Q. 5. Are there more Gods than one?
A. There is but one only, the living and true God.
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” (Deuteronomy 6:4-9, NRSV)
The first and foremost duty of Israel, even before monotheistic devotion and striving to love God, is to listen. "Hear, O Israel.”
God is one—we are not bi-theists or tri-theists. Therefore, we join with our Jewish friends in the great prayer called the Shema: "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength." (Deut. 6:4–5). Known as the Shema - the Hebrew for the first word of this imperative command: "Hear."
Just as we find ourselves at times, the people of ancient civilizations were fearful of being alone in a wild and unpredictable world. These men and women created a host of gods who could be safely located in available shrines and temples. It was important that these gods have both faces and voices. Temples were decorated with elaborate statuary and pictures of what the god looked like.
It is hard for us today to realize just how radical Israel's call to monotheism was. Its rejection of idols was scandalous in the ancient world. The people of Israel could not have had a more counter-cultural message. The primary text of Israel, recited twice every day, was called the shema from its first word: "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength."
As John Ortberg stated about monotheism, “The text did not read, "O Israel, think for yourselves. Go with your gut. Maximize your bliss. You are the autonomous center of the universe." - John Ortberg, “Who Is This Man?” The tragedy of life and of the world is not that people do not know God; the tragedy is that, knowing Him, they still insist on going their own way. - William Barclay, The Revelation of John, v. II. How do you "insist on going your own way?" What part of your life are you holding back from God?
One of the most dazzling rays of light guiding this community from generation to generation has been that of the "Great Commandment" which Jesus recited from Deuteronomy in the gospels. The Shema not only encapsulates the heart of Jewish monotheism, it also specifies directives for generational revitalization of its brilliance and power through day-to-day practices. After Deuteronomy 6:4 entreats Israel to "hear" and to repeat the oneness of God, verse 7 calls for the instruction of the next generation - "recite them to your children." The commandment also calls for the Shema's truth to be proclaimed whether the Israelites were "at home" (in Israel) or "away," dispersed in some strange, alien land.
Recited every morning and evening, it has stood as the distinguishing hallmark of a monotheistic faith in a world glutted with gods and idols. And although every follower of Jesus breathed the air of radical monotheism, they also met Jesus.
And when Jesus came upon the scene and said things like "I and the Father are one" (John 10:31), and when they saw Jesus do things that only God could do — forgive sins, control the forces of nature — they knew that they had met God in the flesh. And then, as Jesus had promised over and over again, they also experienced the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. Christians did not start talking about the Trinity because they liked the number three; they did so to make sense out of the way God had come to them as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The highest science, the loftiest speculation, the mightiest philosophy which can ever engage the attention of a child of God is the name, the person, the work, the doings, and the existence of the great God whom he calls his Father. - Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834–1892)
Today’s Lectionary Readings
Morning Psalm: 116, 123
Evening Psalm: 34
Jeremiah 9:23-24
1 Corinthians 1:18-31
Mark 2:18-22
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