Day 7
You shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord. Leviticus 19.18
Part two of Jesus’ summary of the Torah teaches us as much as the first part. If you look throughout the Bible and any time God’s Word is revealed, God spends as much time, and in many cases more time, showing how we are to live together, not just how we are to live in our relationship with God. Six and a half of the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20 and in Deuteronomy 5 are devoted to how we are to treat our neighbor. Over half of the Hebrew scripture from which Jewish law is derived is focused on the other. Jesus talks about God a lot, but spends way more time talking about our neighbor, see also the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew’s Gospel. God wants us and desires a relationship with us, but God really wants a just earth that shows forth the divine Glory through our relationships with each other.
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial,
and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours,
now and for ever. Amen.
St. Augustine's Chapel 