IT'S BIBLE SUNDAY; AND IF I WERE TO ASK YOU TO SUMMARIZE THE TEACHING OF THE JEWISH AND CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURES IN ONE OR TWO SENTENCES, HOW WOULD YOU DO IT?

IN OTHER WORDS, WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA IN THE BIBLE?

THAT'S THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION YOU CAN ASK ABOUT THE BIBLE. GOD COULDN'T CARE VERY MUCH WHETHER OR NOT YOU KNOW THE BIBLE (DEMONS AND PHARISEES KNOW THE BIBLE), OR EVEN WHETHER YOU LOVE THE BIBLE - BUT HAVE YOU GOT HOLD OF THE BIG IDEA IN THE BIBLE AND IS YOUR LIFE LIVED ACCORDING TO THAT BIG IDEA?

WELL, WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA?

FORTUNATELY, JESUS HAS SUMMARIZED THAT FOR US, IN TWO WAYS, OR TWO FORMULAE. A THEOLOGIAN ASKED JESUS (MARK 12:28 FF.) 'WHICH COMMANDMENT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL?' IN OTHER WORDS 'WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA?' JESUS REPLIED, 'THE MOST IMPORTANT ONE IS THIS: "LISTEN, ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS THE ONLY LORD. LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH." THE SECOND MOST IMPORTANT COMMANDMENT IS THIS: "LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOUR AS YOU LOVE YOURSELF." THERE IS NO OTHER COMMANDMENT MORE IMPORTANT THAN THESE TWO.'

HOW DO YOU KNOW YOU LOVE GOD? WHAT TESTS WOULD PROVE THAT YOU LOVE HIM - AND THAT YOU LOVE HIM MORE NOW THAN, SAY, A YEAR AGO?

THE BIBLE SUGGESTS ABOUT SEVEN TESTS: HOW DO YOU SCORE?

FIRST, YOU LOVE GOD BY LOVING OTHER PERSONS. YOU ARE A LIAR (1 JOHN 4:19,20) IF YOU SAY YOU LOVE GOD WHOM YOU CAN'T SEE BUT YOU DON'T LOVE YOUR BROTHER OR SISTER WHOM YOU HAVE SEEN. AS AN OLD SAINT PUT IT: YOU LOVE GOD JUST AS MUCH, AND NO MORE, THAN YOU LOVE THE PERSON YOU LOVE LEAST....!!!

WOW, THAT'S ROUGH, SO LET'S MOVE ON.

SECOND, YOU LOVE THE LORD BY OBEYING HIM. JESUS SAID, IF YOU LOVE ME, KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS. A GREAT MISSIONARY ONCE READ THE NEW TESTAMENT THROUGH WITH ONE QUESTION: IS THERE ANYTHING HERE I'M NOT OBEYING?

THIRD, IF YOU LOVE SOMEONE, YOU'LL WANT TO LINGER IN THEIR PRESENCE. SHEILA CASSIDY ('PRAYER FOR PILGRIMS') SAYS REAL PRAYER IS NOT SPENDING TIME WITH GOD, BUT WASTING TIME WITH HIM. JUST BEING THERE, IN MEDITATION OR CONTEMPLATION, IN HIS PRESENCE...

HOW DO YOU RATE ON THAT ONE? FOR MOST OF US, MOST PRAYER IS TALKING. REAL LOVE - FOR GOD OR ANYONE ELSE - MEANS LISTENING, JUST BEING WITH SOMEONE YOU LOVE, SOMETIMES IN SILENCE.

FOURTH, WHATEVER OR WHOMEVER YOU LOVE, YOU'LL TALK ABOUT. JESUS SAID 'OUT OF THE FULLNESS OF YOUR HEART YOUR MOUTH SPEAKS'. IF YOU LOVE FOOTBALL OR MAKING MONEY ON THE STOCK MARKET OR YOUR NEW PORSCHE YOU'LL TALK ABOUT IT. AND IF YOU LOVE THE LORD....!?

FIFTH, IF YOU LOVE SOMEONE WHO'S ABSENT YOU'LL KEENLY ANTICIPATE THEIR RETURN. THE NEW TESTAMENT TALKS ABOUT WAITING WITH LOVE FOR THE LORD TO APPEAR, TO COME BACK TO THIS EARTH AGAIN (2 TIMOTHY 4:8). THE SECOND COMING, SAYS ONE THEOLOGIAN, IS A LOVERS' REUNION. I HEARD TONY CAMPOLO SAY HE MEETS MANY CHRISTIANS WHO ARE ON THE PROGRAM COMMITTEE FOR THE LORD'S RETURN; HE'D RATHER BE ON THE WELCOMING COMMITTEE...

