Sidney UMC - 22nd Sunday after Pentecost/Reformation Sunday - 10/29/23 - Sermon - “The Greatest Commandment!”

                                     Sunday 10/29/23 - Sidney UMC

Sermon Title: “The Greatest Commandment!”

Old Testament Scripture: Psalm 90:1-6, 13-17                                     

New Testament Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8

Gospel Lesson: Matthew 22:34-46

          By a show of hands, how many of us love God? By a show of hands, how many of us love our neighbors and all people like we love ourselves? While I believe that most of us aspire to love God and to love our neighbors, and all people like ourselves, there is still so much suffering in the world. There is war between Israel and Gaza/Palestine, and there is a war between Ukraine and Russia. Jesus tells us to love God and to love our neighbors as ourselves, yet there is still so much suffering and brokenness in the world. Why is this?

          I ask this, because Jesus teaches us about loving God and loving our neighbors as ourselves in our gospel of Matthew 22:34-46 reading for this morning. In an effort to trick Jesus, the gospel picks up, once again, starting with Matthew 23:34 saying:

³⁴ When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, ³⁵ and one of them, an expert in the law, 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” (Mt. 23:34-40, NRSV).

          Jesus teaches us to love God and to love our neighbor as ourselves, which is everyone. Christianity has existed for nearly 2,000 years. If this is true, and if we are supposed to love God and neighbor as ourselves, then what is going on? I mean shouldn’t we as humanity be past wars, violence, and the brokenness that is in the world today? If we love God and love each other, why is there still so much that is a struggle today? Don’t get me wrong, a lot of advancements have been made, and for many, life is better in many ways than it was years ago.

          Unfortunately, though, not all Christians, and sometimes the church in general, has not always embodied loving God and loving our neighbor as ourself to the fullest extent possible. We all, including myself, may have been guilty of that. In fact, this Sunday in many Christians Churches is also “Reformation Sunday.” This is a Sunday that makes light of the great reformations and new Christian Denominations that formed as far back as over 500-years ago. This Sunday often evokes names like Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Knox, John Wesley, etc. In some churches “Reformation Sunday” though has been an opportunity to attack the Roman Catholic Church. A person that attended a church that I used to pastor, told me that she grew up in a Lutheran Church in the 1960’s. She joked that growing up in her church, she called “Reformation Sunday” the “Bash the Catholics” Sunday.

          In 2017, which was the 500^th Anniversary of the Reformation of Martin Luther nailing his famous 95-Theses on the door at the University of Wittenberg in Wittenberg, Germany, there we a lot of celebrations and remembrances. In fact, the Vatican in Rome acknowledged the 500^th Anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. Further, the head of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis, invited some German teenagers that were both Lutheran and Roman Catholic to the Vatican in Rome, the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church. The Lutheran kids had blue sashes, and the Roman Catholic kids had gold sashes. Then one of the Lutheran kids asked Pope Francis on the 500^th Anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, who are better Lutherans or Catholics. Pope Francis then tied a blue sash together with a gold sash, and said that he thinks we are all better together.

          Pope Francis also acknowledged that some of the practices that were occurring in the Roman Catholic Church 500-years ago were wrong, and needed to be reformed. As a result, some but not all Christians had lost the primary mission and focus of the church, Jesus Christ. This has led to the many Christian Denominations that we have today. To Pope Francis’ credit, he is very ecumenical, and sees the need for the broader Christian Community, of all stripes to be united as brothers and sisters. Through the 2,000-year history of the Christian Church there have always been Christians who loved God and neighbor as themselves really well, but there have also been harmful and hurtful things done, as well. Some people stopped going to church or being part of a Christian community of faith, not because of a lack of love of God, or a lack of a desire to love others as themselves, but because they saw strong examples of this not happening in the church and the community of faith. When the Christian Church is at its best, we are loving God and loving each other as ourselves. When the church looks like this, when it looks like Jesus, the church is strong and growing. People repent, give their lives to Christ, and they and the world are changed. When we hurt and harm each other however, this historically, is when church schisms have come and sometimes when harmful and bad things have happened.

