LOVE AND THE LAW

When you were little, did you ever find yourself saying to yourself, "Well, I know I'm not supposed to do this - but no one will mind because it won't harm anyone?"

Plenty of people go on saying just this to themselves, even when they have grown up.

There was a little girl, Dorothy, whose parents had died in the London blitz and had been evacuated to live with a family in rural Wales. Her teacher was off school ill, and of all the pupils, she alone arrived at her teacher’s door, having walked two miles, carrying a lovely spray of flowers. The teacher was greatly moved by the gesture, more so because Dorothy must have spent her last penny on the purchase. After she had left, when the teacher was arranging the flowers in a vase, to her horror she discovered a card that read - In loving memory of……..! Dorothy had visited a cemetery on the way and taken flowers off a recently buried person's grave!

Yes, Dorothy had broken a law. How wicked: yet, how lovingly she meant it! This is the dilemma of love and law.

The book, Deuteronomy, with its long lists of laws, shows how complicated life must have been for the devout Jew. Now Jesus' teaching challenged this when he emphasised the need for people to have God in their hearts, rather than going through life trying to adhere to a list of rules, ticking them off day by day.

The Bible tells of the loving relationship of God and his people, and that of the people to the God as their Sovereign Lord. It is a relationship, which offers enormous potential for creative fulfilment. It is not a relationship of equals, yet it is one in which God leads the way in self-giving.

It works against selfish individualism, whilst affirming the profound worth of the individual. It enters into a covenant agreement not to enslave but to provide the best context for liberation. God's freedom enables us to find our own true selves, in such a way that the obligation to look to others becomes not a duty but a joy. Above all, it is a relationship fired by the passion of God's love.

Jesus teaches that the renewal of the Covenant is no longer just with the Jews but with the whole world, for God sent his Son to become the principal Mediator.

In turn we must keep our side of the bargain, and give our whole-hearted loyalty to God. We must fear God, serve him, keep his commandments and walk in his ways. Above all - we must love him. This is a bouquet of mixed emotions, but it does suggest a commitment, which is total, involving heart and mind, emotion and reason.

It is a hard commandment to follow, especially for us in our time, when so many people see God as, at best, an optional extra.

But God's way of life is not about sacrificial ritual, sacrificial law-abiding, it is about sacrificial love. It is an essential part of our life, to display that love that Jesus advocates, in all our actions and in all aspects of our lives.

If we really love God with all our heart and love our neighbour as ourselves, then we will not be far from the kingdom of God.

Perhaps Dorothy was nearer the kingdom of God than any of us!

Randall Enoch
Reader, St Peter's Formby

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