West Main

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: ‘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’” (Matthew 22:36-38). The previous exchange between Jesus and a Pharisee, an expert in the Law of Moses, raises some interesting questions. For instance, nowhere in the Old Testament does it say, “Here is the first and greatest commandment.” If there were such a passage, then Jesus could have simply quoted “book, chapter, and verse”—discussion over. Yet there are a lot of commandments in the Law and the human inclination to ask, “Which is of these commandments is most important,” seems like a natural thing to ponder.

 

 

After all, would we consider such commandments as “‘Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material” and “Do not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molech,” as equal in importance (Leviticus 19:19; 18:21)? On the other hand, our assuming we can know what God considers more important or less important could be a dangerous presumption on our part to know the mind of God. What if our rating of God’s commandments is off? Would we be regarding as less what God regards as more? Would not such a summation potentially cheapen what God has revealed because what is most important seems to make everything else in comparison less important? Can we summarize a complex Mosaic Law in one or two commandments?

 

 

Furthermore, there is another question raised in this exchange between Jesus and the expert in the Law that bears mentioning. The greatest commandment centers on “love.” How can we be commanded “to love”? Does not love require a free choice? Would you want someone to love you because they were obeying a command or because they chose freely to love you? Does the command to love not sound odd? Obedience strikes us as being forced or compelled to do something whether or not we agree. To obey a command to love seems to rob love of its genuineness. To command love appears to say, “I might not love you if I was not commanded to love you, but out of obedience I will do what I am told.” My true feelings of love and my loving actions are not necessarily a true reflection of one another. In other words, love as a command can be faked.

 

 

Additionally, God commanding love brings up what some call “the rich-spouse predicament.” How does a rich spouse know whether he or she is being loved for himself or herself or for their money? In other words, do we love God for who He is or because He promises us eternal gifts? Or to put the matter more negatively, do we love God because He is worthy, or out of a fear of being condemned to hell? Do we love God because we fear losing His good gifts like one who loves a rich-spouse out of fear of being poor?

 

 

God, unlike the “rich-spouse predicament,” knows our hearts and minds. God knows whether or not we love Him for who He is in-and-of Himself or for what He will or will not do for us. In a strange twist, we are the “spouse-in-doubt” in the rich-spouse predicament! By commanding us to love Him, God is only seeking to bring our hearts back to Him. But we are full of the doubt and disobedience of sin. We need the command to “Love God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength,” because our heart, mind, soul, and strength is crippled by sin and death. “First things first,” we sometimes say. Therefore, the command to love God is God’s gift of love to us. In obedience we come to know what and whom we truly love. What are we willing to sacrifice, discipline, think, and do for love? In the act of obedience comes the gift of repentance. In obedience and disobedience our hearts and loves are revealed. So, the road to love begins with the command to Love God: “This is the first and greatest commandment.”

 

– Terry

 

 

 

Camp Registration Forms Needed  -- This Sunday, June 15, is the camp registration deadline. Please turn in your registration ASAP! You don’t want to miss out on this great time at camp this year. Turn in your registrations to Brian Pannell, Kristy Moreno or the church office.

 

 

This Sunday Evening at 6:00 p.m. we will have a Congregational Singing as we learn new songs.  Please bring finger foods to share for our fellowhip time following services.

 

 

Vacation Bible School  --  Our theme this year is: Kingdom Rock - Where Kids Stand Strong for the Lord, and is for kids who have finished Kindergarten through 6^th grade. If you need more info or would like to volunteer to help, please contact Denise Beeks.

 

 

Help Needed  -- We need help with our Sunday Morning Nursery during services. If you can help with a Sunday, please contact Diane Liles to volunteer.

 

 

KIA and Service Projects Calendar  -- Wednesday Evenings 6:30-7:30 p.m.

 

June 18: KIA Game Night and Snacks (Books of the Bible)

Service Project For Everyone: Pass out BBQ invitations for Lewis Park BBQ and VBS.

 

June 25: Neighborhood BBQ at Lewis Park at 6:30 p.m. Everyone is invited to attend.

 

July 2: KIA Singing - time and place to be announced. See Denise Beeks for info.

 

 

Couples Wedding Shower  --  We will be honoring Alisha Kelton and Michael Premer with a Couples Wedding Shower on Sunday evening, June 22, at 7:00 p.m. (No Life Group on this Sunday Evening.) This will be a Creative Cupcake Fellowship, so bring your best cupcakes to share. Alisha and Michael are registered at Bed, Bath, and Beyond and Macy’s or you may call her mom, Mary Kelton, if you need more gift ideas.