What Greater Commandment?

Ruth 2:1-13; I Thessalonians 2:1-8; Matthew 22:34-46

In the book of Deuteronomy 6:5 are the words that Jesus spoke in our gospel lesson for today, as he described the first and greatest commandment: "You must love the Lord your God with your whole heart, and your whole soul, and your whole mind." Indeed, this sentence was always used at the opening of each worship service of the Jewish faith because it was the basic and essential creed of Judaism. It was probably the first scripture text every Jewish child was made to memorize. And it means that to God we must give a total love, a love which dominates our emotions, a love which directs our thoughts, and a love which is the dynamic of our actions. All religion starts with the love which is total commitment of life to God.

But, perhaps before we can begin to talk about our love for God, we need to remember that it is God who loved us first and who continues to love us, even when we may sometimes forget that God is here.

There is a story about a man who had been a serious Christian all his life who became seriously ill in his old age. His illness depressed him so much that he became troubled about the little love he felt in his heart for God, and as he lay in his bed, he spoke of his experience to a friend. And this is how his friend answered him.

"When I go home from here, I expect to take my baby on my knee, look into sweet eyes, listen to her charming prattle, and tired as I am, her presence will rest me; for I love that child with unutterable tenderness. But she loves me little. If my heart were breaking it would not disturb her sleep. If my body were racked with pain, it would not interrupt her play. If I were dead, she would forget me in a few days. Besides this, she had never brought me a penny, but was a constant expense to me. I am not rich, but there is not money enough in the world to buy my baby. How is it? Does she love me, or do I love her? Do I withhold my love until I know she loves me? Am I waiting for her to do something worthy of my love before extending to her?

This practical illustration of the love of God for His children caused the tears to roll down the sick man's face. "Oh, I see," he exclaimed, "it is not my love to God, but God's love for me, that I should be thinking of. And I do love Him now as I never loved Him before."

Perhaps our love of God becomes greater when we realize that God's love for us doesn't begin or end with our love for him. Rather, God's love for us is eternal and constant and steadfast.	And this is truly what worship is all about. One very important definition of the word "worship" is that it is God's love of us bringing about our response of love for God. And for the Christian this loving response is not only played out in worship on Sunday morning in church, for it only begins in church. Rather, our response of love toward God must permeate our whole lives, following us into our workplace, our homes, our recreation, the marketplace, and so on, wherever we go and whatever we do.

But, Jesus didn't stop here. Certainly, in listing the first and greatest commandment, he said, "You must love the Lord your God with your whole heart, and your whole soul, and your whole mind." But Jesus also gave a second commandment for us to follow: Quoting from the book of Leviticus, chapter 19, verse 18, he said, "Love your neighbor as yourself." In other words, our love of God must issue in our love for our fellow humanity.

Most of us sitting here this morning would have little trouble saying that we love god. But, the only way in which we can prove that we love God is in fact by loving each other. But it is to be noted in which order the commandments come; it is love of God first, and love of one another second. It is only when we love God that humanity can be lovable. The Biblical teaching about humanity is that a human being is not simply a collection of chemical elements, not that we are a part of the general creation, but that we are special: made in the image of God. It is for that reason that humanity is lovable. The true basis of all democracy is, in fact, the love of God. Take away the love of God and we can become angry at human beings for being unteachable; we can become pessimistic about human beings for being unimprovable; we can become callous about human beings for being uncreative and dull. But the basis for the concept of love for humanity is firmly grounded in our love for God.

To be truly religious is to love God, and to love the human beings whom God made in His own image; and to love God and humanity, not with a nebulous sentimentality, but with that total commitment which issues in devotion to God and practical service to human kind.

Indeed, there are many stories about how intertwined our love for God and our love for humanity must be. For instance, there is the story of how a man by the name of Duncan McColl, a British soldier in the Revolutionary War, lived through a dangerous assignment during which he was captured by American forces. He was protected by an American officer who commanded his men: "Hold your fire. That man has work for God to do."

The officer was proved right. Duncan McColl became a minister when the war was over, and built a church on the Canadian side of the St. Croix River. Members came from both Canada and Maine.

When the War of 1812 came on, McColl told his people that they were brothers in Christ. So they ignored the war and continued worshipping together.

Today the same spirit of fellowship and friendliness still prevails in the sister towns of St. Stephen and Calais. Though separated by a national border, the Americans still cross the river to attend church.

A fire in one town is a call for volunteer fire fighters and equipment from the other town. On the Fourth of July the Canadian Mounties parade with the Americans; in return state troopers from Maine, and various bands cross the river to help their neighbors honor their Queen.

So, indeed, love of God and love of neighbor do go hand in hand.

And, perhaps this connection between loving God and loving your neighbor is tested to a large degree in the church, itself. Indeed, we might think about this, this morning: How has being a member of a church tested our ability to love one another? Are there those occasions wherein we have been quick to criticize a fellow Christian? Have there been those occasions when we have been quick to take offense because of what someone may have done or failed to do? Are there those persons we have chosen to avoid simply because they have offended our sensibilities? Are we reluctant to welcome a visitor into our midst? Indeed, and let me say it again: our membership within the Body of Christ may be one of the first places that the connection between loving God and loving our neighbor is tested. And you and I would do well to take note of how we fare in that test from time to time.

In our Old Testament lesson from the book of Ruth there is a good example of love of God and love for one's fellow human being. In Ruth's case, her love of God led her to love Naomi and her people. In turn, Naomi's relative, Boaz, out of love for God, showed his love for Ruth and eventually made her his wife.

In our lesson from the book of Thessalonians Paul shows how his love of God led him to be an apostle of Christ. Indeed, in the eighth verse Paul says: "We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God, but our lives, as well, because you had become so dear to us."

So, indeed, our the question for us today is this one: How does our love for God call us to love one another? How are we faring in that most important test of our love?

Tradition tells us that the aged apostle John, in bidding farewell to his congregation, admonished them to love one another.

"But, we want something new," they said. "Give us a new commandment."

John replied, "Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. . . that we should love one another!" And how important it is that we obey that command! Amen.