SIXTH, THERE'S THE TEST OF IDOLATRY. AN IDOL IS WHATEVER YOU WORSHIP, WHATEVER YOU'VE COMMITTED YOUR LIFE TO ACHIEVING, WHATEVER YOU GET EXCITED ABOUT, WHATEVER TURNS YOU ON. YOUR IDOLS ARE YOUR LIFE-GOALS. WHATEVER YOU WANT TO DO WITH THE ONE LIFE GOD'S GIVEN YOU IS A TEST OF YOUR LOVE FOR HIM.

SEVENTH, THE ULTIMATE IS THE MARTYRDOM TEST: WHAT ARE YOU PREPARED TO DIE FOR? JESUS SAID YOU CAN'T HAVE ANY GREATER LOVE THAN BEING WILLING TO DIE FOR SOMEONE (JOHN 15:13). THE MARTYRS, SAYS THE BOOK OF REVELATION DID NOT CHERISH THEIR OWN LIVES EVEN IN THE FACE OF DEATH (REVELATION 12:11, J B PHILLIPS).

SO HOW DO YOU RATE ON THE GREATEST COMMANDMENT OF ALL? HOW MUCH DO YOU LOVE GOD?

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BUT THERE'S A SECOND COMMANDMENT - YOU SHALL LOVE OTHERS AS YOU LOVE YOURSELF.

HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO DO THAT?

REMEMBER I SAID JESUS USES TWO FORMULAE TO TALK ABOUT THE BIG IDEA? LET ME ROUGHLY PARAPHRASE WHAT JESUS SAYS TO SOME VERY CONSCIENTIOUS CHURCH-PEOPLE - PEOPLE LIKE US: 'YOU'VE MISSED THE POINT. YOU'RE VERY CAREFUL ABOUT BELIEVING THE RIGHT THINGS - GOOD DOCTRINE; YOU HAVE A MISSIONARY PROGRAMME TO EVANGELIZE THE WORLD; YOU GIVE MONEY TO THE CHURCH. ALL VERY GOOD. BUT YOU CAN DO ALL THAT AND MISS THE POINT COMPLETELY.' SO WHAT IS THE POINT, THE BIG IDEA? SIMPLY THIS (AND NOTE THE ORDER, AS JESUS QUOTES FROM THE JEWISH PROPHET MICAH, IN MATTHEW 23:23): JUSTICE, MERCY, AND GOOD FAITH (OR HONESTY).

IF YOU REALLY LOVE OTHERS YOU'LL BE CONCERNED ABOUT JUSTICE, MERCY AND FAITHFULNESS.

WHAT'S JUSTICE? JUSTICE IN THE BIBLE IS OBEYING GOD'S LAW - PERSONAL RIGHTEOUSNESS. IT'S FORENSIC JUSTICE - JUSTICE IN THE LAW COURTS. AND IT'S SOCIAL JUSTICE - THE STRONG HELPING THE WEAK.

JUSTICE IS ABOUT POWER: INJUSTICE IS THE ABUSE OF POWER, OR THE MISUSE OF POWER, OR THE NON-USE OF POWER. INJUSTICE HAPPENS WHEN THE STRONG INFLICT PAIN ON THE WEAK, OR DON'T DO ANYTHING TO AMELIORATE THE PAIN OF THE WEAK.

MERCY ON THE OTHER HAND ADDRESSES THE SYMPTOMS OF PAIN, RATHER THAN ITS CAUSES. THE GOOD SAMARITAN HELPED A JEW - A MAN OF ANOTHER RACE - AND TOOK CARE OF HIM, EVEN THOUGH JEWS AND SAMARITANS USUALLY DESPISED EACH OTHER. MERCY ANSWERS THE QUESTION: WHAT RESOURCES DO I HAVE TO HELP SOMEONE ELSE - NO MATTER WHO THAT PERSON IS, OR WHATEVER RACE, OR WHEREVER IN THE WORLD THEY LIVE, OR WHATEVER CAUSED THEIR PROBLEM?

