Living the Great Commandments

 

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• Scripture: Deuteronomy 34:1-12 and Psalm 90:1-6, 13-17  • 
 
• Leviticus 19:1-2, 15-18 and Psalm 1  • 
 
• 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8  • 
 
• Matthew 22:34-46

This week Jesus teaches us the "Great Commandment" which is a combination of the first part of Israel's great Shema (Hear): "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, The LORD is one. You shall love the LORD you God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might." And from Leviticus 19, 1-2, 15-18, particularly: "You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD."  

Professor Alyce MacKenzie tells us in "Reality-Show Jesus: Reflections on Matthew 22:34-46," that Matthew's gospel account has Jesus teaching the Great Commandment after he was tested  by and confronted the religious leaders of his day by overturning the tables of the money changers, telling the parables of the vineyard and wedding feast, and after answering those who seek to entrap him with the question of whether it is lawful to pay taxes to Caesar.

What is Jesus teaching us about the Great Commandments? About Love? See MacKenzie's article (above), and The Rev. Sharron R. Blezard's "Living the Gospel of Love."

But what does it mean to love in the context and meaning of the Great Commandments? In The Greatest Commandments, Debie Thomas tells us it is much more than emotion. It is commitment, discipline, sacrifice, and obedience - after all, they are Commandments. 

What is Caesar's and what is God's?

  Click for Link to Scripture.

As we approach the coming election, how fitting that our Year A lectionary gospel reading contains Jesus' famous and often quoted, "Give unto Caesar that which is Caesar's, and to God that which is God's." He was being set up, seemingly trapped, by the Pharisees who wanted to expose him as a heretic, or by the Herodians who would have him tried for sedition.

In her essay, "What Belongs to God," Debie Thomas tells us about her own situation, fears, and concerns, and puts them in the perspective of what God requires of us, and comes to the  conclusion that regardless of our political views - for that matter, any view we have, any possession we have - all belongs to God, and we should act as Jesus taught and showed us how to act.

Look at the totality of his mission, his love and sacrifice, and those he came to save. Those who many of us treat as lost and untouchable. Love your God with all your heart, mind, body, soul and might. And love your neighbor as yourself. On these Commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

What will we give to God? To our neighbor?

Just When We Think We've Got It

 Scripture: Exodus 32:1-14 and Psalm 106:1-6, 19-23  • Isaiah 25:1-9 and Psalm 23  • Philippians 4:1-9  • Matthew 22:1-14

Just when we think we've got the lesson of the parable this week, Jesus turns the tables on us... again. In Luke's account of this parable, as in the first part of Matthew's account, we get the message - all are  welcome at the wedding feast given by the king, cutting through the legalism, hypocrisy, self righteousness, ownership and control asserted by the religious leaders of the day. But things take a violent turn in Matthew's version of the parable. When a guest does not have a wedding robe, the king orders him taken out, bound and thrown into the outer darkness. Why the violence? Is God rejecting him? Is there no room at the feast for him? What is meant by "many are called but few are chosen?" What is the wedding robe? What is God's grace in all of this? What is meant by Bonhoeffer's saying that there is no such thing as "cheap grace."

Consider Janet Hunt's "The Wedding Robe," and  Samuel Zumwalt's "Ready for the Feast." Debie Thomas asks if we believe in a God of wrath and cruelty, and asks what if Jesus is teaching us not to project our own rationalizations and wishes on God in "The God Who Isn't."

Love and Justice

 Scripture:  Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20 and Psalm 19  • Isaiah 5:1-7 and Psalm 80:7-15  • Philippians 3:4b-14  • Matthew 21:33-46

This Sunday we study the Ten Commandments - words carved in stone, or are they more? Laws to be obeyed, or more? Love to be earned, or more? God on high, or more? Laws of dominion and control, or love and justice? Read The Rev. Kate Matthew's "A Rule of Love."

In "Crazy Love," The Rev. David Lose makes some cheeky good points about Matthew's account of another vineyard parable which Jesus gives us. This one is about the vineyard workers who kill servants sent by the landowner to collect his die from his tenants, including the landowner's son. Jesus is reaching the climax of his ministry as he confronts religious authorities on his way to the cross -  to humiliation and exaltation and glory. Why does the landowner keep sending his servants, and even his son to these "bloodthirsty hooligans?" Jesus says it best when he tells them, and us, that "the stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord's doing, and it is amazing in our eyes!"  

Does the gospel account have anything to say about how we should read and live out the Ten Commandments?  What do they both say about God and us?

The Rev. Kellan Day, in "Parables," sheds light on reading parable, and gives us an insight as to how to read, interpret, and apply this one.

How do we become what God wants?

 Link to the Collect and Scripture. 

