Its not about the Golden Ticket, its about love

Have you seen Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory? Willy Wonka has this amazing chocolate factory and he is looking for a successor. So he sends out five golden tickets, ostensibly for a tour but Wonka is looking for someone to take over his business. People go crazy trying to get these Golden Tickets because NO ONE is allowed in the factory. Wealthy people buy their children hundreds of candy bars searching for the Golden Ticket. It works for four of them and then one poor kid, Charlie gets a chocolate bar for  his birthday and he gets a ticket. No one wants to befriend Wonka, they just want a look into the highly select club. Wonka then uses the tour to weed at the spoiled brats and find someone with a pure heart to succeed him.

Let me, seemingly, go off into a tangent here, I promise I'll bring it all back together later. I have been single for a LONG time. I'm a go getter. I'm one of those people that when I get a goal, I work toward it  until I get it. Most worldly things work out that way. You want to be a lawyer? You work hard, you get yourself through college, you take the right classes and you are most likely to get in. You want to buy a house? You save up, get pre-approved, find yourself a realtor and you get a house. But relationships don't work that way. I tried EVERYTHING to find "Mr. Right." I tried on-line dating, set ups, went out to bars, joined intramural teams, heck I even went to a specific grocery store that was known for being a place people found people. But it never worked. Because love isn't a worldly thing. You can't force someone to love you. You can force them to act like they love you with the right leverage but you can't actually make them care about you.

So how is this like God and how do these tie together?

I was reading the story of the rich young ruler. (Mark 10:17-22) You know, the guy that comes up to Jesus and says "Good Teacher, What must I do to inherent the eternal life?" Jesus asks the man if he has followed the commandments and the man says yes. Then "Jesus looked at  him and loved  him. 'One thing you lack.... Go, sell everything you have and give it to the poor, and you will  have treasure in heaven."' The man goes away sad because he is wealthy and is  unwilling to give it all up.

First of all, quickly. I LOVE that Jesus first LOVED him and then threw down the gauntlet. Jesus didn't make this guy prove himself before he was loved. That is my favorite thing about Jesus.  He loves us before we make ourselves good.

On to the point though. The man asks how to inherent eternal life. He wants the Golden Ticket into heaven. This guy is a go-getter. He's a doer. He's one of those guys that sets out to accomplish a goal, breaks it down into measurable steps and then works at it until he gets it. But the problem is, Heaven doesn't work like that. Its not an earthly thing to be bought or earned. We get it through love and grace. The rich ruler doesn't understand how to get something without working for it. If he is wealthy, he has worked his whole life to get what he wants. For him its a tried and true method of attaining things. But Heaven isn't a THING. Heaven is being close to God because wherever He is- there Heaven is.

The problem is, he's asking the wrong question. He's acting like the brothers in the story of two sons (people call it the Prodigal Son story.-Luke 15) Remember? The younger son demands his inheritance, squanders it and then comes back asking for forgiveness. The father runs out to the son rejoicing that he is home. The older brother is mad because he has worked and never left and he feels cheated. In this story, neither son wants the father's love. They just want his money and land. They don't love their Dad, they just want his wealth. They just want the Golden Ticket. The father tries to explain that so long as they are together, in relationship, that's what counts.

This rich young ruler should have asked "Jesus, how can I be one of your disciples? How can I be in relationship with you?" THAT'S the question we need to all be asking. That's what God wants. Look at Creation. If God just wanted carbon creatures to follow rules so he could let them into heaven he would have created Stepford Wives. (see my earlier post if this doesn't make sense). He would have created robots who will go through the motions of acting loving and then let them into Heaven. But that isn't what He wanted. He created us to be in relationship with him! He created us so we could choose to love him. Not just obediently follow his rules. He isn't a tyrant who only wants obedience. He is love. He wants our love and He wants to give us His love.

We need to make sure we're asking the right question. Are we asking God "Am I doing enough to get into Heaven?" or are we asking "How can I get closer to you?"

The making of beloved companion

I love dogs. The words dog-person apply to me. I used to have a dog named Mister and he was a really great companion. When I came home he was SO HAPPY to see me! He didn't want to go out or eat until we had time to greet each other. No matter what happened between us he still loved me absolutely. There is no doubt if the need ever arose he would have protected me without prejudice. He had to sleep right beside me. He was a great listener.

No matter how awesome and unconditional a dog's love is for his owner it can't compare to the love of a human. Humans can empathize, love, give support, pray over you. They have a whole world of other people to choose to love so when they love you its a precious thing. You know it was a CHOICE. Sometimes we don't understand why we love someone we just know that feeling is there.

What makes a human's love so much better than a pets? Its the risk. Its knowing that a person looked at you and CHOSE to love you. This Christmas I was sitting by my niece at dinner when she hugged my arm and said "I love you!" It melted my heart. It was the coolest feeling ever. No one made her say it. It was a spontaneous thing, like she was just overcome and had to get it our. I knew it was genuine. She knows other people and yet she chooses to love me.

Think about the movie Stepford Wives. The husbands have their wives' brains removed and turned into perfectly compliant wives. The new wives look perfect, always have dinner hot and ready, are ready and willing to hop into bed whenever the husbands want. But is that love? The wives can't chose to love their husbands anymore. The husbands never have to risk losing their wives. I would never want a husband that is forced to do my will without the option to choose to love me. I don't want a shotgun husband. If love isn't chosen then what worth does it have?

What does this have to do with God?
This is why we were made! God made us to have a community of people to love. Its the reason He put the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden of Eden. He didn't put it there to try to trick us. The really great thing that God gave us, the thing that separates us from the animals, is the ability to make decisions, to choose. What good is the  ability to choose to love someone if you don't give them an opportunity to say no?

If I have a teenager and I tell them that I trust them but I never let them out of my sight I'm not really giving them an opportunity to be trustworthy. I need to let them leave so they can choose to come home safely.
God could have made us like a dog. He could have given us the capacity to show love but only given us the option to hang out with him getting food and a place to sleep. He could have programed us to love just Him and never given us a different choice. But is that really love?

Love means giving worth to another, possibly at your own expense. God, giving us the opportunity to walk away from Him, made a huge sacrifice. If you knew your child would grow up and betray you would you still have children? He knew we would betray Him. He knew He would have to send Jesus down to get the crap beaten out of him and yet he still made us! He knew we would break His heart and yet He still made us. He knew we would choose to side with the enemy and yet He still gave us choice.

That's how much he loves us and wants to be with us! He was willing to endure all that heartache so He can be with us now and forever in Super Heaven. If he had just wanted a sounding board, someone to sit with at dinner he could have made us just another talking animal or a robot. We could have demonstrated loving behaviors but it wouldn't be LOVE. Real love is chosen.