The greatest commandment Mark 12 28 34 C

The greatest commandment Mark 12: 28 -34 C. K. Tan St. James’ Church, Audley, Stoke-on-Trent

Sermon headings Introduction 1. What did Jesus teach about our response to God? 2. Does God intend there to be an order of priority in this great command? 3. What is it to love God and our neighbour?

Introduc tion Jewish rabbis: 613 commands in the Law - 248 ‘do’s + 365 ‘do not’s n Deut. 6: 4 -5: “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. ” ‘The Shema’ n Starting point: ‘the LORD our God, the LORD is one. ’ Other translations: “The LORD our God is one Lord, ” or “The LORD is our God, the LORD is one, ” or “The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. ” n Same focus: there is only one God – distinguished them from their neighbours n

… introduction To the foremost command to love God, Jesus joined the commandment from Lev. 19: 18 to show that love for neighbour is a natural and logical development of love for God. n The great commandment is a command, an order, a law, an absolute requirement! n If this is the foremost of God’s commands, then it should be our top priority and the focus of our thoughts and actions. n

1. Our response to God? We are to love God with all our: n Heart: inner person & that which is the centre of our life. To love Him is set our affections on him - this ultimately determine our actions and pursuits in life. ‘For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also’ (Matt. 6: 21). n Soul: what we call ‘self’ e. g. concrete, but nonphysical, things like imagination, conscience, memory, reason, affections. To love God is to devote our whole being to Him.

…. our response to God? Mind: our ideas, viewpoint, perspective of life, our intellect. To love God is to submit our minds, thought patterns, opinions, & decisions to God’s Word. This means we act not on what we think or on how we feel, but in accordance with God’s desire and commands. n Strength: our abilities, talents, gifts & physical powers - surrendered and devoted to Him for His glory. We do not serve God in our own strength, but we do give all we are physically capable of doing. n

…. our response to God? ‘More important than burnt offerings and sacrifices’ n Focus of Jewish religion: temple & animal sacrifices n Burnt offering: offering of service to God, symbolising the dedication of one’s entire self n Sin offering: when a person had sinned against God or against someone else n Acceptable to God IF accompanied by faith & right attitude of heart. Inward motives more important than outward ritual or action. n Hosea 6: 6: “For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgement of God rather than burnt offerings. ”

2. Order of priority in the great command? Loving God comes first; loving neighbour second n OT: The 10 commandments - the first four commandments relate to our relationship with God before they cover our relationship with each other: ‘You shall have no other gods before me’, ‘You shall not make for yourself an idol’, ‘You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God’, ‘Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy’. n NT: The Lord’s prayer. “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven…. . ” (Mt. 6: 9) n

…. order of priority? Why is this? 1. God needs to change us first n Loving God and loving our neighbour is alien to our natural self. Jesus promised the Holy Spirit to strengthen, guide, empower, encourage us to keep on going on. In short God the Holy Spirit needs to transform us. n Great struggle because of our own weaknesses & Sin; the world, with all its values and beliefs. Satan, God’s adversary, whose sole aim is to draw anyone and everyone away from God.

…. order of priority? It is only in obedience to the first great command to love God that we are then able to love our neighbour. n Japanese internment camp in China 2 nd WW. Initially everything ran smoothly. Christians were mocked and taunted how mankind does not need God to be good. In time only the Christians persevered with serving others. It is not because Christians are better people. It is simply that they are motivated by a higher reason, a greater calling. It is Jesus’ command to love God with all their being and to love their neighbour as themselves that kept them going. n

…. order of priority? 2. Putting love for man before God is idolatry Dorothy L. Sayers: “… the second commandment depends upon the first, and that without the first, it is a delusion and a snare. Much of our present trouble and disillusionment have come from putting the second commandment before the first. If we put our neighbour first, we are putting man above God, and that is what we have been doing ever since we began to worship humanity and make man the measure of all things. Whenever man is made the centre of things, he becomes the storm centre of trouble…”

…. order of priority? n n The vertical axis comes before the horizontal axis. When you love God above all, it can overflow to your fellowman. When you love man above all, it ultimately neither flows upwards to God or sideways to man.

3. What is it to love God & neighbour? Western cultural focus of love: feelings, emotions, passions, romantic love. Sentimental love is changeable, can be misunderstood & misdirected. n In this command, the Greek verb is not phileo, which expresses friendly affection, but agapao, the commitment of devotion that is directed by will and can be commanded as a duty. n John 14: 15: “If you love me, you will obey my commandments. ” Feelings & emotions cannot be commanded. The love Jesus is talking about here is a love of purpose, sacrifice & hard decisions. n

…. what is it to love God & neighbour? If you never feel the love for God or man, then God has not begun a work in you…. in gradual + lifelong steps He changes us!!!! n Sometimes, we act in love and the emotions follow. If we act only on positive emotions, we are at risk of doing…… nothing! n

Who is my neighbour? Lev. 19: 18 “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people but love your neighbour as yourself. I am the LORD. ” This applies to fellow Israelite & foreigner…. . because God is Lord. n Parable of the Good Samaritan (Lk. 10: 30 -37). The point of the story is that it was a hated Samaritan who stopped to help sacrificially. It was the Samaritan who turned out to be the good neighbour. The Samaritan is the neighbour! n

…. who is my neighbour? Command to love our neighbour is to show concern and care not only for fellow Christians, or our intimate friends & acquaintances, or family, but also to those whom God loves and put in our paths. We may not find them lovable or have much in common with them. n However, as much as it lies in our power, we are to love them because God loves them. A very tall order indeed! n Jesus: “Do to others as you would have them do to you. ” (Luke 6: 31) n

‘Love your neighbour as yourself’ We need to have a healthy dose of love for ourselves: a. With a few exceptions, it is naturally comfortable to love ourselves. We take care of our body, in general, and feed it, clothe it and groom it. Jesus: as you care for yourself, care for your neighbour in the same way. Love your neighbour as I love your neighbour. We are to extend to our neighbour that kind of love with which we love ourselves.

…. love your neighbour as yourself b. People who have problem loving themselves Maybe the home or school environment they were brought up in which have caused them to believe that they are un-loveable, useless and unwanted. It would then be very difficult to love others as they themselves have not experienced the kind of love to know how to express and communicate love to others. Jesus - ‘I love you and accept you as you are. I can heal you of these inner problems. You are very valuable to me and my kingdom. ’

…. love your neighbour as yourself c. Those who LOVE themselves to such a degree: self centred, motivated only by self-interest. All self-focus ultimately leads to self-destruction. Jesus: you need to look outwards & love your neighbour? Phil. 2: 5 -8: “In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus. Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!”

…. love your neighbour as yourself d. Loving yourself can sometimes get mixed up with Jesus’ teaching to die to self & denying self as if we need to destroy our self. That is theologically incorrect! For God so loved the world (i. e. you and me) that He sent His one and only Son to die for us. How dare we not love what the Father loves, namely us ourselves? Dying to self is completely different to not loving yourself.