A NEW COMMANDMENT

For all of humanity's accomplishments, the area we are collectively least productive in is, ironically, humanitarianism. Jesus noticed this character flaw long ago, when He came and observed our behavior toward one another. It isn't that we lack the skill, certainly we how to promote the well-being of a fellow human, because we know how our own human-self's well-being is best promoted. No, what we lack is the consciousness, and not merely that but also the determination to do it.

Although that is true, Jesus perceived that it was not out of innate cruelty that we neglected each other. And since it was not cruelty or disinclination which prevented us, we could overcome those obstacles of ignorance... if given the right logic and incentive to do so. Therefore He provided it, and various places of the Bible encouraged us so.

• A NEW COMMANDMENT

Most of the world is at least familiar with the ten commandments written in the Old Testament book of Exodus. Much less of the world is conscious of the eleventh commandment which Jesus provided in New Testament. We have been actually, officially commanded to love each other... with fervor.

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

John 13:34-35

Jesus has commanded us to love each other as He has loved us, which means that we need to love each other with compassion, impartial mercy, and loyalty. Perhaps a mighty task, but reasonable. That means we have to start to consistently make more selfless-in-nature choices. We have to be more aware of our subjectivity but less beholden to it. Objectivity requires that we are intentionally more perceptive of the scope outside of our selves. To love one another also means that we have to broaden our 'lovable' criteria and subsequently need to love people who are not just different from our normal, but even the people who are in direct opposition of it.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? 

Matthew 5:43-46

And... it also means that have to love the people who are not easy to love. Which means that we have to abandon hate and desist from retaliative behavior. A more difficult task... and initially, somewhat less reasonable (if we're being honest). What Jesus did not say, (and in not saying it, left us to discover for ourselves) is that love is a much more productive emotion than its opposite. Love is more influential, a more convincing and effective 'argument' than well... an actual argument. If we are more persistent in prayer than in maintaining hostility, we eventuate toward a tangible, constructive result rather than an endless cycle of futility.

• THE LEAST OF THESE

There is another category of people we are commanded to actively love. In the aforementioned verses, Jesus encouraged us to love with our hearts and minds; to interact with others with kindness and patience. There are also people we need to love with action. 

‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’

Matthew 25:37-39

In Matthew 25 Jesus explains to the righteous that they have fed Him every time they filled an empty belly, (or metaphorically, sustained a starving soul). They had quenched His thirst every time they refreshed a dry mouth (or metaphorically, revived a despondent spirit). They clothed Him, every time they clothed a naked person, (or metaphorically, sheltered a vulnerable heart).

And conversely, Jesus explained to the unrighteous that they ignored and neglected Him every time they ignored or neglected a person in need (in literal or metaphorical terms). That is a sobering thought; for in saying that, Jesus essentially told us that by deeming another person unworthy of our time and resources, we deem Him unworthy of them as well. A person might not meet our personal requirements for charitable eligibility but they meet His... and guess whose requirements actually matter?

• A SOLEMN REQUEST 

It has probably become apparent that the new commandment requires selflessness. And honestly, selflessness is something we all have to strive for because we are, at least by physical design, self-centered. We have to consciously project ourselves out of, beyond, our own sphere of existence in order to be cognizant of the plight, position and perspective of others. To do that, we can follow Solomon's lead.

...Your servant is in the midst of Your people whom You have chosen, a great people, too numerous to be numbered or counted. Therefore give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?”
1 Kings 3:8-9

Solomon was a monarch, and responsible for a kingdom's entire judicial system... and subsequently an entire kingdom's well-being. What he meant by 'judge' the people was care for the people: He wanted to know how to judge/discern between the sometimes difficult choices a leader is forced with in order to lead God's people well. Every person is familiar with such quandaries, when the right and wrong choice is not as obvious as it should be, when good and evil are not as distinct as black and white.

And so we can follow Solomon's lead when we commit ourselves to the new commandment: we ask God for help. We pray for God to supply the wisdom and tools we need to 'enter the field' properly equipped and sufficiently prepared to begin the task of loving all people well. 