          I am still an Evangelical Christian and a United Methodist Pastor, and I still believe in faith through Christ, and Christ alone, but all Christians are called to follow Jesus’ greatest commandments to us, that are once again:

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”    (Mt. 23:37-40, NRSV).

          When we take our eyes off the ball, and when we stop loving God with all we have and are, and we stop loving all people as ourselves, well, bad things can happen. Further, after Jesus gave us the greatest command for this morning, and the second greatest commandment, our gospel less from Matthew 22:34-46, then ends with 22:41-46, saying:

⁴¹ Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them this question: ⁴² “What do you think of the Messiah? Whose son is he?” They said to him, “The son of David.” ⁴³ He said to them, “How is it then that David by the Spirit calls him Lord, saying, ⁴⁴ ‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet” ’? ⁴⁵ “If David thus calls him Lord, how can he be his son?” ⁴⁶ No one was able to give him an answer, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.

          What Jesus is saying here, is that not only is he a decedent or a son of King David, but that he is in fact greater than King David. To this end, one greater than King David, God in the flesh is commanding the world to love God with everything we have, and to love each other as ourselves. The first commandment or the greatest commandment is central to both Judaism and Christianity. We are to love God with everything we have. Yet, Jesus’ second greatest commandment to love your neighbor or anyone else as we love ourself was a shock to many. You see, at this time if you were from another tribe, another country, another religion, then we did not associate or talk with you. This means, that we did not treat everyone like equals, and love everyone the same. Jesus though, this morning is telling us to love God with all we have and to love all people the same.

          So emphatic was Jesus about this in fact, that Jesus said that all of the beliefs and laws of the Old Testament, plus everything the Prophets of the Old Testament, like Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Isaiah, and Daniel taught can all be summed by loving God with all you have, and by loving your neighbor as yourself. Our Matthew 22:34-46 reading for this morning says in 22:40 once again:

⁴⁰ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets”                    (Mt. 23:40, NRSV). 

          Jesus is saying that everything in the Old Testament, or the Law of Moses, the 10-Commandments, all the prophets, everything thing taught in the Old Testament can be summed by loving God with all you have, and loving your neighbor as yourself.

          With all this said, this can be hard sometimes, can’t it? I mean have you liked all the neighbors you have had, or all the people you have met? I had a seminary professor that used to say jokingly, “Jesus calls us to love our neighbors as ourselves, but Jesus never said that we have to like our neighbors!” This joke was saying that we are supposed to love everyone, but we don’t have to like everything that people do. We can love someone, but disagree about politics, social concerns, etc. Loving someone does mean that if someone is doing evil and hurtful things that we should not be ok with that. Loving people means being like Jesus, and this also can mean calling out evil and sin. What was done for example, in the killing of hundreds of Israelis a few weeks ago by Hamas terrorists was evil and was sinful. In no way did it convey the love of God or neighbor.

          Further, this does not mean that the 10-Commandments are bad, which they are not, but we are to love God with everything we have, and we are to love our neighbors as ourselves. The challenge then for the Christian is loving, even if we disagree, as we must speak the truth in love. I love all people, but for example, as I just referenced, I have been grieved at the recent slaughter of Israeli Jews by Hamas terrorists. It must be hard for many Israelis right now to think about extending love to Hamas terrorists. This of course does not mean that loving excuses great evil, because it does not. Jesus teaches us to love and to pray for our enemies. This can be very hard to do. Yet the most powerful thing God has given us, is love. God also tells to protect life, widows, orphans, etc., as life is precious.

          I am also grieved at the loss of Palestinian lives in the Gaza Strip next to Israel. As I write this sermon over 5,000 Palestinians have been killed. The Israeli Defense Force or “IDF,” which is the Israeli Military is trying to remove all people that are in Hamas. This proves to be a challenge however, when the Hamas terrorists embed themselves in residential neighborhoods filled with children, the elderly, and other innocents. How do you remove the terrorists, without killing innocents? This is a tough moral, ethical, and spiritual question.

