anything from the market unless they wash it; and there are also many other traditions that they observe, the washing of cups, pots, and bronze kettles.) 5So the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, ‘Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?’ 6He said to them, ‘Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written, “This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me;
7in vain do they worship me, teaching human precepts as doctrines.”
8You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.’
Then he called the crowd again and said to them, ‘Listen to me, all of you, and understand: 15there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile.’
21For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, 22adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. 23All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.’


You will recall that last week I wrote about how two people communicate their love by doing things for each other. What I didn’t say in that reflection is that we all know that even in the best marriages there are times when doing these things is not a communication of love at all. Sometimes they are done not in love but in resentment and anger. Often they are done simply because that is what is expected or that is what one has always done or because ‘That’s what women do.’ or ‘That’s what men do.’ What began as a loving relationship full of communion and communication rooted in mutual service erodes into a daily grind of two people doing all that is required without ever looking at the other’s heart or trying to discern what the other’s heart truly needs or desires.

In this week’s Gospel, the Pharisees and scribes challenge Jesus because he and his disciples don’t follow the traditions of the elders. The traditions spoken about in this scripture were not laws handed down by Moses but were practices added by elders over the years. The thing is, when one of these traditions began, it could very well have been started by someone who truly had deep love of God and wanted to show his love by being extra diligent in a matter of purification or sacrifice. It could have sprung out of intimate communion and was a living gift of communication between God and one of his beloved. It doesn’t take a lot of imagination to see how others may have adopted this extra ritual because the one who began it was a beautiful and holy person and others mistakenly assumed it was the action that caused the holiness rather than the love relationship from which the action sprang. Then, as generations continued the practice, little by little, the love and grace of the action was lost until it became an empty ritual, something that was expected but not really understood.

In other words, it is very easy to fill our spiritual lives with various traditions, prayers and actions that are empty of the communion of love. That doesn’t mean these traditions are in any way bad, useless or meaningless; it simply means that, just as in any good marriage or relationship, we need to stop, review all the things we do and ask ourselves if we have lost our first love – or indeed, when it comes to the Lord, if we ever fell in love at all or did we just keep doing things because that’s what our parents did or that’s what our community always does? We especially need to spend time discerning whether we rely on our actions to justify ourselves spiritually while judging others who don’t seem to be quite as diligent as we are. It’s right at that point that Jesus had issues with the Pharisees and scribes. He didn’t mind if they wanted to wash their hands all day long but when washing became more important than compassion and love and when all the washing being done was covering over hearts that were self righteous, territorial, judgmental and lacking in a true relationship with the Father, that’s where Jesus put his foot down.

“That is not communion, people;” he was saying, “that is not a love relationship with my Father. That is a relationship with your own righteousness, your own opinions, your own needs and with your own outward image. You have made the huge mistake of thinking that it’s what you do that makes you pleasing to the Father.”

The Father didn’t say, “This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased” because Jesus did all the right things and said all the right prayers and was a reader in the synagogue and gave money to charity but because he and Jesus were in love with each other and everything that Jesus did flowed out of that immediate and vibrant love. Jesus ‘had the power’ because he was in love and he was beloved of the Father. I just can’t emphasize this enough. Jesus and the Father yearn to have an ‘in-love’ relationship with us.

Too many people have a faulty subconscious image of this two-way love. They see it as “I love God and he loves…all of us.” So many know they are called to love the Lord but have not grasped that God’s love goes beyond “God so loved the world” to “God so loves me.” Present tense and personal. Remember the first time you ever fell in love? Remember walking around on a cloud feeling so happy you didn’t know how to contain it and all you could think was, “He loves me! He loves ME!” The joy came from knowing that someone chose you. You weren’t just pushed onto him; he wasn’t obligated to love you. He chose you to be his girlfriend and it was amazing to you to know that he was equally exhilarated by the fact that you chose him.

Think it can be like that with the Lord? Of course it can. He created first love.

It doesn’t matter what you do for the Lord, if you have not first established and maintained an in-love relationship with him, healing and inner growth will be sporadic and difficult. God will always love you no matter what. He will always bless you and keep you. He does not blame you for not understanding the depth of his love for you. You will never, in this lifetime, have a full understanding of his love anyway. But for his sake and your sake and for the sake of his body, before you do anything you need to try to grasp, and keep on grasping, how he loves you: head over heels and unconditionally. He doesn’t need what you do. He just wants you.

At the risk of making this reflection a bit longer than usual, I’m going to leave you with the lyrics to the Bryan Adams song, “Everything I Do”. Read these words and allow them to soak into your spirit as if they are words spoken to you by Jesus. If you know the tune to this song, imagine Jesus singing it to you – and weep for joy as you fall in love.

Everything I Do I Do It For You

Look into my eyes - you will see
What you mean to me
Search your heart - search your soul
And when you find me there you'll search no more

Don't tell me it's not worth trying for
You can't tell me it's not worth dying for
You know it's true
Everything I do - I do it for you

Look into your heart - you will find
There's nothing there to hide
Take me as I am - take my life
I would give it all - I would sacrifice

Don't tell me it's not worth fighting for
I can't help it - there's nothing I want more
You know it's true
Everything I do - I do it for you

There's no love - like my* love
And no other - could give more love
There's nowhere - unless I’m* there
All the time - all the way

Oh - you can't tell me it's not worth trying for
I can't help it - there's nothing I want more
I would fight for you - I'd cry for you
Walk the wire for you – yes, I'd die for you

You know it's true
Everything I do - I do it for you.

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*1 changed from ‘your’
*2 changed from ‘you’re’