God is really proud of such selflessly-productive requests.

The speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing. Then God said to him: “Because you have asked this thing, and have not asked long life for yourself, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have asked the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern justice, behold, I have done according to your words; see, I have given you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has not been anyone like you before you, nor shall any like you arise after you. And I have also given you what you have not asked: both riches and honor, so that there shall not be anyone like you among the kings all your days.

1 Kings 3:1-13

Solomon's prayer was answered... and added to. God has cleverly designed a system by which a person earns what they're too genuinely-humble to ask for. When we endeavor do to God's will well and as a priority, He over-equips us. We could achieve much, change the whole world with literally nothing except God's loving-approval, but because He is so graciously generous, we do not have to. What do have to do, what we miraculously get to do, is pray to God as Solomon did for His assistance in our assistance of others.

• WITH THE SAME MEASURE

This next statement of Jesus' might instill either panic or relief. But will definitely provide the pragmatic-logic of helping others you need to continue or begin doing so with the fervor Jesus commanded. 

Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”

Luke 6:38

But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

2 Corinthians 9:6

This is the incentive Jesus left us with: that we fill our own basket every time we drop something in someone else's; we neglect our own basket every time we ignore someone else's. Indeed, rather than determining, with His omniscience, who is worthy of what, as He could fairly do...God lets us decide what we receive or do not receive. Therefore we now know that when we do stand before the judgement seat of Christ, it will really be our own selves who have chosen the judgement we receive. 

• CHEERFUL GIVER 

The new commandment is meant to be enjoyed in it's undertaking. We were told to love others as God loves us... and God loves to love us. It pleases Him to provide for us, Luke 12:32.

So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.

2 Corinthians 9:7-8

Don't love reluctantly, because when you do, you put up barriers and withhold love from expanding and abounding... and that is what makes love so special, the fact that it can leap and grow and include more than could be expected or calculated. Love is the element which renders the impossible... possible. If you want to participate in, or cause that level of influence among humanity, you will need to exude unrestrained love. 

And don't give just because you've been commanded to, or because you can gain something from it... that is not an expression of the selfless love Jesus has loved you with. Give because you understand the act of giving to be a privilege, participation. For when you love and help others, you assuredly participate in the work of the Kingdom of God. You are a fellow-worker with God, 1 Corinthians 3:9. Give because there is no better feeling than witnessing relief, hope, happiness, encouragement, strength, or revival on the face of a previously destitute, person, in the spirit of a previously-desolate soul. 

MILK + MEAT

"And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work."

God is a provider, a provider with a mission. The mission of the kingdom of God is the proliferation of blessing. Our lives are stocked by God with grace so that we become storehouses for those that would benefit from the blessings we have been given. Every blessing comes stamped with a name and God has a plan for the deliverance of that package to become your purpose. The verse above, 2 Corinthians 9:8, reminds us of that fact. God ensures that grace abounds toward us, not so that we can stockpile it, but so that we have sufficient product for our every good work. So that our ability to distribute is a net that can be cast far and wide.

So, if God is our provider, and provides with purpose, what does He provide? 

Milk and meat.

It would be easy to extract only half of the message from the above verse; in it, we learn that God will provide abundantly. That message, would be the milk of the verse, so to speak. But the meat of the message is the culmination of the verse; the meat is that we are given to... in order that we may give. 

Eventually, we must graduate from the elementary stage of faith; We must not nurse forever as infants, novices, when we should be advancing in faith. Every piece of scripture is like the opening verse in that it has deeper meaning, and is packed with purpose God plans for us to claim and fulfill. Meat He intends for us to eat after the preliminary provision of milk.

NEWBORN

At the beginning of our journey of faith, we are newly born to a lifestyle. "As newborns", 1 Peter 2:2 implores us, "desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow...". God provides milk for the newly born to faith; He grows us as if infants, sustained exclusively on His philosophy. For as newborns in the faith, we have cut off our former source: the philosophy of the world. 