          Living out the greatest commandment and second greatest commandment can be hard sometimes. In our reading from Psalm 90:1-6, 13-17 for this morning, we hear from the Hebrew Bible, the Old Testament, or the Jewish scriptures in Psalm 90:1 once again:

¹ Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations (Ps. 90:1, NRSV).

          Loving God fully is central to both Judaism and Christianity, but I wonder if some Jews in Israel right now are struggling to do this. Perhaps some Palestinians feel the same way. Another way to put this, is something that I watched on part of one of the Grief Share videos that Sarah Pressler was showing to the Grief Share class this past Monday night. The speaker in the video was a pastor and an author. The speaker compared what we believe as Christians, to the lived experience of our beliefs. Meaning this is what believe, but how do we live that in a war, in a confrontation, etc. We believe in our Christian faith, but it gets tested in times of trial and struggle. Do we maintain the love of God and love of neighbors as ourselves at all times?

          Well, I know this, there has not been a Communion Sunday in my life where I did not need to say the prayer of confession. If I had always loved God and my neighbor perfectly, I would have no need to say a prayer of confessions, because I would have no sins to repent of. Yet I always make a mistake somewhere along the way. We all do, right?

Christianity then is both a free gift of salvation and eternity offered to us through Jesus Christ, but is also a lived experience of being made fully into the image of Christ. Heaven and eternity are free to us if we but turn to Christ, but becoming fully like Christ is something that we pursue are whole life long. As a result of this, as I age and grow closer to Christ, I am loving God even more, and loving my neighbors and all people even more like I love myself.

          In our reading from 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8 for this morning, the Apostle Paul reminds the church in Thessalonica or the Thessalonians, that they were persecuted in Philippi. Philippi where the Apostle Paul founded a church, to whom we wrote to the Philippians there. The Apostle Paul tells us 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8 for this morning, once again, that despite persecution and great opposition in Philippi he and his group of leaders preached Christ. They preached the gospel, and the love of God and neighbor. They did not do this for personal gain, or for any self-centered reason, other than to bring people to Christ. The Apostle Paul reminds the Thessalonians this morning that he and his group of leaders were gentle and loving with them. Further the Apostle Paul completes are 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8 reading for this morning, saying in 2:8 to the Thessalonians, once again:

⁸ So deeply do we care for you that 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 (1 Thess. 2:8, NRSV).

          Why do I think that the Sidney United Methodist Church continues to grow? Is it simply because we are Methodist? No. Is it because we are a Protestant Church? No. I think we are growing because we all pursing the great commandments of:

“ ‘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.’                                                 (Mt. 23:38b-39, NRSV).

          I have doctrinal beliefs, and I believe for example, in the Apostle Creed, the Bible, and that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior. Most Christians in fact, believe these things, yet, if we are not pursuing the love God fully, and if we are not loving our neighbors and all people as ourselves, we are only people with beliefs and not practices. What we believe, I think matters, but if we don’t live it out, if we don’t pursue God, and if we don’t seek to love everyone, then we have missed the mark. Among many other reasons, I truly think that this is why so many churches are shrinking and closing.

          I am convinced therefore, that growing and thriving churches in 2023, and going forward, will grow and thrive, not simply because they are Methodist, Baptism, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Pentecostal, Roman Catholic, etc., but because they are churches seeking to live out faith in Christ, and to love others. I am still a Methodist, but before all of that I am sinner redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ, and my Lord and Savior has called me to love God with everything I have, and to love my neighbors and all people as I love myself. The strength of the Christian faith then, lies not in a building, but rather it lies in a person, named Jesus Christ our Lord. Our hope, our redeemer, our savior.

          This same Jesus this morning commands us to love God with everything we have, and to love our neighbors and all people like we love ourselves. When we do this, we live out the love of God and the love that have for each other, in a such a way, that faith in Christ, and the community of Christ becomes Irresistible. Amen.