Pastor’s Message for August 2026

Owe no one anything, except to love one another, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery; you shall not murder; you shall not steal; you shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.
—Romans 13:8-10, NRSVue (emphasis added) 

During worship on July 26, as part of our on-going sermon series on The Sermon on the Mount, we considered the difference between the Law of the Old Testament and the law of the New Covenant, and I believe we discovered that, in the Sermon, Jesus was laying the groundwork for what Paul would share with the church at Rome (and ultimately with us): “love is the fulfilling of the law.”

Now, I think we need to ask ourselves what Paul means when he is talking about love. Well, if you’ve grown up in the church, you’re probably aware that the Greek language of the original New Testament had four different words for four different kinds of love. The word in question in the 13th chapter of Romans is the verb agapao. This is the same word for “to love” that Jesus uses when he offers the New Commandment: “Love one another as I’ve loved you.” in John 13:34 and 15:12. Essentially, agapao means to love the way Jesus loved, but Paul gives as a very good overview of what this Jesus-like love fully entails in the famous “Love Chapter” (First Corinthians 13) that we hear so often at weddings: “Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable; it keeps no record of wrongs; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things (vv. 4-7, NRSVue). This is love in the New Commandment and the Love Chapter.

OK, I want to change gears now in conclusion. Many people would like to see The Ten Commandments displayed in our nation’s classrooms. In fact, some states have made this a law, but maybe “Love one another!” would be a reasonable substitute. If it has to be a list, though, perhaps we could try this:

The New Ten Commandments

1. Thou shalt be patient.
2. Thou shalt be kind.
3. Thou shalt not be envious or boastful.
4. Thou shalt not be arrogant or rude.
5. Thou shalt not insist on your own way.
6. Thou shalt not be irritable.
7. Thou shalt keep no record of wrongs.
8. Thou shalt not rejoice in wrongdoing
9. Thou shalt rejoice in the truth.
10. Thou shalt bear all things, believe all things, hope all things, and endure all things.

What do you think?

—Rev. Rob