Setting Priorities

Setting Priorities

Matthew 22:36-40

Since the assassination of Charlie Kirk, it has become increasingly obvious that we live in an age of moral decay and moral confusion. The line between right and wrong has been not just blurred, but seems to have been wiped out entirely. We watched people celebrate murder and call for more violence, even naming those they thought should be next on the hit list. We saw school teachers actually show the video of the murder repeatedly to their classes, traumatizing children with the horrific scene. We saw celebrities laughing about it and approving it. We saw people calling for the firing of those who expressed sympathy. One, a star of the Marvel super-hero movies, when he expressed sympathy to the Kirk family, faced a firestorm of condemnation and calls for him to be fired from the series. And when doctors, anaesthetists, and nurses expressed that some people deserved to die, there was outrage. I don’t want that kind of doctor holding my life in his hands.   

Along with all of that, though, there was a chorus of criticism of Charlie Kirk’s moral stance. Teens and college students were saying that they “100% disagree” with what Kirk said. Among the things that he said is that Jesus offers a better way, that people should be judged by their character, that homosexual behavior was wrong, that transgender ideology is harmful, that women who want to be stay-at-home moms should have that freedom, that children are a blessing not a burden. All of that is correct, but opposed by the political left. They called him racist, homophobic, Nazi, fascist, mysogynistic, and said that he advocated for gays to be stoned to death. None of that is true. But it deepened the division in an already divided nation. 

One of the things that triggered a lot of people, and led to some of the accusations, was Kirk’s insistence that the book of Leviticus was the most quoted book of the Bible in our nation’s founding documents, and that the book of Leviticus is one of the most perfect books, setting up a perfect legal system. One of the reasons that triggered some people is that Leviticus has one whole chapter devoted to proper sexual relations. Leviticus 18: 22, for example says, “Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable.” The chapter ends with telling Israel that those who commit these “detestable” acts should be exiled, cut off from their people. Leviticus 20:13, does prescribe the death penalty for such acts. But this whole affair showed me that people read what they want to read and assume what they want to assume without understanding. It’s interesting to me that the law of God has become the basis for hatred and division. It’s interesting that people want to violate the law without consequences, live their own way, and wish for not only social approval, but divine approval as well.  

But God does not violate his law. Those who try to use the sin of David or Solomon to excuse their own, forget that sinful behavior depicted in the Bible does not negate God’s law. The other side to that is that those who want to excuse their own sin and select the rules they want to follow, turn around and accuse Christians of a selective reading of Scripture. They pick and choose and that’s okay because it’s them doing it. But we pick and choose and it’s wrong because it’s us doing it. They want to level the Scripture and make everything equal. I’ve told you before, though, that the Bible is not level. It is mountains and valleys. Not everything is equal in value.   

Parts of the Bible are vital to us. It’s important for us to know the whole Scripture. It’s important for us to know why certain parts are vital and to know why we ignore other parts.  

Let’s review briefly: the descendants of Abraham, known as Hebrews, had been living in Egypt for four hundred years. They were, by any measure but ethnicity, Egyptian. They spoke the Egyptian language, dressed as Egyptians, worshiped Egyptian gods and goddesses, ate an Egyptian diet, lived by Egyptian laws, and thought like Egyptians. Four hundred years. That’s longer than the US has been a nation. If we assume four generations in a century, that is 16 generations. The Hebrews were thoroughly Egyptian and could not remember being anything else.   

So, when Moses was sent by God to lead the Hebrews out of Egypt, when God chose the descendants of Abraham to be his chosen people, he had to change them and make them into a new sort of people. God took them out of Egypt and gave them a law that would get Egypt out of them. He was taking them into Canaan and gave them a law that would keep Canaan out of them. The law was given to Israel. It was not given to Egypt. It was not given to Canaan. And if Egyptians or Canaanites wanted to be part of Israel, they had to submit to Israel’s law and give up being Egyptian and Canaanite. It wasn’t until after Jesus’ resurrection that Gentiles were adopted into the kingdom of God without having to convert to Judaism, and the Apostles’ Council of Acts 15 exempts Gentiles from most of Jewish law. 

That is why Christians are free to ignore much of Jewish law, and why we refuse the penalties of Leviticus 20. Paul wrote that we are set free from the law of sin and death (Ro 8:2) and that we are not to allow anyone to judge us according to the law (Col 2:16). We are not Jews, we are not Israel, and so are set free in Christ from the dietary laws, from the clothing laws, from the laws of sacrifice, from the laws of sabbath and the festivals. The reason we pick and choose is that the New Testament writers set up a standard of holiness of heart and life that includes our sexual and moral behavior and excludes certain Jewish distinctives. And it is right that we do so. 

But it brings us to something of a conundrum: how do we decide which laws are vital for us to obey and which ones are disposable? How do we decide with laws are important and which are not? And how do we decide which laws are most important for us? Jesus tells us in our text. 

This is a little bit funny to watch. Back in chapter 21, the Pharisees tried to trick Jesus with a question about taxes. They failed. The Sadducees then tried to trick Jesus with a question about marriage and the resurrection. They failed. Now the Pharisees are back. Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together and came up with what they thought was another tricky question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Out of the whole canon of Jewish law, which of the 613 is most important? Which one is most Jewish? I wonder if they thought the test was some sort of Jewish identity test? Which law defines us?  

