Proper 25A, October 29, 2023

Prayer

Drive from our hearts the idols this world worships, money, and power, privilege and prestige, that we may be free to serve you alone, and, by loving our neighbor as ourselves, may make your Son's new commandment of love the law that governs every aspect of our lives. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen.

From Prayers for Sunday and Seasons, Year A, Peter J. Scagnelli, LTP, 1992.

Some Thoughts on Matthew 22:34-46

"It leaves each generation with a new challenge: how do we speak about God in Christ in a way that communicates the essence of the good news to people in our culture?"
"First Thoughts on Year A Gospel Passages in the Lectionary," Pentecost 19, William Loader, Murdoch University, Uniting Church in Australia.

“Being a Christan is less about cautiously avoiding sin than about courageously and actively doing God's will.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Oremus Online NRSV Gospel Text


I have decided that the world would be better off if people (including myself) followed this basic rule - this summary of the law is given in this passage.

We spend a lot of time figuring out how we are to follow Jesus and what we are supposed to be doing. Truth is, it is not that difficult.

We are to: love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

In Paul's letter to the Galatians, he claims that the summary of the law is from Leviticus 19:18: "You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbour as yourself: I am the Lord." This passage is the most often used passage in the Gospel of Matthew, and here in Jesus' teachings, we see it once again reflecting what was an essential ingredient in Jesus' own teaching and in the teaching of the early church. (Allison/Davies, Matthew, 247ff) This statement fulfils the moral commands of the whole of the Decalogue from the rabbinic perspective, and so we see that Jesus continues this teaching with a few changes.

Just as Jesus broadens the family of Abraham with a Gospel mission to all people, so too does he broaden the burden of the Decalogue's teaching beyond the neighbour who is family to include all people. His command is one that is universal. The Christian, in fulfilling all righteousness (as did Jesus) must love all people and work for their well-being. This is the very core of what it means to be a Christian - to love others and work for their well-being. The mission of the Gospel is a message for all people, and our love for our neighbour is to be an action to all people. Just as Jesus came into the world, we are sent with all power and authority to love all of his who are in the world.

The other piece of Jesus' important teaching is his understanding that the measure of our love for others is revealed by our love towards God. In other words, so connected is God to all the people of his creation that one cannot measure your love of God without the measurement of your love for all people.

To love God with all we are and have is ultimately incarnated in our love for ourselves and the people in our lives and whom we meet.

So why is it that the reality is that we can all name people? Indeed, we can convict ourselves (I can convict myself) for a lack of love of God based upon my lack of love for myself and my neighbour? The reason is quite simple: we just flat out don't love God, and we don't love our neighbour more than we love ourselves. The age-old truth about human anthropology is this - we are bound and determined to create the world in our own image, run things for our self-service, and ensure that we are cared for first and last over and above everyone else's needs. Sure, on my best days, I can do okay on this love others bit. We should cut ourselves some slack...I mean, we do a lot of good work as a community, and I know a lot of saints of God who do amazing service in the name of God. That is true. But mostly we serve ourselves. It is true. And we should own it.

Our world and our church run on the notion that we can create laws and ordinances, canons, and policies that will guide the human being into the right action.

We believe in our own needs so much that we universalize them, pretending they are God's desires for us and God's desires for our neighbours.

What is the solution, like the pietist I say, in the privacy of your own heart, your life, and your actions and words (including emails) towards others? Set a rule of life that offers the opportunity to reflect on how you are doing. Get into an accountability group of some kind and see a spiritual director or seek the guidance of clergy. Your rule should also include confession. Take stock and confess honestly how you have fallen short. Only by doing this will you have the ability to reflect on opportunities to live more carefully in the virtue of Jesus' directions. Only then will you rest upon the Grace of God and Jesus Christ for the strength to try again? Go to church and place yourself in the presence of the God you love, and see there in the community others struggling to love themselves, love others, and love God. Join in a bible study and discern your ministry and what God would have you do.

Most of all, act. Do outreach. Serve the poor. Help your neighbour. Look for opportunities to do something good for someone every day, and don't tell anyone about it. That is one of the best takeaways from my years in Alanon. Do something good, help someone, and don't brag about it. Begin to see that your life is better when it is focused on others and helping others with their needs.

Allison and Davies write this about this passage, "Jesus' words fulfil the law and the prophets; religious duties are to be performed not for human approval but grow out of the intimate relationship with the heavenly Father, out of love for and devoted service to him; and the neighbour is to be loved and treated as one loves and treats oneself." (247)

When I die, I would hope the simple life of having loved my neighbour will be a measure adequate for my fellows to say I was a faithful follower of Jesus Christ; and for my God to see that I have worshipped him in all faithfulness.

Some Thoughts on 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8

"As Christians, we are all community builders, not just the pastor, or the choir leader, or the theology student. Paul calls each one of us to interact with one another in our present Christian community with bold speech, personal integrity, and soul-sharing."

Commentary, 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8, Richard Ascough, Preaching This Week,WorkingPreacher.org, 2008.

"...we each need to be faithful stewards, loving mothers, and concerned and involved fathers."
A Compelling Example for Ministry, from An Exegetical and Devotional Commentary on 1 Thessalonians, by J. Hampton Keathley III at the Biblical Studies Foundation.

Oremus Online NRSV Epistle Text

Paul is having a tough go of it in his planting of churches in Philippi and Thessalonica.  At every turn, there is a stumbling block.  Yet his work and the work of the communities are fruitful and growing.  

