Every Wednesday morning we have a Bible study here at St. Mary’s that Deacon Nancy Crawford started. It is called Holy Curiosity. In this Bible study, we read one of the readings for the upcoming Sunday. Our method is to read it three times in three different translations. Then we take about 5 minutes of quiet to write down comments on sticky notes. There are 4 prompts, and you are given 4 different colors of sticky notes. The four prompts are 1) what in this passage amazes you; 2) what in the passage bothers you; 3) what makes you curious; and 4) what delights you. Amazes, Bothers, Curious, Delight: ABCD. Then we put the sticky notes on the wall on the whiteboard and take them off, section by section. We read them aloud and then have a conversation about it. It's a great way to get everyone's comments on what they thought was positive and challenging about a passage.
This past Wednesday we were studying today’s Gospel reading, and one of the comments absolutely struck me, it charmed me. I have had it in my pocket all week, so it looks all beaten up now. The prompt was what delights you, and the answer was: “it delighted me that Jesus gave a straightforward answer to the question, which commandment is the greatest.” How Jesus gave a straightforward answer. It is so true.
This past month and a half or so we have had anything but straightforward answers from Jesus. Some of it is because people were trying to trap him, and he was trying to figure out ways to wiggle out of it. There were also some weird and obscure parables that are confusing. Even in today's reading, after the comment about the greatest commandment, there is the section about David. It seems to be suggesting that the Messiah does not need to come from the lineage of David, but yet Matthew has already told us that Jesus is from that lineage, so why is this here? What is going on is not clear. But in the answer to the question, what is the greatest commandment, Jesus is so clear: love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and soul, and love your neighbor as yourself. On these two hang all the law and the prophets. Jesus is quoting scripture here. The first part is from Deuteronomy, Chapter 6, a phrase called the Shema: Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God is one. The second part, You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself, is from the passage from Leviticus that we heard a few moments ago.
Jesus lists these two parts of Scripture, and then goes on to say, on these two hang all the law and the prophets. This is an expression which means the entirety of Scripture. On these two hang the entirety of our faith. It is not about the 613 laws that will get us that faith. It's not the Torah, the first five books of the Bible, that will show us the way. The entirety of it has to be understood through the lens of love.
When I am teaching a Bible study, I always say that if the interpretation is not loving, or leading you to love, or done in love, or showing how to love, then try again, because you have not reached the right conclusion. Jesus says, love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and soul, and your neighbor as yourself. On these two hang all the law and the prophets. If your interpretation makes you hate somebody, you're really off course, because you have to love. It is the center of our faith as Jesus teaches us. And we who follow Jesus have to follow him in the way of that love. It is clear, it is straightforward, it is simple, and probably the hardest thing we have to do. Because when the rubber hits the road, friction can occur. How do you love somebody who you don't like all that much? How do you love somebody who does things that annoy you? How do you love somebody who does things that make you angry? How do you love somebody who makes your blood boil? How do you love somebody whose every single action they do is the exact opposite of everything that you think is good and right and just in this world? To love your neighbor is clear and straightforward, and it is the hardest thing we are being asked to do.
How do you love somebody who harms others? How do you love somebody who has harmed you? I can't give you an answer on how to do it that. It is the journey of faith we are on. I do know some ways you don't do it. Sometimes people say that loving your neighbor means you should stay with an abuser. That is not loving your neighbor. You do not need to stay with someone who is abusing you because Jesus said love your neighbor. You can love them from afar. You can love them well protected from them. You do not need to put yourself in constantly repeated danger when someone is doing you harm.
It is simple, it is clear, and it is really hard it. I can give you some suggestions to try. Look for your common humanity. Look inside yourself and see the way that you have harmed others and find some connection there. You can try and look for the good that they do, for most people have some good, even with the bad. But probably the best thing to do is to pray. Notice that in the Collect today we pray for God to increase in us the gifts of faith, hope, and charity, meaning love, not monetary gifts to charities. We are asking for God to increase love within us, because to realize the level of love of Jesus Christ is a task too difficult for us to do on our own. We need God's help. It is simple, it is clear, and it is really hard.
So, my friends, this is what we are called to keep working on, the work of love. You can protect yourself, or separate yourself, you can create boundaries or borders around around your life to keep yourself safe. But do not drink from the well of resentment, which poisons and harms you. Sometimes the hardest person to love in all of this is yourself. Work to figure out what is inside of yourself that you don't love. You certainly cannot love your neighbor as yourself if you don't love yourself. I encourage you this week to take time to think about this love, to look inside yourself, ask where am I falling short. Pray to God to find some steps to love a little more deeply. It is simple, it is clear, it is hard. But it is the way of love. It is the way of God.
AMEN