You see, the Pharisees had their hierarchy of laws, and spent countless hours debating, defining and refining the law and its application. The rabbis argued among themselves, and the result is the Talmuds, and there are two major Talmuds that were likely in use in Jesus’ day – the Babylon Talmud and the Jerusalem Talmud. They not only discussed how the laws were to be applied, but which ones superceded others, and they were ranked in order of importance. For example, Jesus criticized the Pharisees for devoting certain of their goods to God and using that as an excuse to not care for their parents in old age. The Pharisees had apparently decided that devoting your goods to God was of higher value than keeping the commandment to honor father and mother (Mt 15:3-6). In some cases, such as this one, they had even elevated tradition over the law.   

So this is really no idle challenge. It will reveal which rabbi, which tradition, which Talmud Jesus follows, and where his loyalties lie. Will he align with the Pharisees? Or with the Sadducees? It may even reveal his political alliances. Which is the greatest law? 

Here’s where a bit of sanctified imagination is helpful. You see, there is a law that every Jew knows very, very well. They are taught it from childhood. It is on the lips of their fathers. Every good Jew of Jesus’ day, especially the Pharisees, carried a scrap of parchment with them everywhere they went. It was written on their foreheads, so to speak, because it was kept inside a small container known as a phylactery. And it was recited often. You may have seen Jewish young men at Yeshiva, reading or reciting scripture. When they do, they rock to the rhythm. Back and forth, back and forth, with the rhythm of the flow of the Scriptures.   

So I picture Jesus, hearing their question, and automatically closing his eyes to see the Law in his mind, rocking as he recites the Shema. “Hear, O Israel. The LORD is our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength” (Dt 6:4). He opens his eyes, fierce now, and pointing at them, “This. This is the first command and the greatest.” Love God first. Put Him first. Not your law. Not your tradition. Not your ritual. “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness.” It’s not about religion. It’s about honoring your Creator, the one who gave you life and sustains your life. For the Jews, it was the Shema that defined them and the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob who created them a nation. It was God who brought them out of Egypt and gave them the Land of the Promise. It was God who made covenant with Israel. So, God first. Anything ahead of God is an idol. Anything other than God is an idol. 

But Jesus wasn’t done with them. You want a hierarchy of law? Here it is: God first. “And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself” (Lev 19:18). The full verse, if anyone is interested, is this: “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.” The whole law can be summed up in these two. In fact, the Ten Commandments can be divided into these two. The first four put God first; the last six put relationships with people, neighbors first. Honor your parents. Don’t murder. Don’t commit adultery. Don’t steal. Don’t lie or gossip against your neighbor. Don’t covet what belongs to your neighbor. Jesus encapsulated those six in what we have come to call the Golden Rule: “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets” (Mt 7:12).  

There is controversy these days. Oklahoma governor Kevin Stitt recently signed a law directing that a poster of the Ten Commandments be posted in every public school classroom. Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas have also passed similar laws. Of course, they are being challenged in court as violating the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. However, the Ten Commandments are also posted in the Supreme Court and in the US Capital. And the Court has allowed the Ten Commandments to be posted in state capital buildings, including in Texas, as part of a display of historical and founding documents. If it’s permitted for the Supreme Court, it should also be permitted for school children.   

But here’s the thing, folks: in a day or moral confusion and moral decay; in a day when the lines between right and wrong have been nearly obliterated; in a day where sin is considered good and Christian morality is ridiculed as oppressive and evil; in a day where criminals are set free to continue their lawless behavior, we need some moral clarity. We need the lines to be redrawn. We need to learn the difference between good and evil. 

The Salvation Army has a motto: “Heart to God; Hand to Man,” that described the motivation for what they do. It is out of their deep devotion to God that they engage in their compassionate ministries. General Booth was a Methodist who got at least part of his motivation from John Wesley. John Wesley defined Christian perfection as perfect love for God that overflows into perfect love for mankind. Booth found ways to provide employment for people in England. Wesley established clinics to care for the medical and health of his neighbors. The Holy Club that John and Charles Wesley started in college had as part of its motivation to visit the sick and imprisoned and to care for the poor. It was not just prayer and Bible study – it was putting feet to their faith. But I want you to notice that both William Booth and the Wesleys were motivated first by their love for God. They put God first. And that compelled them to love their neighbors. 

Jesus won’t let us pick and choose our morality. He won’t let us decide which laws we want to obey or prioritize which laws we think are most important. In a day of moral confusion, we are given a standard to live by. And let’s not get bogged down with the nonsense about learning to love ourselves before we can love our neighbor. We already love ourselves and our own opinions far too much. Jesus is telling us to spend that energy on others. Bill reminded us recently of something C. S. Lewis wrote: “Humility is not thinking less of ourselves; it is thinking of ourselves less.” Our priority is clear, if we are following Jesus. We are to love God and put him first in our lives – in every part of our lives. And then we are to love our neighbors and treat them with the same respect and consideration that we want for ourselves. “All the Law and the Prophets hand on these two commandments.” That means that if we just do these two things – love God first; love neighbor second – we are fulfilling the whole law. And our morality will be clear, the line between right and wrong, between good and evil, sharp.