Heavenly Mindedness (78)

 

“And the faith is the faith of the Psalmist, who spoke: “Whom have I in heaven but Thee, and there is none upon earth that I desire beside Thee.” Here it is impossible for us to tell how truly and to what extent our relation to God is a relation of pure, disinterested love in which we seek Him for his own sake. There, when all want and sin-frailty shall have slipped away from us, we shall be able to tell.” G. Vos.

 

 Before we leave the above penultimate paragraph in Vos’s sermon, I’d like us to please consider what Vos means by “pure, disinterested love in which we seek Him for his own sake.” Is the idea of “disinterested love” familiar to you? What does it mean to “seek Him for his own sake”? We could also phrase this, “love Him for his own sake.”

 

This concept is perhaps unfamiliar to us, both in terms of loving God and loving others. Must I have self-interest in order to love someone? In order to love God? Vos writes of “pure, disinterested love,” is such a thing possible? If I never received anything from God, would I still love Him? Would I still seek to love Him more deeply every day? Is God worthy to be worshipped for who He is, and not from what I may receive from Him? In other words, if I never received anything from God would I still worship Him?

 

These questions and this idea of “disinterested love” have been with us a very long time in the history of the Church, and while we may not be familiar with the subject of disinterested love, I suppose we could probably find it written about and taught in every generation prior to our own. When Paul writes in 1 Cor. 13:5 that love “does not seek its own,” what does he mean? What does this look like in our relationship with God? With others?

 

Can we find a foundation for this idea in Jesus’s call to discipleship in Mark 8:34ff in which we are called to deny ourselves? Is there a glimpse of this in Galatians 2:20 and its “yet not I, but Christ”?

 

What can we learn of love from 1 Corinthians Chapter 13? From the First Epistle of John, which is a kaleidoscope of love with myriad patterns?

 

From what I’ve written in previous posts you know that I don’t think we can know to what extent we may have pure love, nor do I think it is healthy to live in a house with mirrors on every wall – preoccupation with “self” distracts us from Christ and others. We must trust God with our growth, our transformation into the image of Jesus Christ, and with all that that entails.

 

On the other hand, as we meditate on God’s love and on love as it is revealed and taught in the Bible, we would do well to ask our Father and Lord Jesus to search our hearts, to teach us to love as the Trinity loves. I do think that living with an awareness of our love for God and others is vital – for is this not the Great Commandment (Mark 12:28 – 34)? I have a friend who says, “I want to love Jesus more today than I did yesterday.” I like this, I like this a lot and I often make it a prayer of mine.

 

I usually begin each day asking God to teach me to love Him with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength; and to love my neighbor as myself. I ask Him to teach me to love Him with all that I have and all that I am. I ask our Lord Jesus to teach me to love my wife as He loves the Church, His Bride.

 

One of the great joys of my life is that in the last years of my business career I came to love my employees deeply and joyously. This is not something I was consciously working toward, it was not something I was aware of as it was developing within me, but I came to realize that it was indeed a transformation within me, and I was so very thankful to our Father and our dear Lord Jesus as I realized how much I loved the people I worked with every day. Whenever we gathered as a group, I made it a point to tell them that I loved them. I loved them not from what I could get from them, I loved them to simply love them.

 

To be sure, the idea of disinterested love runs counter to our culture, including our church culture. This has always been the case, but in our blatantly narcissistic culture with its marketing and personality cults and preaching and teaching and song lyrics focused on the self rather than God, disinterested love isn’t likely to attract an audience. And yet, Jesus clearly calls us to deny ourselves and take up our cross and follow Him.

 

And yet, Vos plants these words at the end of his sermon, “pure, disinterested love.” These are carefully chosen words, they are words with a history stretching back ages, they are words of many who are termed “mystics,” and of others who refuse to remain where they are in this world but insist on pushing forward on pilgrimage to the City of God. Vos, the professor; Vos, the theologian; Vos the man who carefully chooses words and phrases, uses these words and this ideal of “pure, disinterested love” as he arrives at his conclusion of Heavenly – Mindedness.

 

How does Vos want us to engage this ideal? Why does he place it penultimately in this sermon?

 

In the event you wish to pursue and experience “disinterested love,” I will tell you two things; the first is that it will be worth it and that it will glorify God. The second is that as simple as it may seem, that it has its complexities, its enigmas, its paradoxes, its mysteries. This is something to be worked out over a lifetime, and it is never to late or too early to begin. Indeed, if we preached the Gospel as it should be preached, such notions would be foundational.

 

If you pursue this you will likely find some writers who speak to you, and others who don’t; isn’t this to be expected? The Holy Spirit will lead you in your quest.

 

“Though He slay me, I will hope in Him.” Job 13:15.

 

“We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” 1 John 3:16.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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