For God's philosophy is entirely opposite the world's. Therefore everything is new:  new concepts, new character, new methods, new values. Scripture was designed for that newness; we read of the lives of many in the Bible who undertook that journey as well. Steadily, we learn about trust and perseverance and how messy that journey can be from people like Sarah and Joseph. We learn about hope and courage from people like Abraham and Moses who had to learn it too with no reference point beyond the milk, the word of God.

1 Peter 2:5 states that God is building us up like a house; His provision is meant not just to sustain but to build, to grow. We are taught His philosophy not simply so that we know it but so that we can apply it. The milk will set you up, but the meat will send you out.

MILK VERSUS MEAT

In 1 Corinthians 3:1-4 Paul explained that he had to alter his preaching; he preached to the newly born in faith, though they were not new, rather than to spiritual people fed by the meat of scripture. Paul was dismayed that he had to do so, dismayed that so many refused to live beyond the elementary principles. They were not engaged or focused or in alignment with this one philosophy, this distinctive philosophy of God.

Surely the milk of scripture is a comfort that cannot be compared, but the meat of scripture is a duty that cannot be neglected. The milk grows us, but the meat is given so that we may grow others. The milk is an introduction to the spirit in which we live, but the meat is the spirit through which we work. With the milk we change ourselves but with the meat we change our world.

Once God's provision constructs us, we must recognize that we were made to house. We are made strong for a purpose. We are stocked to provide. We are made a shelter so that we can stand in the rain with the soaking and make them dry. The meat is meant to sustain us through more spiritually rugged terrain. With milk God fixes what needs reparation inside of us so that with meat we are to fix what needs reparation outside of us, surrounding us. 

GRADUATION 

At a certain point, God should not have to teach us to play nice anymore. That should be a given. He should not have to prove His promises to us. He should not have to work for our trust, He should have it. He should not have to remind of His commandments, we should know them and follow them. At a certain point, scripture should evolve from lesson to directive. We should evolve from apprentices to fellow-workers with God. God does not teach us so that we can watch Him, He teaches us so that we can join Him.

Paul wrote a letter, Hebrews 5:12-14, in which he admonished the people who were unwilling to graduate from milk to meat.

"For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

Are you unskilled in the word of righteousness? If so, it is not through any fault of God. Scripture has been divinely commissioned, written and organized to exercise you into skillfulness. It is time to graduate from milk to meat. Ephesians 6:12 tells us that our battle is against powers and principalities, and how can we fight such things without the meat God provides? We would be too weak, too undernourished to ever stand. It is time to bulk up because that abundance of strength and power, courage and faith has purpose to fulfill. 

You would not feed a newborn meat; they could not handle it. Neither could a full grown adult subsist merely on milk. To do so would be to expect too much of the former and not enough of the latter. So if you are reading scripture merely for yourself, you are neglecting your potential and purpose. God has provided hardier fuel so that your life has the power, the energy, the provision to extend beyond itself.

JESUS LIVED FOR US

Jesus died for us, but He also lived for us. He devoted every stage and element of His life to restoring us to the kingdom of heaven. He indefatigably served God and He turned every instant into a lesson, a healing, an example, a reassurance, an expression of love. These are seven pieces of scripture in which that is evident. While His death cemented our communion with God, it was His life that initiated it. 

John 9:2-12

Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.

In a move of dynamite refinement, Jesus blasted away the aversion that society had placed on the downtrodden; He revealed their true value and strategic purpose in the kingdom of God. Our tears, tribulations and infirmities are no less than these blessed chances for the goodness of God to be revealed to the land of the living.* We shatter shrouding darkness with the light of the Lord when we respond to the circumstances of our life with faith. Our resilience speaks of the strength and the glory of our God, of His ability to hold and heal.

Luke 22:49-51 

When those around Him saw what was going to happen, they said to Him, “Lord, shall we strike with the sword?” And one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear. But Jesus answered and said, “Permit even this.” And He touched his ear and healed him.

