Day 10 — Love Your Neighbour
Matthew 22: 34-40
Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “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. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Like most parents, we are currently in lock-down at home with our 4 children. Our children, as delightful as they are (and they really are delightful!) are mess-machines! They have this almost supernatural ability to generate disorder wherever they go. Increasingly, over the last few days, I have found myself bewildered and frustrated at their inability to tidy up after themselves. Especially when the solution seems so ridiculously simple; take out a game, then put it away. Make some toast, then clear away. Ridiculously simple and yet inconceivably impossible!
Within the context of the crisis we are all currently living through, Jesus’ response to the Pharisees feels starkly pertinent. Held within these verses are some of the most profound and essential statements that Jesus ever spoke. Instructions that seem so blindingly straightforward, and yet so deeply challenging. If you stop and think about the magnitude of Jesus’ words for just a moment, it’s not an exaggeration to suggest that if every human being simultaneously decided to heed his instructions, the world would be a radically transformed place.
We are to love God with every part of who we are, and then the implication is that if we begin to get that part right, the second commandment to love our neighbour as ourselves will come easily (but not without cost). To love God is often hidden; an internal desire of the soul. But to love our neighbour (even the tricky ones) as we love ourselves, then that becomes the outward, visible, expression of our love for God. It’s actually impossible to truly love God and not love our neighbour, but it’s also futile to love our neighbour without being held and sustained within the reciprocal love of God.
It reminds me of that moment on an aeroplane when the flight attendant is doing the safety demonstration, and they say (something like) “in the event that the air pressure drops and the oxygen masks are needed - ensure that you secure your own mask before helping the person next to you.” In many ways it feels like we are living through a moment in history when, metaphorically, the “air pressure” has dropped. It’s fundamental that we ensure that our own source of oxygen is good, but then the only humane response is to turn to our neighbour and offer any help that they might need.
We have just launched an initiative called LoveYourNeighbour. It’s our local response to the Covid-19 pandemic. We want to play our part in serving the needs of our community in practical ways at this time. Find out how you can get involved here.
Rachel Hughes
Lead Pastor