Learning Love

Shoulds

I had the most wonderful start to my day on Friday.

I woke up with a song in my head.

Take it easy easy God already loves you completely Take it easy easy Rest in the shade of His wing

And instead of finding my glasses - which is my usual habit.

I decided not to.

Instead of plugging in my ear-pods to catch up on the news of how many were killed yesterday or which world war we’re about to start.

I took my coffee outside to the patio to sit and think for a while.

I realise that sometimes my prayers begin with a should.

Should

You should read the Bible. You should pray. You should do this and that and if you don’t you’re not doing it right.

My mind went back to Abraham.

Without the Bible

Without any rule of what to do.

Sensing God’s Nudge.

And in God’s nudging… discovering God’s call.

God’s purpose.

Or maybe David - writing poems / Psalms.

Should?

It is really hard to undo all the ‘shoulds’ in my life.

And the should haves.

The ‘commandments’ that I think I need to execute.

What is the most important should of them all?

Or in the words of the lawyer -

Matthew 22:36 NRSV

36 “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?”

Jesus’ answer:

Matthew 22:37–39 NRSV

37 He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the greatest and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’

It is a combination commandment.

Just the verse

Deuteronomy 6:5 NRSV

5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.

&

Don’t read.

Leviticus 19:18 NRSV

18 You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.

Read

Combined

(Deuteronomy 6:5) You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. (Leviticus 19:18) you shall love your neighbour as yourself: I am the Lord.

These words - especially the words of Deuteronomy 6 are the basis of the Jewish Shema - Shema - The Hebrew word for Hear:

“Hear (shema), 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 ‘creed’ or prayer was and is at the core of Jewish Spiritual Formation. It is the first prayer that children are taught.

A reminder to every believer that:

There is only one God.

Love this God with all your heart.

And live according to the Torah.

Jesus’ shortens this creed - that he would have been taught to pray from the beginning of his life.

A prayer that Matthew the writer of this gospel would have been taught to pray.

That Paul the apostle would have been taught to pray.

He replaces it with the simple:

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and soul and love your neighbour as you love yourself.

Two Parts

Love God

Love your Neighbour

First and Greatest

The first part - Love the Lord your God - Jesus describes as the greatest and first commandment...

Matthew 22:38 NRSV

38 This is the greatest and first commandment.

The commandment to Love God.

And not just to love God.

But to love God with all of your being -

...all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. (Mt 22:37)

It could be so many different words.

Obey God.

Fear God.

Listen to God.

Believe God.

Worship God.

But it is - LOVE God.

LOVE implies so much more than fear, obey, listen, believe, worship / revere...

LOVE implies a deeply affectionate relationship.

And it produces the same results -

Obedience, fear, attention, belief, worship...

But all of those fruits are completely different in nature - they are more sustainable because the root of all of them is love.

How is your love for God?

Reminded

I often need to be reminded to be loved by God.

We all do - we see ourselves too clearly and realise how far short we have fallen of who we ought to be.

WE could easily understand why God wouldn’t love us.

But we need to be reminded.

We also need to be reminded to love God.

Pharisees

As we witness the actions of the Pharisees and the Sadducees...

Planning to kill Jesus.

Getting together - plotting to trick Jesus - to catch him with his words and have him killed.

We can not fault their dedication to God as they understand him.

They might have mixed motives for getting rid of Jesus. He is destabilising their political environment.

He is exposing their hypocrisy.

They are in some way - technically doing the right thing.

But from the violence attached.

From the plots to trick and deceive - we see the bitterness with which they acted.

Too many Shoulds

A lot of ‘Shoulds’ - Should trap Jesus. Shouldn’t break these rules. Should shame that sinner / this rule breaker.

Trapped in a grumpy kind of self righteousness.

A sense of duty.

We can get like that in our relationships.

Down to the shoulds.

And not living in love.

Yes - sometimes you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do and go through the motions even if you’re not feeling it.

But - when you’re going through the motions and not feeling it; maybe you need to ask why?

Take it easy

Stoep Sitting

Well like I said - I woke up on Friday with that song in my head.

Got my coffee and sat on the stoep.

And as I sat there I remembered to slow down for once.

Not for long.

But long enough to realise that sometimes I’m so busy with the shoulds.

That I forget about God.

and the greatest should - to love God.

And in that moment my love was renewed.

I need more of that.

Glasses and Earbuds

More moments of not putting my glasses on to read.

Not putting my headphones on to hear.

But moments of breath - in the presence of God.

Learning to be.

To be loved by God.

But also- to love God.

My first step toward the first commandment - take it easy.

Take the time to Love God.

to turn your heart in God’s direction.

Take it Easy.

Give Thanks

When I get wrapped up in the things I’m anxious about - the things I think I ought to do / or should do.

I forget to give thanks for what has alrready been done.

Gicing thanks helps you to focus on a world so much bigger than the one in your immediate focus. The one in which you need to make ends meet. etc.

Giving thanks - opens you - opens your heart.

Reflect

One of the reasons I love God is this:

The command

The command to love God.

I love God because of tis commandment - not because I want to be obedient.

Just because I think to myself - isn’t that cool.

God gives us an invitation.... love me.

Love me and see how you will be blessed.

Love me and see how all the other burdens will fall into place.

The context in which the commandment is given is the root out of Egypt.

The route from slavery in to freedom.

When we reflect on God’s nature - our love for God grows more and more.

Jesus

Besides something of the nature of God revealed in that command - so different to other faiths of the time… ca command to enter into a loving relationship with God.

I think of Jesus.

I struggle a bit with loving god - so abstract.

But Jesus - I can get behind him.

I realise that I love him -

Because of the way he cares.

Teh love that he shows.

His gentle ways.

In all of this reflecting I learn to love God again.

Then I’m set free for part two:

Love Neighbour

Matthew 22:39–40 NRSV

39 And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

It is an interesting statement that Jesus is making.

Matthew 22:39 NRSV

39 And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’

Loving your neighbour as yourself - is just like loving the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and soul.

The two commandments seem related.

The more we love God.

The more we love our neighbours (and selves).

The more we love our neighbours (and selves.

The more we love God.

Scott McKnight has written a book called The Jesus Creed where he reflects on this statement of Jesus and the Lord’s prayer as a sort of expression of Jesus’ creed.

“The Jesus Creed works like this: Because God loves us, because he knows what is best for us and wants what is best for us, he invites us to find that “what is best” by loving him back. When this happens, the windows are thrown open to the breezes of his healing love. If the content of the Jesus Creed is loving God and loving others, the premise of the Jesus Creed is that God loves us. ”

(Scott McKnight - The Jesus Creed)

...he invites us to find that “what is best” by loving him back. When this happens, the windows are thrown open to the breezes of his healing love.

Loving God

Heals us

To Love ourselves

And our neighbours.

Overwhelmed by Shoulds?

I think maybe the Pharisees and Sadducees are so angry because too many ‘shoulds’ have gotten in the way of their love for God.

They don’t recognise Jesus when he comes - because they’re not able to look at him with love.

They’re not able to look at the crowds that follow him - with love.

I want to invite us to move away from a sense of duty to God.

And move into a sense of love of God.

Learning to love is a bit of a discipline.

But it will change our lives.