Year A
Season after Pentecost
Proper 25 (30)
Contextual Background:
A lawyer asks Jesus the greatest commandment. Jesus responds: love God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself. All the law and prophets hang.
Monotheism is an invitation to see all people and all mishpachot as human.
Love of neighbor doesn’t mean warm feelings. Agape means risking love, working for the well-being of the neighbor. Jesus had earlier extended this love to enemies.
Within the Jewish Tradition:
The Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4–5) commanded total love of God. Leviticus 19:18 commanded love of neighbor. These were central pillars of covenant life.
The Challenge Then:
The challenge was to live love of God and neighbor as inseparable. Jesus was a public leader. We can trace everything he did to these two teachings which are directed not only at individuals, but the the whole community. They are meant to serve as the foundation for every aspect of human society and life.
The Challenge Now:
We often split spirituality from justice, personal faith from public neighbor-love. Jesus insists they belong together.
In doing wort to counter anti-Muslim bigotry, I have engaged over 200 congregations. As I did that work, I realized that the teaching, “Love God” was being unconsciously interpreted as “love the God that belongs to our mishpachah.” I spend much time in meditation on this problem. So, I redrafted the great teachings to fit the specific needs of our divided time.
Three Great Teachings of the Abrahamic Tradition Adapted for This Moment:
- Love God more than your in-group and tradition
- Love your neighbor as you love yourself
- Steward a thriving ecosystem and an equitable economy
You can read more about this in my book, Go and Do Likewise.
Implications for Leaders & Communities:
- Leaders: root teaching and preaching in love as the lens of scripture.
- Communities: embody love in worship, relationships, and public action.
What I Am Learning:
All commandments are expressions of love.
The Question I’m Sitting With:
Where am I tempted to love God without loving neighbor — or neighbor without loving God? How can One Creator inform how I relate to what I see, hear, and touch?
