Love is Alive
"Let
no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one
another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. The
commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not
murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and
whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one
command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to a
neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law." (Romans 13: 8
– 10)
It’s
understandable that we would arrive at the conclusion that if Christ
were to bundle all the laws into one neat package as he did in
Matthew 22: 32 – 39,i
that the Christian life would be much simpler, God’s will much
clearer. In this passage, Jesus clearly says that there really is
only one commandment to know, that is the one enunciated in the
Jewish Shema
Yisrael: "the Lord
our God, the LORD is one" and
further that, in essence, that age-old adage common to most religions
of the world is its fulfillment: Love
your neighbor as yourself.
Turns out, though, it’s not a simplification at all.
I
find it really discouraging that in the Christian church—particularly
in Evangelical branches thereof—the principle that making it our
life’s calling to enhance and enlarge the well-being of our
neighbours is again being discarded and doctrinal nuances dragged to
the fore as being additional laws to the one, the great one. Our
nature fights against the one great commandment; the impulse to kick
the neighbour’s behind is embedded in our biology, a biology that
dictates that we survive, and that to do so we must conquer our neighbour, not love him.
It’s
the most pertinent, relevant meaning of the “born again”
principle that it’s not nearly as much about buying a ticket to a
heaven that’s somewhere out there in the sky, by and by; it’s
about being transformed from our evolutionary instincts and impulses
to learn and embrace a new, surprising revelation: we survive and
thrive best when we love our neighbours—even when our instincts
tell us we need to blow them up with the 'Mother of All Bombs.'
Quite
obviously, seeing love as the means to tame the savagery of ISIL, for
instance, seems absurd. But the Kingdom of God is by definition,
absurd. It’s an upside down kingdom.
The
Ten Commandments were given to help us curb the evolutionary urges
that are counter-productive. A people who murder one another, steal
from each other, abandon their marriage vows for selfish ends, etc.
are doomed to social disruption and chaos. People who love God and
their neighbours, on the other hand, don’t need to have these rules enunciated anymore; their
habitual, daily conduct fulfills every commandment.
Theoretically.
The
current breakup of churches in my denomination is a direct
consequence of our failure to trust in the power of the great
commandment. The present impasses are highlighted by the controversy
over same-gender marriage. Taken purely
anthropologically/sociologically, the marrying of two men or two
women seems odd, and the exercise of the legalist’s approach to it
easily triumphs. But the great commandment is clear: the love of God
“with all our hearts and souls” is realized in the love for our
neighbours. And in the parable of the Good Samaritan, we learn that "the neighbour" is not bound by "next door."
There is no “notwithstanding clause” attached to
Jesus’ and Paul’s admonitions on this subject, no “except in
the case of those born gay or lesbian or transgendered or Muslim or Republican or Mormon or Arab, when the love
principle may be suspended in favour of the usurping of God’s
prerogative to exercise judgment.”
Churches,
denominations never break up once the great commandment has been
absorbed and made central to every act, every word, every day. Such
fellowships know intuitively that the tie that binds them is not called
“agreement;” the glue is love. And where love is the binder,
agreement will eventually follow. This is the promise of the gospel.
Happy Easter! Christ is alive. Love is alive.
i
(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)
Thanks again George. This is the heart of the matter. But our evolutionary-survival instincts and most of our training moves us to best our neighbour rather than to love him. But we won't survive, let alone thrive, if we continue down that road.
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