Despite the solemnity of their teacher, Jesus' disciples were compelled by indignation to strike His enemies. Yet not only did Jesus prohibit the act of violence, He also repaired the damage His disciple had caused to a man who meant him harm. The depth of Jesus' compassion was most apparent in the way that he loved the people who least seemed to deserve it. The small gesture was a massive declaration of the ultimate purpose of the outreach of the kingdom of God: to heal broken people, things and spirits. Jesus cupped the wound and healed it because the nature of God is as harmless as a dove.**

John 13:3-5; John 13:13-17

Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.

You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.

In a heartfelt expression of humility, Jesus physically exemplified His ultimate, spiritual mission on earth: to serve. The disciples were abashed to have Jesus wash their feet; and yet all along He had been serving and cleansing them, and more intimately. Jesus selflessly chose to channel His authority into the act of sincerely ardent servitude. We experience a breakthrough of intimate faith when we realize God within the raw details of our life. Our faith, outwardly projected, adopts the manner of our creator and by Him we heal the earth.

Matthew 26:53

Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels?

Jesus was unfazed by fear and undaunted by enemy because He placed full confidence in God's authority. Every other person believed that Jesus had been caught, thwarted. Jesus alone understood that God had orchestrated the events of His "capture" in order to perpetuate the specific outcome of His resurrection.

Jesus deftly humbled the arrogance of His captors by simply stating that God could instantaneously provide Him the defense of twelve legions of angels! In this Jesus professed the power and immediacy of prayer. We are never caught by happenstance or by the craft our enemies; in all positions, we have been placed expertly by God for purpose. Jesus was not afraid to be in the position, He was honored to be in the position. He was calm and centered, focused and determined. Jesus taught us that a life lived in alignment with the commandments of God is a life lived under the commanding control of God. Through it seemed otherwise to the people around Jesus, the situation was so entirely, cleverly and meticulously under control and thus Jesus remained collected.

Jesus unveiled God's unseen angel-army, poised and ready to act; and based on His nature, He had likely done so more to comfort His followers than to frighten His enemies. For those who take up the cross*** need and receive all of the support they can get.

Luke 6:12

Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.

Of the most beneficial acts of Jesus, our messiah demonstrated how a personal connection with God can be attained and maintained. Jesus consistently retreated to a private and natural location to hear and be heard by our Father. In a humble and noiseless place, Jesus delved into the solemnity of our Father. A place to hear and be heard. As we pray, we build a noiseless, impenetrable fortress which includes only ourselves and God. We delve and seal ourselves in a place of His solemnity in order to express and relieve our souls, and to be understood and restored by His.

Jesus' days were an absolute ruckus as He contemporaneously built both the offense and defense of Christianity from scratch. Without His precious moments of withdrawal to God in the quiet hours, the interminable chaos and celebration of the day might have wearied Him at best and distracted Him at worse. Jesus demonstrated that our ability to serve God publicly is entirely reliant upon our consistent willingness to know Him privately. Jesus received His purpose, strength and instruction from God and so do we. Jesus knew what to do when the sun rose because He allowed God to direct Him in the hours that preceded it.

It is not insignificant that Jesus chose natural settings to pray. For all of the world's opulent cathedrals and multi-million dollar churches, Jesus prayed in the mountains and beside the seas. To be in the midst of nature is to be surrounded by  that which God created with His own hands. In a world congested with man-made structures and products, it is in nature that we are most connected to home.

Matthew 14:29 

“Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.

Jesus extended a lifelong invitation into the kingdom of God. No matter what figurative sea, mountain or desert is between us and God, we have been made able to cross it. We have been invited and enabled to defy the figurative and physical properties of all barrier to ascend into our Father's arms. In the single word, come, Jesus invited and enabled us to cross all boundaries unaffected by the gravitational pull of the people, forces and circumstances which try to hold us down.

Matthew 28:20 

I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

A departing gift from Jesus: His perpetual presence. Long after the age of the first disciples, He remains as intimately and vigilantly near as He has always been. Jesus departed from earth and was reborn in the Spirit of God within us****; nearer now even than ever before, but still precisely Him. Every aforementioned act above is something He is doing this moment for and within you. 

* Psalm 27:13

** Matthew 10:16

*** Matthew 16:24-25

****1 Corinthians 3:16

Ephesians 4:9-10 Now this, “He ascended”—what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.