God is One; Deuteronomy 6:4-9, Mark 12:28-34

Last week, on Trinity Sunday, we emphasized that God is Three in One. We saw that we cannot rename the members of the Trinity based on function because the functions overlap. God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Over the next several weeks, we will flush out this relationship. Though we don’t understand it, we saw that it has great implications for us. In Romans 8 we see that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit all work together to accomplish the fullness of our redemption and salvation, and even the redemption of the created world. Today as we begin our series on the Nicene Creed, our emphasis is that God is One in Three. The Nicene Creed begins, “We believe in One God.” God is One. We do not worship 3 gods. I don’t if it is easier to think of God as One in Three or Three in One. It’s just not something our minds can fully grasp, but we see it again and again in Scripture. Our Old Testament reading is known as the Shema, which is the first word of this verse in Hebrew. It is the command form of the verb to hear with the implications that what you hear, you take seriously to obey and live it out. It tells us that Yahweh our God is One. We are given God’s name. Last week, we saw that Name applies to both the Father and the Son. Jesus also said that more than once when He declared, “Before Abraham was, I AM”. The Jews who heard Jesus tried to stone Him because they knew He was using the Divine Name for Himself. Jesus also said in John 10, “I and the Father are One.” In II Corinthians 3:18, the Spirit is called Lord. “And we who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory are being transformed into His image with ever increasing glory which comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” Although the New Testament word “Lord” doesn’t always correspond to the Old Testament Divine Name Yahweh, it seems to here. The two “Lords” in this verse are equal. Father, Son, and Spirit are One. We worship One God. In our gospel reading, Jesus is being tested. Having been asked several questions by teachers of the Law, scribes, and Pharisees, Jesus is given one last test and is asked, “What is the Greatest Commandment?” He quotes the Shema and adds the second greatest commandment—to love your neighbor as yourself. This intrigues one of the scribes who is pleased with the answer. This scribe reiterates that God is One and there is no other God. No one is like God. He agrees with Jesus that loving God and loving neighbor is greater than all other commands combined, and sums them up. In return, Jesus is pleased with the man’s intelligent response and tells the scribe that he “is not far from the Kingdom of God.” Perhaps he is one of the scribes who later embraces Jesus as Lord and Christ. When you’ve summed up the Law, there is no reason to ask anything else. The Law of God is love. Jesus though continues to teach using the Psalm we alluded to last week to indicate that He is Lord. He is equal to Yahweh. He is One with God. The Lord our God is One God. There is only one God. Our God is not one option among many. There are many spiritual beings but only One is God. None of the others would exist without Yahweh. Nothing can exist without our God. Our God is the God of everyone, whether or not they acknowledge God. Many choose lesser gods or false gods. But there is only one true God. The truth of who God is demands a response. We are told to teach it to our children and grandchildren. We are told to remember it and repeat it. Like last week, even though we might not understand the doctrine of the Trinity, it has huge implications for us. God as Three in One works for our benefit to bring us into relationship with God. The fact that God is One in Three demands a response from us. The revelation that God is One is tied to a command. In fact, we heard Jesus call it the greatest commandment—“And you shall love Yahweh your God with all of your heart, and with all of your soul, and with all of your mind, and with all of your strength.” So how much do you love God? Do you love the Lord with all of your strength? Strength refers to physical ability. All the various things we do with our physical bodies represent all of our strength. You might think, “I’m not that strong. At least not any more.” Even though you may not be able to physically do the things you used to be able to do what are you doing with your body? Are you using your body in such a way that you can say, “I’m loving God with all of my strength?” Love the Lord your God with all of your mind. This refers to your thoughts. Do you love God with ALL of your mind? With what are you filling your mind? If you want to work on loving God with all of your mind is to practice Philippians 4:8 “Finally brothers and sisters, whatever things are true, whatever things noble, just, pure, lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue or any praise, think on these things.” Do you love the Lord your God with all of your heart? In the time when the Shema was first spoken, to love the Lord your God with all of your heart was a matter of the will. Is all your will aligned with the purpose and intent of loving God? By the time Jesus reiterated these words, the heart was beginning to take on the connotation of the seat of the emotions. I think Jesus intended it to mean both. What we love with our heart we talk about. What we love we spend our time and resources on. What we love with our will we invest in. What are you passionate about? Are you passionate about Jesus? And you shall love the Lord your God with all of your soul. Your soul is what makes you you, the core of your being. Are you marked with love for God? Can someone look at you and say, “There’s a person who loves Jesus?” That is what it looks like to love God with your soul. God wants 100% of all of you and everything you got. If you had to measure yourself on how much you love God, how would you do? Could you give yourself a 50% score? 80%? Do you love God with 100% of you heart, soul, strength, and mind? Jesus tells us that the truth of who God is—the fact that the Lord our God is one also demands that we are to love other people as we love ourselves. James tells us we cannot love God if we do not love especially our brothers and sisters in Christ. Jesus calls us to love everyone, including our enemies, and that our love is a witness that we really do love God. Do you really love God?