By Rev. Doc Lowrey
If the "First and Great Commandment" is "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with
all thy soul and with all thy mind." Matthew 22: 37-39 [KJV] there should be a lot of wonder about just what that means and how we accomplish it.
Jesus understood this complication and rightly followed with an extrapolation on this command in verse 39, "And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."
From this and other similar teachings from Jesus, we understand that this is pretty much the whole of his religion, but we often fail to see how this applies in our various life situations.
Jesus pointed out in the parable of the Good Samaritan that we apply this principle by caring for whomever (and I would add whatever) is placed in our path. Luke 10:25-37 [KJV]
25And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
26He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?
27And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.
28And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.
29But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?
30And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.
31And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
32And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.
33But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,
34And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
35And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.
36Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?
37And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.
It only makes sense that if we truly love god, that we can only give expression to that love by showing consideration and attention to that which god has created. Interacting with the creations of god are the only way we can directly interact with god and this is what Jesus here points out; that if we love god, we love that which god loves and show it by our behavior.
I believe that this injunction extends not only to other humans but to ALL of god's creation and that the parable of the good Samaritan is an example of how we should treat all things.
As Americans especially (citizens of the USA) is the fallout from not practicing this principle overwhelmingly self-evident. Our Imperialist behavior has destroyed or debilitated life for millions of our "neighbors", both human and animal and it has rightly earned us the hatred of the whole world.
But our collective disrespect for this dictum of god applies equally to the earth, the air, the water that we all require to survive and reach the potentials for which we were created.
This whole last week saw a climate accord meeting held in Durban, South Africa where the destruction of our habitat was mostly ignored by the two countries who together contribute at least half of the spoilation of god's creation on which we depend. One of those two countries was the USA, where we purport to be the protectors and preservers of all that is good and right in the world.
How sad it is that as all our "leaders" pound their chests and proclaim their fidelity to "GOD" and "THE PEOPLE" that their actual behavior shows nothing but profound and overwhelming disrespect and disregard for everyone and everything, except the lining of their own pockets.
It is hard for me to focus where I would like - on the earth - when our crimes against humanity and the animal world have been so horrendous but I do want to make that point; that our disrespect for the earth and our unwillingness to take bold steps to heal the damage we have done shows a distinct lack of love for god and our fellowman. (as well as everything else)
We must take our "leaders" to task on environmental issues, demanding immediate action to restore (if that can be done) what has been destroyed and initiate actions that will prevent future damage to earth. Our total failure of World Leadership on this issue is disheartening.
I don't know that we should expect much different when the value of even human life is shown to be...essentially non-existant - and it would seem that our exercises in world aid is essentially a lifeless show, a shallow public relations stunt that makes good press at home, but is seen for what it is where it is received - and like in the story of the Widow's Mite in Luke 21:2-4 where Christ praised a poor widow who gave just a tiny amount as an offering--but it was all she had. What is important is not the amount of time or money you give in service; but how selfless and generous you are with the resources you've been given, great or small.
What is more genuine--a rich man who gives a small portion of his vast wealth to charity, or a poor person who gives all that they own? Jesus challenges us to reconsider what true love and charity means. It is a matter of the spirit in which you give.
So, what spirit do we express when we pollute the earth and deprive ourselves and our neighbors of life and the means of living?
Can we claim to be a "Christian" nation or a "God fearing" (respecting) people when we murder and destroy god's creations?
[ I must add as an aside that to me the term "Christian Nation" means only that we conduct ourselves according to what Jesus claimed was the foundation of his religion - the Golden Rule and that to "Fear God", does not mean to be afraid but to respect god by loving, respecting and caring for all that god created. ]
Certainly, none of us can live this law perfectly, but we can make the attempt and learn to feel genuinely about love, gratitude and neighborliness.
If we in the USA consider ourselves the leaders of the "Free World" we certainly must reverse the current situation where we stand last to make sacrifices to save the world and it's inhabitants and learn to love and respect the earth and treat our neighbor as we would be treated.
Each of us as individuals can do all that we can do and eradicate our bad and un-neighborly habits, while we adjure and hold accountable those to whom we give power to take action on the world stage for us.
If we fail again to show a little resolve now, we will certainly experience tremendous, and likely irreversible suffering later.
