Law Abiding Citizens

Teacher, what is the greatest commandment in the Law?

This is the week of the Commandments, the Top Ten. When Moses hears the voice of God atop the mountain of God, he brings to the people of God an instruction which is about creating relationship with God – and with each other.

We can hear these as being ostensibly about rules and obedience when their heart is about relationship.

You shall love the Lord you God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.

The “dos and don’ts” of the Commandments are about how we worship God and how we live with each other. The people of Israel articulated these Laws, under the auspice of God, to identify themselves as different, as “set apart” people.

Throughout the establishment of Israel , they are urged by God and the prophets to not be like the other nations. Their desire to put their God before all others was a hallmark of their faithfulness and their identity.

In our world right now, there are more and more laws being brought to bear, of mistrust, suspicion, secrecy and punishment, all leading into a culture of fear. Those who dress, or sound, or pray, or eat differently from us are under suspicion.

And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’

Let us stand for a different Law from the ones being touted and enacted right now, as suspicion begets fear and fear begets violence. This is the time now for the people of the greatest commandments to proclaim our identity, to establish ourselves as people of the kingdom of God.

We will be neither confined by the appalling acts in the Middle East, nor constrained by the political expedience which favours law and punishment over community building and relationships.

We are the people of the extra mile, who seek to love our parents, our neighbours and our enemies. We are the people of Christ – and none other. Let’s live like Jesus.

All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.