6 March 2011

Psalm 148, 149, 150; Deut. 6:1-9; Heb. 12:18-29; John 12:24-32

“You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” What room does that leave for anything and anyone else? A few weeks ago I borrowed a concept from the philosopher William James, “precursive faith”, that I believe is operative here. The concept says that there are some forms of knowledge that are not accessible merely through investigation but require a person to take a step of faith in that direction in order to make that knowledge available. Precursive faith is the faith that goes before and it is required to gain certain forms of knowledge. Here, the key to truly loving others and loving anything else properly is found in first loving God with everything we are. When we love Him we are filled with love that overflows to the world and are able to love the world not for itself but for the Lord who has created all things and loves all things as His own. We are able to love the world as God does.

Jesus teaches the concept of the Shema above. He teaches the paradox of loving God completely in words and soon He will teach it in deed. He is not teaching some form of Zen here that seeks to empty the soul of desire for life in order to achieve fulfillment and enlightenment. When we empty ourselves of worldly desire we do so in order to be filled with desire for the creator of the world. Unlike Buddhism we recognize that the world we live in is indeed good because it has a Creator who is Himself good. The problem of the world is not a result of malicious intent by the creator but instead is us who were created good and chose to rebel against our Creator. Jesus here says that if we “hate our life in this world we will keep it for eternal life.” We are indeed to so long for eternity where we are completely set free from sin that in contrast we “hate” this life and simply offer it for the glory of God.

Reverence and awe should be an important part of our worship and our lives. Yes, we have a relationship with the living God that is expressed in the words, “Our Father” but that is a concept that should never be used to diminish Him in any way. He remains other and apart by virtue of His holiness and His power. We should never lose the sense of reverence and awe with which we come to the throne in prayer and we should never presume to anything like equality. Unlike the Israelites at Mt Sinai, however, we know that He has called us to come close to the throne but we always do so not on our own merits but via the blood of Jesus. Through Jesus we are able truly to love the Lord because in the face of Jesus and the cross of Jesus we see the love of God for us. Let us draw near with faith to Him who has redeemed us from sin and death to life eternal!

Praise the LORD!Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens!
Praise him for his mighty deeds;
praise him according to his excellent greatness!

Let everything that has breath praise the LORD! Praise the LORD!