We Choose Love Sermon October 25, 2020 Matthew 22:34-36
Preached by Rev. B. Hartsough
Today in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus gives us the great commandments. A summary of all his teachings. “You shall love the lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The first commandment every Jew knows. It is called the Shema. It is the call at the start of Jewish worship. It comes from the book of Deuteronomy. It commanded God’s people to love God with all your heart, soul, and strength. It was the core of being a people in covenant with God. Jews were to have this commandment on their hearts, they were to talk about it at home, as they walked along the road, when they laid down, and when they got up. They were commanded to remember it throughout their day, throughout their life, and for generations.
Jesus was reiterating that this commandment was still binding. Jesus added the second, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” These are not really two commandments but one. To love God is to love what God loves. To love God includes loving one’s neighbor. Loving one’s neighbor is showing love to God. Jesus was making the point that these two commandments are really one and the same. Jesus was opening up God’s love to include all.
We are in the third wave of COVID19. In the muck- the mud of it. We are weary of restrictions, masks, social distancing, and the uncertainty of where this pandemic is taking us. We have an election in a week. An election at a time when our politicians act more like kindergarteners. They have to be reminded to be polite, not to incite violence, and not to lie. We must become the leaders of modeling how to be Christians. Now is when we get the opportunity to model love. A love of others that is radical because it crosses political, social, gender, racial, and geographical boundaries. Loving others is not just about being there when it is convenient, or it makes us feel good. Loving others is frequently very challenging. It may disrupt our schedule. It may be uncomfortable. It may be very hard. It is times like these that we are called to persevere and to continue to love each other.
In the Fall 2020 issue Seek and Serve, the Episcopal Relief and Development’s newsletter, Presiding Bishop Michael Curry asks us, “What would love do?” Bishop Curry writes: “God’s rubric of love shows us the way through tumultuous times, transforming them into something closer to the Kingdom of God on earth.” Bishop Curry says the question we should ask is “How can unselfish, sacrificial love get us through what we are facing and bring us to a better place?”
Bishop curry poses the question, what would love do? He answers it in three sections. In the first section he says that love is community. Communities pray together in new and old ways. Communities center around being in relationship with God to transform the world.
I hear his words this morning as we gather virtually to worship. As faith communities reach out to other faith communities. I received an email this week from a pastor from St. Anne’s in northwest England.
Rev. Hartsough
Just wanted to write and encourage you in your ongoing work. “I’m not from around here” you might well say. It is true, as I am writing from the United Kingdom and I’ve never even been to Indiana as yet.
So why am I writing to you? Well I’ve been challenged that while I can’t meet family and friends due to COVID 19, my words can go much further to hopefully comfort and support others in God’s diverse kingdom. So I’ve begun seeking out churches to write to the leadership of fellowships firstly across the 50 states in the US and then on to other parts. The virus may constrain my movements but not my thoughts nor my ability to share his message of hope via the technology at my fingertips.
I pray that you will be reminded by this email that you never know who may be thinking and praying for you no matter the time of day or location you may find yourself at. He knows more than we do, and his reach is more dynamic and compassionate that we can ever conceive. Ephesians 3:14-20 – he loves more and does more than we will ever grasp and yet never tires of it, or of us. That’s surely something to take our breath away once again.
So walk straight with the shoulders back knowing the Lord’s graciously watching over the believers in Plymouth, Indiana and he shall continue to amaze, educate and provide for you and through you to those you meet, whether in person, by phone or by emerging technologies in the days ahead.
Be God’s
Paul Mc Kay
Lytham St Annes, North West England
This email transcends denominations. It transcends geopolitical boundaries. It exemplifies love in community that extends to other communities.
Bishop Curry concludes his message of love in the Seek and Serve newsletter by reminding us that love is a choice. Bishop Curry says: “Love isn’t a feeling; it’s a choice. It is one we make over and over again, every day of our lives. This is how we are going to get through our present crisis and build the Kingdom of God on earth.”
Just as God’s covenantal people in the book of Deuteronomy were called to remember to love God upon waking, sitting, working, eating, sleeping…etc., we too are called to love God by loving each other in all aspects of our lives.In the season, as the world around us feels unsteady, we as Christians make the choice to love.