23nd Sunday after Pentecost /
Leviticus
19:1–2, 15–18; Matthew 22:34–46
Rev. Gayle M. Highness
It’s
About Love
Every morning before breakfast is
served at
She walks around the hallways of the
nursing home, which form a large square. Her goal is to make 8 to 10 rounds
before breakfast.
It’s good exercise for Norma, but
that’s not the only reason she walks. As she makes her rounds, Norma stops and
pats each resident she passes by and tells him or her, “God loves you.”
In spite of everything Norma has
lost – sight, hearing, independence, her home, her neighbors in Nauvoo, her
beloved collection of geodes – Norma still has something to give. She gives away God’s love.
In today’s gospel, we hear yet
another incident where the Pharisees are trying to set Jesus up for a fall with
a question designed to make him lose face with one faction or another.
“Teacher,” the appointed Pharisee
lawyer asks, “which commandment in the law is the greatest?” Did they mean the 10 commandments God gave to
Moses? Or the hundreds of ritual and moral laws that had
evolved from them? Either way, whatever answer Jesus gave would likely
put him at odds with someone.
Jesus’ reply shows us a better way. 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.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And
a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two
commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
Like the song says, “It’s about
love.” Not rules. And not just love as a “good feeling” toward
someone – for how can you command a feeling? And not just spoken words of love,
which anyone can say. But love shown in action – self-giving
“agape” love – the kind of love that God has for us.
God’s love is all about healing,
reconciling, forgiving, making whole, making new, creating, giving life –
overcoming evil with good. It’s about
justice and mercy and faithfulness.
But if the greatest commandment is
to love God with all our heart and soul and mind – and if love is MORE than the
feelings we have for God or the words we say to God – if love is shown in acts
that bring about forgiveness and healing, how do we express our love of God when
God doesn’t NEED to be healed or restored or forgiven?
That’s where the second part of the
greatest commandment comes in – loving our neighbors as ourselves. It is in loving our neighbor that we express
our love for God.
And at the same time, this is how
God expresses His love for us. God needs us to channel his love. God needs us
to respond to the pleas of God’s children for help and hope and healing.
This can be difficult for us. Love can be hard work. Love can feel wonderful, but love can also
hurt, and be inconvenient and challenging and uncomfortable and costly.
Love can be inconvenient because
love puts the other person’s needs before our own. Most parents know all about that. While our kids are growing up, we set aside
many of our own goals and interests to help them grow and reach their
potential. That kind of sacrifice is
generally affirmed by our society and culture, which makes it easier. It also
makes us look good and gives us pride when our children do well.
What can be more difficult is giving of our time and talents and money for
people who really have no way of paying us back. I think about the hurricane victims. We have an opportunity to form teams of
people to go down there and help with clean up and rebuilding.
That’s the kind of thing where a
person might think, “Well – let’s just let someone else do that.” I’m pretty
tempted to do that myself. But how can we say “no” to such a tremendous
need? Not everyone can go south on a work
team. But everyone can do SOMETHING to
help.
Some of our people are helping by
making quilts in connection with the Church in
Love can be challenging because
sometimes it means NOT doing things that are enjoyable or gratifying.
If you think of God’s
loving presence as that which brings about healing, wholeness and
reconciliation, then we need to AVOID things that block the movement of God’s
Spirit – or that would add to the hurt and estrangement in the world – like
gossiping, telling lies or supporting systems and policies that are unjust.
Love can be uncomfortable because
sometimes it has to make things worse before they get better. For example, do
you think that Jesus loved the Pharisees?
He must have, because Jesus is God, and God is love.
The best thing that could happen to
the Pharisees would be to have their legalistic shell broken open so that they
could fully receive God’s love. So Jesus
loved the Pharisees by confronting them with the truth – by NOT letting them be
comfortable in their self-righteousness.
Sometimes that’s the way we have to
love people, too. By confronting them with the truth and letting them be uncomfortable. This is part of the process that families go
through when a loved one is treated for addiction. That can be difficult.
And we have to be careful about it
and very humble and very dependent upon God.
Because it isn’t ALWAYS loving to make people
uncomfortable, and it may not ALWAYS be the most loving thing to tell the
truth. So we need to ask God to help us
take the actions that will bring about healing and reconciliation.
Love can hurt because sometimes what
is best for the loved one is the hardest thing for the lover to do.
How does a wife love a spouse who
abuses her? By removing herself form the situation so she no longer provides
the opportunity for the spouse to abuse her.
How do parents love children who are
hurting themselves with drugs? By allowing them to suffer the consequences on
the chance they will reach bottom more quickly and turn to GOD for healing –
rather than turning to the parent to support the habit.
Love can also be costly because love
will sacrifice everything to serve God’s call. Soldiers, missionaries and many
others have given up their lives in service to others. God can use even death to achieve His greater
purposes of good for the world because Jesus defeated death by his own death
and resurrection.
Love cost Jesus his life. Jesus was
obedient to the will of God the Father to the point of dying on the cross. But, what appeared a failure in human terms, was the supreme victory over death for all humankind,
as Jesus won eternal life for all who believe.
And it is THAT love, and THAT
victory over sin and death that gives us the POWER to love in ways that hurt
and are inconvenient and challenging and uncomfortable and costly.
It is only by receiving and abiding
in God’s love that we can overcome our natural self-centeredness and love as we
are commanded without becoming overwhelmed by the needs of the world and ending
up running on empty.
The psalm for today said that those
who delight in the law of the Lord – the law of love – are like trees planted
by streams of water, bearing fruit in due season, with leaves that do not
wither.
Living in God’s love – loving others
in Jesus’ name – is, in the long run, life giving.
How can you “do” love today? How can
you let God use you to accomplish His purposes today?
Let us spend the rest of this hour
opening our hearts and minds and wills to God’s love. Be reconciled to God and
ask God to show you where you can bring His love today – to open your eyes to
the need that is right in front of you.
Then put your hands and feet to the
task and let the love of God fuel your fire.