We live in an age of lists - from the New York Times list of best selling books to the most "Googled" sites on the web - we like lists, we seem fascinated with - who is the best, who’s hot, who’s #1?

This is nothing new. You see it even in ancient times. Rabbis in the First Cent. debated among themselves - what’s the most important passage in all the Bible? Of all the commandments given to us by God, what’s #1?

Jesus had gained quite a reputation as a teacher, a Rabbi. They said he "taught as one with authority," as if his teachings came right from God. So one day he was asked what was at the top of his list. Let’s take a look.

When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. "Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?" He said to him, "’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."

We see in this passage - 3 Loves

- 3 calls to love. 3 focal points for our love, 3 directions. 3 recipients of our love.

I. The first of course is the Call to Love God.

Jesus is quoting from Deut. 6, the passage we studied on Rally Day. Next he quotes Lev. 19 - "Love your neighbor as you love yourself." Here’s the amazing truth - God wants our Love!

There are different images for God that we might have. Each one speaks to what God wants from us. There’s -

- God the Referee - who wants us to play the game fairly and honestly with no penalties. It’s an image of law & order and keeping score.

- God the IRS agent - who wants us to pay our fair share, what we owe the Kingdom of God. It’s about duty and obligation.

- Principal of Your School - who just asks for your help in making the school run properly. It’s about organization and cooperation.

But are those accurate images of God according to the Bible? No! The God revealed in scripture wants our love! (not just our obedience!)

Illustration. Imagine this, please. Imagine taking flowers home to your mother. You give them to her and she is overwhelmed with joy. Then you say, "Well, I thought it was my duty. After all, you are my Mother. I thought is was something I should do." How does she feel then? Does she even want the flowers anymore?

God wants us close to his heart. That’s the truth of the Prodigal Son story. The Father isn’t waiting back on the farm ready to scold his wayward son. He’s waiting with open arms for him to return. He wants his son close to him.

Holy Communion is about this same truth. God invites us to dinner, to the table, to welcome us home again! We come here to come home again to God’s love - to let God love us and to express our love to God.

Make sure you do that each Sunday - express your love for God in a very personal way through prayer.

II. Loving our Neighbor.

"A second commandment is like it" Note - it’s "like it" but distinct. We shouldn’t combine them too quickly. "I love God by loving my neighbor." That’s true, but we’re first distinctly called to love God.

Loving our neighbor has several different meanings. Love our neighbor means literally our next door neighbors. It also means all those we share our lives with - our family, our coworkers, our classmates.

I John 4:20-21 - those who say they love God but aren’t nice to other people are lying - they don’t love God!

"Of course, "neighbor" also means loving the poor. - Jesus redefines neighbor in the Parable of Good Samaritan. A man was beaten & robbed & left for dead at the side of the road. 3 men came by and only one helped him. Jesus asked, "Which man was a neighbor to the man?" Clearly teaching us that anyone in need is our neighbor.

Love God.

Love your neighbor.

And thirdly,

III. Love yourself.

"Love your neighbor as you love yourself." "Love your neighbor in the same way that you love yourself." Jesus clearly implies that we’re to love ourselves.

This was a hard topic to find hymns for!

"Yes, I love me. Yes, I care for me. Yes, I love me. The Bible tells me so."

The Bible does tell us that there is such a thing as selfish narcissism, where all we think about is ourselves. But the Bible also teaches that there is a healthy love of self that we’re to foster within us.

Ephesians 5 - "He who loves his wife loves himself. Husbands should love their wives as they love their own bodies. For no one hates his body. Instead they nourish it and tenderly care for it. In the same way, each of you should love your wives as yourself."

Like Jesus, Paul implies that loving oneself is foundational for loving others. If we don’t love ourselves we don’t have much to offer others. If we don’t care for ourselves we don’t have much to offer others.

Here’s some red flags when it comes to the issue of loving ourselves. When we’re not loving ourselves . . . .

 1. We look to others constantly to meet our needs and fill our tanks.

 2. We are perfectionistic with ourselves and incredibly impatient about our progress or lack thereof. -

    "I should be way beyond this by now!" 

But "Love is patient." We need to be patient with ourselves

 3. Our minds are filled with Negative Self-Talk - "You idiot, Rich. How could you be so stupid."

 4. We are quick to feel, not only guilt, but also shame.

  - "I am such a loser. There is no hope for me."

  - Guilt is, "I made a mistake." Shame is, "I am a mistake."

 5. We have difficulty receiving compliments - we may crave them, but when we actually receive one we feel terribly embarrassed & don’t know what to do with it.

 6. We don’t take care of ourselves. Eating. Sleeping. Exercising. Friendships. Spiritual & Personal Growth. When we make time for these things we are loving ourselves. When we don’t care for our bodies & souls we’re not loving ourselves.

As Paul wrote, "For no man ever hates his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, as Christ does the church. For this reason, love your wife as you love yourself."

I’ll leave you with one more thought on Loving Yourself - and it’s this:

God Loves You - not only because God is gracious, merciful and incredibly understanding . . . God is all that and more. But hear this: God Loves You - because you are worth it! You are worth loving.

God made you & God likes what he made! When we aren’t loving ourselves, we’re saying, "God, you did a bad job with me."

Illustration. Clint Eastwood - "In the Line of Fire" (cited by Douglas Pratt)

In the 1993 movie, "In the Line of Fire," Clint Eastwood played Secret Service agent Frank Horrigan. Horrigan had been with the Secret Service for more than 30 years. He was on duty in Dallas on that fateful day in 1963 when President Kennedy was shot. And when the bullets rang out, Horrigan froze.

For 30 years he wrestled with the ultimate question for a Secret Service agent: Can I take a bullet for the President.

In the climax of the movie, Horrigan did what he had been unable to do earlier: he threw himself into the path of an assassin’s bullet to save the President. Secret Service agents are willing to do such a thing because they believe the President is so valuable to our country and the world that he is worth dying for. They would not take a bullet for just anyone.

On Good Friday the situation was reversed. The President of the Universe actually took a bullet for us. At the Cross we see how valuable we are to God. Jesus willingly threw himself into the line of fire because we are worth it.

You are worth loving.