Things That Matter

We all want clarity.

In a world where there is chaos, confusion and more of the such we seek clarity. What is the best way to…? This is where in previous sermons I have talked about praying for wisdom. Without wisdom we will never see things clearly.

In Jesus’ day there were 613 commands from the OT.

248 were things Jews were to do and 365 were things we should not do. Before the question was asked of Jesus many other Rabbi’s and Jewish leaders were trying to discern which ones were “more important” besides just saying “all of them”. The question was a unique one to Jesus nor those at the time.

The foundation of all the Law: love God with everything in you.

We can debate what is truly meant by heart, soul, mind and strength and there are good insights there. Bottom line: we must love God with all of ourselves; holding nothing back. Yet this is extremely hard.

The foundation of the Law: love others.

It was a foreign concept to not love yourself and maybe this is part of our issue today. We do not get to choose who we love but instead we are commanded to love.

Understanding this is a start.

Notice that the scribe who asked the question understood and takes Jesus’ commands even further quoting the concept in 1 Samuel and in the Prophets that burnt offerings mean nothing if there is not love.

To accept Jesus is to respond to love.

Verses 35-37 bring to light the Messiah—Jesus himself is greater than David and to accept him is to understand the greatest commandments. This is how one enters the Kingdom of God, not just by loving.

Love will require sacrifice.

The example of the widow.

Love will keep pride in check.

The Pharisees had this issue with looking the part but Jesus seems to imply they did not truly love God nor others. How true this can be of us.

The Silver Rule according to Hillel: “what is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor”.

The Rabbi Hillel, who was probable the founder of the Pharisee sect, told this to someone who wanted to know the whole of the Torah. We are familiar with the Golden Rule: do unto others what you want them to do to you. but I think this is even better to keep in mind.

Loving God will show itself in how we treat and love others.

Don’t miss this point. The letters of John to the early church make this point clear. We cannot come to church on Sunday and then treat others wrongly throughout the week and think we are good.