Lent 3: Knowing the Law Part Two Deuteronomy 6:1-9 Psalm 106: 1-5 Timothy 1:12-15 Mark 12:28-34 Last week, we took a close look at those wonderful 10 commandments, those "basic" rules or laws of how we are to lead our lives. Over the years between Moses and Jesus ministry, those keepers of the law expanded those 10 rules to a point that there were some 613 laws on the books: 248 laws to do, 365 laws to not do! Wow! How can we possibly keep those 613 laws if we can't even handle the 10 commandments? Well Jesus did something spectacular for us. He didn't eliminate the laws. He simply combined all these laws into one truly inspired statement. It was nothing new that he offered, it had already been spelled out in scripture: "Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength" Deuteronomy 6:5 "Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself" Leviticus 19:18 Jesus said: 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these." Mark 12:29-31 Inspiring isn't it? If we follow Jesus' statement, all those commandments should fall into place. The scribe had no objection to this. Well done Jesus. Well done because I concur. Well done because I agree. Well done because I see things the same way. But what happens when Jesus says things we don't agree with? Sometimes Jesus says things we don't like. What happened when Jesus said things the religious people didn't like? We know what happened when Jesus said things the religious people didn't like. They plotted to get Him. They killed Him. They hung Him on a cross. Can you think of anything the Bible says that you don't like? Can you think of anything Jesus said that you don't like? I can think of things that I don't like and things I know other don't like. There's quite a bit about money. Jesus saw money as something that came between the people and God then, and obviously knew money could be a hindrance in our Christian lives today. And it often is. And just because we may not like to hear about it doesn't mean we should ignore what scripture tells us about money. There's a lot in the Bible about forgiveness. When Peter asked how many times he had to forgive someone? Jesus said you are to forgive them over and over and over and over and over. Some of us don't like to hear that. We may think "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." I don't believe Jesus means you let someone physically or emotionally abuse you, and you forgive them and let them hit you or emotionally abuse you again. But I do believe Jesus means you forgive them, even if you don't put yourself in a position to be abused again. Some people don't like it that Jesus said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life." Some people don't like that Jesus said He was the only way to the Father. Some people don't like it when Christians say Jesus is the only way. I don't personally want to hurt others' feelings or make them feel like we think our religion is superior to theirs. We sound judgmental. But the Bible tells us that Jesus died on the cross to save us from our sin. "That there is no other way to God but through Jesus" doesn't go over well with some people. A.W. Tozer says "Whoever is on God's side is on the winning side and cannot lose. Whoever is on the other side is on the losing side and cannot win." The list goes on and on. Sometimes we're like the religious leaders of Jesus day, and we say, "Yes, Jesus. We agree with you. Well said." Other times we're like the Pharisees and Sadducees. We want to ignore what the Bible says and what Jesus says. Or we want to spin it in such a way that it agrees with our thinking. Just because we don't agree or think maybe Jesus shouldn't have said something, it doesn't make us right. In the verse before our Scripture started, Jesus told the Sadducees, "...you are quite wrong." A.J. Tozer also writes, "The idolater simply imagines things about God and acts as if they were true. Perverted notions about God soon rot the religion in which they appear." Jesus and the Holy Scriptures teach that walking the Christian walk and being a disciple of Jesus is going to consist of things that go against our own desires and sometimes against our earthly self-interests. God's Word will at times make us and others uncomfortable. Jesus went so far as to say the world would hate us, but not to be concerned. They hated Him first. But don't be concerned. He has overcome the world. It doesn't matter if we like what we hear or read from the Bible. It's how we react when we don't like what we hear or read. When there is a disagreement, we mustn't simply act as if we're right and Jesus is wrong. Jesus is never wrong. The difficult part is deciding which things were written because of the society and culture at that time and what is meant to guide us today. We mustn't explain away God's eternal plan because we don't like it, and we mustn't cling to things written specifically for a certain audience that were never meant to be eternal. And sometimes it's impossible to figure out which is which. Loving God and loving your neighbor as yourself is an eternal idea. We know the rules. We know those commandments given by God for us to live. By loving God and loving our neighbours we are embracing all these rules, and these laws as we face the trials in our everyday lives. Gracious, True, and Perfect God. We thank you for your Word that is sometimes music to our ears. When we read and hear about Your love for us, it can bring us to tears of joy. When we remember that Your love for us cost Jesus His life on the cross, it can bring us to tears of sorrow. And when we repent and turn our lives over to You as You have commanded us to do, it can bring us to tears of relief. Lord, for those You have spoken to and called today to turn for forgiveness, turn from their sin, and turn their lives over to You, and accept Jesus as Savior, hear their cry. If this is you today, cry out from your heart to Him. He will surely forgive you and save you. And God for those of us who already call Jesus our Lord and Savior, soften our hearts even more to accept that there is still work to be done in our lives. Help us to understand that when we hear your Word and it is not music to our ears, but might even upset us, that that's a good thing and that it may just be that You are at work in our lives to make us more like You. Help each of us to leave here either a little or a lot different today for Your Glory and in Jesus' Holy Name we pray, Amen.