When I first started courting I
used a rather unfortunate
term of endearment to my
beloved which caused the
direct opposite effect than I
intended. Upon saying the
words “I am really fond of
you,” I was informed that
such things were only
appropriate for potted plants.
I now say often, “I love you”
not because it sounds better,
but because I mean it. The
same is true of my feelings
toward God, but I have to
admit, that I cannot in all
honesty say that I share the
same sentiment with some of
our neighbours. To the right
of us are a collection of
neighbours who live in an
exclusive enclave accessed
by a private road. The only
two times we have interacted
with one of them was when
on two separate occasions
he has rung on the door bell
and yelled at us for some
apparent infringement.
St Paul cautions us in 1 Cor
13:5 that true love does not
keep a record of wrongs, but
it is hard not to when your
only two encounters have
been negative ones.
That being said, lawful
commands are to be obeyed
whether we like it or not and
as we shall say the dual
commands to “Love God”
and “love your neighbour”
does indeed fulfil the
commandments of God.
According to Jewish tradition,
there are no less than 613
commandments in the Torah
and it would seem that a
definitive list of them was
provided by 12th Century
Spanish Rabbi, Rabbi Moshe
ben Maimon better known as
“Maimonides.” It is a
daunting list, divided in to
ethical and ritual direction on
criminal law, civil law, ritual
purity and sacrificial
regulations. This list even
contains 9 specific
commands concerning
Health and safety regulations.
Maimonides is quoted as
saying:
“Each one of the six -hundred
thirteen precepts serves
either to inculcate proper
attitudes or to remove some
erroneous conceptions, to
establish just legislation or to
eliminate iniquity, to imbue
one with exemplary virtues or
to deter one from evil
dispositions.”
A great many of them make
complete sense, but some to
our culture seem at best
barbaric and outdated yet
they are still extant even if not
observed in everyday
Judaism. No wonder such
laws were a matter for debate
and discussion amongst
Jewish scholars over the
centuries. I am eternally
grateful that our salvation is
not dependant on
observance of the Law, but
upon the grace of God and
acceptance of our need of
such grace made possible by
Jesus’s death and
resurrection.
One day, however, Jesus was
questioned as what in his
opinion was the greatest of
these 613 commandments.
In response Jesus selects
just two which he states are
of equal importance: whole
hearted love of God and
neighbour.
The Ten Commandments of
Exodus 20:3-17 can easily be
divided quite simply into
those two subject areas,
where as the remaining 603
commandments of the Torah
vary in their complexity and
relevance compared with the
standard Ten
Commandments delivered to
Moses on Mount Sinai.
Examining the Ten
Commandments reveals the
the first 4 deal with love of
God and the remaining 6 love
of neighbour. Jesus is
absolutely right the dual
observance of the Law
through love of God and love
of neighbour summarises the
Law, but how do we do it?
Many of you will have seen
Christian tracts. If not, these
are short pamphlets often
handed out in busy public
areas which outline the
gospel and make an appeal
for the reader to respond in
faith. Often such tracts
feature an ABC guide to aid
the reader in making such a
response. It varies, but the
standard is:
“A” stands for Admit. A
person must admit to God
that they are a sinner, be
sorry for sinning and turn
away from sin.
“B” stands for Believe. A
person must believe that
Jesus is God’s Son and that
God sent Jesus to pay the
penalty for sin.
“C” stands for Confess. A
person must confess her faith
in Jesus Christ as Saviour
and Lord.
The outlined ABC often then
invites the seeker to read the
following prayer or one like it:
Dear God, thank You for
choosing to love me! I know I
am a sinner. I believe You sent
Your Son, Jesus Christ, to die
for my sins. I believe He rose
again and lives today. Today, I
repent and turn away from my
sin. Thank You for Your
wonderful love and for
changing my life forever. In
Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
I remember as a new believer
praying a prayer like this
again and again from a tract.
As I red the prayer I was
expecting to feel some great
moment of enlightenment,
but I didn’t. In fact I actually
said out loud, “Ok Lord this
time I really mean it.” Nothing
happened, or did it? I really
believe the path to true
discipleship is far more
complex than any ABC and
follow up prayer and the
reality of the Christian Gospel
is far more complex too.
Everyone’s story is different
and we are all at different
stages in our faith journey. It
wasn’t until several years
later that I truly confessed
my sins and my encounter
with God on that occasion
was dramatic.
I truly think that admission
and confession of sins arise
only once a person opens
themselves to the possibility
of God, namely belief. Such
belief comes though teaching
and acceptance of the truth
claims of our faith by faith
through a conscious decision
to believe.
I think rather than a new
convert robotically assenting
to ABC’s that the words
contained within the
sacrament of Holy Matrimony
of the Church offer us the key
to true discipleship and lead
to observing the commands
of God. After all the Church is
the Bride of Christ (Rev 21:2).
At the beginning of the
Marriage service, the couple
and congregation affirm their
commitment to this proposed
union in a series of public
promises.
The priest asks the bride and
groom in turn:
Will you take this person to
be your husband or wife?
Will you love them, comfort
them, honour and protect
them, and, forsaking all
others, be faithful to them as
long as you both shall live?
And to the congregation “Will
you uphold them in this new
life they are making
together?”
