"'Law First' or 'Love First' (and God's Tender Love)"

Ps. 116:5, NIRV

     We greatly enjoy the Call the Midwife series on Sunday evenings on 

TV (a PBS program imported from the BBC).  The midwives are 

Anglican nuns and the young nurse midwives who work with them.  

The setting is the economically challenged East End of London in the 

1950s and onward.  The stories reflect the gritty real life situations of 

life on the East End.  The nuns and midwives respond with a great 

deal of down-to-earth common sense and TLC—tender loving care.  

It is moving drama.

     In a recent episode one of the patients is an expectant mother and 

prostitute.  She needs medical care but expects that she’ll be treated 

with judgment (and the Law first approach we will discuss shortly).  

Instead she encounters the same TLC and common sense care that all 

receive.  She knows full well that the nuns and nurses don’t exactly 

approve of her way of life (although they understand her poverty 

and desperation) and that they would suggest another way, especially 

for her child.  However, she (and we) cannot help being moved by the 

commitment to help her and the gentle, common sense TLC that she 

receives.  Such TLC reflects a great biblical theme--and the life of the 

prophet Hosea, as we will see shortly.  (For scriptures spelling out 

God's TLC see the first closing meditation below.)

     “Go again, love . . . even as the Lord loves . . . ,” God says to the prophet Hosea.^[1]  This theme continues throughout the Bible.  The Apostle Paul declares: The greatest of these is love (of faith, hope, and love) in his famous “Love Chapter.”  Similarly, when the Apostle Paul lists the fruits of the Spirit in our lives, he begins with love.^[2]  

     Jesus lives this message and speaks of it.  Love your neighbor as yourself, Jesus says; this is the second great commandment—after the first: loving God.  Love and care for the anonymous or “different” stranger, as well, Jesus teaches (via illustration) in the Parable of the Good Samaritan.^[3]

     Why are we called to love?  We love because God first loved us, we read in 1 John 4:19.  Love first is clearly the message of the Bible: this is especially apparent in the Christian Gospels and Epistles.  The message is not: Law first! 

     Why then is Law first the message that we so often hear from those who claim allegiance to the message of the Bible?  What part of this clear message about Love first, rather than Law first, seems to be so difficult to grasp?  Perhaps it has to do with a tendency that is very basic in human nature. 

     We offer an example: we once had an elderly friend who was very dear to us.  He had escaped a totalitarian country and shared fascinating stories regarding all that he and his family endured when he was in his youth.  He was a deep person of faith (having survived so much) and a wonderful conversationalist.  But once in a while he would get into a routine we lovingly called Ain't it awful.  Since he could no longer do all the things he had once done, he would spend too many hours watching television.  And much of what he saw disturbed him (especially regarding people’s actions and choices).  So he would give a list of Ain't it awful behaviors, and then he would say: “We shouldn't allow this sort of behavior; we ought to lay down the law about this.  America doesn't know how to lay down the law!”

     We didn't argue with him because he was elderly, and we loved him dearly.  But we did stop to think about the fact that so much that had been awful in his youth had related directly to the fact that laying down the law was the way an abusive government controlled its citizens.  It caused us to think about that very typical human response: “We ought to lay down the law about this!” 

     This seems to be a natural response.  We see things that seem wrong to us or that we consider morally objectionable, and we want to lay down the law.  It’s interesting then that the Bible recommends another way: “Go again, love . . . even as the Lord loves. . . .”^[4]  This instruction was given to the prophet Hosea in a most complex situation: his wife had been unfaithful and had gone back to her former life of prostitution.  Yet, even in this untenable situation Hosea is instructed to love as the Lord loves.  If we add this holy instruction given to Hosea to other biblical principles and commands to love (above), we clearly see what God would have us do.  God would have our first steps toward persons or situations (except in the most extreme cases) to be those taken in love—and not in that natural, immediate human impulse to be the one who lays down the law.  (Note that in general we are not addressing the civil order here--where, of course, laws are necessary.  Instead we are speaking of a spiritual approach to life and what is at the heart of this approach.)

     Let’s look further at the Bible in regard to a Law first inclination.  Both Jesus and the Apostle Paul fought a valiant battle against the Law first approach.  In Jesus’ day the religious establishment had gotten all bound up in rules and laws.  For example, there were incredibly complex laws that centered upon the whole issue of being ritually “clean” or “unclean.”  Shepherds were one group who were considered unclean.  By the very nature of their work, it was almost impossible for them to keep the complicated cleanliness laws of the religious establishment.  To be a shepherd was to be among the lowest of the low in the complex social and religious order of that day.  And yet, who do the angels visit in the Christmas story?  Who visits the manger?  Shepherds!  It’s as if God is saying: I’m not interested in your silly complicated, unloving “Law first” spiritual approach.  I look upon the heart! (1 Sam. 16:7).  I will bring good news and love to the very ones you reject.

