Year A

Matthew 22: 34-46

The Very Rev. Denise Vaughn

In The End-There is Love!

Last week, I likened the gospels to a game of chess because so much of what happens in the gospels is like a game of chess. Those opposed to Jesus try to play a move that tests Jesus and Jesus does not simply play a move that gets him out of trouble, he always takes the opportunity to speak about an important theological truth. Today’s truth is that love comes from God; love affirms us and flows out of us to others. The witness of both the Old Testament and New Testament is clear: love is the priority.

Here we are another day in Jerusalem and another trick question for Jesus by the religious authorities. The lawyer who asked Jesus which of the commandments of the law was the greatest most likely wanted to engage Jesus in a debate about which of the 613 commandments of the law were “great” and which were of lesser consequence. Jesus, who has been giving amazing responses to challenging questions, who has faced hostility with courageous integrity, and who makes people really think about where their life is going; gives a response which was, in part, no surprise.  He identifies two commandments: the first comes from the Shema, the most important prayer for the Jews-taken from the book of Deuteronomy 6:5-about the requirement to love the Lord your God, the second commandment is from the book of Leviticus 19:18-you must love your neighbor as yourself.

There is no question Jesus passes the test. He identifies the “great” commandments as the love of God and the love of neighbor. But he didn’t just identify them as the greatest of the commandments he also linked them together, and linked them to the whole of the law and the prophets in an unexpected way. He claimed that not only do these two commandments serve as the foundation for the entire law of 613 commandments, but also that the love of neighbor “is like” the love of God.  When we love neighbor we love God and vice versa.

We have heard this commandment so many times that it may be hard for us to truly appreciate how much it must have astounded the religious authorities. In fact, when Luke records this question in his gospel, he has Jesus go on to tell a startling, stand-up-and-got-you story to help unpack the implications of it. You can read the story of the Good Samaritan in the gospel of Luke 10:25. But today we are hearing Matthew’s version of it, and Matthew just kind of drops it like a time bomb and waits for it to explode in the middle of the lives of those listening that day, as well as in our lives today.

How many times have we felt the tug in two directions pushing us to think what are our priorities, what matters most, what’s most important. And we hear Jesus say to us, “The greatest and first commandment is this: “love your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind”, and oh by the way, you are to love your neighbor as yourself. What might that mean when we are considering what our priorities are, what matters most, what’s most important? This commandment doesn’t say love those who look and think like you but anyone who is your neighbor. What could it mean to be as concerned for the well-being of the other people as you are for yourself? To seek their highest good as well as yours?

Sometimes it is hard to know what it means to “love” someone, whether God or our neighbor or even ourselves at times. We may think it means to have a warm and cozy feeling about someone, which we all know isn’t going to happen all the time—even for people we deeply and truly love.  The English word for “Love” means warm and fuzzy feelings but I don’t believe that is what God is asking of us. When we look at the root of the word “love” in this commandment in the Greek, it is an action word or verb-agapáō – which is an action to love; for the believer is to “live through Christ” embracing God’s will and obeying them through God’s power. It refers to what God is and does” love.”

We do not merely illustrate or demonstrate our love of God in our love for one another; it is only in and through the love we bear for one another and for self that we action, we show, our love for God. It is the expression and realization of our response to God’s prior love for us. God loved us first which finds it expression in our love of others and self. The love we have for Jesus is, of course, most important. In Jesus, we love the human other, Jesus, who is one with God. Our love for the one who is in union of the divine and the human is the ultimate fulfillment of the great command of which he spoke.

This text today which takes place during the last week of Jesus’ life is part of a whole series of discussions about what it means to love God. We’ve already heard a whole string of parables about the kingdom of God and the last judgment; we’ve had Jesus answer a sticky question about how a faithful Jew can live under a pagan empire; and Jesus is about to go on from here to lambaste the current religious leadership for totally twisting the meaning of religious observance and turning it into a petty and burdensome matter of 6,000 picky regulations, while totally missing the really important matters of justice, mercy and honesty. From there, Jesus will go on to bewail the way the people consistently resist and reject God’s messengers and to warn about the disaster descending on the nation.

In all of this he is talking at least as much about what it means to love and obey God as he is about the neighbor—not that these can ultimately be separated. But we obviously need guidelines that go beyond the Good Samaritan and stopping to help those in need. Paul, in this letters, and in his letter today to the church in Thessalonica, speaks about the needed guidelines and what it means to be an apostle whose love in action is sharing the gospel. “So deeply do we care for you we are determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you have become very dear to us.” Paul’s concern is that his message and lifestyle, together with the response of the Thessalonians, will result in behavior that reveals the faith, hope and love of God found in the gospels.

Paul’s sole desire is “to please God.” Nothing is done and said for himself; rather it is for the Glory of God! To this all four gospels and the writings of Paul bear unanimous witness. Likewise, what if everything we do and say gives glory to God? What would that look like? It would look like, loving God, heart, soul and mind, self, and neighbor without limit. Love, is an extraordinary gift given to us that we believe is grounded in the nature of God. It is the reason for our being: we are here to learn the two great commandments; we are here to learn how to give and receive love. Jesus, as he approaches the cross, makes it clear what it means to love God and be a follower of the Messiah: “Just as you did it to one of the least of those who are members of my family, you did it to me.”

And he will conclude this time of teaching by saying “When the son of Man comes in this glory, and all the angels with him,” the one upon the throne will indicate that those who fed, welcomed, clothed, and visited their neighbor did it also to God. It is the command to love as God loves. Jesus tells us “You shall love as I have loved you.” In the end, there is God’s love for us and it is on this love alone that we stake our salvation. What would it mean if we actually believed that the Love of Jesus lives in us as God’s gift of love enabling us to love one another? We need the Messiah and will undoubtedly be as troubled by him as anyone.