Matthew 22:34-40
We had a wedding here yesterday. What is the most important part of a wedding? Cake, flowers, dress, rings, music. Everyone thinks what they are doing is important. Payoff is when the vows are spoken. It is easy in life to get so lost in the details that we forget the core issues.
The Pharisees were lost in the details of life. How many steps on the Sabbath? How many angels on the head of a pin? The Pharisees wanted to catch Jesus and argue with him over some detail of the law. People like to make things complicated. Sometimes they want to look at the details because the core issues are too much. In Chapter 23, Jesus nails them for this. So lost they won't enter in, keep others from doing so. Strain a gnat...swallow a camel. Forgot about the greater issues of truth, justice, love, mercy.
This is why some people hate to see Christians coming...they're afraid you might nail them on something. I have a great time with some folks until they find out I'm a minister; then they shrink back...afraid that I will judge them on some part of their life. Is this how we are supposed to relate to people outside of the kingdom?
The kingdom begins and springs from simple things: love the Lord your God, love your neighbor. Learn to love, it will be enough...it will change everything else. On this hang all the law and all the prophets. Some say this is the easy way out. What is easier -- to follow some dogma or to learn to love? Let me ask you a question: do you love the Lord? Do you wake up with a desire for Him? Do you love your neighbors? Do you want to care about them? (I have nothing else to give that matters.)
Do the details matter? Sure -- but don't get lost in the details. Don't let them distract you from the core issues of the faith. In the Kingdom of God, love is central. If you can find and work on love, everything else will follow. If you can find and work on love, it will be enough. It will be well with your soul.
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