Love the Lord thy God
Mark 12:29-30
Pharisees loved to argue. They were so fond of controversy that they wouldn't eat food that agreed with
them. You know the type. If someone said the cup was half full, they would hotly contend that it was half
empty. They loved to debate anything, but especially religion.
Their chief opponents in religious disputes were the Sadducees. The Sadducees were to the Pharisees what
hiccoughs are to a glassblower. Meetings between the two groups often ended in shouting matches (see
Acts 23:6-10). As Maxine says, “I will defend to your death my right to my opinion.” They hated each
other and lost no opportunity for verbal combat.
Neither of these groups got along with Jesus. They wanted him to choose up sides. They wanted to know,
"Are you with them or us?" Don’t you hate it when people force you to choose sides? But Jesus refused to
play their game. He would answer their questions briefly and brilliantly and without being contentious.
Harry Emerson Fosdick said: "Vital religion is like good music. It needs no defense, only rendition. A
wrangling controversy in support of religion is as if the members of the orchestra should beat the folks over
the head with their violin bows to prove that the music is beautiful."
Some people don’t feel fully alive unless they are engaged in verbal battles. They crave the adrenalin rush
that comes with a fight. With thinly disguised righteous indignation they attack not just ideas, but the
people who hold them, especially in politics and religion. Such righteousness indignation turns out to be
only hate with a halo. They hide malice under a zeal for orthodoxy. Their intention is not to correct an
offense, but to punish an offender. They would rather the offense were not ended than that it be ended
quietly without violence.
What we see happening around us today was happening also in Jesus’ day. Once when Jesus had stumped
the Sadducees, the Pharisees turned on him, the new debate champ, to score a point or two. "When the
Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they came together, and one of them, a teacher of
the Law, tried to trip him with a question. (Note that the challenger was no rookie debater, but the best they
had, a "teacher of the Law") `Teacher,' he asked, `which is the greatest commandment in the Law?'"
(Matthew 22:34-36).
Now at least we must give the Pharisees credit for asking an important question. Debating this issue was
better than arguing whether Adam had a navel or other questions that have preoccupied the minds of
theological gladiators through the ages. The answer to their question would make a real difference in the
way people behaved. For example, suppose that a man named Cornelius is arrested and charged with
treason by the Roman authorities. His son, Romulus, knows that his father is, in fact, part of a conspiracy
against the hated Caesar. He is summoned to testify at his father's trial. The question he faces is should he
break the fifth commandment and dishonor his father, or should he break the ninth commandment and bear
false witness? Which is the greater commandment?
When a little boy was asked why he stole an apple, he explained, "I couldn't stop coveting the apple; so I
decided to go on and steal it." But is stealing worse than coveting? Is the sixth commandment more
important than the tenth? How do you know? Which is the greatest commandment in the Law? That's a
good question.
And Jesus had a very good answer. First, he quoted the Shema, the basic creed of Judaism, the John-threesixteen of the Jews, the first verse every Jewish child learns. It is the Scripture quoted to open every Jewish
worship service even to this present time: "Hear, (In Hebrew, “Shema”), Hear O Israel: The Lord our God,
the Lord is one; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all
your mind, and with all your strength" (Mark 12:29-30, see Deuteronomy 6:4-5). That, my friends, is the
“Cliff Notes” on the Bible. A summary statement of the whole book.
Although the commandment that Jesus quoted was not one of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20), it
clearly sums up and deepens the first four commandments. Loving God with all your heart makes it
unthinkable to give your heart to attractive images of substitute gods and to dishonor God's name and day
of worship. To love God is the greatest and most important commandment.
We are to love the Lord our God in three important ways. First….
1. Love God with All Your Heart
How long has it been since your heart was deeply touched by the Lord your God? To love God with all of
your heart necessarily involves your emotions. Some people are afraid of showing their emotions,
especially in groups. Not all groups, however. At a crowded ballpark it's okay to show emotion, but not at
the sanctuary. If you get excited about a game, you are a fan. If you get excited about God, you are a
fanatic. Does that make sense to you?
The emotionally disturbed are not only those who have too much emotion but also those who show too
little emotion and who fear their feelings. They are like the sunburn victim who replied to the question
"How are you feeling?" saying, "Far too much!"
Some people avoid church services because they fear they might cry. They have told me so. There is no
better place to cry or laugh than in the presence of God and his people. Tears and jokes are always better
when they are shared.
On the other hand, there are people who feel restrained by the design of our worship service. For them there
is not enough emotion. They want freedom to raise their hands in praise and shout, "Amen" or "Hallelujah"
when the Spirit strikes them. And why not, I ask, if you love the Lord your God with all your heart?
In worship we tread the narrow path between formalism and fanaticism, between too much and too little
feeling. Emotion is like fire in the furnace. If it is contained and controlled, it warms the room. But if it
escapes the furnace, it can burn down your house.
