Sermon for Sunday, October 16, 2020 - Preached at First Lutheran, Hanna, IN - "Love God and Love Neighbor"

 2022-10-16  - 18th Sunday after Trinity - Preached at First Lutheran, Hanna, IN. 

Deuteronomy 10:12-21; Psalm 34:8-22; 1 Corinthians 1:1-9; Matthew 22:34-46

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

As I earned my various degrees over the years, I have had to plow my way through numerous lengthy articles, reports, and books.  I learned quickly to appreciate abstracts and executive summaries.  Those brief summaries and bullet point highlights helped me quickly discern whether this was the best article, report, or book for me to read and use for my research.  They give the reader the heart of the argument and evidence to support the author’s conclusion.  

When we hear Jesus’ response to the Pharisee’s question about “which is the great commandment in the Law?” we get an executive summary.  Jesus quotes Scripture.  “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” is from Deuteronomy 6:5.  The other command that Jesus quotes is from Leviticus 19:18. “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 

There are 613 commands that God gave to Moses and then Moses gave to the people. Included in the 613 are what we call the Ten Commandments. Jesus had a lot to choose from. Yet, Jesus chose these because they convey the essence of what was given to Moses. When Jesus says, “On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophet” that sounds like a summary statement. 

So, why those two commands?  Jesus was asked for the great commandment. He could have stopped at his recitation of Deuteronomy 6:5 and then that would have led where ever that was going to lead.  Instead, he adds Leviticus 19:18.  And, he introduces the second command with words that show that it also has high ranking as far as Jesus goes.  Jesus says, “And a second is like it.” Both of these are equally important.  

I should point out to you that the pairing of these two commandments are also recorded in Mark 12 and Luke 10.  In all three gospels, the ordering is the same.  First, the Lord; second, the neighbor.  Why this ordering?  There are other teachers, other spiritual and wisdom advisors throughout the ages that would have said that the first needs to be the neighbor. We are in this world and we need to take care of others. In the care of our neighbors, God is reflected.  What is before us and that is tangible and what we do the most, should be the first. 

But, Jesus puts the Lord first. Why? I suspect he puts the Lord first because everything begins with the Lord.  I should clarify that when I speak here of the LORD, I mean the blessed Trinity.  For all three persons in the one Godhead are responsible for everything in our lives.  All three persons are involved in the creation of the universe.  The Father imagines all that is seen and unseen, the Son is the Word and through the Word all is brought into existence, and the Holy Spirit sustains the universe. Likewise, on a much more personal level, all three persons are involved in our salvation.  Our ability to have faith is the Word working with the Holy Spirit to create faith in us.  Our faith grasps the gift of salvation that God gives to us. The Incarnate Son dies on the cross for us.  The Father sends the Son to die on the cross in our behalf. In the cross Jesus takes on our sin. He dies for us.  He suffers a punishment so that we may have life. On account of the cross, when the Father looks at us, he chooses not to focus on our ugly sin, He chooses to declare us righteous.  By our nature, by our very existence, we are unrighteous before the most holy God.  But, Jesus changes all of that for us.  The Holy Spirit creates the faith necessary to receive the gift of salvation that the Father gives us on account of the cross of Christ Jesus. 

The LORD God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit give us this earth, our lives, our relationships, our work, our salvation, and all that we have and hold dear and precious.  It originates with God. So, it makes sense that Jesus would begin with the Lord. As Jesus recites Deuteronomy 6:5, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”

Since we would not have any neighbors of any kind to love and care for if we did not have the LORD, the command “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” is a close second.  But, as Jesus makes clear, second is just as important. And, as Jesus underscores throughout his ministry, we simply cannot, must not, in our minds or in our Christian life, separate the one from the other.  

The love you have for God will not be full or fulfilling unless you have love for the neighbor.  Likewise, the love you have for your neighbor will not be full or complete unless you have love for the LORD. The two commands go hand in hand. Cannot have one without the other. For the love of the neighbor is a fruit of faith in God. 

You probably recognize the name of C.F.W. Walther as the chief founder of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.  Even while he was busy teaching and forming the Synod, he was also preaching on Sundays and other occasions. In 1846, on the Thirteen Sunday after Trinity, Pastor Walther preached on Luke 10:23-37.  This passage contains the conversation between a lawyer and Jesus.  The lawyer asks, “what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” After a question from Jesus, the lawyer gives the same answer that Jesus gave to the Pharisees. Love the Lord and love your neighbor. But, it is clear to Jesus that the lawyer does not really understand the words that he just spoke to Jesus because he wants Jesus to clarify for him just who exactly is his neighbor. Jesus proceeds to tell him the parable of the Good Samaritan who clearly loved his neighbor in need. 

Pastor Walther begins his sermon with an observation: 

“The ways by which most people want to be saved are chiefly two.  For they either want to do good works but not believe, or they want to believe but then do no good works.” (Page 131) 

In 1846, as is the case now, there were many people who had great humanistic impulses to address poverty and all manner of social ills. But many of these folks lack faith in the Lord God. Likewise, there were and are many deeply pious people who would not for any number of reasons care to lift a finger to help anyone else.  Their faith was so self-contained that it did not spill over in any way that Jesus or the prophets or even Moses would insist that it must.  For with faith, comes love. Love flows not only upward towards God, but it also flows outward to our neighbors. 

Walther notes that Jesus wanted the lawyer to understand through the example of the good Samaritan “that true love does not dwell in the heart of any natural man, that without true faith there is also no true love.” (Page 134)

When faith in Christ is the source for our love of neighbor, it changes the way love is expressed.  Self love, self seeking, self promotion are removed.  Faith moves us to love as Christ loves us.  For to have faith in Christ is to receive his benefits. Christ blesses us with forgiveness. True repentance leads to Christ’s forgiveness. Forgiveness softens our hearts and changes the way we interact with the world. Faith and forgiveness lead us to interact with this world with love. Faith in Christ transforms us.

Pastor Walther says, “But a believer knows that he daily receives the greatest and richest inheritance, namely the forgiveness of all his sins, the grace of God, eternal life and salvation.  Therefore the believer can do nothing else; he must daily be happy, friendly, and obliging toward everyone, not begrudging all, even his enemies, their good things, rejoicing over their good fortune, being sad over their adversity, and counseling, comforting, and helping them wherever he can. As God has dealt with him, so he must again do to his neighbor; as God lived, suffered, and shed His blood for him, even though he was an unworthy sinner, yes, His enemy, so the person who in a living way believes this now can no longer live for himself but must live for his neighbor.” (p137-138)

We are truly blessed beyond words that God has called us into faith. Faith in Christ sustains us through dark times and gives us stability in the midst of changes and turbulence.  Faith in Christ gives our life focus and direction.  Love of self only just leads to more selfish, short sighted, foolish decisions and a wrecked life. But faith in Christ transforms us.  It moves us to look to the Lord and it moves us to look to our neighbors.  Faith moves us to love with a love that embodies joy and friendship and generosity and hope.  Faith leads us, in the words of the Apostle Paul, into a love that is patient and kind; that does not envy or boast; that is not arrogant or rude; that does not insist on its own way; that is not irritable or resentful; that does not rejoice at wrongdoing but rejoices in the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 

As people of faith, we want love like this. We have love from our heavenly Father through the cross of the Son and we receive it as a gift of the Holy Spirit. We pray that our Lord will lead us into a deeper love of Him and our neighbors.  

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.