What's Most Important?
Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question:
"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" 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."
Last week we discussed who we are as a church: God has called us out, and we have answered, gathering together for his purposes. I also reminded you that Jesus Christ is central to the church.
If Jesus Christ is central to church, then it’s probably a good idea to determine what Jesus found important. A few years back, the movement was to determine "what would Jesus do" – this was supposed to help us figure out how we were supposed to act. Though it’s a good thought, it morphed into silly speculation like "who would Jesus vote for" and "what would Jesus drive."
Anyway, the important thing isn’t necessarily what would Jesus do, but what did Jesus say? What is most important – in His words?
Jesus was asked this very question – and likely in the same sort of context that it’s asked now. Which is the most important commandment? It’s a trick question, intended to trap Jesus into stratifying the commandments. Now, this is a good question to ask – namely because the expected outcome is that "I’m better than so-and-so." In this case, probably that the Pharisees were better than the Sadducees.
Now, when we think of Commandments, we usually think of the Ten Commandments. But by Jesus’ time, it was traditional to speak of the 613 individual statutes of the Law. It’s all about stratifying sin and good deeds – and it’s usually done in this manner: "well, of course I ______, but at least I never _____."
Do you know what this is? That’s a wrong attitude. Why? Because it makes the assumption that my sins aren’t bad because they aren’t those so-called "bad sins." Then we get to the debate about which sins are bad. Tony Campolo, famed pastor, author and public speaker, played to that tendency when he said this:
"I have three things I'd like to say today. First, while you were sleeping last night, 30,000 kids died of starvation or diseases related to malnutrition. Second, most of you don't give a _____. What's worse is that you're more upset with the fact that I said ____ than the fact that 30,000 kids died last night."
He was right – many, many people got more riled up at his use of profanity than about the 30,000 dead children. They unconsciously stratified his cussing as worse than starving children.
Truth is, a sin is a sin.
So in this, the question posed to Jesus was a trick question; the law expert was trying to trap Jesus into stratifying sin. Jesus’ answer settled the matter. What is the most important commandment?
Love God with everything you are and love others as yourself.
Pretty simple, eh?
All Jewish people would have recognized the first commandment. In fact, this is part of one of the most memorized scriptures of all time: Deuteronomy 6:4-9 – known as the Shema. This is how it goes:
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
This was most important. Loving God was so important that it was recognized that this was the context into which he gave the Ten Commandments. It was so important that they should be the topic of daily (and nightly) conversation, that they should be taught to our children, that they should be carried with us wherever we go as visible reminders and placed so we would see them whenever we left or returned home.
Loving God is important. Of first importance. We love God because of who he is. We love God because he first loved us. We love God because of what he has done for us and continues to do for us. We love God because he keeps his promises even when we don’t. It’s easy to see why loving God is the first commandment.
Did you notice that when Jesus was asked for the most important commandment, he gave two? Love God and love neighbor. The reason he gave two is because you cannot separate the two. James 2:18 says: Now someone may argue, ‘Some people have faith; others have good deeds." But I say, "How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds."
The key to showing our faith and our love for God is how we treat others. Jesus is clear about how we’re supposed to treat others – we’re supposed to love them!
Easy, right? Love your neighbor as yourself. What does that mean?
1. Love: This isn’t just about feeling some warm, fuzzy feelings about them. Love is a verb, and it doesn’t mean anything until it does something. So what kind of things does love do? In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul writes about love: Love is patient and kind. Love isn’t envious or boastful. Love doesn’t insist on its own way and isn’t irritable or resentful. Love doesn’t delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres, and never fails.
Is this how you are characterized? Does everyone notice how patient and kind you are, or are you known as someone who always demands your own way and carries a grudge? Let’s get something clear: if you call yourself a Christian, if you have accepted Jesus Christ’s free gift of forgiveness and reconciliation, then this is necessarily who you are becoming. And you don’t become that without struggle. Have you ever prayed that God would give you patience? You know how God answers that, don’t you? By allowing you to be in a situation in which you need patience! By putting people in your life who push every last one of your buttons! Which brings me to the next point:
2. Neighbor: the recipients of our love are our neighbors. Last week, when I talked about metaphors the Bible uses for the church – one of them is "family." Remember that saying: you can choose your friends, but you’re stuck with your family?
Neighbor is something like that. As Christians, we don’t get to pick who we love. Jesus spelled this out by describing "neighbor" as enemy. How easy is that? We’re supposed to love our enemies? It’s hard enough loving my family, and now you’re telling us WHAT?
Let me tell you something: following Jesus Christ is radical. It’s completely different from the world’s standards., and loving our enemies is how we demonstrate our love for God. If you think about it, that’s just what God does for us. God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. We behaved as God’s enemies, but Christ still died for us.
If you’re serious about being a Christ follower, try this experiment: love someone who is unlovely this week. Read 1 Corinthians 13:4- 8 every day - then put your name in place of "love" and see if you match up. If you don't, continue to pray that God would transform you into that - remaking you into Christ's likeness.
