Love God

Charlotte Collins Reed
Christ Church Episcopal
October 29, 2023

25 Proper A 

          When our sons were young, Don and I found that noon was a great time for a date.  Lunch is less expensive than dinner, and the boys were in school.  We often went to a small, locally owned restaurant aptly named “Strange Brew.”  The tag line was “where strange is normal.”  The restaurant served only vegan food.  Their concern was for animal rights rather than human health as we could see the staff in the back smoking while they cooked.  This was that long ago!  And to top off the self-proclaimed strangeness of the restaurant, the building had formerly been a butcher shop.

          I am not a vegan.  I have no desire to be a vegan and could not play one on TV if I tried.  But Don has long enjoyed experimenting with vegan cuisine.  Don loved Strange Brew and I love Don, so I ate vegan food.  Plus I do love supporting local, independent restaurants.  Amazingly enough, I found that I actually liked some of the things on the menu.  While the veggie burger could certainly have used a dash of mayo and a slice of cheese, it was pretty tasty.  The hot chai tea with soymilk was quite good, and the peanut butter chocolate shake was amazing.  I came to look forward to going there until the restaurant closed many years ago.  But I would never have set foot in the place had it not been for Don.

          This morning, when we hear the Pharisees ask Jesus “Teacher, which commandment is the greatest,” we know how Jesus will answer.  Jesus will say “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.”  Then Jesus will add “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  Jesus is not creating something new here.   Jesus is quoting the Shema, the summary of the law, from Deuteronomy 6 which says “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.”  Many Jews recite this verse in the morning and at night each and every day.  But why does Jesus add the second part about loving your neighbor as yourself?

          One reason is because together, the two greatest commandments sum up the 10 commandments which Moses received from God on Mt. Sinai.  The first four commandments tell us how to love God.  Have no other Gods, do not take the Lord’s name in vain, do not have any idols, and keep holy the Sabbath Day.  The next 6 commandments tell us how to love our neighbor as ourselves.  Do not covet, commit murder or adultery, steal, or bear false witness, and honor your mother and father.  To make it easy for us to remember, Jesus simply tells us to love God and love our neighbor.  In the Diocese of Ohio, our tagline is love God, love your neighbor, change the world. 

          Earlier in Matthew’s gospel, Jesus said “I have come not to abolish the law and the prophets but to fulfill them.”  With the summary of the law, Jesus not only simplifies things for us, but also takes the commandments to a new level.  For Jesus, what it means to love God is to love all that God created.*  In the book of Genesis, with which Jesus would have been familiar as a good first century Jew, we are told the story of creation.  After each creation event, God looks at what God has created and declares it “good.”  At the end of the story, after God has created human beings in God’s image, God looked at everything God had created and declares all of creation to be very good. 

          I believe that when Jesus adds the second greatest commandment to the first and tells us that “on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets,” Jesus is using the second commandment, at least in part, to explain the first.  If we are not acting with love toward our neighbor, then we are not loving God.  If we are not loving God with all our heart, soul, and mind, we cannot see our neighbor as God sees our neighbor.  And our neighbor is all that God created.

          Just in case the Pharisees are wondering who this Jesus is to challenge them and make us think even so harder about how to love God, Jesus asks “What do you think of the Messiah?”  Whose son is he?”  The Pharisees answer “the Son of David.”  The gospel of Matthew begins with the very words “An account of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” So, the Pharisees are correct.  But Jesus points out that in Psalm 110, David calls the Messiah “Lord.” How can the Messiah be both the Son of David and the Lord?  Those who questioned him were unable to answer.  Jesus has come not just to fulfill the law and the prophets, but to fulfill history.  The Messiah is in the historic line of David, yes, and the Messiah is also the Son of God, transcending history.*  These are Jesus’ credentials for challenging us and showing us how to love God.

          Loving someone else challenges us to love the things, the places, the restaurants, and the people they love.  Sometimes we find that we actually do love those new experiences.  Loving God challenges us to love all that God loves, which is everyone and everything.  God saw all that God made and declared creation good.  Obviously, our goodness does not mean that everything we do is good and we are not to pretend otherwise.  But Jesus showed us how to love God with our heart, soul, and mind by loving God’s goodness in all things, especially people, with a faith that includes, unites, serves, and loves.   This morning, Jesus tells us that we cannot love God without loving what God loves.  That love is not easy and is sometimes downright difficult, but love God and love your neighbor will change the world one small step at a time.

                                                                             Amen.

 

 

*Feasting on the Word, Year A, vol. 4, page 214.