6:4 "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD;
6:5 and you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.
6:6 And these words which I command you this day shall be upon your heart;
6:7 and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.
6:8 And you shall bind them as a sign upon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.
6:9 And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
12:28 And one of the scribes came, and heard them questioning together, and knowing that he had answered them well, asked him, What commandment is the first of all?
12:29 Jesus answered, The first is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God, the Lord is one:
12:30 and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength.
12:31 The second is this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
12:32 And the scribe said unto him, Of a truth, Teacher, thou hast well said that he is one; and there is none other but he:
12:33 and to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbor as himself, is much more than all whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices.
12:34 And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him any question.
For the first over 40 years of my life, Deuteronomy 6:4-9 was the watchword of my faith. Every Friday night and Saturday morning, rabbis throughout the world proclaim its undying truth, "
Sh'ma Yisrael, Adonai eloheinu, Adonai echod. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One. And thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with all thy heart, with all thy soul and with all thy might. And these words which I command thee this day shall be upon thy heart. Thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, speaking of them when thou sitteth in thy house, when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down and when thou risest up. Thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thy hands and they shall be frontlets between thine eyes. Thou shalt write them upon the doorposts of thy house and upon thy gates, that ye shall remember and do all my commandments and be holy unto your God."
When I allowed Christ into my life, a second commandment, a corollary of the first, came into play, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thou loves thyself." I like thous and thys. It adds a bit of grandeur, a bit of distinction to the biblical language. Yet, throughout history, loving ones neighbor hasn't been a great strength of the church. Skin color, national origin, language spoken have all been held up as "un-Christian" at one point of time or another. Now, sexual orientation is the seeming issue. The United Methodist Church, at the 2008 General Conference, has started to take steps towards eliminating any distinction or barrier towards God's unconditional love reaching any and all of God's creation. An amendment to the UMC Constitution, Article IV, paragraph 4, has been proposed. It reads, with added language in bold and deleted language struck through:
"The United Methodist Church is a part of the church universal, which is one Body in Christ. The United Methodist Church acknowledges that ALL (emphasis added) persons are of sacred worth
and that we are in ministry to ALL (emphasis added). ALL (emphasis added) persons shall be eligible to attend its worship services, participate in its programs, receive the sacraments, and upon declaring Christian faith and relationship in Jesus Christ, shall be eligible to become professing members in any local church in the connection. In The United Methodist Church no conference or any other organizational unit of the Church shall be structured so as to exclude any member or any constituent body.
of the Church because of race, color, national origin, status of economic condition.
In order for this amendment to be enacted, two thirds of the aggregate membership of the Annual Conferences in global connection must approve the amendment. It isn't the magic bullet, but it is a start. I pray that my United Methodist brotherhood and sisterhood will approve this worthy proposal and that all of God's children will pray for its passage.
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