In other words, the essence of everything
in the OT is bound up in those two short sentences: our unreserved and whole
hearted love for God on the one hand -- he must the motivation of all of our
lives and everything that we do.... as well as the ultimate object of our
worship. There is only one God - and none other. But the love of God will be empty and
meaningless and also hypocritical unless it is also accompanied by our caring
and loving for those around us..... particularly those in need.
As the lawyer in Luke's gospel who went on
to asked : but who is my neighbour..... And Jesus went on to talk about the man
who went down on the road to Jericho who was set upon by thieves and robbers
and who was not only robbed but also beaten brutally and left to die. The sad sad reflection there of people who
were supposed to be leaders in loving God in their religious duties, but who
failed utterly as they walked by on the other side. Do we get so busy in serving God that we fail
to notice or fail to act for those who are in need or who are suffering ?
Both of these commandments are hard. We are self centred people and we live in a
world which panders to our own need and pleasure. We are encouraged to think that if it feels
good then we may do it..... regardless of the consequences to other people....
The adevertisements emphasize about things that are easy: songs need to be easy listening, learning
needs to be at our convenience, food needs to instant, it is an enjoy now pay
later philosophy. It is a generation of
soft options. Worst still our hearts are getting desenitized by our constant
exposure to violence, pain, starvation and death.
As for loving God, it is a world that is
full of activities of noises and in the midst of all this rush, it is hard if
not impossible to be still and to listen to God and to love him
with all of our hearts. But if these commandments are hard, then
what Jesus gave, as the new commandment is just as hard, if not harder: A new commandment I give to you, that you
love one another.....as I have loved you so you must love one another.
What is the difference between loving one's
neighbour and loving one's brother ?
Well one's neighbour is more or less remote from our lives. And we may choose to love him or her at our convenience. (I was given an illustration of that when out of the blue a guy from the victim support group rang me asking if I needed any support after our house was burgled. But he refused to give me more than just his first name, and no telephone number, just in case we get too close and make life too difficult for them)
Well one's neighbour is more or less remote from our lives. And we may choose to love him or her at our convenience. (I was given an illustration of that when out of the blue a guy from the victim support group rang me asking if I needed any support after our house was burgled. But he refused to give me more than just his first name, and no telephone number, just in case we get too close and make life too difficult for them)
But our brothers and the people of our own
family are close at hand and we cannot ignore them. And the closer one is with another person,
the more easily one can notice their faults.
Newly weds always have great expectations of their lives together, but
they always find at close proximity, one begin to discover things that we fail
to notice before. Things that we don't like and things we wish were not there. At that point, they will need to decide
either they learn to accept one another, and to trust God to give them genuine
unshakable and unshockable love for one another despite
difficulties, or as many have chosen to do, to part company.
What about our lives together in a church,
in a Christian fellowship, in a cell group. Is it just as hard ? Well I have been encouraged by the most
sensitive caring and loving I have ever experienced in my life in my house
group recently, but I have also been saddened to hear of churches and
fellowship that are on the brink of a split or disagreement over something
relatively minor. But we have no option. Jesus has commanded us to love one
another. He has asked us to love as he
has loved. He has asked us to lay down
our lives for our brothers and sisters.
What does that mean ? That means
1. accepting them as they are :
I don't know how you get given your small
group, but when Jesus chose his 12 apostles, he got quite a mixed bag....You
have a very impetuous Simon Peter, a fiery temper James and John, a deceitful
and treacherous Judas, a doubting Thomas, a political activist in Simon the
Zealot, and a loving caring person in John, a money wise Matthew... Jesus spent
three years eating with them sleeping with them, travelling with them..... He
knew what they were like but he accepted them and found pleasure in discovering
their strength as well as coping with their faults and weaknesses..... Their
constant quarrel for power, their forgetfulness about Jesus power, their lack
of faith....their sleepiness in the midst of battle....
Tiny flowers in the desert.....Beautiful but undiscovered until one looks under the microscope.