FAITHFULNESS ADDRESSES OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD. IT IS POSSIBLE TO PURSUE JUSTICE AND MERCY FROM PURELY HUMANITARIAN MOTIVES. THE BEST JUSTICE AND MERCY ISSUE FROM LOVE FOR GOD AND OTHERS. DONAL DORR, A MISSIONARY-PRIEST WHO WROTE A BOOK ON THIS TEXT ('SPIRITUALITY AND JUSTICE') SAYS WE ALL NEED THREE CONVERSIONS: A POLITICAL CONVERSION (JUSTICE), AN INTERPERSONAL CONVERSION (MERCY) AND A PERSONAL CONVERSION (FAITHFULNESS). HOW CONVERTED ARE YOU?

BACK TO JUSTICE AND MERCY: LET ME ILLUSTRATE WITH AN ANALOGY. IMAGINE A FAST FLOWING RIVER, AND THERE ARE BODIES FLOATING DOWN THE RIVER. DOWNSTREAM, GOOD CHRISTIANS PULL THE BODIES OUT OF THE RIVER, TREAT THEM OR BURY THEM...

UNTIL SOMEONE COMES ALONG ONE DAY AND SAYS 'WE'RE DOING A GOOD JOB HERE, TREATING THESE WOUNDED, TORTURED PEOPLE, BUT WOULDN'T IT BE A GOOD IDEA TO GO UPSTREAM AND TELL THOSE RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS ABUSE AND WHO ARE TOSSING HUMAN BEINGS INTO THE RIVER TO STOP IT?'

THE BIBLE IS VERY GRAPHIC ABOUT WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU ASK THAT QUESTION - THE JUSTICE QUESTION. YOU RUN THE RISK OF BEING THROWN TO LIONS, GETTING SAWN IN HALF, OR HAVING YOUR HEAD SEPARATED FROM THE REST OF YOU...

COMFORTABLE HUMAN BEINGS PREOCCUPIED WITH SECURITY DON'T WANT TO BE FACED WITH ISSUES OF JUSTICE. BUT JESUS SAID, IF YOU'RE NOT CONCERNED ABOUT JUSTICE AND MERCY AND FAITHFULNESS, YOU'VE MISSED THE WHOLE POINT.

THE BIBLE IS CHOCK-FULL OF STORIES AND LAWS AND TEACHING ABOUT JUSTICE. RIGHT NEAR THE BEGINNING THERE'S CAIN USING HIS POWER AGAINST ABEL, KILLING HIM. THE BLOOD OF ABEL CRIES OUT FROM THE GROUND TO GOD, WHO HOLDS CAIN ACCOUNTABLE FOR THE INJUSTICE HE PERPETRATED AGAINST HIS BROTHER.

THEN YOU HAVE THE LAW OF MOSES, WITH ITS INJUNCTIONS ABOUT LOOKING AFTER THE 'WEAK' - THE POOR, WIDOWS, ORPHANS, FOREIGNERS, SLAVES...

THEN THERE ARE STORIES ABOUT THE PROPHETS' CALL TO JUSTICE. REMEMBER AHAB - LOOKED OVER HIS PALACE WALL AND SAW SOME PROPERTY HE WANTED, HAD NABOTH AND HIS SONS KILLED... ELIJAH FRONTS HIM AND SAYS TAKING OTHERS' LAND IS NOT ON: SO AHAB, HIS EVIL WIFE JEZEBEL AND THEIR DESCENDENTS WILL SUFFER FOR IT. SIMILARLY WITH DAVID, WHO SAW A PRETTY WOMAN AND TOOK HER. PROBLEM WAS SHE WAS ALREADY MARRIED, SO HE HAD HER HUSBAND KILLED. THIS TIME NATHAN TELLS HIM A STORY ABOUT A RICH LANDOWNER WHO COVETED THE LAMB OF A POOR MAN. DAVID GOT ANGRY ABOUT THAT: ISN'T IT EASY TO GET MAD ABOUT OTHERS' INJUSTICE - LIKE WHAT THE WHITES ARE DOING TO BLACKS IN SOUTH AFRICA OR THE RUSSIANS HAVE DONE TO THE AFGHANS OR SHIITE MUSLIMS ARE DOING TO HOSTAGES IN LEBANON - AND FORGET THAT THE LAND ON WHICH OUR HOMES ARE BUILT WAS EXPROPRIATED ILLEGALLY? BUT THEN I'VE HEARD PEOPLE SAY - 'DON'T PUT THAT GUILT TRIP ON ME, I WASN'T THERE, I'M NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR WHAT MY FOREFATHERS DID.'

