Do as you want… (commandments part 2)

Here is a nice story that was told this morning as part of the sermon on the commandments. I want to tell it apart, so has not to mix it with the already long previous post. This is a story told among Jews ; don’t try to find it in the Bible, it’s not in it.

Moses was on mount Sinai, receiving the commandments from God. God told him : “You shall not cook an animal’s meat into its mother’s milk”.
Moses answered : “Ok Lord, I get that. Let me rephrase : I shall not eat meat and milk together, right?”
The Lord is patient and kind, so he said : “No, that is not it, I mean to say you shall not cook an animal’s meat into its mother’s milk”
Moses said : “Oooh ok! So correct me if I’m wrong : I shall keep different plates for milk and for meat, so I don’t have to mix them when I eat, right?”
The Lord once again said : “Listen Moses, what I have to tell you is very simple : you shall not cook an animal’s meat into its mother’s milk, alright?”
Moses thought a bit, then answered : “Ok I think I got it this time! So you mean I shall use different plates for milk and for meat so I don’t mix them, and wait 6 hours after I eat any of them before eating the other, so they don’t get mixed in my stomach, is that better?”
And the Lord said : “You know what? Do as you want…”

Now, even though this story is not biblical, I find it very nice and very true. Very often, the message of God is clear and simple. It’s clearer message is : “Love your God with all your self, and love your neighbour as youserlf”. Couldn’t be more simple. Yet it’s so difficult to apply it, that we want to change it so it fits our will, not His.

Thus many believers have wondered : “Who is my neighbour?”. Well maybe my neighbour is only the one who lives close to me, and I don’t have to love others… Or maybe my neighbour is the one who looks like me, so if I’m white, I don’t have to love black people… Or maybe my neighbour is the one who has the same religion as me, so I don’t have to love people who do not have the same religion… Or maybe it’s not even about religions, but churches, so if I’m a catholic I don’t have to love protestants… Or maybe … [1]

Some even go wondering “What is love anyway?”

Yet the message is so clear…

I loved this story because I for one believe most commandments given in the Bible were given only because men where like Moses in this story : they didn’t want to hear what God wanted them to do, so they tried to change the rules as much as possible, to get practical, easy to do rules for everyday life. It’s much easier to respect tons of small commandments than to dedicate your whole self to God and to love your neighbour as yourself!

The will of God for us is simple and straight, and is aimed to our happiness. May His will be done!

Amen.

[1] note : the term that is used for “neighbour” in Hebrew actually means someone we don’t know yet. It can be your brother, your dad, your king, or a total stranger. It’s someone that will come and you don’t know who it is untill he/she comes.