Commandments (11th July 2004)

I was recently greatly interested by an item on Breakfast television. This invited viewers to compose new commandments, which were relevant to modern life – the inference was that the Biblical Commandments had become irrelevant, though how this could be decided about commandments such as “You shall not kill”, or “You shall not steal” is quite beyond me. Many of the suggestions from viewers were fatuous, along the lines of “You shall clean up after your dog”. But are the Biblical commandments irrelevant? Are there too many of them for today’s society to cope with? Don’t forget that our Lord actually reduced the burden to just 2 commandments, which he told us were all important – First “The Lord your God is the only Lord. You shall love the Lord your God with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” Second “ Love your neighbour as yourself.” There is no other commandment greater than these, He said. (Mark, ch 12, vv 28-30) Finally, towards the end of his earthly reign, Jesus gave us, through His disciples, a “new” commandment – “ Love each other, as I have loved you” (John ch 15 vv 9-17) Amazing isn’t it, how often “love” crops up in the Christian way of life – sounds simple, but not always so easy to carry out.

Perhaps the last word should go to the Anglican vicar called into the television studio to provide an “official” new commandment for today – her offering, which I think sums up so much of what Christ means to me, and I hope to you – “You shall not forget that you, all of you, are loved by God”.

Keith Brown