NO? EVER READ THE BIBLE ON THAT SCORE? BACK TO NATHAN AND DAVID: BECAUSE OF DAVID'S SIN HIS WHOLE FAMILY LINE WILL BE AFFECTED. WE AND OUR FORBEARS AND OUR SUCCESSORS ARE BOUND TOGETHER IN VERY TANGIBLE WAYS WHICH WE IN OUR INDIVIDUALISTIC CULTURE NEED TO APPRECIATE.

LATE LAST YEAR I WROTE TO A NUMBER OF CHRISTIAN ABORIGINAL LEADERS WITH ONE QUESTION: WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO SAY TO THE CHURCHES OF AUSTRALIA IN THIS BICENTENNIAL YEAR? ABOUT 15 RESPONDED, AND THEIR STATEMENTS ACKNOWLEDGED THE INJUSTICES PERPETRATED AGAINST THEIR PEOPLE IN THE PAST. THE MAIN THING MOST OF THESE CHRISTIAN LEADERS ASK FOR NOW IS NOT LAND RIGHTS - THEIR FEELINGS ABOUT THAT ISSUE VARY GREATLY - BUT THEY ARE ASKING FOR UNDERSTANDING, AND RECONCILIATION. LET'S TALK TOGETHER ABOUT IT, THEY PLEAD. (HOWEVER, ON THE LAND RIGHTS ISSUE, IT'S INTERESTING TO NOTE THE OLD TESTAMENT SCHOLAR WALTER BRUEGGEMANN'S DEFINITION OF BIBLICAL JUSTICE: 'SORTING OUT WHAT BELONGS TO WHOM AND RETURNING IT TO THEM'...).

ONE MORE THING. JUSTICE IS NOT JUST THE MISUSE OF POWER BY THE STRONG AGAINST THE WEAK: IT'S ALSO THE NON-USE OF POWER. JESUS TOLD A STORY ABOUT A RICH MAN WHO COULD HAVE HELPED A POOR MAN, LAZARUS, AND DIDN'T - AND WENT TO HELL: NOT BECAUSE HE WAS RICH, BUT BECAUSE HE DIDN'T CARE.

MY SISTERS AND BROTHERS, WE ARE THAT RICH PERSON. THERE IS ABOUT ONE TONNE OF SURPLUS GRAIN FOR EVERY STARVING WOMAN, MAN AND CHILD IN THE WORLD - 375 MILLION OF EACH. WHY ISN'T THAT FOOD GETTING TO THE STARVING PEOPLE? IT'S A COMPLEX ISSUE, BUT BASICALLY IT'S BECAUSE THE 'CHRISTIAN' NATIONS DON'T WANT TO GIVE TOO MUCH OF IT AWAY. AND WHAT IS POTENTIALLY THE LARGEST LOBBYING BLOC IN THOSE NATIONS? THE CHURCH. AND WHAT'S THE CHURCH DOING? VERY LITTLE, OTHER THAN SOME PRONOUNCEMENTS ABOUT FOREIGN AID BY CHURCH LEADERS AND SYNODS. A CASE COULD VERY EASILY BE MADE FOR THE PROPOSITION THAT A LOT OF HUNGER IN THE WORLD IS CAUSED INDIRECTLY BECAUSE MOST CHRISTIANS ARE COMMITTING THE INJUSTICE OF SAYING AND DOING NOTHING.

WHEN I WAS A SCHOOLTEACHER, WE SOMETIMES GAVE KIDS THE QUESTIONS BEFORE AN EXAM, AND GENERALLY GOT BETTER ANSWERS WHEN WE DID THAT. I CONCLUDE WITH SOME BAD NEWS AND GOOD NEWS. THE BAD NEWS: EVERYONE OF US WILL FACE THE JUDGE, THE FINAL EXAM. THE GOOD NEWS: HE'S ALREADY GIVEN US THE QUESTIONS. YOU CAN FIND THEM IN MATTHEW 25: WHEN I WAS HUNGRY/THIRSTY/LONELY/HOMELESS/SICK WHAT DID YOU DO ABOUT IT?

ARE YOU READY WITH AN ANSWER TO THOSE QUESTIONS... ?

ON THIS BIBLE SUNDAY, LET'S FACE THE BIG ISSUE - YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD, YOU SHALL LOVE OTHERS AS YOU LOVE YOURSELF, AND YOU LOVE OTHERS BY PURSUING JUSTICE, AND MERCY, AND FAITHFULNESS.

WELL....?

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Note: This sermon-outline is not copyright. Feel free to develop and preach it, with or without acknowledgement. The exercise at the beginning can be done in small groups of three or four, then shared with the whole congregation.

ROWLAND CROUCHER