If the "First and Great Commandment" is "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with
all thy soul and with all thy mind." Matthew 22: 37-39 [KJV] there should be a lot of wonder about just what that means and how we accomplish it.
Jesus understood this complication and rightly followed with an extrapolation on this command in verse 39, "And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."
From this and other similar teachings from Jesus, we understand that this is pretty much the whole of his religion, but we often fail to see how this applies in our various life situations.
Jesus pointed out in the parable of the Good Samaritan that we apply this principle by caring for whomever (and I would add whatever) is placed in our path. Luke 10:25-37 [KJV]
25And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
26He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?
27And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.
28And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.
29But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?
30And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.
31And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
32And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.
33But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,
34And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
35And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.
36Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?
37And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.
It only makes sense that if we truly love god, that we can only give expression to that love by showing consideration and attention to that which god has created. Interacting with the creations of god are the only way we can directly interact with god and this is what Jesus here points out; that if we love god, we love that which god loves and show it by our behavior.
I believe that this injunction extends not only to other humans but to ALL of god's creation and that the parable of the good Samaritan is an example of how we should treat all things.
As Americans especially (citizens of the USA) is the fallout from not practicing this principle overwhelmingly self-evident. Our Imperialist behavior has destroyed or debilitated life for millions of our "neighbors", both human and animal and it has rightly earned us the hatred of the whole world.
But our collective disrespect for this dictum of god applies equally to the earth, the air, the water that we all require to survive and reach the potentials for which we were created.
This whole last week saw a climate accord meeting held in Durban, South Africa where the destruction of our habitat was mostly ignored by the two countries who together contribute at least half of the spoilation of god's creation on which we depend. One of those two countries was the USA, where we purport to be the protectors and preservers of all that is good and right in the world.
How sad it is that as all our "leaders" pound their chests and proclaim their fidelity to "GOD" and "THE PEOPLE" that their actual behavior shows nothing but profound and overwhelming disrespect and disregard for everyone and everything, except the lining of their own pockets.
It is hard for me to focus where I would like - on the earth - when our crimes against humanity and the animal world have been so horrendous but I do want to make that point; that our disrespect for the earth and our unwillingness to take bold steps to heal the damage we have done shows a distinct lack of love for god and our fellowman. (as well as everything else)
We must take our "leaders" to task on environmental issues, demanding immediate action to restore (if that can be done) what has been destroyed and initiate actions that will prevent future damage to earth. Our total failure of World Leadership on this issue is disheartening.
I don't know that we should expect much different when the value of even human life is shown to be...essentially non-existant - and it would seem that our exercises in world aid is essentially a lifeless show, a shallow public relations stunt that makes good press at home, but is seen for what it is where it is received - and like in the story of the Widow's Mite in Luke 21:2-4 where Christ praised a poor widow who gave just a tiny amount as an offering--but it was all she had. What is important is not the amount of time or money you give in service; but how selfless and generous you are with the resources you've been given, great or small.
What is more genuine--a rich man who gives a small portion of his vast wealth to charity, or a poor person who gives all that they own? Jesus challenges us to reconsider what true love and charity means. It is a matter of the spirit in which you give.
So, what spirit do we express when we pollute the earth and deprive ourselves and our neighbors of life and the means of living?
Can we claim to be a "Christian" nation or a "God fearing" (respecting) people when we murder and destroy god's creations?
[ I must add as an aside that to me the term "Christian Nation" means only that we conduct ourselves according to what Jesus claimed was the foundation of his religion - the Golden Rule and that to "Fear God", does not mean to be afraid but to respect god by loving, respecting and caring for all that god created. ]
Certainly, none of us can live this law perfectly, but we can make the attempt and learn to feel genuinely about love, gratitude and neighborliness.
If we in the USA consider ourselves the leaders of the "Free World" we certainly must reverse the current situation where we stand last to make sacrifices to save the world and it's inhabitants and learn to love and respect the earth and treat our neighbor as we would be treated.
Each of us as individuals can do all that we can do and eradicate our bad and un-neighborly habits, while we adjure and hold accountable those to whom we give power to take action on the world stage for us.
If we fail again to show a little resolve now, we will certainly experience tremendous, and likely irreversible suffering later.