Loving At All Is A Risk

I had the TV on in the background today whilst I was doing some ironing.  I'm not sure what was on - if it was an advert, a trailer, or part of a programme - but I heard the following line, which has been stuck in my mind ever since:

 

"Loving at all is a risk."

 

Love is a risk.

 

C. S. Lewis famously wrote,

 

"To love at all is to be vulnerable.  Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken.  If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal.  Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness.  But in that casket- safe, dark, motionless, airless - it will change.  It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable."

 

Last week, I watched a bit of the second Pirates of the Caribbean film.  The 'baddie' in the film is Davey Jones: a man who had his heart broken once and, to avoid further pain, removed it and locked it away in a chest.  He carries the key to the chest about his person at all times, to prevent it ever being touched, or hurt, or broken again.

 

I know there have been times when I have felt like doing the same (obviously metaphorically, not literally).  I have been tempted to shut down my heart, to close for business, to put up a 'Trespassers will be prosecuted' sign.  I have been tempted to shut down and shut the world out.

 

But whilst shutting our hearts down like this will certainly minimise pain, it will also numb all emotion.  We will be safe from harm, but we will also be cut off from true love, real friendship, genuine happiness.  We will miss out on all of the good things that life has to offer.

 

Love is a risk.

 

And we see the ultimate risk-taking love when we look to the cross.  There we see a naked, beaten, vulnerable man bearing His soul to show us His love.

 

Even with no guarantee of the return of our love or affection, God loved us.

 

"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

[Romans 5:8 NIV]

 

God showed His love for us.  Powerfully, passionately, personally. 

 

Loving at all is a risk.  But it is worth it.

 

 

Once In Royal David's City

There is a line in the Carol 'Once in Royal David's City' which I refuse to sing every time.

Christian children all must be

Mild, obedient, good as he.

Mild.  Obedient.  Good.

I don't disagree with the idea of Jesus being good or obedient.  In fact, He is only worth worshipping because of how good He is and how perfectly obedient He was to God's will. 

But mild?

 

The Oxford online dictionary defines 'mild' as -

 

not severe, serious, or harsh; not intense or extreme; gentle and not easily provoked

Yes, Jesus is, at times, gentle.

 

But He was also wildly provocative.  He asked uncomfortable questions, He gave uncomfortable answers.  He didn't just follow the religious leaders of the day with their hundreds of rules and regulations.  In fact, He frequently opposed or flouted them. 

 

Many times in the Gospels, we read that the people plotted to kill Jesus, because of the things that He said or did.

 

That's not mild.

 

On one occasion, Jesus was provoked by the way people were abusing the Temple by selling animals for sacrifice at extortionate prices.

 

"Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out all the people buying and selling animals for sacrifice.  He knocked over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves.  He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves!”

 

[Matthew 21:12-13 NLT] 

 

There is something wild and passionate and furious in the heart of Jesus here.  Something provocative and provoked, something intense and serious. 

 

He is far from mild.

 

As C. S. Lewis wrote about Aslan,

 

"Safe?  Who said anything about safe?  'Course he isn't safe.  But he's good."

 

 

He is not safe and He is not mild.  But He's good.  And He's on our side.
 

I love these words in the chorus of Jeremy Riddle's song 'Furious'

 

          "His love is deep, His love is wide

          And it covers us

          His love is fierce, His love is strong

          It is furious

          His love is sweet, His love is wild

          And it's waking hearts to life."

 

 

Perhaps this year, I won't sing mild, obedient, good as he, but wild, obedient, good as He.