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Grace, mercy, and peace be unto you from God our Father, and from our dear Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, the text for this morning comes from the Gospel reading. You may be seated. A quiz that your pastor probably gave you when you were in confirmation class: Jesus said the Ten Commandments could be summed up in two statements. And what would those two statements be? You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. All of the Ten Commandments summarized in those two statements.
And the summary of the law is love. Love, not obedience. Love. Obedience always has the connotation that there is a limit. Love is no limit. Enter the Pharisees and the select few of the scribes who quiz Jesus. They see Jesus’ disciples not wash their hands, and it had nothing to do with sanitation. The Jews washed their hands in order to fulfill one of their 613 additional codes besides the Ten Commandments. So you thought it was hard to memorize Ten Commandments. Can you imagine memorizing 613 more? Wow!
And answer the question, what does this mean? What had happened was that the Pharisees and the scribes, in all good intentions, but you know how all good intentions are, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Their good intentions were to ensure that the Ten Commandments would be kept pure and holy. The problem was, they began to teach these additional 613 rules and regulations to the Pharisees as actually being more important than the Ten Commandments.
Hence why Jesus said, you teach the traditions of men as the teachings of God. What was it all about? They were teaching these commands or these codes as being what was necessary to have a relationship with God. What? They taught them as these are the things in order for you to have a relationship with God. They’re prescribing codes, and they’re really prescribing love, which means it’s not a relational thing any longer. It’s a non-relational thing.
Jesus never said the commandments were about non-relationship. The commandments were given because he has had and has created a relationship with you. He takes the focus off of the regulations and lays it smack where it needs to lay: Love. Regulations are always prescribed with a limit. You are to do thus and so. Well, yes, you high achievers and type A’s always went beyond what the teacher said. Well done. I was not one of them. I’m sorry, but I confess.
But simply by prescribing something puts a limit on it. Can you imagine if your parents loved you with a prescription rather than just with love? What would be the limit? And would their limit differ from another parent? Oh, I bet it would. What if your wife loved you with a limit or a prescription? And what if you loved your wife as a husband with a limit or a prescription? Would there be a relationship there? Or would it just be getting along to get along?
You see, the Pharisees were the most beautiful people on the outside. They were beautiful people. Everything about their life was prescribed. They seemed holy. They looked holy. They spoke holy. They acted holy. Wow! But they had no relationship with God because their relationship with God was prescribed by their laws, their codes, and not by love: love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind and love your neighbor as yourself.
Love is the summary of the law. What’s God’s will for you? God’s will for you is not non-relational. In other words, God’s will for you is relational. He is not a creator that keeps you at arm’s length and only gives you love to a certain point or a certain level. That’s a non-relational deity to the creature. God’s love for you is relational. That’s why he looks like that.
That’s relational. It’s ugly. It’s not beautiful. It’s sin-filled. It’s not sinless. Even though he was, it sure didn’t look like it. His love knows no bounds. Your and my prescription always has boundaries, and they’re non-relational. Your God is about relationship. That’s why he said what he said about these Jews, these Pharisees, and the scribes. He said about them, he said, “‘They honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.”
Is that the kind of son or daughter you want to be in a relationship with? One who always does what you say, but their heart is far from you? Is that the kind of man or woman you want to be married to? They say exactly what you want to hear, but their heart’s far from you? Is that the kind of friend you want? That’s non-relational. It’s because of the relationship that God has forged with you that he says, love me and love your neighbor. He wants your heart. That’s what he wants.
He wants to be the object of your affection because you are definitely the object of his affection. He is your husband. You are his bride. Now, in the epistle reading, when we talked about husbands and wives, look at the section regarding husbands. Husbands. And get rid of the word husband and think Christ. And get rid of the word wife or her and think you.
Listen. Christ loved you. He gave himself up for you that he might sanctify you. He cleansed you by the washing of water with the word so that he might present you to himself in splendor. That’s all relational terms, my dear brothers and sisters. Without spot or wrinkle or any such thing that you might be holy and without blemish. He loves you as he loves his own body. He loves you as he loves himself. He nourishes you. He cherishes you. That’s relational. That’s not prescription.
You are a member of his body. You have become one flesh with him. That is profoundly relational. Relational. That is not prescriptive of in order to be in a relationship. It is because you are in a relationship. Therefore he shall leave his father and hold fast to you, his bride, and you and he shall become one flesh. This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. That’s all about relationship, isn’t it? That’s how God loves you. It’s not prescribed. It’s not defined by you. It’s done to you.
Because it’s been done to you, does he say, love me, I want your heart. That’s why I created you. For us to have a relationship, not for us to be this prescription. That’s profound. And because God is all about a relationship with you, he’s also about your relationship with one another, right? So when he says to wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord, he’s really saying, you’re my wife. Submit to me and love one another.
It’s relational. It’s not prescribed. How much are you supposed to love your husband or your wife? How much are you supposed to love your son or your daughter? How much are you supposed to be loved? Do you want to prescribe that? Do you want to define that? Because what’s the limit? He doesn’t. His definition is limitless and it’s all relational. You are married to Jesus. He is your husband.
His other children, whom you are to love as brothers and sisters, are not just the believers, but those out there for whom his blood has been paid for and has been poured out for. They are also your fellow human being for whom he wishes you to love them. How? Once you ask the question how, you’re wanting to define the limit. Just love them. Do you want to tell everybody else how they’re supposed to love you? Because once you prescribe it, don’t you want a little bit more? You better believe it.
You don’t say to God, God, I only want you to love me this much. On your good days, you may say that, but on your bad days, you don’t want it ever to be an end, and there’s not. That’s good. He’s the potter. You’re the clay. He’s the husband, you’re the wife. He’s the God and creator. You’re his beloved creature and son and daughter. You are the object of his love.
And he has said to you, I just want your heart. Your lips will follow. I want your heart. I want you to be in a relationship with me. But it’s because I first forged it there and I gave it to you there and I feed it to you there. That’s why we’re in a relationship. And that’s what we do in a relationship. And I will always trump your doubts. And I will always trump your fears and anxieties. And I will always overwhelm you with grace. I just want your heart. I just want you to love me and your neighbor. In the name of Jesus, amen.
