What inspires a man who is living out of his truck to spend his entire government check (perhaps his only source of income) on cooking a feast for his fellow homeless friends? I have been reading “Under the Overpass” about a college educated guy that decides to leave everything to see how real his faith in God was, to see if he could be the follower of Jesus he said he was. And there is a man that he runs across, that regularly takes his entire check and spends it all to feed one meal to 20 other homeless people. It doesn’t make sense. In my mind, I think, logically if he saved his money, he would be able to get out of homelessness to rent a place, purchase some belongings. Logically, what can one meal do? It can stave off the hunger for a little longer, but they will be hungry again. What makes someone give himself away like that? I guess its as crazy as a man who finds a treasure in a field, buries it and then sells EVERYTHING he has to buy the field. That story never made sense to me. Why buy the entire field? Why not just take the treasure and run?
I am such a practical person. I can think of a ton of more cost effective and cost efficient ways for the homeless guy living in a truck to spend his money. But, maybe being practical doesn’t work anymore. Maybe logic and practicality isn’t what Jesus asks of me, when He says I have to lose my life to gain it. It makes me realize all of the ridiculous things that have been invented to save our lives, to save ourselves, to protect ourselves, to insulate ourselves. Maybe love is more than policy, and its more practice. Maybe Jesus is telling me to actually “give to anyone who asks” Luke 6: 30. Maybe Jesus is telling me to love my enemies. Maybe Jesus is telling to me to invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind…those who cannot repay me to my next lunch. Maybe Jesus is saying that love is not supposed to make sense.
Perhaps its because His love for us makes no logical sense. Jesus wasn’t a practical person. His love was not logical or practical. He loved people that hated Him. Jesus could have lived His life quietly in obscurity, and simply to die on the cross and be resurrected. Do His job and get out. But, He didn’t. He lived life with people. He gave himself away. His love for rebellious, stubborn people that always end up falling and failing doesn’t make sense. His goal wasn’t simply to free us from death and bring us life through the cross. Yes we were dying and our destiny was death and hell. But for some reason that wasn’t what drove Him. Mother Theresa says that greater than the hunger for food, is the hunger for love. It was love that drove Jesus to the cross. It was love that made Him want to sit with children. It was love that made Him do it.
“A new command I give you: Love one another”