     The same pattern continues throughout Jesus’ life.  He gains the reputation of being a wine-bibber and a friend of sinners (Mt. 11:9), because he is not interested in those heartless, specious laws about who is or is not acceptable.  Jesus is always about Love first. 

     The only exceptions we see to Jesus’ clear Love first approach is when someone came to Jesus in duplicity, trickery, or hypocrisy (and even then, as we will see, Jesus’ ultimate response is one of grief—grief that is based on love).  For example, consider Mark 2-3:6.  Jesus is greatly upsetting the religiously uptight Pharisees with his compassion and Love first approach.  He is trespassing upon their lay down the law approach (they believe Jesus is breaking Sabbath laws).  Jesus knows exactly what these Pharisees are up to (the hypocrisy and trickery in their hearts: they are plotting against him).  In Mark 3 we read: “He (Jesus) looked round on them with anger, for he was grieved at the obtuseness of their hearts” (note the grief in this passage).^[5]  And ultimately Jesus would be put to death because he was seen as a dangerous lawbreaker (even while he also accepted his death as a final proof of his tender love for us; Jn.10:18, 15:13).  In all, the merciful significance of Jesus' Love first approach was simply not recognized by the important people of his day.

     The same pattern repeats itself with the Apostle Paul.  He struggles valiantly to say that the Gospel must be about Grace first--which is, in part, another way of speaking of Love first.  (Remember also that the discovery of Grace first--Love first--was what led Martin Luther to launch the Protestant Reformation, as discussed in one of our earlier blog posts.^[6]) 

     Remnants of a Law first approach were still clinging to the early church in the Apostle Paul’s time—especially laws about the need for circumcision.  But Paul perceives the demand to keep the circumcision laws intact (from Jewish tradition) as a temptation to slip back into the old Law first approach that had so vexed Jesus.  Furthermore, this would be to ignore the Grace and Love of God that Jesus proclaimed—the mission for which he had given his entire life.  Paul gets so upset about this Law first temptation that at one point he says he wishes those on the other side of the argument would “mutilate themselves” (Paul is letting off some steam!) instead of forcing it on others (Gal. 5:12, RSV). Paul is hot under the collar about this issue and rightly so (although note that he was never truly harsh to those on the other side, except to let off a bit of indirect steam).  He knew that the Christian community could not slip back into the old Law first approach.

     How sad that we have repeated similar struggles down through history, up to this very day.  How often in the name of Christianity we hear a Law first approach in which someone thinks he or she is defending Christianity, while in reality that person may be denying its first principle.  An example might be the minister Terry Jones, who made headlines when he threatened to burn the Quran on the ninth anniversary of 9/11 and then carried through with that threat some months later.  One cannot supposedly "defend" Christianity without living according to its very first principle!

     In contrast to that approach, Pope Francis--from his 

inauguration onward--(in an approach that is sometimes 

misunderstood) has focused upon a very pastoral approach 

to the church’s work.  This is in contrast to what one 

commentator calls the “theological police work” that had 

sometimes been in focus in the past.^[7]  In his inaugural 

homily Pope Francis spoke of the need “for a certain 

tenderness. . . .  [G]reat tenderness . . . is not the virtue of 

the weak but rather a sign of strength of spirit and a 

capacity for concern, for compassion, for genuine openness 

to others, for love.  We must not be afraid of goodness, of 

tenderness!”^[8]

     Just why are tenderness and Love first so important?  Because we are called to reflect the nature of God.  When the Apostle Paul says the greatest of these is love and when he names love as the first fruit of the Spirit, he says this because it is, indeed, a reflection of the very nature of God.

     “[L]ove . . . even as the Lord loves . . . ,” God tells the prophet Hosea.  Bible commentator Peter Craigie says the prophet Hosea (and we as well!) learn in this command of “the supremacy of love over law.”^[9]  If we don’t learn about this “supremacy of love” we will impede our own spiritual growth and perhaps the spiritual growth of those with whom we come in contact.  We are the only messengers of God’s love that many people will know.  We have a responsibility to examine the message we send out into the world in God’s name.