The response to both these
sets of questions is “I / We
will.” This denotes a
continuing obligation and not
a one off response. The only
person who says “I do”, other
than in Hollywood movies is
the Bride’s father or escort
when they respond to the
question, “Who gives this
woman to be married to this
man?”
Later the man and woman
make their own vows to each
other and in
token of this it is customary
for them to exchange rings
and symbols of their fidelity
accompanied by the
following words:
I give you this ring as a sign
of our marriage.
With my body I honour you,
all that I am I give to you,
and all that I have I share with
you, within the love of
God, Father, Son and Holy
Spirit.
You will recall that Jesus
answered the teachers of the
Law as to the Greatest
Commandment with these
words:
“‘Love the Lord your God
with all your heart and with all
your soul and with all your
mind.’ This is the first and
greatest commandment. And
the second is like it: ‘Love
your neighbour as
yourself.’All the Law and the
Prophets hang on these two
commandments.”
His response is formed on
the recitation of two
passages of scripture: Deut
6:5, “Love the Lord your God
with all your heart and with all
your soul and with all your
strength.” And a portion of
Lev 19:18, “Love your
neighbour as yourself.”
Note two things. In citing
Deut 6:5 Jesus adds that we
are not only to love the Lord
your God with all your heart
and with all your soul and
with all your strength, we are
to love Him with all our mind
too and that observance of
these two laws not only
complete observance of the
Law, but also the teachings of
the Prophets. In otherwise
the entire Hebrew bible. The
importance of loving God
with our “mind” is evident in
Jesus’s teaching in the
Sermon on the Mount (Matt
5-7) which in several places
deals with sins of the mind,
thoughts and emotions.
Matt 5:22 – You shall not
harbour angry and abusive
thoughts
Matt 5:28 – You shall not
entertain inappropriate lewd
and lustful thoughts
Mat 6:1-4 – You shall not
indulge in pride
Matt 6:25 – You shall not
worry
All of this involves the mind.
I would like to suggest that a
that a far deeper and more
personal response for any
believer wishing to observe
the Greatest Commandment
than the classic ABC of the
gospel would be to pray a
prayer like this.
Lord Jesus, I take you as my
Lord and Saviour, I will love
you, obey you, honour and
defend you and forsaking all
others be faithful to you all
the days of my life. With my
body, mind and heart I will
honour you all that I am I give
you and all that I have I share
with you.
Amen
If we truly mean this then the
first 4 commands of the Ten
Commandments are
included.
- “You shall have no other
gods before me. - “You shall not make for
yourself an image in the form
of anything in heaven above
or on the earth beneath or in
the waters below and
worship it.
3“You shall not misuse the
name of the Lord . - Six days you shall labor
and do all your work, but the
seventh day is for spending
quality time with me.
If we truly love our neighbour
to the degree we love
ourselves in accordance with
Lev 19:18, then the 6
remaining Commands of the
Ten Commandments fall into
place also.
The Greek word used time
and time again for Love is
ἀγάπη (agapē). Strongs
Greek lexicon defines this as,
“generosity, kindly concern,
devotedness.” St Paul
defines this kind of love as
being: “patient, kind, absent
in envy and pride. True love
does not dishonour, it is not
self-seeking, it is not easily
angered and it keeps no
record of wrongs. Love does
not delight in evil but rejoices
with the truth. It always
protects, always trusts,
always hopes, always
perseveres.” Finally Paul
concludes that Love “never
fails”, why? Because Love
has no enemies.
Taking the remaining 6
Commandments a believer
acting purely out of true
ἀγάπη love to the standard
outlined by St Paul will not:
- ’dishonour their father and
your mother
- murder.
- commit adultery.
- steal off their neighbour.
- give false testimony
against their neighbour.
- ‘Desire a neighbour’s
house, wife, servants,
animals or anything
belonging to them to the
point of jealousy and avarice.
True love will do the opposite.
Jesus’s response to his critics
was not only true it provides
us with a means of navigating
the 613 Commands in the
Torah, helping us to be utterly
obedient to the spirit of the
Law without becoming
bogged down by them.
So what about us? What
about you. Have you made a
commitment to Christ? A
good place to start is to
reflect on the prayer I
suggested earlier. Instead of
praying:
Dear God, thank You for
choosing to love me! I know I
am a sinner. I believe You sent
Your Son, Jesus Christ, to die
for my sins. I believe He rose
again and lives today. Today, I
repent and turn away from my
sin. Thank You for Your
wonderful love and for
changing my life forever. In
Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
Try praying:
Lord Jesus,
I take you as my Lord and
Saviour, I will love
you, obey you, honour and
defend you and forsaking all
others be faithful to you all
the days of my life. With my
body, mind and heart I will
honour you my God. All that I
am I give you and all that I
have I share with you. I will
also love my neighbour as I
love myself by showing them
patience and kindness. I will
not allow myself to be
envious of them or to be
proud and boastful. I will not
dishonour them and I will
seek to serve them rather
than myself. I will keep my
temper and never hold a
grudge. I will never delight in
their misfortune and always
act truthfully toward them. I
will protect them, be worthy
of their trust and reliance. I
will keep these disciplines no
matter how hard it is to do
and I will never consciously
let them down. In all of this I
need the strength and help of
the Holy Spirit.
Receive these prayers from
my heart in love.
Amen
How does that sound to you?
Have a think about it.
Amen