Second Reformed
Church
132 Elmwood Ave.
Irvington, NJ
07111
973-373-4525
Jesus
answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord
is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all
your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your
neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” And the
scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is
one, and there is no other besides him. (Mark 12:29-32, ESV).
December 8, 2018
Dear
Members and Friends of Second Reformed Church,
A self-described, “non-religious,” friend
of mine asked me, as a “religious” person, how I would measure whether or not I
had had a “successful” year. As we
prepare to celebrate Christmas and New Year’s – passing from 2018 to 2019 – I thought
we might engage in a little reflection.
How does a Christian measure a year
as successful or not? I believe the
answer lies primarily in the opening Scripture.
First, have you been reconciled to
God? Are you right with God? Have you received the salvation that God
provides through His Son Alone? Are you
sure?
Then, second, are you responding to
that by loving God –
With all your heart. Are you showing your love to God with every
aspect of all of who you are emotionally?
Do you so love God that every emotion that you experience is tied in
some way to your love of God?
With all your soul. Are you showing your love to God with every
aspect of all of who you are spiritually?
Are you loving God by doing everything you know how to do to grow in
faith and obedience and holiness?
With all your mind. Are you showing your love to God by using
your mind to the fullest – to know Him and all that He has said – by using your
mind to express all you have come to know of Him?
With all your strength. Are you showing your love to God by doing
everything you can to keep your body healthy and strong for the sake of living
as long and as healthfully as possible so you can glorify God and enjoy Him?
Third, are you responding to that by
loving your neighbor?
In explaining what it means not to
murder, The Heidelberg Catechism
says:
“Q
& A 107
“Is it enough then that we do not
murder our neighbor in any such way?
“A. No. By condemning envy, hatred,
and anger God wants us to love our neighbors as ourselves, to be patient,
peace-loving, gentle, merciful, and friendly toward them, to protect them from
harm as much as we can, and to do good even to our enemies” (https://www.crcna.org/welcome/beliefs/confessions/heidelberg-catechism)
We are to do whatever good we can do
for everyone else – especially with regards to their hearing the Gospel. (Now, we must use wisdom as we interpret what
is means for us to do “whatever good we can” – we are not meant to be doormats
or abuse ourselves.)
Love of neighbor is emphasized even
more strongly with regards to our loving our brothers and sisters in the
Church:
“Now there are varieties of gifts,
but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and
there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all
in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common
good” (I Corinthians 12:4-7, ESV).
Speaking of the Church, Paul
explains that the gifts of the Spirit are, in the first place, for the good of
all the members of the Church.
Are you doing all these things?
Are you doing all these things
perfectly?
Might these things be something to
reflect on this season?
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
In His Service,
Peter A. Butler, Jr.
Rev. Dr. Peter A. Butler, Jr., Pastor
Second Reformed Church
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