In the musical theater hit, My Fair Lady, Eliza Doolittle sings her frustration to Freddy, the young man smitten with her. Here are some short sections of the very long song to give you the idea: “Words! Words! I’m so sick of words!/I get words all day through;/First from him, now from you! Is that all you blighters can do?…Sing me no song! Read me no rhyme!/Don’t waste my time, Show me!/Don’t talk of June, Don’t talk of fall!/Don’t talk at all! Show me!” (https://www.streetdirectory.com/lyricadvisor/song/eoueca/show_me/).

I hope you sang that. At the risk of sounding irreverent or even blasphemous, Jesus’ words to his disciples, recorded in the Gospel of John, chapter fourteen, remind me of Miss Doolittle’s words to Freddy.

Jesus says, “Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me…Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching…Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me” (John 14:21, 23-24 NIV).

Eliza wanted love to be more than endearing words. She wanted action. Jesus wants the same thing. How do we express our love for God? Tears, raised hands, emotional music? That may be how we want to express our feelings. But Jesus bluntly says: Love me? Obey my teaching. Don’t obey? Then you don’t love me. Ouch.

The 14th chapter of John is part of a long narrative of Jesus’ interaction with his disciples on the night he would be arrested, the night before his death. The chapter is full of comforting, encouraging words. And yet it also includes: Obey my teaching to show your love.

Maybe a suitable analogy is how parents and children interact. We treasure hugs, sloppy kisses, and notes that say, “I love you, Mommy. I love you, Daddy.” But we also require our children to follow the basic rules we teach them. Marriage also works as an analogy. We enjoy anniversary cards, flowers, and chocolate-covered strawberries, but more than those, we want a spouse who honors and cherishes us the other 364 days of the year.

I hope Jesus likes our Sunday songs, especially since I sing alto in my church’s choir. However, I also remember that he quoted the Hebrew prophet and said, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me'” (Mark 7:6). Ouch. Do I ever honor God with my heart far off? Do you?

If we’re supposed to obey his teachings, we can acquaint ourselves with them by reading the Gospels. A great place to start is Matthew, chapters five through seven, commonly called the Sermon on the Mount. Those teachings alone can keep us busy for the rest of our lives. Especially the one about loving our enemies.

We may even have problems with the instruction to love one another. The Apostle John mirrors Jesus’ bluntness when he writes, “If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth” (1 John 3:17-18).

In conclusion, don’t be a Freddy, full of words and feelings but no actions. Be a true disciple who obeys our Lord.

Roberta Tucker Brosius, First Baptist Church, Milton