"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" 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."
Matthew 22:34-40
Last week we discussed who we are as a church: God has called us out, and we have answered, gathering together for his purposes. I also reminded you that Jesus Christ is central to the church.
If Jesus Christ is central to church, then it’s probably a good idea to determine what Jesus found important. A few years back, the movement was to determine "what would Jesus do" – this was supposed to help us figure out how we were supposed to act. Though it’s a good thought, it morphed into silly speculation like "who would Jesus vote for" and "what would Jesus drive."
Anyway, the important thing isn’t necessarily what would Jesus do, but what did Jesus say? What is most important – in His words?
Jesus was asked this very question – and likely in the same sort of context that it’s asked now. Which is the most important commandment? It’s a trick question, intended to trap Jesus into stratifying the commandments. Now, this is a good question to ask – namely because the expected outcome is that "I’m better than so-and-so." In this case, probably that the Pharisees were better than the Sadducees.
Now, when we think of Commandments, we usually think of the Ten Commandments. But by Jesus’ time, it was traditional to speak of the 613 individual statutes of the Law. It’s all about stratifying sin and good deeds – and it’s usually done in this manner: "well, of course I ______, but at least I never _____."
Do you know what this is? That’s a wrong attitude. Why? Because it makes the assumption that my sins aren’t bad because they aren’t those so-called "bad sins." Then we get to the debate about which sins are bad. Tony Campolo, famed pastor, author and public speaker, played to that tendency when he said this:
"I have three things I'd like to say today. First, while you were sleeping last night, 30,000 kids died of starvation or diseases related to malnutrition. Second, most of you don't give a _____. What's worse is that you're more upset with the fact that I said ____ than the fact that 30,000 kids died last night."
He was right – many, many people got more riled up at his use of profanity than about the 30,000 dead children. They unconsciously stratified his cussing as worse than starving children.
Truth is, a sin is a sin.
So in this, the question posed to Jesus was a trick question; the law expert was trying to trap Jesus into stratifying sin. Jesus’ answer settled the matter. What is the most important commandment?
Love God with everything you are and love others as yourself.
Pretty simple, eh?
All Jewish people would have recognized the first commandment. In fact, this is part of one of the most memorized scriptures of all time: Deuteronomy 6:4-9 – known as the Shema. This is how it goes:
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
This was most important. Loving God was so important that it was recognized that this was the context into which he gave the Ten Commandments. It was so important that they should be the topic of daily (and nightly) conversation, that they should be taught to our children, that they should be carried with us wherever we go as visible reminders and placed so we would see them whenever we left or returned home.
Loving God is important. Of first importance. We love God because of who he is. We love God because he first loved us. We love God because of what he has done for us and continues to do for us. We love God because he keeps his promises even when we don’t. It’s easy to see why loving God is the first commandment.
Did you notice that when Jesus was asked for the most important commandment, he gave two? Love God and love neighbor. The reason he gave two is because you cannot separate the two. James 2:18 says: Now someone may argue, ‘Some people have faith; others have good deeds." But I say, "How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds."
The key to showing our faith and our love for God is how we treat others. Jesus is clear about how we’re supposed to treat others – we’re supposed to love them!
Easy, right? Love your neighbor as yourself. What does that mean?
1. Love: This isn’t just about feeling some warm, fuzzy feelings about them. Love is a verb, and it doesn’t mean anything until it does something. So what kind of things does love do? In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul writes about love: Love is patient and kind. Love isn’t envious or boastful. Love doesn’t insist on its own way and isn’t irritable or resentful. Love doesn’t delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres, and never fails.
Is this how you are characterized? Does everyone notice how patient and kind you are, or are you known as someone who always demands your own way and carries a grudge? Let’s get something clear: if you call yourself a Christian, if you have accepted Jesus Christ’s free gift of forgiveness and reconciliation, then this is necessarily who you are becoming. And you don’t become that without struggle. Have you ever prayed that God would give you patience? You know how God answers that, don’t you? By allowing you to be in a situation in which you need patience! By putting people in your life who push every last one of your buttons! Which brings me to the next point:
2. Neighbor: the recipients of our love are our neighbors. Last week, when I talked about metaphors the Bible uses for the church – one of them is "family." Remember that saying: you can choose your friends, but you’re stuck with your family?
Neighbor is something like that. As Christians, we don’t get to pick who we love. Jesus spelled this out by describing "neighbor" as enemy. How easy is that? We’re supposed to love our enemies? It’s hard enough loving my family, and now you’re telling us WHAT?
Let me tell you something: following Jesus Christ is radical. It’s completely different from the world’s standards., and loving our enemies is how we demonstrate our love for God. If you think about it, that’s just what God does for us. God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. We behaved as God’s enemies, but Christ still died for us.
If you’re serious about being a Christ follower, try this experiment: love someone who is unlovely this week. Read 1 Corinthians 13:4- 8 every day - then put your name in place of "love" and see if you match up. If you don't, continue to pray that God would transform you into that - remaking you into Christ's likeness.
Comments