The Kitchen Sink
An occasional piece of paper
October 23, 2011
Vol. 14 no. 41
Prioritizing is all the craze in organizational circles today. It has to be at least the second thing you do!
We all believe we have a Job One in mind, but practically speaking, what seems to be most important is whatever you and I are working on right now. What is really important is crowded out by our routines.
The Pharisees were out once again trying to trap Jesus into saying the wrong thing. They sent – a lawyer – to ask which is the Great Commandment in the Law? Which commandment rules all the others and without which nothing else will ever be successful? After all, if you start in the wrong place, according to your enemies and your friends, you will always end up in the wrong place.
Jesus knows the game and so begins with a ‘no-brainer’ – the declaration of Deuteronomy 6:5, “You shall the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.” It may not seem obvious, but if you can do that, everything else follows. It’s a matter of getting started on the right foot. Jesus keeps going and adds a second commandment, pretty much equal to the first, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” We’ve heard it so often it all sounds logical.
Love always sounds good, God is obvious when you are reading the Bible, and neighbours are usually good people. That’s where we stumble: how do you love with all of your mind? Who really is this God no one can see? And just who is my neighbour – how far away can they live from me and I am still obliged to treat them as a neighbour? We start doing the most good when we know where we are ending up.
Knox-Metropolitan United Church
Regina, Saskatchewan