What does that mean ? That means
1. accepting them as they are :
I don't know how you get given your small
group, but when Jesus chose his 12 apostles, he got quite a mixed bag....You
have a very impetuous Simon Peter, a fiery temper James and John, a deceitful
and treacherous Judas, a doubting Thomas, a political activist in Simon the
Zealot, and a loving caring person in John, a money wise Matthew... Jesus spent
three years eating with them sleeping with them, travelling with them..... He
knew what they were like but he accepted them and found pleasure in discovering
their strength as well as coping with their faults and weaknesses..... Their
constant quarrel for power, their forgetfulness about Jesus power, their lack
of faith....their sleepiness in the midst of battle....Tiny flowers in the desert.....Beautiful but undiscovered until one looks under the microscope.
2. serving them:
In the chapter just before Jesus gave this commandment, Jesus washed the disciples feet. A menial task instead. One of the hardest things about being a leader is servanthood..... The worldly leaders want to be served Jesus said but not so among you; he who is greatest must be servant to all......
What is our modern day equivalent of washing one another's feet ?
a. listening to one another. Someone has said: listening is the highest form of love.
b. carrying one another's burden : Gal. 6:1
A sister was carrying little brother wherever she goes.
Someone remarks: what a heavy burden...
Not a burden. He is my brother.
Cain slew his brother Abel then asked : Am I my brother's keeper ?
Answer is yes. You are.....
c. praying for one another : together and separately.
d. provide for one another's needs: material, spiritual, emotional
In the chapter just before Jesus gave this commandment, Jesus washed the disciples feet. A menial task instead. One of the hardest things about being a leader is servanthood..... The worldly leaders want to be served Jesus said but not so among you; he who is greatest must be servant to all......
What is our modern day equivalent of washing one another's feet ?
a. listening to one another. Someone has said: listening is the highest form of love.
b. carrying one another's burden : Gal. 6:1
A sister was carrying little brother wherever she goes.
Someone remarks: what a heavy burden...
Not a burden. He is my brother.
Cain slew his brother Abel then asked : Am I my brother's keeper ?
Answer is yes. You are.....
c. praying for one another : together and separately.
d. provide for one another's needs: material, spiritual, emotional
3. Nurturing them: Make sure you plan for
your group, so that they grow. Find out what their strength and
weaknesses. Provide opportunity for
developing their strength. Make
provision for their weaknesses. Jesus
trains his disciples and took them to where he goes, expose them to the
problems and show them how to cope with each challenges......
4. Laying down one's life: put others first......ready to die for our
brothers.....Someone has said that it is probably easier to die than to live
with one's brothers. It means saying no
to oneself and one's needs and put the needs of the other before you. It means suffering, rejection, getting
hurt, being misunderstood. It means exactly what Jesus had to go
through when the best and closest of his disciples denied him, and another
betrayed him for thirty pieces of silver, and all the rest ran away at the most
crucial time. 1 Cor 13 gives a description of what real love is
like....Rather daunting it is. But someone said, one could have easily
put Jesus name there and it does not sound so bad. That is probably the point.... It is a love
that is impossible and sound too theoretical until....until Jesus lives it,
through us..... I am glad that Love is one of the fruit of the Holy Spirit and
I don't have to produce it by my own strength because it is too hard... And every time when I was ready to give up
..... we read love never fails.... or better still Jesus' love in me and
through me never fails......
About a year ago I was involved in helping
a young person who was in desperate need.
And I poured everything I had into the person....Time, energy, prayer,
and so on. And for the next two months
it was a wonderfully rewarding situation to see the measure of security and
healing in that person's life. And the
person in gratitude returned that love.
But for a person who has never learned to love or be loved, it was too
hard and too risky to give or receive love and all of a sudden, I was rejected
outright. The person refused to see me
and retreated into a world of its own. I
felt terribly hurt. God has intervened
and provided amazing provision of healing for me and somewhat healing of that
relationship. But even now I still
cannot completely forget that rejection and hurt, and I am somewhat reluctant
to get deep involved with similar situation and people. One of the hardest thing about loving people
is that you will and can be hurt. Jesus
himself went through that deep hurt when Peter turned on him. But he forgave Peter and gave a new lease of
life to Peter and commissioned him, and he became the pillar of the first NT
church.(Wellington Overseas Christian Fellowship-- Cell Group Leaders Training)
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