Sermon for March 3rd, 2013
Matthew 22:34-40
34 When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, 35and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36‘Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?’ 37He said to him, ‘ “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” 38This is the greatest and first commandment. 39And a second is like it: “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” 40On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.’
Psalm 63
A Psalm of David, when he was in the Wilderness of Judah.
1 O God, you are my God, I seek you,
my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
2 So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
beholding your power and glory.
3 Because your steadfast love is better than life,
my lips will praise you.
4 So I will bless you as long as I live;
I will lift up my hands and call on your name.
5 My soul is satisfied as with a rich feast,
and my mouth praises you with joyful lips
6 when I think of you on my bed,
and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
7 for you have been my help,
and in the shadow of your wings I sing for joy.
8 My soul clings to you;
your right hand upholds me.
9 But those who seek to destroy my life
shall go down into the depths of the earth;
10 they shall be given over to the power of the sword,
they shall be prey for jackals.
11 But the king shall rejoice in God;
all who swear by him shall exult,
for the mouths of liars will be stopped.
Where Love Begins
Love. Love is a many splendored thing. Love lifts us up where we belong. All you need is love! We love love, don't we? And yet...the truth is, we're not very good at it, are we? Last month was Valentine's day--supposedly a celebration of love--and yet it seems to have more to do with buying things and overindulging in chocolate than in actual acts of kindness and self-sacrifice to others. Hollywood movies point to romantic love as the highest ideal, the greatest achievement, the happy ending that lasts forever...and yet over 50% of all marriages end in divorce.
We love love, but we don't really know how to find it, what to do with it, how to hold on to it, or even how to give it away. As a pastor, I've heard many couples say "I just don't love her (or him) anymore." I've heard angry teenagers say "I hate my parents!" and I've heard parents say "I love my children" but then I watch how little time they spend with them, and I wonder what love even means to us, when we can turn around and in the next breath say "I love enchiladas" or "I love shopping at the mall." Please excuse my language, but it just needs to be said: We pretty much suck at love.
But it shouldn't be that way, and doesn't have to be that way. When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was, he said "love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind." And then he said to love your neighbor as yourself. There are three different types of love implied in those words: Loving God, love other people, and to love yourself.
