“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like unto it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:37
Just last week, I mentioned the great hymn, “O Holy Night” in a meditation on “the gospel of peace.” And now, as I think about law and liberty, I’m drawn there again: “His law is love; his gospel is peace.”
A quick story to think about the freedom given to us in the law of love:
My daughter, a senior in high school, told me about a recent interaction she had with a former best friend. She and her friend were great buddies as pre-adolescents, during the sweet and somewhat innocent years of 10-13. (Yes, somewhat – not completely.) They headed off to the same high school, expecting this friendship to continue. But it didn’t. They made different choices about the people they would hang out with, and that led to some very different lifestyle choices. As my daughter disagreed with some of the choices her friend was making, thinking they were destructive, they fought and went their separate ways.
My daughter said, “Well, it was so awkward passing her in the halls and not talking to her at all. Then her Dad came into the guidance office where I was working and I asked him how she was. He told me she had really pulled up her grades and was excited about applying to college. I thought how silly it was to be so awkward with her, and I was really happy for her. So I sent her a message on Facebook and told her that. She wrote me back and said she was doing lots better and maybe we could hang out sometime.”
It’s a small story. A high school story. And yet, as a 48-year-old, I’d have to say that sadly I have some stories like that, where the law of “unlove” has limited my ability to live as I am redeemed to live. I’m still thinking about this. How does this law of love give me the liberty to be reconciled to those I have become estranged to? I know I can’t do it in my own strength, but I know the gospel deconstructs all strong barriers to relationship.
Lord, help us all, to look toward reconciliation and restoration, because your gospel of peace frees us to live in forgiveness and hope. Because of your Son’s precious name I ask it. AMEN
