Cross Points 7.3.22
Two Motives for Life
The Pharisees wanted to test Jesus, to trip him up, so they sent one from their fraternity to ask this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” The intent was with evil motive: to have Jesus either refuse to answer; or he’d pick a commandment and cause dissention. As usual, they were not expecting him to take the challenge and turn it into a life message that would resonate with the crowd. Jesus replied, “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 neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
It all hangs on those two commands, really? How can that be, given all the detailed instructions the Lord provided to Israel? Think of it like this. None of the other commands do much good unless they are driven by the motives of these two statements: Love God, Love Others. That is the filter that everything should pass through for the follower of God. In fact, these two commands summarize the Ten Commandments. The first four deal with God (no other gods, no idols, do not take the Lord’s name in vain, remember the Sabbath); the last six deal with others (honor your father and mother, do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not covet). In summary: Love God, Love Others. The “Ten” provide some detail on how that should play out.
So, let’s be clear. This is not the “All you need is love” type of thing the Beatles sang about. It’s not just “being nice” to people. As usual, Jesus is our model for how to love. And you’ll notice when you study his life that, with pure motive to love God and love people, he would cut through the “being nice” stuff and talk to, deal with, the true need of those he confronted.
For example: To the leper who was not to be touched, Jesus touches. To the Pharisees who people feared and flattered, Jesus called them hypocrites. When Peter spoke out of line, Jesus said, “You do not have God’s will in mind!” But when Peter denied him later and felt he couldn’t fulfill his call, Jesus said to him, “Feed me sheep.” Jesus had the amazing ability to see beyond the moment, beyond the emotion, beyond the selfish tendency to react, and spoke to the person’s true need. To the rich young ruler who was obedient to the commandments, but who failed test number one (Love God above all) he said to give all his wealth away and come follow him. The rich ruler couldn’t do it, even though it was his true need. He went away sad. We only truly love when we take such risks.
Or how about this: One of the Ten Commandments is to have no idols. Does that apply to the Christian? An idol is something we sacrifice to. What do you sacrifice to that puts that thing ahead of God in your life? Maybe your job; maybe even your family; or hunting, sports, NASCAR, you can name whatever it is that applies to you. If you’re willing to sacrifice time to (fill in blank), but won’t sacrifice sleeping-in-late in order to gather with the church on Sunday, are you loving God like you should?
Love God, Love Others, and what’s the third thing we always say at SHCC? Share Jesus. And when you think about it, that’s the ultimate expression of loving God and loving others.
It all hangs on those two commands, really? How can that be, given all the detailed instructions the Lord provided to Israel? Think of it like this. None of the other commands do much good unless they are driven by the motives of these two statements: Love God, Love Others. That is the filter that everything should pass through for the follower of God. In fact, these two commands summarize the Ten Commandments. The first four deal with God (no other gods, no idols, do not take the Lord’s name in vain, remember the Sabbath); the last six deal with others (honor your father and mother, do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not covet). In summary: Love God, Love Others. The “Ten” provide some detail on how that should play out.
So, let’s be clear. This is not the “All you need is love” type of thing the Beatles sang about. It’s not just “being nice” to people. As usual, Jesus is our model for how to love. And you’ll notice when you study his life that, with pure motive to love God and love people, he would cut through the “being nice” stuff and talk to, deal with, the true need of those he confronted.
For example: To the leper who was not to be touched, Jesus touches. To the Pharisees who people feared and flattered, Jesus called them hypocrites. When Peter spoke out of line, Jesus said, “You do not have God’s will in mind!” But when Peter denied him later and felt he couldn’t fulfill his call, Jesus said to him, “Feed me sheep.” Jesus had the amazing ability to see beyond the moment, beyond the emotion, beyond the selfish tendency to react, and spoke to the person’s true need. To the rich young ruler who was obedient to the commandments, but who failed test number one (Love God above all) he said to give all his wealth away and come follow him. The rich ruler couldn’t do it, even though it was his true need. He went away sad. We only truly love when we take such risks.
Or how about this: One of the Ten Commandments is to have no idols. Does that apply to the Christian? An idol is something we sacrifice to. What do you sacrifice to that puts that thing ahead of God in your life? Maybe your job; maybe even your family; or hunting, sports, NASCAR, you can name whatever it is that applies to you. If you’re willing to sacrifice time to (fill in blank), but won’t sacrifice sleeping-in-late in order to gather with the church on Sunday, are you loving God like you should?
Love God, Love Others, and what’s the third thing we always say at SHCC? Share Jesus. And when you think about it, that’s the ultimate expression of loving God and loving others.
Posted in Cross Points