Another week of grumbling and complaining in the wilderness. God rained manna on his people, not punishment in last week's lesson. This week, acting through his agent, Moses, who strikes a rock with his staff, life giving water gushes forth. Living bread, living water. 

What do we look for, what do we find when we are in wilderness times? Do we see our glass half empty? Half full? Is it wrong to question God? Is God present in the good times, but not the bad times? Do we look for mirages instead of the truth in times of want, need or trouble? Security instead of facing our fears and troubles? Read Kate Matthews' "Everyone's a Critic."

And Jesus, speaking with authority (ἐξουσία - a liberating power, not a dominating force), gives us the parable of the two sons who are asked to work in the vineyard. One says he will, and doesn't. One says he won't, but does. Who does the Father's will?

In Paul's beautiful letter to the Philippians, we have the kenosis (κενόω - to empty out). After telling us we need to have the mind of Christ, Paul tells us a love story of Christ's sacrifice from the beginning to the cross. Jesus, "though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death-- even death on a cross." 

So, with all the grumbling and complaining, how are we to do the Father's will? How can a grumbling church become the church God wants us to be? How can a divided nation become one nation, under God? Consider Will Willimon's "One in Christ." Debie Thomas tells us Words Are Not Enough. 

When life is not fair

 Scripture: Exodus 16:2-15 and Psalm 105:1-6, 37-45  • Jonah 3:10-4:11 and Psalm 145:1-8  • Philippians 1:21-30  • Matthew 20:1-16

Life isn't fair. So said the murmuring Israelites when they complained about being led into the wilderness from the fleshpots of Egypt. And Jonah when God spared Nineveh,  capital of Assyria which conquered Israel and took the brightest and best into captivity. And what about Jesus' parable of the last arriving workers in the vineyard being paid the same as the first to arrive?

How did God respond to the Israelites? To Jonah? And what is Jesus teaching us?

Read Debie Thomas' "On Fairness," and "The Generosity of God," by The Rev. Dr. Michael Foss.

What forgiveness is, and is not

 Scripture: Exodus 14:19-31 and Psalm 114 or Exodus 15:1b-11, 20-21  • Genesis 50:15-21 and Psalm 103:(1-7), 8-13  • Romans 14:1-12  • Matthew 18:21-35

Jesus tells Peter, in answer to his question, how many times must I forgive, "Seventy times seven." What does he mean? Does he mean to forgive indiscriminately? While forgiveness should be our everyday practice, is there anything which is not forgiveable?

What is involved in forgiving, for ourselves, and others? What should we expect? To avoid the rush to "cheap grace," we should ask what what forgiveness is, and what it is not. Especially in the age we live in, in the face of injustice and inequity, which we are also called to address.

There is work to be done before there can be reconciliation, not the least of which is honestly addressing denial. Read Debie Thomas' "Unpacking Forgiveness." Forgiveness is not meant to be hollow, or cheap. For Christians, there is always the cross before new and everlasting life, and peace

When two or more are gathered

 Scripture: Exodus 12:1-14 and Psalm 149  • Ezekiel 33:7-11 and Psalm 119:33-40  • Romans 13:8-14  • Matthew 18:15-20

Jesus' beautiful saying that when two or more are gathered in his name, he is in their midst is often read at weddings, and, in fact, is sublimely present in one of my favorite songs of Peter, Paul and Mary, "The Wedding Song," but Jesus said this in regard to matters of church discipline. What do we do when there is conflict in the church?

In this week's gospel lesson, Jesus  instructs the church which will carry his good news as a mission to the world about what do if another member of the church "sins" against you. The Greek word for sin is αμαρτάνω, which means "missing the mark. A discreet one on one meeting with the offending person is the step, followed by another discreet meeting, and finally a meeting of the church itself. All of this respects the dignity of persons. If that doesn't resolve it, then what? We should look at the context in which Jesus speaks. Immediately prior to this message, Jesus teaches the disciples about humility when they ask who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, saying that unless you become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Immediately after this week's gospel, Jesus answer's Peter's question of "how many times must I forgive my brother who sins against me," with "seventy times seven," which means what?

Humility, forgiveness and reconciliation are at the heart of Jesus' instructions for resolving church disputes. Many have interpreted the gospel to authorize shunning. What should we do when one leaves the church? How is "power" or "authority" to be exercised and received?

Finally, if we remember that when two are three are gathered in his name, he is with us, how can we not come together in humility in the presence of the one who gave his all that all might be saved?

Consider these articles: "What kind of Community Will We Be?" by David Lose; "Unforgiven," by William L. Hawkins; "A Careful Read," by Deanna Langle; and "The Power to Bind or Loose ," by The Rev. Whitney Rice; The Beloved Community by Debie Thomas.