     Perhaps we have an unconscious tendency to think that love is weak.  That people will take advantage of Love first.  That Love first is namby-pamby!  But in the end it’s not up to us, is it?  If God says, “Go again, love . . . even as the Lord loves . . . ,” it takes the decision about what must come first out of our hands.  God has shown us this way whether it makes sense to us or not.  In 1 John we read: “Beloved, let us love one another: for God is love” (4:7, NIV).  And, in the end, don’t we secretly know love will attract and transform more people than Law first.  We attract more bees with honey than with vinegar, as a pastor friend once said to us in this regard.  It’s a very, old saying, but it fits.

     We turn again to 1 John: “[W]e know and rely on the love God has for us.  God is love.”   Or, in another translation: “We ourselves have known and put our faith in God’s love towards ourselves.  God is love.”^[10]  This is the basis upon which everything else in the spiritual life is built.  Love first is the foundation from which all else flows.   And, as we discussed in a previous post^[11], if we don’t know something about God’s Love first, all else in the spiritual life will be off balance—there will be a taste of sour grapes about it.  Indeed, the Law first approach always results in that taste of sour grapes (or vinegar).

     Let’s go back once again to the prophet Hosea.  The Book of Hosea can be a very rugged book to read.  Hosea might sometimes be called “the prophet of doom par excellence” (Craigie).^[12]  Hosea himself is only beginning to learn about the Love first approach; God is teaching him!  (To see that process most fully at work we turn to Jesus and the Gospels.)  Nevertheless, exceptionally beautiful hints of the Love first approach and God’s immense sacred tenderness emerge in Hosea, as God is presented in the tender images of both loving husband and parent.  In Hosea we see that “within the heart of God, love conquers law” for God shows “love that is irrepressible” (Craigie).^[13]

     We read: “I [the Lord] will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion” (Hos. 2:19-20, NIV).  And, again:

. . . I [the Lord] loved him. . . .  I who taught Ephraim [God’s 

children] to walk; I took them up in my arms, but they did 

not know that I healed them.  I led them with bands of 

human kindness, with cords of love.  I treated them like 

those who lift infants to their cheeks; I bent down to them 

and fed them. . . .  How can I give you up, Ephraim? . . .  

My heart winces within me; my compassion grows warm 

and tender (Hos. 11: 1-9, CEB).

     Of the above verses Henry Gariepy writes:

There is evoked the tender scene of a father holding his son by the hands as he takes his first faltering steps; of an anxious parent keeping watch by the bedside of a sick child; of feeding the child too young to feed itself.  This portrait of God caring for us as a father for his child is unmatched in the Old Testament. . . .  [It is] God’s love story for humankind. ... What unfathomable love! . . . the tender love of God. . . .  [What] tender and unquenchable love. . . .^[14]

     Similarly, James Limburg writes that, almost as a surprise, in the Book 

of Hosea we see the "kind of love [that] originates in the heart of God 

(Duet. 7:6-8), is exemplified on the cross (John 3:16), illustrated in the 

parable of the Waiting Father (Luke 15:11-32), and expressed by the 

New Testament word agape (1 John 3:16-18; 4:7-12).  This is the kind of 

love that keeps on loving no matter what.  This is the divine love that 

provides the cantus firmus [music or preexistent melody] for the 

Book of Hosea."^[15]  

     And this is the kind of love that we are called to reflect in our first move toward our fellows: tender love that expresses the sacred tenderness of God’s love.  We may not always like stepping forward with this response.  It will not necessarily feel natural or even right to us as our first impulse.  Indeed, we may have to check our first impulse.  It may even seem to be a wishy-washy response.  But, nevertheless, it is what God asks of us if we are to be representatives of God’s way.  With the Spirit’s help we can do it.  And once we have done it, we will know that it is, indeed, the right way—God’s way.  We must not be stingy about Love first, for it is a reflection of the tender love and “tender mercy” God offers to us as well (James 5:11, KJV, NIRV; Lk. 1:78, NIV).

     For further thoughts on God's surprising contrast to the Law first 

approach, see our July post: "The 'Great Divine Romance of Heaven' 

for us & Its Frequent Neglect.") ^[16] 

“Our LORD, everything you do is kind and thoughtful, 

and you are near to everyone whose prayers are sincere”; 

Ps. 145: 17-18, CEV.

* ♡ *

We close with thoughts for meditation, prayer/poetry/proverbs:

An opening to prayer/meditation:  

 

(With reflection upon the "beloved" of Ps. 108:6, 127:2; Deut. 33:12; Rom. 9:25, 1 Jn. 4:7; all RSV.  Also see God’s TLC in Ps. 25: i.e.,

     “tender mercies,” “lovingkindness,” and care throughout;

     ASV, KJV, WEB.)

