Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Life Under the Law

I know I've posted this before, but it's just about the funniest of the Monty Python stuff.I'm still laughing...again.


The Greatest Commandments

While in conversation with the Pharisees in Palestine 2000 years ago or thereabouts, Jesus said the greatest commandments were: 1) Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength and 2) Love your neighbor as yourself.

Strangely, neither of these commandments were from God's top 10 list and therein lies the mystery of Jesus' words.

Jesus chose from Deuteronomy 6:4-6 (the Shema) and Leviticus 19:18 (that last citation may be incorrect). He went on to say that these commands summed up the whole law. If you could keep these two commands, you would keep the law in its entirety.

The first response of the uninitiated would be to say, "that's easy", but really what do those commands mean at their heart. I think you will find it's a very tall order.

If you take a serious look at the 10 commandments, you will see an order to things. They outline in very basic language what is considered to be the responsibility of all God's people, first to God, then to family and finally to your neighbor. For example:

If you love the Lord, you will have no other gods before Him. You will not take His holy Name in vain.

If you love your family, you will honor your parents, and you will not commit adultery or any other sexual offense.

And if you love your neighbor, you will not covet his or her possessions.

Check out the 10 commandments in Exodus 20 (I think).  

All 10 commandments fall neatly into the two that Jesus issued to the rich young man. And while it does simplify things in terms of what you need to remember, I personally believe it greatly expands our responsibilities. If you really take Jesus' simplification of the law to heart, our duties to God become vast and all encompassing.

Merely learning to love can be hard. Loving God whom we have not seen or heard from except thru His word is quite a leap. And loving our neighbor...well why doesn't the government do something right?

This is where the world is and, in spite of Jesus' words, that's where many Christians are at in their journey with Christ. We have allowed our culture to pull us away from each other, from our God and from the very things that matter most to Him.

I think we need to start to build a consensus within the Church to rediscover what these two commandments mean for us and how to make them work in the 21st century.

It's hard for me to talk about these things because it will require me to change more than most folks. I am not what you'd call a people person, but you know what? The Lord is a people person. He loves them all and does so openly and without regard. He expects us to live in community with each other and to love each other. What's more, He does not want us living in a fortress separate from the world. Our walls, whatever they consist of, need to come down. We need to embrace those that do not know Jesus even as he once embraced us to save us.


I can see this beginning to happen in my own church. I see it both as wonderful and scary. I want to keep the Lord's two greatest commands with joy, but as someone who does not reach out easily to others, it makes me afraid at the same time. By nature, I'm an introvert. I am better in writing and when I control the conversation and can plan what I am going to say. Nevertheless, I am called to keep the same commandments. I just have to find a way to do it with the gifts the Lord has given me. I hope I am already on the way to that.

I'm with Francis of Assissi. "Preach the gospel. Say something if you have to".