Carrying-on would have been a concern
of mine if I was a Jewish person at the time of Jesus. Christians think of 10
commandments. There are 613 commandments
in the Jewish Law.
These 613 commandments, what’s it all
about? No worry, Jesus makes them simple.
He said to him,
"You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your
soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first
commandment.
The second is
like it:: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
The whole law and
the prophets depend on these two commandments."
Simple, but, loves complicated? How can something so complicated
give me strength to carry-on? Let’s uncomplicated it and
look at love simply.
Bill B. is my boss, mentor, friend, and also a diaconate
candidate in the Diocese of Atlanta. My company had a meeting this week; in it
we discussed how to improve a company’s driving records; how to make it simple.
Bill Boyd explained safe driving like this:
o Drive the speed limit,
o Put down the cell phone, and
o Keep both hands on the wheel.
I told him I was going to take that and explain love.
Let’s love simply. Love in what we do and say can be found in
three basic things:
o Is it kind?
o Is it necessary?
o Is it true?
Since I borrowed this idea, let’s look at love as being a safe
driver.
Love is kind is like driving
the speed limit. Speeding does nothing for the other person. It is only for the
person speeding. In fact, speeding endangers everyone; the person speeding and
all the innocent people around them. It’s not kind.
Exodus does not call it speeding, but we learn about asking the
question “Is it kind?” -
o Don’t oppress the alien in your land,
o Don’t wrong a widow or orphan,
o Return the cloak taken as a pledge
Love is necessary is like putting
down that cell phone. Is it really necessary to talk on the phone while you’re
driving at 70 mph? God created us to love him and love each other. That's
the only thing that's necessary. Jesus said it – Love God with all that
you are; Love your neighbor as yourself. Too many people love themselves more
than they love God and others. That’s like talking on the cell phone, ignoring
the world, ignoring traffic; you are the only important thing.
Love is true is keeping both
hands on the steering wheel; so your path is true. We can call this true path
faithfulness. God’s love is true and faithful to us. This is the love that
Jesus taught. To stay on the road, you have to work at it, keep both hands on
the wheel. You have to work to stay true to love. It is easy to stray and
become unfaithful and you run off the road.
Paul tells the Thessalonians they are true in their faith. “You
became imitators of us and of the Lord. With joy from the Holy Spirit; you
became a model for all the believers.”
These are simple. There’s more to safe driving than don’t speed,
put down the phone, and keep both hands on the wheel; just like there is more
to love than: is it kind, is it necessary, and is it true? They are only simple
things that can make us better.
So, Love, what’s it all about? Jesus simplifies things – If we
love God with all that we are and love our neighbor, then all the other 613
commandments of the law will fall into place.
In Jesus Christ, love is simple. Before we speak and before we
act, ask these questions: Is it kind? Is it necessary? Is it true? Everything else comes from that.
The love that Jesus taught: “It gives you the strength to
carry on.”
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