You can't know God without involving your emotions. James asks, "Do you believe that there is only one
God?" Assuming the answer is "Yes," he scornfully says, "Good! The demons also believe—and tremble
with fear" (James 2:19). A faith that doesn't tremble is even more phony than the belief of demons.
There can be no true faith without feeling. "Now that we have been put right with God through faith, we
have peace with God. . . He has brought us by faith into this experience" (Romans 5:1-2). Christianity is
not just a good idea. It is a real experience with the living God. This experience, therefore, necessarily
involves our emotions. Of course we don't authenticate God when we have emotional feelings about him.
Rather, we feel emotionally because God reveals himself to us and relates to us. As the scripture says,
"This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes" (Psalm 118:23).
2. Love God with All Your Mind
Not only must you love God with all your heart in what you feel, but also with all your mind in what you
think. How long has it been since your mind was stretched in pondering the mysteries of the Lord your
God? It is a big mistake to feel when you ought to think—and to think when you ought to feel.
It makes me nervous to hear a mechanic say, "I feel that your car's problem is a defective carburetor." I'm
not paying him to feel, but to think as precisely and accurately as possible. Someone else may say, "I think
Michael Jackson sang better than Nat King Cole," but thinking has nothing to do with his opinion. It's
feeling that he's talking about.
When it comes to God, you must feel deeply and think clearly. There is no spiritual value to muddled
thinking about the Lord. The One who made your mind intends you to use it to think as clearly as you can.
It has been a long time since major universities have honored theology as the "Queen of the Sciences." But
it is. It is better to know the Rock of Ages than to know the age of rocks. It is better to know the Creator
than to know any part of His creation. It is not only better but also harder.
Knowing God is an intellectual challenge of colossal dimension. "My thoughts,” says the LORD, “are not
like yours, and my ways are different from yours. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are
my ways and thoughts above yours" (Isaiah 55:8-9). The human mind cannot fully comprehend its Maker.
But that is no excuse for not making the effort. You can't drink all the water in the Los Angeles reservoir.
But that is no reason why you can't satisfy your immediate thirst.
To love God with all your mind doesn't mean you have to be a know-it-all. Paul writes, "Although being a
`know-it-all' makes us feel important, what is really needed to build the church is love. If anyone thinks he
knows all the answers, he is just showing his ignorance. But the person who truly loves God is the one who
is open to God's knowledge" (1 Corinthians 8:1-3 LB). C. S. Lewis warns us: “One is sometimes (not
often) glad not to be a great theologian; one might so easily mistake it for being a good Christian. The
temptations to which a great philologist or a great chemist is exposed are trivial in comparison.”
(Reflections on the Psalms)
If the fear of God is the beginning of knowledge (Proverbs 1:7), the love of God is its conclusion. John
declares, "Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love" (1 John 4:8). Is that hard to
understand? It's so clear and simple; how could anyone miss it? Yet even some truly great theologians do.
John Calvin, arguably the greatest theologian in the last 500 years, wrote four hundred pages on the
knowledge of God in which he quoted over 800 scripture passages but never once referred to 1 John 4:8.
What a pity! And what a shame that there are Christians today who may study God with their minds but
neglect to love God with their minds.
3. Love God with All Your Soul
The Greek word for soul is psyche. It refers to the nonmaterial part of people that activates the physical.
Without a soul the body won't do anything. To love God with all your soul is to love God in what you do.
How long has it been since you did something courageous because you love the Lord your God? Loving
God with all your soul is the kind of love that puts on overalls and goes to work.
When husbands and wives at the wedding altar promise to love each other "till death do us part," if they
mean they will always feel a certain way about each other, they make a promise they will certainly break.
Feelings come and go with circumstances of the day. On the other hand, if they mean "I promise to act
lovingly toward you for as long as I live," That's a promise they can keep regardless of how they feel. Love
is more than a noun. It's a verb. It's not just something you feel and think; it is something you do.
One dictionary definition of "love" is "no points scored" as in tennis, "love-forty." Does your life reveal this
to be the definition of your love for God? Does your record say, "Lord, you haven't scored any points"? Are
you even in the game?
Almost 1,000 years ago Bernard of Claivaux prayed, "O make me thine forever; and should I fainting be,
Lord, let me never, never outlive my love for thee." (O Sacred Head, Now Wounded)
Pray with me: “Spirit of God, descend upon my heart: Wean it from earth, through all its pulses move.
Stoop to my weakness, mighty as Thou art, And make me love Thee as I ought to love.” (George Croly)
© Douglas Beyer 2011
Scriptures: Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and 2 Corinthians 13:11-14
Next Steps
__love God with all my heart even if it makes me laugh and cry.
__love God with all my mind even if it makes me study to learn more.
__love God with all my soul even if it stretches me to new areas of service.