     Howard Thurman: The true religion of Jesus ... the "great 

disclosure" is this: at the heart of life there is a Heart. ^[17]

* * *                                  

“Tender shoots of spring (a meditation)”   

All the tender shoots of spring,

   All the gentle traces                        

Touch depths within I rarely reach—

   Reveal God’s minute graces. 

                                                                              *🌷* 

Tender life--and Tender Loving Care--on an April 

morn (a prayer):

    (With reflection upon Ps. 25 [for the TLC there see the first 

prayer/meditation above], Eph. 3:21, & Ps. 72:19; KJV.  Also see 

Ps. 40:11, 51:1, 69:16, 103:4.)

***

Prayer of the not “big-shot”:

     (With reflection upon Luke 15:4 and the “beloved” of

Ps. 127:2; Rom. 9:25; Duet. 33:12, NRSVCE, NRSV.) ^[18]  

* ♡ *

     Regarding "zeal"--such as in a heavy Law first approach--

Sr. Joan Chittister offers a significant warning, "The warning 

is clear: we can put ourselves in the place of God rather than 

in the arms of God." ^[19]    

* ♡ *

    And finally, just because it's spring, when it is hard to ignore 

hints of the holy:

“Of Being”

The leaves form a pattern . . . an artist would die to capture.

The wind forms a music that surpasses all earthly song.        

The little bird is mystery enough to hold

the attention of decades of science--

one ant’s ways so uncanny

that study goes on and on.

The wind touches me . . . and touches inside my very heart.

The sunlight pierces my soul,

though I know not where the soul dwells.

High inside my cheekbones I feel the faintest beginning of tears.

I feel the mystery of living, of being,

of loving, laughing, crying.

I feel the sacredness of responding,

of tasting, touching, seeing—

the wonder of beholding . . . with my own fragile flesh

the secrets of Infinity

that weave in and out of

all life.

* * *

“Meditations with a Tiny House Finch”    

     (With reflection upon Luke 12:25-26.)

* * *

(See additional blog posts after the "Notes"--Newer/Older Posts.)

…………………………….

Notes: 

1. Hos. 3:1, RSV.

2. 1 Cor. 13:13; Gal. 5:22-23.

3. Mt. 22:37-40; Lk. 10:25-37.

4. See No. 1 above.

5. Mk. 3:5, Barclay translation in William Barclay, The Gospel of Mark,

The New Daily Study Bible Series (Louisville, KY: Westminster John

Knox Press, 1975, 2001), p. 76.

6. See our earlier post: "Martin Luther's Neglected Tenderness";
http://sacred-tenderness-christian-tradition.blogspot.com/2015/03/martin-luthers-neglected-tenderness.html.

7. Eun Kyung Ki, “Pope Francis named Time’s 2013 Person of the Year,”

Today News, Dec. 11, 2013:

www.today.com/news/pope-francis-named-times-2013-person-year-2D11723759.

8. "Homily of Pope Francis" (Inauguration mass), Mar. 19, 2013:

www.w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/homilies/2013/documents/papa-francesco_20130319_omelia-inizio-pontificato.html.

9. Peter C. Craigie, Twelve Prophets, The Daily Study Bible Series (Louisville, KY:
Westminster John Knox Press, 1984), v. 1, p. 27.

10. 1 Jn. 4:16, NIV and The Jerusalem Bible translation.

11. See our earlier post: "Sacred Tenderness—Lost in Translation?";
http://sacred-tenderness-christian-tradition.blogspot.com/2015/02/.

12. Craigie, Twelve Prophets, v. 1, p. 7.

13. Ibid., pp. 74, 7.

14. Henry Gariepy, “Hosea—Love Story: A Father’s Tender Love,” The

War Cry, Aug. 27, 1988.

15. James Limburg, Hosea-Micah: Interpretation, A Bible Commentary for

Teaching and Preaching (Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1988), p. 15.

16. "The 'Great Divine Romance of Heaven' for us & Its Frequent 

Neglect"; https://sacred-tenderness-christian-tradition.blogspot.com/2015/07/the-great-sacred-romance-and-its.html

17. Howard Thurman paraphrased and quoted in a chapter about his great

contribution: Karen Wright Marsh, Saints and Sinners (Downers Grove,

IL: InterVarsity Press, 2017), p. 134.

18. Meditations, prayer/poetry/proverbs by Lorraine B. Eshleman.

19. Joan Chittister, Illuminated Life (Orbis, Maryknoll, NY, 2000), p. 138.