In loving obedience

 John 14:23. NIV

Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.

I wonder what the world would be like if Christians took Jesus’ teachings most seriously?  I mean, we say we follow Jesus, but if we are honest we will see that too often we are following Paul  or Moses more closely than Jesus.  What would it be like if we were to ignore what Paul wrote entirely, and allowed the Laws of Moses to be condensed back into the Ten Commandments they expanded upon? All of the household codes that we disagree about are in the Epistles, not in the Gospels.  All of the abominations we fuss about are in the Laws of Moses.  Nothing Jesus said would lead us to approve of slavery, the oppression of women, the oppression of homosexuals, or the poor.  Nothing in the Four Gospels would lead us to allow the oppression of anyone, in fact.  What if we were to focus entirely on the two most important commandments, the two upon which Jesus said all of the Law and the Prophets depend?  

Mind you, there is much good in the Letters and the Books of Moses.  Both focus on how communities should get along together, but as time went those who interpreted the laws expanded upon them, making them more detailed and restrictive.  Even today, the Laws of Moses are continually revised and updated so that, for example, no one need question whether a thing is work or not as relates to Sabbath observance.  Everything is spelled out in great detail.  Jesus, on the other hand, was always a proponent of obeying the spirit of the law rather than the letter of the law.  

In the story of the Good Samaritan, the people who passed him were obeying the Law in avoiding contact with a person who was bleeding so that they might enter the Temple.  In the story of the woman at the well, Jesus went against the law to speak with that woman, but that enabled him to reach the entire village with the Good News.  When the Pharisees called Jesus out because his followers were plucking and eating grains - working! - on the Sabbath, Jesus reminded them that God had said, “I desire mercy and not sacrifice.”  Again, when they called him out for healing on the Sabbath he called them hypocrits, “Does not each of you on the sabbath untie his ox or donkey from the manger and lead it away to give it water?”. The money changers in the Temple courtyard were operating lawfully, but even though lawful their actions were immoral, so Jesus chased them out.   Paul says women should not teach men, but Jesus sent the women to tell the men about his resurrection. 

When we are making a decision about an action, I think it is better to see how our action fits with the Love Commandments than with rules written by humans.  If we are wondering whether a thing is bad, we shouldn’t go looking for whether or not there is a rule against it.  If we have to ask whether it is wrong/bad/immoral, it probably is.  

If we love Jesus, we will obey his teachings, and he will live within us.

Lord of Love, may we always keep Jesus teachings at the front of our minds. May the laws of love which he taught us guide our words and actions always.  Amen