Chapter 17 Love instead of law This is the world changing ethic of Jesus We have to ask How did early

church applied teachings of Jesus? What are the embedded principles we see there? How is this going to change our mentality in how we live with a spirituality that is Jesus focused but not religious in our day? Jesus breaks rules if love greater result The Golden Rule Doing good to others, as you want them to do to you Contrast with I can live in a bubble as long as I am not hurting anyone - this is the good life Implicit in above is a disconnect - ie person in a bubble separated from those around them- allows self indulgence Narcissistic paradigm- MEisms Applicable not only to people but also nation states! When in relational context- you want to live differently - love is transforming Mathew7 v 12 & Mathew 22 v39 Jesus could not answer with one commandment - Needed to give 2 Commandments! Jesus fuses together : love God with everything you've got with love your neighbour as love yourself Jesus knew that if only gave love God command- that would be misunderstoodencourage people to become ascetics and not bother about relational aspects with fellow human beings These commands kicks against I live my life, you live your life I won't harm you therefore I'm good, you're good we're all good Assumes morality of disconnection Disconnect from relationship and the dysfunction that comes from disconnected relationship Note- Love yourself sometimes get hijacked in our culture- people then spend too much time loving themselves better ie foster egocentric narcissistic self love

Can be a mantra for people who are scarred, broken and need to learn to love themselves But people need to be "other challenged"- in the healing process the composite of love is a restorative process ie I am valued and redeemed and I am not living as a servant of others as somebody who has no worth but as a servant precious and chosen by God Bible makes the assumption we love ourselves eg thirsty, hungry, cold, bladder fullWe look after this need-right and proper context of loving ourselves We therefore love ourselves in practical ways For no one hated his own flesh see Ephesians 5 if you are broken dont live in bubble- or focus on loving yourself Counterintuitive - - stop being wrapped up in yourself- saying why is life so hard for me you will not get your owns needs met because you are living in isolation and self centred ness go and love your neighbour and you will find your own loneliness is nourished Eg volunteer organisations You will experience what you are looking for (love) by giving it away-restorative We love because he first loved us - not because he first threatened us or condemned us! I am fully accepted by God Grace - here's the reward (GRACE) - now how are you going to love other people? How are about going to live out of genuine love for others? We do not need to earn our salvation- no longer need to worry about positive judgment on judgment day - we have assurance- don't need motivation of guilt to love That's my fuel - my motivation Grace front end loads our awareness of our own salvation as we try to become more like the God who has saved me- how do I give kindness to others Contrast with other religions - live a good life and you will then be rewarded with.......

Following Christ imperfectly no longer scares us away from following Christ because he knows my heart- we do everything imperfectly- the problem of being who we are! We stumble - but we stumble forward as we move on

Contrast with the law approach to life - says we now know all the rules and know how I am playing Becomes a tick box and one can be tempted by the laws - eg don't touch wet paint! Taps into something within us! Beware using linguistic legalism to misrepresent people Love always trumps law Hosea 6 v 6 - see heart behind law and follow the heartbeat!