Below is a sermon I recently delivered on Matthew 22:34-40 (The spacing looks odd but that is how I write sermons to deliver them with enough spacing and breaths)
Matthew 22:34-40
34 When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, 35 and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36 “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” 37 He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’38 This is the greatest and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
In today’s scripture passage we are thrown right smack dab into,
yet another,
argument between Jesus and the Pharisees...
At first glance, at first read, this argument seems shocking
yet- if we look back throughout the Gospel of Matthew, we find this particular writing full of these very kinds of encounters:
moments of high anxiety and fear and question all
unfolding together into a conflict nine times out of ten
The scene we enter is that of Jesus and the Pharisees -
They are all gathered together
and the Sadducees are around watching,
The Sadducees- had just been shut down by Jesus
in a similar question answer verbal battle
of passion and belief
The Pharisees and Sadducees are those groups that were ‘against’ Jesus, for a lack of better terms, those who took defense that this radical leader was perpetuating a Gospel of love that was taking over their territory, the religious real estate that they so clear saw as belonging to themselves only
In the wake of the Sadducees’ silence the Pharisees, perhaps eagerly, are attempting to prove that they are better or smarter than both Jesus and their counterparts
I imagine the Pharisees gathering together in a huddle, like a team preparing for the hail marry to win the game, pushing forward one of their own to make the play ...
a lawyer from the group, willing or unwillingly, steps forward from the Pharisees and says
basically
So Jesus tell us the most important rule, the greatest command we should follow?
now we do not know if the lawyer from the Pharisees asks this question in a snarky or rude tone or in inquisitive thirst for the answer Christ might give..
all we know is that a BiG question was just asked
and that Jesus had better rebut with a good answer
I mean, Jesus is basically asked to sum up his theology,
his ENTiRE belief system,
in one sentence. ...
I am not sure about you all but that invitation, in itself, is quite daunting
but this-
this
is where Jesus knocks them off of their rockers by proving himself and his credibility with even these,
those who have deemed themselves his utmost enemy,
by saying the greatest command is to love God and that like this you should love neighbors, all of them. And that you should do both things all of the time.
i imagine these words sent a silence over the crowd as they realized that this man
this leader named messianic hero,
was quoting from the holy scripture they knew,
they loved,
and that they had practiced so often -
these verses, these laws, coming from the shema, a highly beloved jewish prayer found in deuteronomy and the law found in leviticus
Jesus melds these two things they have known, and attempted to practice themselves, together and they are silenced
i imagine that it is much like the silence that falls upon tiny children when they fall and get hurt after doing something they were just told would make them fall and get hurt
that second- guessing- oh- you-really - did - get - this
and - really did mean-this kind of silence
The pericope stops with Jesus melting these commands together as being important in the life of a Christian and the Pharisees and the Sadducees stewing in a silent awe soaking it all in
I imagine that if i were there, if i were a pharisee or a sadducee I would fall silent at hearing these words as well....
i mean lets be honest here,
the call to love God is a big call standing on its own and then to add right on top of that to love your neighbor,
neighbor: code for everyone in Jesus-lingo
as yourself makes me loose my breath, at least momentarily, out of the sheer weight
these commands carry
Jesus well realized that in being asked the greatest command he was being asked to sum up his message
and to sum up his message was a big task
so he does it as only Jesus can do - in a sort of tricky manner
tricky because of the weight of these commands
the call of these commands is to reorient ones life day in and day out towards love
A reorientation that commands us to Love God first
to love God fully, and always,
And then to share that love, to show that love
by loving our neighbors. All of them.
Jesus is reminding us in the call to orient, to direct, our lives around the love we have for God that loving God extends far beyond sheerly uttering the phrase
“ i love God” --- though it might do us good to utter this life changing, life giving phrase, intentionally more often
no, perhaps unfortunately, it is not as simple as uttering empty affections to gain attention for our piety,
To love God we must be willing to put the peddle to the metal, so to speak
in saying that the greatest commandment is to love God with one’s entire being- their entire mind and body and spirit- Jesus is urging for a transformational relationship between us and our creator,
the one who knows the number of hairs on our heads and the
prayers echoing within our hearts
in answering the call to reorient one’s life toward God we are saying yes to a life of active,
messy,
and likely, difficult mercy
a life that says i cannot oppress
or exclude
or downplay
or harm another in
action or word or thought and
yet say i am FULLY loving God
i imagine this encounter between Jesus and the Pharisees
those asking this question, eager for Christ to stumble from confusion,
to be a beautiful and vivid portrayal of pastoral care found
between Christ and man in scripture
you see Jesus does not jump back in a hateful tone
or with harmful language
but he takes the promises this group has known
and loved
and attempted to practice
and reformats them into something they can envision
themselves within once again
Jesus gathers the knowledge of his forebears,
distilling it into the two commandments he gives,
and sheds light into what should be
the most essential component of our lives:
LOVE
as simple and as difficult as that can be
Jesus provides an example of the commands he is giving.
