The Greatest Commandment

Reformation Sunday

Today's Readings: Lev. 19:1-2, 15-18; Matthew 22:34-46

Grace and peace to you in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Happy Reformation Sunday! We are a Church reformed and always reforming! As you can see very clearly in 2020, change is constant and we are always finding new ways to be the Church. But while the way the Church works and looks in the world is always changing, the foundation of the Church remains the same. In all times and places - through all pandemics, derechos, and societal unrest – we are always rooted in the one, true, living God.

When we remember, amidst the chaos, our roots in Christ, then we know peace.. stillness.. wholeness.. and love. It is there in our roots that we can drink in our life force that sustains us; just as a literal plant soaks up water and nutrients through it’s literal roots, we too get all that we need to live from our roots in God; which in turn empowers us to live each new day, despite the challenges we face. We are nourished and empowered to love and give thanks to our God and to love our neighbors as ourselves.

We heard in BOTH readings this morning a call to holy living, which looks like loving God and loving neighbor. Today we are reminded that even in the Old Testament God emphasized love of neighbor. This is not a new idea that Christ brings to earth, LOVE was the idea all along! Everything that God asks of us is a request to be in right relationship, not only with God, but with one another. The Commandments, for instance, were not given to oppress us or prove to us just how sinful we are, they were given to guide us in right relationship with God and each other. God asks us not to do things that will hurt ourselves or others, so that, by avoiding those damaging behaviors, all may thrive in harmony.

When Jesus says that loving God and loving neighbor are the greatest commandments, he is not surprising anyone with radical ideas, but rather he is grounding himself in his Jewish tradition. Jesus recites the Jewish Sherma, which is how worship always begins in the synagogue, “Hear, O Israel: the Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” Jesus continues to say that the second greatest commandment is like it, “you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Jesus ties these two together because it is so hard to separate them. To love God IS to love your neighbor and to love your neighbor IS loving God. They go hand in hand; you simply cannot have one without the other. To be holy as God is holy, as Leviticus demands of us this morning.. to be just as God is just.. to be impartial as God is impartial.. means to love AS God loves and HOW God loves: God loves everyone and everything unconditionally and indiscriminately.

These are not easy tasks to which we have been called. Especially in the midst of life’s challenges, it is much easier to put our trust in ourselves or in money or a job than it is to trust in an invisible God. In the midst of life’s challenges, it’s much easier to blame and judge others than it is to love them. At a time when fear and anxiety reign and the world leans into a narrative of scarcity, it is hard to center ourselves in the abundance of God. Our roots may feel withered up and dry.. we may not trust that our nutrients come from God or that God WILL provide. This leads us down a path of self righteousness and competition with our neighbor for resources. Yet we are called to attention again and again: “Hear, O Israel: the Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. And you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Give thanks for our Lord God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Rejoice for no matter how different the Church looks like today or tomorrow, our roots are always in the same place, nourishing us with all that we need to thrive in life. And when we are not scrambling for nourishment, but living into what we have, then we have no need to fear our neighbor, but reach out in love to share and thrive together. The way we the Church organizes itself for God’s mission and ministry in the world may always be changing, but God and God’s call to us remains the same. Take heart; ground yourself in the Lord God and love your neighbor as yourself.

Amen.