Deuteronomy
34:1-12; Matthew 22:34-46
In
the reading from Deuteronomy, we come to the end of Moses’ life. His decades of
trusting in and arguing with God are over. His years of listening to the
grumbling of the people are over, too.
From
his birth to his death, Moses has been God’s called servant. Moses received the
Ten Commandments on two tablets, and spent a lot of time with God learning what
they meant for the people. He knew the intent of the Torah – a relationship
between God and God’s people in which the people put love of God and love of
neighbor first in their lives. And he has passed on these teachings to the
people.
Moses
has prepared others to take over when he was gone, and the time has now come
for Moses to die, and for Joshua to lead the people into the land God promised
them long ago. By the time of Jesus, the written commandments number 613. The
oral commandments and interpretive materials fill many scrolls.
The
prophets repeatedly quote the scriptures, and speak for God, calling the people
back to the basics of loving God and neighbor. In the Gospel reading, Jesus,
too, quotes scriptures. He is asked to identify the greatest commandment, and
he immediately says “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and
with all your soul, and with all your mind.” The leaders can’t find anything
wrong with this. It’s part of the daily ritual prayers for all Jews. But, Jesus
isn’t finished. He goes on to summarize the rest of the commandments. “You
shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Here
in Matthew’s story, Jesus asks the Pharisees a question about his identity. He
gives them a puzzle to solve. The Messiah is believed to be a descendant of
David; Jesus wants them to consider that the Messiah might instead – or also –
be the Son of God. They have no answer to his question, and have no more
questions for him, ever.
In
Luke’s version of this same event, Jesus goes on to tell a parable about what
it means to be a neighbor. We know the story as the parable of the Good
Samaritan, which shows that a neighbor may be someone we don’t normally think
of as a neighbor.
You
all have had the experience of being a neighbor to someone else, and
experiences when someone was a neighbor to you. You have even told me about
some of those experiences: you make sure someone has meals when it’s hard for
them to cook; you make sure a recent widow or widower has someone to sit with
in church; you bring supplies and write checks when it’s for a good purpose.
And so many more stories of good neighbors ....
A
good neighbor in my life was literally my next door neighbor. When my boys were
about 5 and 2, I had to go to work. I found a job near my mother’s house, so
she could watch Danny, the 2-year-old. But Gary needed to be in school. To
complicate matters, I had to leave the house about a half hour before Gary went
to school. The next door neighbor had a boy about 8 years old, and she offered
to take care of Gary and get him on the bus every day. I tried to pay her, but
she flatly refused to accept anything. Since I couldn’t pay her, I always look
for ways to pass on that good-neighborliness.
At
seminary, there was a man from the West African country of Togo. He spoke
several languages, French, English, and Eve – his native African language.
Eddie was working on a PhD and had many papers to write. I offered to edit
them, turning his mixture of languages into good English. This was one small
way in which I could be a good neighbor to another student.
I
have invited our deacons to share brief stories about times when they have been
neighbors, or when others have been neighbors to them. After they have shared
their stories, I’ll wrap up the sermon.
...
Our
stories are varied, but they all make the same point. When we put God first in
our lives, and love our neighbors – whoever they are – as we love ourselves, we
are doing what Jesus wants us to do. It is not always easy; sometimes it means
going way out of our way. But it is always worth the effort.
God
loves us first, and asks us (commands us!) to return that love by putting God
first in our lives – by giving God our whole beings, heart, strength, mind, and
soul. And God asks us (commands us!) to love our neighbors with God’s kind of
love.
This
week, I invite you to remember some good neighbor stories. When was someone a
good neighbor to you? When were you a good neighbor to someone else? It may be
harder to remember those times when you were a good neighbor because we don’t
like to brag about ourselves, but I hope you will try. These stories are part
of who we are as God’s faithful people, and just as important to God as the
stories we read in the Bible.
Please
pray with me. Loving God, you love us first, before we have done anything for
you. Help us seek to put you first in our lives, and help us be good neighbors,
sharing your love with those around us. Amen
