One Nation (Part three)

Jesus said the Greatest Commandment was “To love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength, and the second is like it, Love your neighbor as yourself. On these two rest all the Law and the Prophets.” But in Matthew 7:12 he also says, “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” Paul, in Romans 13:9-10 and in Galatians 5:14, reaffirms this as well. But did Paul and Jesus put a contradiction in the Word of God? Is there one Greatest Commandment or two?

There are many apparent paradoxes in the Bible. Understanding how these contradictions can exist can yield surprising insights. In this case, we fulfill the command to love God by loving our neighbor. This is seen most clearly in the story of the Good Samaritan. If I put God before my neighbor, I am just like the priest and the Levite from that parable. But if there is a choice between getting to church on time or stopping to help someone broken down on the side of the road, perhaps I should choose the latter next time, instead of the former, as I am wont to do - even if it makes me late, or makes me uncomfortable, or puts me in danger. And if there is any doubt about whether God wants us to reach out to people who look different, speak differently or worship differently, look around at the consequences of staying silent. If I had been the one who rear-ended that black man in South Carolina, I am positive I’d have driven away. Now I know the right thing is to stay and speak the truth, and if it means getting a summons, so be it. This is not happening to someone else, somewhere else. George Floyd was not just my neighbor, he was my brother. Michael Brown was my brother. Eric Garner was my brother. Sean Reed, Daquan Jones, Rodney King. I could go on and on and on and on.

The point is not whether these people were innocent of any crime. None of us can stand before God and be found innocent without the blood of Jesus. The point is, He has shown us what is good: that we seek Justice, love Mercy and walk humbly with our God (Micah 6:8).

Justice and Mercy are, I think, another paradox. God is both perfectly Just and perfectly Merciful. We see that Justice without Mercy is too hard. But Mercy without Justice is too soft. We all desire Justice when we have been wronged. And we all need Mercy when we do wrong. I pray that I can remember the mercy God has shown me for all my many sins. I pray that I can see every one of my brothers and sisters as God sees them.

That includes both George Floyd and Derek Chauvin. Yes, I think we need to forgive the police officer who killed George Floyd. First, because Jesus said we should love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. But moreover, we need to forgive him in order that we might seek justice and not revenge. If we fail to forgive, we carry that bitterness around with us and it eats us alive from the inside, "like acid in a metal container" as Bishop Desmond Tutu once said.

Make no mistake, all four officers involved in George’s murder need to be brought to justice. I am glad there will be a trial. That seems all too rare, which is most certainly part of the problem. I think we were all frustrated and appalled to have to wait three days for charges to be filed against Chauvin and even longer for the others to be charged. Perhaps if there was a track record of policemen being held accountable for their actions, swiftly and fairly, the protests would not have been needed, and the riots would not have exploded. So yes, we should hunger and thirst after justice and righteousness as if our very lives depend on it. If we do that, Jesus promises that we shall be satisfied. But let us also remember the very next beatitude: blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

Then, if we are pure in heart, we shall see God. And then, and only then can we become Peacemakers. For there can be no Peace without Justice. That will only build resentment, as we have seen over the history of our country. And there can be no Justice without Mercy. And we can strive for none of that from a position of might or authority or being “holier than thou”. I am a sinner. I have prejudices that I need to be aware of and work to overcome. So do you. So does everyone.

When I think back on the dream I was given, I do not think God was ordaining what will be. He gave us Free Will to choose to love Him or not. He is giving us a challenge and an opportunity. Only a few days after God rescued the Israelites from slavery, they rebelled against Him, making the golden idol while Moses was up on the mountain receiving the Ten Commandments. The book of Exodus says God was ready to wipe them all out and start over, but Moses intervened and prayed to God and God changed His mind. Now, I don’t really understand how an omnipotent, omniscient, immortal being can change His mind, but that is what the Bible says, so I believe it to be true. That is, if Moses had reacted differently, God would have wiped out the nation of Israel and started again with the nation of Moses.

Christians in this country are fond of saying that the United States is a chosen nation, set aside by God to fulfill His purpose. That may be, but He has also given us Free Will. Interestingly, while Galatians 5:14 commands us to love our neighbor, the next verse says, "If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.” If we do not change how we live out his commandments – rather, His One Greatest Commandment – He will let us destroy ourselves and start over with someone else. The choice is up to each one of us. Will we walk by the Spirit or to gratify the desires of the flesh? Galatians 5:22-23 says, “The Fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”

The reason for the two Greatest Commandments, rather than just "love your neighbor" is that people are so unlovable. As Jerry Seinfeld once said, "People are the worst." We need to go beyond loving those who love us, who are like us. The Samaritan was such a shocking story because they were the mortal enemies of the Jews. It was not the Jew helping his enemy. It was the godless, faithless Samaritan saving the Jew. It might be similar to an al Qaeda terrorist finding an injured American soldier, bringing him to a hospital, then donating blood to save his life and paying for his hospital bills and if he couldn't afford it, volunteering to work off his debt. We need to see each other as God sees us. We need to love each other as God has loved us. If we cannot do that as individuals and as a nation, we will destroy ourselves.