The 11th Commandment

This email was sent as an invitation to attend a meeting at Joel’s home. Although the meeting has come and gone, the content of the email may be of interest to readers.

This was supposed to be the title of last month’s letter about fear, because of the many times the words “be not afraid” and “do not fear” were declared throughout the Bible. But I usually let Pastor Bob proofread my letters and most times he stamps his seal of approval on it and I make copies and mail them. This time he said the letter was good, but the title didn’t seem appropriate. He said the 11th commandment should have been to “love one another.” No argument there, I instantly knew that he was dead on. “A new command I give you; Love one another. As I have Loved you so you must love one another.” John 13:34

“As I have Loved you” that’s a pretty heavy burden to get under. I’ve told the kids in Sunday School more than once that love is a burden. People think about love and what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Heart shapes, flowers, romance and gushy stuff like that. There was a movie back in the 70’s called, “Love Story” and in the advertisement for the movie was the phrase, “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.” What a bunch of bullhocky! Love means saying you’re sorry on a regular basis.

The highest form of Love we’ve ever known was an ugly wooden cross used to hang a human being on in torture until He died of starvation, thirst or unbearable pain. Love is discipline. “The Lord disciplines those He loves.” Proverbs 3:12 We all know that discipline is painful no matter if you’re giving or receiving. Love is sacrifice. We all know that if we love someone else we will have to concede to their wants and desires from time to time and put aside our own wishes. I have heard that the vertical section of the cross represents our rebuilt connection with God and the horizontal beam represents our reconnection to our fellow man. In Matthew 22:36-39 Jesus was asked what was the most important commandment, He replied, “to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and your neighbor as yourself. All the law and prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:40 In other words if we lived in love we could probably do away with a lot of the technical wording of the law. But until this world has its government on the shoulders of Jesus (Isaiah 9:6) we will be under the many laws that keep total chaos from reigning.

I’ve been reading a book by a neurosurgeon named Eban Alexander who was in a coma for seven days. His book was on his experience beyond this world. Although he wasn’t officially dead, he was brain dead during his coma. He is constantly referring to God’s unconditional Love. This is how Jesus loved and how He told us to love each other. Sometimes that word “unconditional” is a hard one to get a grasp on. The word “conditional” has eleven letters. The prefix, “un,” only has two. So with the devil’s help it’s easy to misread that. But that prefix not only changes the word but changes the meaning to an exact opposite.

Last night during my 3:00am Bible Study (Don’t do it every night but when I wake up during the middle of the night I’ll either pray or meditate on God’s word until I go back to sleep. My insomnia used to bother me because, “I need my sleep.” But God knows how much sleep I need and if He has something to show me I’ll get the sleep some other time. “On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night.” Psalm 63:6) I considered this verse: “For God so Loved the world that He gave His One and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16 Now notice the two words, “the world.” No exclusion here. If we have no exclusions that would mean this Love in unconditional.

Now put your teeth in cause this is going to get tough to chew. Adolph Hitler was responsible for the deaths of millions of people. Many were killed fighting in that horrible war but 6 million Jews (God’s chosen people no less) were out and out murdered in cold blood, not as a result of war, but simply out of hatred. If God did not exclude Adolph Hitler in John 3:16 can it be true that God loved him? Are we not commanded to do the same? Although WWII was in a distant time and a distant place (for most of us) it’s a little easier to love through a telescope.

Now let’s bring things closer. How about the man who murdered the children in Connecticut? Closer still, how about the two who caged their own daughter and starved her near to death while she was rolling in her own feces? Closer still, how about the neighbor, coworker, friend or relative who did you wrong? Petty crimes against us prepare us for bigger things. Whether bigger things come or not is not important. What is important is that we be ready for whatever comes our way.

Also love is not always about forgiveness – don’t forget about the story of the Good Samaritan. Anyway there’s too much ground to cover on the subject here, so we will address all we can at our next meeting.

We’ll be talking about love, but don’t bring flowers or chocolates, we have a cross to bear!

I have much to write you, but I do not want to do so with pen and ink.
I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face.
Peace to you. The friends here send their greetings.
Greet the friends there by name.
III John 13, 14