What is the greatest commandment, or which is the most important commandment? Jesus is asked this question in Matthew 22, Mark 12, and Luke 10. Jesus responds by quoting Deuteronomy 6:5 and the second half of Leviticus 19:18: And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself (Luke 10:27). Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Paul reflects this in places like Romans 13 and 1 Corinthians 13.
I have always been awestruck by these responses. We often think of the law as negative statements: “Thou shall not… ” In our society today we have lots of laws against things. Do not drive over this speed, do not consume alcohol below this age, etc. But to state a law in a positive manner is much harder.
Even as a pastor it can be difficult. When I teach confirmands and Bible studies I often talk about how the Law commands us to not be jerks. But this lacks the positive aspect of love. We are not called to not be jerks; we are called to love others.
Let me put it another way, there is an ancient theory that the knowledge of good and evil gained by Adam and Eve when they ate the fruit in the garden was not actually gaining knowledge of evil but losing the knowledge of what is good.
Until we gain faith through the power of the Holy Spirit, we can only know good through an absence of evil. We see through a mirror dimly. It is like how we measure cold. We do not actually measure cold, but an absence of heat.
We are not told to be neutral about our neighbor, to not be mean. We are told to love them. This is a part of being salt and light. Salt and light affect things, change things, they make things better. Salt must touch what it affects. Light gives hope from a long way off and makes what is close visible.
Evangelism boiled down to the most basic, is the two things of loving God with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind and loving our neighbors as ourselves. It is praying with and for people. It is helping to clean up after a storm. It is dropping off a meal after a birth, funeral, emergency, etc. It is coming to church and inviting people to church and lunch after. It is sitting and listening and then sharing. It is doing a coat drive, a backpack drive, raising children, supporting your family, friends, and neighbors.
Sometimes we overthink it. We make it way more complicated than it needs to be. This Easter season, keep it simple. Love God and love your neighbor.
Christ is risen!
Rev. Daniel Ross, Evangelism Executive
