Quick – what is the most important thing to Christian faith?  Whether you are a Christian or not, have studied the bible or not, you probably have an opinion…you’ve seen what Christians emphasize, or not.

Now let’s see what Jesus said:

Matthew 22:35-40

…a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

Love God, love neighbour.  Jesus says loving our neighbour is the second most important commandment in the world.  Depending on your interpretation of “like it” the commandments may even have equal stature!

This was a testing question – the Pharisees, religious lawyers, would have been happy to see Jesus was giving their enemies the Sadducees a hard time just before this story happened, but would be very concerned not to support him unless he was orthodox – teaching the right things.  He was risky – he seemed to be a religious rebel, too creative and original.  Was he really one of them?  Was he really a devout Jew?

So they asked this question to see if he was law abiding.  Their faith had 613 laws – all equally valid – so they asked him to pick one that is most important, hoping he’d fall into their trap and say some laws are not important, or invalid, and contradict God himself in the process.

To answer their question, Jesus quoted directly from two separate sections from the Old Testament part of the Bible.  He gave the perfect answer, in many ways it was orthodoxy in a nutshell.  The first was said every day by a devout Jew, so very familiar.  It’s possible Jesus was the first to put that familiar saying together with the commandment to love one’s neighbour, but it has a beauty and elegant symmetry to it.  Love God, people.

He didn’t dismiss anything and prove himself to be a heretic.  All ten commandments, and all other 600+ laws can be seen to “hang” under these two “hooks” or as this translation says, “depend” on these two commands.

Question: Make two columns on a piece of paper, or in your phone.  One column says “love God” and the other “love neighbour.”  Go through the ten commandments below and try to fit them in.

  1. “You shall have no other gods before me.
  2. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
  3. “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.
  4. “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
  5. “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.
  6. “You shall not murder.
  7. “You shall not commit adultery.
  8. “You shall not steal.
  9. “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
  10. “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.”

Exodus 20:3-17 ESV

Ryan Sim - February 5, 2014

Wednesday - Change It - Reset: Money

This week we’re trying to see the difference between a follower of Jesus, and someone else, in terms of how we see and use money. Maybe you’ve seen a video going around the Internet with Kevin O’Leary, of Dragon’s Den, saying it’s just fantastic that the richest 85 people in the world have as much wealth as the 3.5 billion poorest. He says it’s fantastic because it will inspire the poor to get rich themselves. We’ve attached it if you’d like to watch. The Bible thinks quite differently about the relationship between rich and poor, in the passage that immediately follows what we read yesterday: As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life. (1 Timothy 6:17-19 ESV) Paul uses the same language Jesus is known for using – he refers to storing up treasure in heaven. When we are generous, sharing with those in need, we are actually doing something of real value and eternal value that Paul calls a good foundation for the future. That is truly life. When others hoard, they are missing the point. They are living a false life with limited value and longevity. Finding that balance is of course always hard. How much is enough to gain, save, and give? Yesterday’s reading set a low bar: But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. I have always liked a sermon preached by John Wesley centuries ago on the topic of money, that could be summed up as: Gain all you can, save all you can, give all you can. In isolation, each part would bring destruction, but together they make sense. You have to make money to be generous, but if you pursue making too much, you will crash or lose faith. You also have to save money to give money – wisely spending to have some left over, and by having stability in order to help others. Question: How else do you think a follower of Jesus looks at money differently from someone else? How does gaining/saving/giving all you can impact retirement, debt, etc. Why?

Related Topics: Money, Poor, Reset | More Messages from Ryan Sim | Download Audio

From Series: "Reset"

When our computers get bogged down and unmanageable, we know to hit a reset button to simply start over. Wouldn't a reset button be great in life? We know it would be complicated, with all our responsibilities and routines to consider, but imagine the freedom and refreshment of a new start in life! What would you do differently? What would you pay more attention to, and what would you ignore? How would you avoid getting bogged down and broken again? The great news is, in coming to earth as Jesus Christ, God has begun to "reset" our universe, our world, and even us. We're invited to start over with him, in what he calls his kingdom. We're invited to start a new life with a clean slate. What gets wiped clean, and lived differently, when God resets our lives? We'll explore how God resets these key areas of our lives: Reset: Goals Reset: Time Reset: Money Reset: Work Reset: Body & Food Reset: Sex & Marriage Reset: Family Reset: Compassion Reset: Nature Reset: Society Reset: Death Join us for the next several weeks, and invite God to reset your life.

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