The Great Commandment

Thursday, August 20, 2009 -- Week of Proper 15, Year One
Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux, 1153

Today's Readings for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer, p. 980)
Psalms 131. 132. [133] (morning) 134, 135 (evening)
2 Samuel 19:1-23
Acts 24:1-23
Mark 12:28-34

It is all about love. Today we hear Mark's account of Jesus' summary of the law: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. ...You shall love your neighbor as yourself." He finishes with the declaration: "There is no other commandment greater than these."

During our discussion in our 10:00 adult formation class last Sunday, Steve Sheppard quoted from Gottfried Leibniz's definition of justice as the "charity of the wise." "Justice is charity or a habit of loving conformed to wisdom. Thus when one is included to justice, one tries to procure the good for everybody, so far as one can, reasonably, but in proportion to the needs and merits of each; and even if one is obliged sometimes to punish evil persons, it is for the general good." (from Steve's recently published book, "I Do Solemnly Swear: The Moral Obligations of Legal Officials")

There is a positive obligation implicit in Jesus' summary of the law and Leibniz's "charity of the wise." It is more than the avoidance of wrongdoing. It is a duty to do good, to seek charity, to actively love the other. It is a bit more to say, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you," than to say, "Do not do unto others what you would not like them to do unto you."

Steve elaborates Leibniz's model regarding the obligation "to procure the good for everybody... in proportion to the needs and merits of each." Steve says Leibniz harkened to Justinian's three maxims of Roman law -- to do no one harm, give each his due, and live rightly. Steve translates "rightly" from the Latin "honestus," which in its ancient form included a broader sense of honor and integrity than we customarily mean when we use the word honesty. Steve's book attempts to argue that judges, lawyers and other legal officials "must be moral, not just legal," and he places the virtue of charity at the center of his argument.

The word "charity" comes to us from the Latin "caritas" which was the usual Latin translation of the word Greek "agape" -- a word connoting an unlimited loving kindness. Our New Testament is written in Greek. "God is agape" says the Epistle of John. We speak of God the Holy Trinity as a relationship of self-giving and other-accepting love. To love is to live within the very being of God. We have met God who is love. We have been given the summary of the law: Love God, and love your neighbor as yourself; and we have been given the new commandment: love one another. We have seen the relationship of love between the Father and the Son, and we have been grafted into that relationship.

St. Augustine famously said, "Love, and do what you like" -- Dilige, et quod vis fac -- also translated "Love, and what you will, do." Right action flows out of right relationship. Love is at the core of our individual and our corporate relationships and ethics. Love extended into the social fabric is Justice -- "charity conformed to wisdom."

In any given moment, what does love command? Wise love. To procure the good for everybody. To do no one harm, give each his due, and live rightly. It doesn't get any simpler or more demanding than this.

Lowell

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About Morning Reflections
Morning Reflections is a brief thought about the scripture readings from the Daily Office of Morning and Evening Prayer according to the practice found in the Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church.

Morning Prayer begins on p. 80 of the Book of Common Prayer.
Evening Prayer begins on p. 117

An online resource for praying the Daily Office is found at www.missionstclare.com
Another form of the office from Phyllis Tickle's "Divine Hours" is available on our partner web site www.ExploreFaith.org at this location -- http://explorefaith.org/prayer/fixed/index.html


The Mission of St. Paul's Episcopal Church
is to explore and celebrate
God's infinite grace, acceptance, and love.

Visit our web site at www.stpaulsfay.org

Our Rule of Life

We aspire to...
worship weekly
pray daily
learn constantly
serve joyfully
live generously.

Lowell Grisham, Rector

St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Fayetteville, Arkansas