The Feast of the Reformation (Observed using the propers for the Twentieth Sunday After Pentecost) The Near Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen. In today’s Gospel, Jesus refers to your neighbor. “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The Greek word for “neighbor” is “NEAR.” Essentially Jesus says to you in today’s Gospel, “You shall love your NEAR as yourself,” that is, the one NEAR to you; the one close to you; the one right in front of you; the one before your face; your neighbor. Dear Christian friends: In today’s Gospel, Jesus hurls a thunderbolt, so to speak. Jesus wishes to destroy our silly and selfish idea that we might be able to love God and simultaneously want nothing to do with our neighbor. The world is full of muggers and thugs who would love to be called Christian, and would certainly use that name to describe themselves when asked. These same “Christians” feel no hesitation and no remorse when it comes to exploiting their neighbor, gaining the advantage over him, falsely accusing him, or harboring anger against him. Yes, you can even find Christians who feel no hesitation in pointing to their neighbor and saying, “I hate that guy.” Jesus says “No” in today’s Gospel. Jesus wants you to know that love for God and love for neighbor are two peas in the same pod. Love for God and love for neighbor are like the first and second coat of paint on a wall. Love for God and love for neighbor are such close twins that their mother can barely distinguish them. If love for God was a 12 gauge Mossberg shogun in black, then love for neighbor would be the same make and model in camouflage. Potato, po-tah-toe; tomato, to-mah-toe; love for neighbor, love for God: it is all the same thing. “For as you have done to the least of these My brothers,” says the Lord, “you have done unto Me” (Matthew 25:40). Jesus said to the lawyer in today’s Gospel, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. “And a second is like it.” There is another commandment that looks just like the first. There is a second commandment of the same shape and form of the first; sharing the same nature and characteristics of the first. This second commandment is point-for-point comparable to the first, equally important and packed with the same power as the first: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” You shall love your NEAR as yourself. With these Words, Jesus wants to pull the scales from our eyes (Acts 9:18) so that we may see again and look upon our neighbor rightly. • What do you children see when you look at your mother or father? An overbearing presence? A nosy intrusion? An endless river of more rules than you can stomach? Jesus does not want you look upon these people as mere mother and father, as if tip-the-hat honor is all they deserve. Jesus wants you see that your mother and father are the NEAR. Jesus wants you to do a hard thing: “love your NEAR as yourself.” • You adults who run quickly out of patience and allow your anger to fly impulsively out of your mouth: would you dare to speak so loosely to your God? That is precisely what happens when we choose not to bridle our tongues (James 3:1-12). “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it”—there is a second piece of wood in the same fire, crackling and smelling just like the first—“You shall love your NEAR as yourself.” • When you turn a greedy eye toward someone else’s body or possessions or misfortunes; when you see an opportunity at your neighbor’s expense: Jesus wants you to look again. Jesus does not want you to look at others as a target, either for your scorn or your knuckle. Jesus wants you to look at others as the NEAR. Jesus wants you to treat them in the very same way that you would treat your God: “And a second is like it.” It looks just like the first. “You shall love the NEAR as yourself.” How should we regard our Lord’s Words in today’s Gospel? • Should we think of these Words as obligation, command or requirement from our God? Absolutely we should! Our repentance would be impossible if God did not make such demands upon us. Without these commands, “Love God” and “Love the NEAR,” we would each plow through our days with nothing to show for it but a path of destruction. We would like smugly and securely while our neighbor dies on the vine. Our God graciously speaks commandments to us in order to tear our eyes away from our own bellybuttons. Jesus says, “Love God” and “Love the NEAR” so that we will finally became aware and care that there is an entire creation outside of us. • But Jesus does not speak commands to us because He wants to make us jump through hoops like circus animals. Jesus speaks commands to us because every Word from His mouth has ultimate the purpose of bringing us His forgiveness and His peace and His life. Even when Jesus directs our eyes toward the people that exasperate us and even when He tells us, “Love the NEAR,” our Lord’s grace and salvation are not far away. After all, who is this Jesus? Jesus is our God who has come NEAR. o The prophet Isaiah named Him “Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14). As Matthew’s Gospel later explained, Immanuel means “God with us” (Matthew 1:23). God who is NEAR. o Isaiah also described Jesus as God’s righteousness. Speaking on behalf of God, Isaiah announced, “My Righteousness draws NEAR” (Isaiah 51:5). o Psalm 46 became the theme psalm of the Lutheran Reformation. Psalm 46 says that Jesus is “a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1), that is, a very NEAR help in trouble. Our Lord’s Words in today’s Gospel are much more than a command. When Jesus says here, “Love God” and “Love the NEAR,” He is doing more than describing the way we should be. Jesus is describing the way He is. • In the first and greatest commandment, “Love the Lord your God,” Jesus is describing His devotion to the heavenly Father. Everything Jesus does, He does in perfect love and obedience to His Father, so that Jesus may later give this perfect love and obedience to you. • In a second commandment, which is just like the first in every way, Jesus describes His devotion to you. “Love your NEAR as yourself.” The math is fairly simple: Because Jesus has come near to you, you therefore are also now near to Him. Stated another way, you are your Lord’s NEAR. Jesus loves you as Himself. How beautifully God has worked our human language, that the Greek work for “neighbor” should be the same word for “NEAR”! Through this connection between “neighbor” and “NEAR,” • describes where you may find Him, so that you may devote yourself to serving Him all the days of your life: He is your NEAR and your neighbor. Showing love to your God is as easy as showing love to one who is NEAR. • your God is showing you exactly where He is, where He wishes to remain, and where He ever shall be: He is your NEAR and you are His. He stands in front of you, next to you, and with you always. _______________________________________________ Sermons mailing list Sermons@cat41.org http://cat41.org/mailman/listinfo/sermons
