Time after Pentecost: October 23, 2011

Time after Pentecost: October 23, 2011

Matthew 22:34-46

Preacher: Pastor Carrie B. Smith

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Jesus said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

In this passage from the Gospel according to Matthew, Jesus simplifies the Christian life for us, boiling down the law to just two commandments: Love God, and love your neighbor. Two commandments, with one purpose: Love. What could be simpler?

But being a Christian could be even easier, if only Facebook would finally give us a “love” option instead of just a “like” button. Perhaps you’ve encountered this problem before: a friend announces an engagement, or a new baby, or a new job, and clicking “like” just doesn’t seem to be appropriate! If only you could “love” your friend’s status, then everyone would know exactly how you feel and where you stand on such important issues.

This one Facebook upgrade would make loving God and loving our neighbors as easy as the click of a button! If God had a Facebook page, for example, we could simply show our support by becoming fans of God, suggesting God to our friends, and maybe even commenting on God’s status. (I imagine God’s status would be pretty boring, though, not varying much from the usual “all-powerful”, “all-loving”, or “all-knowing” status lines!)

Soon, others would be able to see proof of our godly and neighborly activities on their newsfeeds:

“Carrie Smith loves God’s activity.”

“Carrie Smith suggested Jesus’ parables.”

“Carrie Smith checked in at the food pantry.”

“Carrie Smith is now friends with the poor, the hungry, and the oppressed.”

“Carrie Smith wrote on her neighbor’s wall: Love you!”

Unfortunately, there is no “love” button on Facebook! And even if there were, we know from experience that Jesus usually doesn’t call us to things that are so easy. It’s clear that being a Christian isn’t as easy as “friending” God or “loving” your neighbor’s status. But sometimes we think being a Christian should be as easy as “feeling love” for everybody, all the time—and then of course we get frustrated trying to do just that! Not everyone is so lovable! And I will admit that after a long day of work, I feel “love” for my pillow and my fuzzy slippers more than I feel love for God! I most definitely “feel” love for my children, my spouse, and my friends more than for my neighbors (most of whom I haven’t even met yet!)

Love, as a feeling, cannot be conjured out of thin air. Have you ever tried to convince someone to love you—an ex-spouse, an estranged family member, or a disgruntled friend? It’s impossible! You can’t order someone to love you, or to find you attractive, or to enjoy your company. You can’t command an emotion.

And yet in this passage from Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus answers the lawyer’s trick question by quoting Deuteronomy 6:5, which clearly commands us to love! We are to love God…and not just a little bit… but with all our heart, all our soul, and all our minds. And furthermore, Jesus links this greatest and first commandment with another, which is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.

So which is it? Is following this greatest commandment as easy as clicking a button? Or is it impossible, like demanding someone fall in love with you? Jesus’ seemingly simple answer to a trick question seems to be setting us up for failure.

But take heart, sisters and brothers! The law of love isn’t about emotion. It’s a way of life! And that’s why it can be commanded.

Christians aren’t expected to feel love at all times, in all places, for all people. But Jesus calls Christians to practice a way of life that has love as its very foundation. Love is the ground we stand on. It’s the fortress that gives us refuge. It’s the lens through which we see the world. We make choices and spend our money for the sake of love. Love of God and love of neighbor gives our lives both shape and substance. It’s not easy, but it is simple.

Over the centuries, many spiritual leaders have written about what this simple two-fold commandment means for the Christian life. How do we love both God and our neighbor? What does such a life look like? In the 4^th Century, a monk named Evagrius Ponticus said that loving God and loving our neighbor is one and the same, because our neighbor was made in the image of God! About one thousand years later, Martin Luther wrote that while our neighbor is needy, God needs nothing, so the only way to serve God is by serving our neighbor. And more recently, Dorothy Day, founder of the Catholic Worker movement, put it this way: “I really only love God as much as I love the person I love the least.”

Simply put—if you want to serve God, serve your neighbor.

Today is stewardship Sunday at Bethany, and that means many of you have been considering how you will serve and love God this year through your commitments of time, talent, and financial giving. Money can be very hard to talk about in church, especially for a pastor’s first sermon! But we’re especially uncomfortable linking money with love. Everyone is familiar with the Bible verse about how the love of money is the root of all evil, after all! But we also don’t like talking about money in relation to love because we instinctively know that we can’t pay God to love us anymore than we can demand someone to find us attractive! And it is true that we Lutherans loudly reject preachers who seek to convince folks that the more they give, the more prosperous (and lovable) they will become.

It’s not that easy, friends—but it is simple. Your financial giving does serve God, in that it serves your neighbor. Your giving ensures that Bethany can feed the hungry, serve seniors, educate preschoolers, and provide a safe haven for high-school students. Your giving ensures that the ELCA can sponsor seminarians, plant new churches, and advocate for peace and justice around the world.

As long as our neighbors are in need of money, we can love them with our pocketbooks as well as with our hearts, our souls, and our minds.

And while Facebook can’t provide us with an easy option for “loving” our neighbor, consider this example of neighborly love that has been passed around on Facebook in the last few days. It’s a photo of a dry cleaning business, and on the front door is hanging this sign:

“If you are unemployed and need an outfit cleaned for an interview, we will clean it for free.”

Jesus’ command isn’t easy, but it is simple: Love God, and love your neighbor as yourself.

Love your neighbor, not because she’s likable, but because God thinks you are lovable! Amen!

Love your neighbor, not because it’s easy, but because God’s grace is free! Amen!

Live a life of love, simply because Jesus lives! Amen!