He loves God through attempting to love his neighbor in calm response
through familiar commands
Jesus teaches love of God and love of neighbor through active,
messy, likely difficult to give out- mercy
i imagine that Jesus, our brother, knew good and well just how difficult it can be to practice what one preaches in light of
oppression and betrayal,
snarky attitude and hateful disposition,
But yet he still models just how important it is to
love God and love neighbor, always,
as he stands amidst the Pharisees pleading with them:
love God, love each other, love me, orient you lives around love
and the rest will come
peace will come
and lives will shaded with the
transformational hughes of mercy and grace
that only God, our creator, can fashion
in his call for us to love God, Jesus is not calling for an emotional bond that is like that found between parent and child or spouses but instead Jesus is urging an active love that is willing to get dirty on occasion
That first corinthian love that Paul speaks of that is patient and kind, that endures all - the good, the bad and the ugly,
love that is not rude or arrogant or boastful but strives to sit in the middle of strife and listen,
love that seeks out truth and rejoices in it and love that focuses upon the glimmer of hope in the midst of desperation
Not an emotional bond or intellectual goal but a lived out action that stretches into the depth of our souls and reaches into the crevasses of the world as if to say, “someone is here and listening and you are important”
Jesus is saying that in loving God one’s life will be markedly different
that in loving God one is practicing
a lived out love
a life-reorienting love that stretches beyond modern cultural ideals and beckons you, and beckons me, to life a life in which we know no other way than to search and find sacred-worth in all people
in all of God’s creation
a life in which we let go of any negative emotional feelings towards one another in favor of active mercy, active love,
love that brings our enemy soup to their sick bed
active love that holds the hand of the one who
has hurt our heart in wake of their personal crisis
active love that orients oneself around God’s promises to never leave us
active love that leaves no option but to use our gifts, and rely upon God’s grace, to work together in the best and the worst of times
in taking upon this active love of God we are invited to become Christ’s own heart beating within the world-
a heart overflowing with love for all God’s works
in saying that like the command to love God we are commanded to love neighbor as ourself Jesus is saying something along the lines of
so you want a way to work this love out
do you want to express the reality of your love for God -
well look around you,
there are lots of people that you
can practice with and among
not just those who are like you
or who agree with you on everything
or who gave you the best birthday gift
but those who have hurt feelings from your actions
those who have forgot to call you on your birthday
those who have inflicted pain upon your own heart
that is where you should be extending my love
that is where you should be showing God love
Through these two simple, yet transformational, commands Jesus is inviting us all to reorient our lives
to open our eyes toward others
the invitation is profoundly simple
and all too often painstakingly difficult
Back in August when preparing for children’s choir to begin R looked at me as we talked through ideas and said
“i have project for the kids.
The love project “
At first i did not know what she was talking about but trusted that it would be something beautiful-
The kids were challenged by R to reflect upon their week, each week, of the choir semester upon one way they have shared the love of God, mercy and grace in action, with someone in their lives
They were told to bring an image, drawing or write up of their act of love each week to cover the bulletin board by the choir room.
Two days after the challenge was issued the first email came in-
bags of necessities and snacks shared with those less fortunate than the children themselves
soon emails and pictures came rushing in
- helping at neighborhood festivals
- sharing treats with siblings
- writing cards to those sick and in the hospital
- praying for friends in need
and more
each week i walk by the board and find myself grinning when seeing the sweet handwriting explaining how one child helped her sister with homework
i have stopped many times and repeated the phrase that R told the kids at the beginning of the challenge over and over again
Love is not love until we give it away.
Love is not love until we give it away.
Perhaps that is the even more boiled down sentiment that Christ shared with the Pharisees and Sadducees that afternoon
Love is active.
Love will grow stale if we store it away for ourselves.
Love is not love until we give it away.
When i talk about the love project with the kids or with Rand other staff i continually find myself amazed at the love of God these children, our children, are sharing with one another and with all the neighbors of our world
And i often wonder why the challenge to love God by loving others, even when it is a sibling or a not-so-friendly person, did not take the breath away from the kids - at lest for a moment - the way it so easily does for myself
i mean this challenge is BiG and can be hard
Yet, the love challenge has taken off and lives are bing reoriented from the inside out
The kids have realized, so quickly, that sharing God’s love, that living out the love they have for God, in loving their neighbors as fully as they love themselves, transforms relationships into something more beautiful than ever expected:
As a part of the love project the cherub choir was invited to make cards for children in the hospital
After the cards were made, J looked at me and instructed me to give the card she made to a girl her age, a four year old,
because four year old girls, she said, like pink and purple and she made her heart pink and purple and so a four year old girl would feel better with that card only
i smiled and told her that i would be sure the card got to someone who would love it
Her determination to ensure that someone she did not know would feel better by her feather color choices radiated love for God and neighbor in ways that her still growing mind cannot even comprehend
She got it, Love is not love until you give it away.
in today’s scripture passage we are thrown right smack dab into, yet another, argument between Jesus and the Pharisees...
A moment of high anxiety and fear and question all unfold together into a scene of love enacted
Jesus turns takes familiar laws and reorients us all around his message of love
And he shows us that anyone can do - love
anyone can act mercy anywhere
Together lets examine how our actions radiate love toward God
Together, lets join in that great love project that Jesus
first initiated
The invitation is daunting
The command is breath-taking
but so too are the results
Maybe, just maybe, we will reorient the world through
God’s love and all surrounding grace
And maybe, just maybe if we open our
own eyes to receiving God’s love
we will find someone waiting
to share the same with us
with a hands outstretched sharing a heart shaped card
decorated in colors chosen especially for us
Amen
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