He now encourages his growing community at Thessalonica and reminds them that the fruit that is being born from their efforts is a fruit that arises because God is at work in their midst. It is God who approves of their preaching of the gospel and authorises their mission.  It is not about popularity but about God's intentions coming into reality.

You yourselves know, brothers and sisters, that our coming to you was not in vain, 2but though we had already suffered and been shamefully mistreated at Philippi, as you know, we had courage in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in spite of great opposition.3For our appeal does not spring from deceit or impure motives or trickery, 4but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the message of the gospel, even so we speak, not to please mortals, but to please God who tests our hearts.

It is not a crafty message or tricks that draw people into this fledgling community but God and God's spirit. It is not about people feeling good about themselves or flattery that draws them in but the message of God's love and grace.

Paul then has that beautiful passage about being emissaries of Christ.  That they are gentle and kind to those seeking God and greater knowledge of him.  Their generosity and their own imitation of Christ is what is having an impact on the broader community. Sure, there are still people who proclaim them crazy and a charlatan. Paul and the community, though, are simply being faithful to the Gospel they received.

But we were gentle among you, like a nurse tenderly caring for her own children. 8So 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.

Paul reveals in this passage that he truly loves them and cares for them.  A friend of mine once told me that when looking at a congregation and considering your life and ministry in their midst, you have to ask yourself, do you, can you, love them. I think there is something important in that idea - something quite Pauline.  What would our churches be like if we loved the people within as well as the people without?  

I learned a long time ago that it is much more important to tell people you love them than it is to hear that you are loved.  It is an amazing thing, and I have tried to look at those given into my care and to love them. To be gentle. Sometimes I have failed miserably! Oh my, and what a mess.  But in those instances where I have loved, far greater things have happened.

Some Thoughts on Deuteronomy 34:1-12

"Moses has been obedient and has had faith for so long that it must have been a profound gift to have his hopes and convictions confirmed by what he did see."
Commentary, Deuteronomy 34:1-12, Sara Koenig, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2014.

"That story can continue to speak to people today who, even in the midst of disappointment, live by faith in the God of Moses, the God who does indeed fulfil promises."
Commentary, Deuteronomy 34:1-12, Kathryn Schifferdecker, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2011.

Oremus Online NRSV First Text


Rabbi Jonathan Sacks writes:

The simple answer is that obsession with death ultimately devalues life. Why fight against the evils and injustices of the world if this life is only a preparation for the world to come? Ernest Becker in his classic The Denial of Death argues that fear of our own mortality has been one of the driving forces of civilization. It is what led the ancient world to enslave the masses, turning them into giant labour forces to build monumental buildings that would stand as long as time itself. It led to the ancient cult of the hero, the man who becomes immortal by doing daring deeds on the field of battle. We fear death; we have a love-hate relationship with it. Freud called this thanatos, the death instinct, and said it was one of the two driving forces of life, the other being eros.

Sacks then writes, “Judaism is a sustained protest against this world-view.” (Sacks, Jonathan. “Nitzavim (5774) - Defeating Death.” Rabbi Sacks, The Office of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, 4 Apr. 2016, rabbisacks.org/nitzavim-5774-defeating-death/)

I believe religious powers and authorities, at our worst, have used the scriptures to inspire a fear of death to gain support for their agendas. When in fact, Jesus’ ministry was the opposite. Jesus’ work was to deal head-on with the powers of this world that we might have life in the here and now. Jesus sought to remove the fear of the future that we might have a life here, knowing well that we have life in the future. The Gospel, especially Mark’s, is for those afraid that they might have hope in the face of the apocalyptic life lived in this world and in the face of fear of the apocalyptic doom preached about the future.

With this in mind, we turn to the story of Moses in Deuteronomy. Moses has led the people to the promised land, but he will not see it. A leadership fable reveals the very nature of leadership especially shared leadership. The person who steps out and leads rarely sees the results of such leadership. They write the story of transition and faithful sacrifice of self but do not write the last chapter. The next/last chapter is always written by someone else. Moses’ epitaph is a life well lived in service to God. “Never again did there arise a prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, in all the signs and wonders that the Lord sent him to display in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh and all his servants and all his land, and for all the mighty acts and awesome sights that Moses displayed in the sight of all Israel. (Deut. 34:10-12)

Moses loved God even though he himself was not perfect like God. Moses loved God’s people even though they did not always get along. Moses loved his partners, not because he needed them but because God needed them to help Moses fulfil his work. Most people do not know where the ordinary man is buried though some know where the famous are buried. “No man knows [Moses’] burial place” (34:6). Here is a great prophet who has no great monumental tomb because of all the things Moses was – he was a humble leader.

Moses is the ordinary man in everyday ordinary life (where the battle of the powers and authorities is waged), with whom and through whom God did extraordinary things. When life is over, we have no fear of death. And, when we look back, we will value most the things that Moses valued: the love of friends and family, the love of God’s work well done, and the love of having been part of a blessed community of shalom – peace.

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks writes as he ponders Moses' life and his end: “The greatest tribute the Torah gives Moses is to call him eved Hashem, the servant of God. That is why the Rambam writes that we can all be as great as Moses. (Hilkhot Teshuvah 5:2) Because we can all serve. We are as great as the causes we serve, and when we serve with true humility, a Force greater than ourselves flows through us, bringing the Divine presence into the world.” (Sacks, Jonathan. “Moses' Death, Moses' Life (Vezot Habracha 5775).” Rabbi Sacks, Office of Rabbi Sacks, 4 Apr. 2016, rabbisacks.org/moses-death-moses-life-vezot-habracha-5775/)