Let your Love Come to Me and I Shall Live

Harry Wills reflects on lasting riches.

Great Resurrection, Wassily Kandinsky, 1913

Therefore I say to you, do not be anxious about your life, what you should eat or drink, nor about your body, what you should wear. Is life not more than food and the body more than clothing? Behold the birds of the sky, that they do not sow, nor reap, nor gather into barns and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them… Now, who among you by being anxious can add a single hour to his lifespan? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They do not labour nor do they spin. I say to you, however, that not even Solomon in all his glory was adorned like one of these. (Matt. 6:25-29)

Easter is here and the LCW is not only rejoicing in the resurrection of Christ but also of a night shelter, which you can read about in the House Update. Grief has brought life and resurrection to my mind too, but so has the arrival of Spring and the seasonal resurrection of life, the perfect season to be beholding the birds and considering the lilies and to be reminded of the consolation of God:

The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters, He refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for His name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me. (Ps. 23:1-4)

So, considering the birds and the lilies, if life does not consist in an abundance of possessions, (Lk. 12:15) what does it consist in? Paul’s answer is to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way we will lay up treasure for ourselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that we may take hold of the life that is truly life. (1 Tim. 6:17-19, cf. Prov. 3:9-10) In other words, to use worldly wealth to gain friends for ourselves, so that when it is gone, we will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. (Lk. 16:9)

Instead of worrying over food that spoils, (Jn. 6:27) garments that wear out, (Heb. 1:11) wealth that vermin destroy and thieves steal, (Matt. 6:19) we are told to seek the true bread from heaven, that endures to eternal life, (Jn. 6:27, 32) garments of salvation and cloaks of His righteousness, (Isa. 61:10) the true wealth. (Matt. 6:20; 19:21; Lk. 16:11) That is, the true life. (1 Tim. 6:19)

Where do we begin the search for this true life? The Johannine literature reveals that eternal life is this, that they know you, the only true God (Jn. 17:3) and whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. (1 Jn. 4:7-8) Eternal life, then, lies in love, and to abide in love is to abide in God. (1 Jn. 4:16) We are also told that man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God (Matt. 4:4). These ‘words’ culminate in this command: that you love one another, as I have loved you (Jn. 13:34; Matt. 7:12; 22:40) and we must remember that His command leads to eternal life (Jn. 12:50).

He has distributed freely; he has given to the poor—His righteousness endures forever. (Ps. 112:9)

Let’s return to the birds and lilies. Saint Basil of Caesarea said that the more you abound in wealth the more you lack in love, because the measure of our superfluity is a measure of our inequity and, therefore, a sign of our neglect of neighbour and God. Divine love is self-giving, self-sacrificial (Jn. 15:13) but if we are anxious about our earthly means, we will be reluctant to participate in it. Maybe the true wealth that cannot be stolen is the wealth we give away, the cloak of His righteousness is the cloak with which we cover the naked and shield the vulnerable, the bread that endures to eternal life is the food that we share with the hungry. Since we have received freely, so should we give freely, (Matt. 10:8; 18:21) having faith that the love we measure out will be measured back many times over. (Prov. 11:18-19; Matt. 25:14-30; Mk. 10:29-31)

Go, sell your possessions, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in the heavens. And come, follow Me. (Matt. 19:21)

Giving up our attachment to what is earthly is the challenge of love, but also the consolation! He comforted us, saying: As I live, you also live. (Jn. 14:19) Who can deny that Jesus is resurrected in the present, not just as the body of the church, but in our deeds when we live and love in self-giving ways inspired by Him? Also, our relatives, friends, martyrs, and saints, who have passed away, who gave of themselves for us, share in all that life and joy when we love others as they did us. Love endures forever. (1 Co. 13:7) Even in this life we gain much: A friend loves always, and for adversity a brother is born. (Prov. 17:17) Those who love receive life (Lk. 10:27-28; Hab. 2:4) and some, who love as Christ loved, may not taste death  before they see the Son of Man coming in His Kingdom (Matt. 16:28).

How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity! For there the Lord  bestows His blessing, even life forevermore. (Ps. 133:1, 3)

There’s no profit in possessing the world if we forfeit life, (Matt. 16:26) and we mustn’t remain slaves to mammon, as we cannot serve two masters. (Matt. 6:21-24) We will not be free from this slavery, however, unless we start giving, not only from what we can afford, but also from what we can’t. (Mk. 12:41-44) How can we bear anything less when faced with Jesus’ total sacrifice on the cross? We must do this not only because we are rewarded according to what we have done, (Matt. 16:27; 25: 14-30) but also: through our own sacrificial love and self-giving, the resurrected Lord abides, alongside the spirit-life of all who have loved us.

Let Your love be ready to console me, according to Your promise to Your servant. Let Your love come to me and I shall live. (Ps. 119:76-7)

Harry Wills