THE ELEVENTH COMMANDMENT

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22628, 20 July 1935, Page 27

THE ELEVENTH COMMANDMENT

Written for the Otago Daily Times. By the Rev. D. Gardner Miller. No, I haven't made a mistake. There are eleven commandments, not ten. I know there are the Ten Commandments given by God, through Moses, to His ancient people; but there was another one added long afterwards. And the one ! added is greater in itself than all the ten previous commandments put together, i Even if the eleventh had not been ! added, we would still have the greatest i moral code the world has ever known. | Just as an exercise and test of your l memory and early training, try to repeat as many of the commandments as you recall. Can you manage the ten? I am afi’aid most of us boggle before we are half way .through. But this eleventh commandment not difficult to memorise. Better still, when we really believe it and act upon it, the whole world of men and women, and our attitude to them, will be radically changed. Here it is. You will find it in the Gospel of John, chapter xiii, verse 34: “A new commandment I give unto you that ye love one another, as I loved you, that ye also love one another,” And the following verse is illuminating:—“ By this shall ail men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” If we would act up to this new command-, ment, the previous ten can be looked upon as relics of a by-gone and less illumined age. It is revolutionary. It can nevei be dismissed without blotting out the name of Jesus from the book of history. It holds within itself the secret, the one and only secret, that will change the world. And most of us are afraid of it. There is !a. beautiful and quaint story told, which I read many years ago, how it was that thus came to be called the eleventh commandment. Archbishop Ussher visited Scotland on one occasion, to find out for himself the truth of the very wonderful things he had heard said about Rutherford, the great and gentle Scottish preacher. He arrived at the manse one Saturday night, and, without mentioning who he was, asked for shelter fpr the night. This was readily granted him. After supper, family worship was held, all members of the household assembling. As the custom was, the head of the house asked questions from those present about their knowledge of the Bible and of the doctrines of the church. Turning to the stranger, Rutherford asked. “ How many commandments are there? ” “ Eleven " was the astonishing reply. Even the servants were scandalised. They thought this strange man was terrjbly ignorant. But Rutherford saw deeper. He perceived that this stranger had great insight, and so he invited him into the study for a talk. There Ussher made himself known, and the result was that Rutherford asked him to preach on the following day. When the servants of the manse saw the stranger enter the beloved master’s pulpit, the next day, they were amazed. Their amazement was doubled when he gave out hie text. John xiii, verse 34, and added, “ This may be described as the eleventh commandment.”

But what did Jesus mean by this new and striking statement? Surely we all know, and men throughout the ages have always known, that loyg is the basis of life. Wherein, then, does the revolutionary character of this eleventh commandment reside? It resides in the kind of love that Jesus mentions. Miss this point and you lose entirely the meaning of the saying. Most people think and speak of love in terms of sentiment. I think most of us can remember something of what our fathers and mothers used to call '* calf love.” And it could be a very upsetting thing, too. Some people again think of love in terms of charity—that is, giving of your means and time to helping those who are poor and needy. God torbid that I should write slightingly of those who thus help, but experience and candour compel me to say that a great deal of charity is given for self-gratifica-tion and not for genuine love of the poor. The kind of love that many people believe in is a very intolerant love. Intolerant love is always fierce; it will fight and suffer to the last ounce of strength and never give in. But it never attempts to win over the enemy. It always wants to beat the enemy. That isn’t love at all. No, the love • that lies ,at the heart of the eleventh commandment is the love that is like the love of Jesus, "As I have loved you.” Pause here, and dwell on what the Gospels shows you of this marvellous and generous love of Jesus for others. It is the direct opposite of the kinds of love I have mentioned. For instance, the love of Jesus never con-, aiders that “ Safety of self first" has any part in the life of any man or woman who is a Christian. Self-forgetting is the keynote of Christian love. To follow in the way of His love is to learn how to forget as well as to forgive. It is a love that seeks the erring, to bring them back into the fold—and then forget that they had ever strayed. It is a love that refuses to take mean advantage ;of anyone, especially one who is our | enemy. It is a love that respects personality, opr own as well as that of others, and while holding fast to principle will pity those who think differently. Its only weapon is the forgiving spirit, its only reward the good of others. That is ! what Jesus meant when He said, “All ■ men shall know you are my disciples ’ — when your life exhibits this great selfi abusing, other-regarding spirit. I You can see at once liOw it would change the world if the Christian people in the world—you and I—really tried it out. It works, not by compulsion, but by permeation—the same as does the yeast in the dough! There is a saying that is dangerous ' but true—if we think it out carefully—“ Love, and do as you like.” 1 But it all depends on the kind of love. If it is the love that Jesus speaks of, then you can do as you like, for that kind of love will only help others, never hurt them. God is love. That’s the revelation of Jesus. And so the eleventh commandment is just letting God work through you. Is it observable to others?