Matthew 22:34-40
When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
Reflection
What does it mean to love God with all our hearts and souls and minds? What does it mean to love God? What does it mean to know God? To be in relationship with God?
The remarkable teachings of Jesus tell us that a relationship with God is possible.
He calls God “Abba” – clearly he is not telling us what God is like, he is not writing scripture for others to read two thousand years later. He is telling us something that works at a much deeper level. That this God, this Yahweh, this Abba is a relational God and the nature of therelationship is love.
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind.”
Jesus is not pointing to the 613 purity laws nor is he lifting up sacrifice at the Temple as the way to measure our relationship with God. It’s not that he says these should be done away with or that they are meaningless just that there is something more important. He wanted those laws to work for everyday people not against them. We cannot forget that Jesus was a Jew who basically wanted and called Jews at that time to be better Jews, by putting things in a new perspective, by putting themselves in a new relationship with God.
What Jesus offers them (and us) is the possibility of that new relationship. But the way into the relationship is not the Pharisees and their hair-splitting interpretation of the Mosaic Law. Nor is it to be found with the Saducees and the Temple in Jerusalem. The relationship he offers us is not based on what is outside of us, it is not based what we do in public, this relationship is not mediated by or through others. Jesus places the relationship in our hands, our hearts, our minds. And the really great thing is that he tells us that it is not just a head thing, it is not just a spiritual thing, it is not just a feeling thing. It a matter that concerns our whole being, we are not to leave any part of ourselves at the door – our hearts, our souls, our minds are all dragged in.
If we are lucky we maybe have had an experience or two of God in our lives. It doesn’t matter how fleeting it may have been and maybe all that matters is that we have come to see it as an experience of God. A narrow escape in an accident, a prayer answered, a miracle, a sense of peace amidst tragedy, a hope fulfilled or come to fruition. Whatever shape or size that experience, however fleeting it is, claim it with all your heart - it is yours. You are held by God.
And if you are lucky enough to have soul filling experiences of God. If prayers and scripture or meditation or music or nature bring to you an experience of God then nurture those elements in your life with all your soul. God is all around and within you.
The mind, now that’s the tricky one for a lot of people. “Love God with all your mind.” This is the part of us that wants proof, the part that asks questions like “What is faith?” Doubts, questions, anger, disappointment; it’s all part of any relationship and for many people it is a part of their relationship with God. So love God with all of you, your whole self (warts and all). God loves the whole of you.
Jesus offers this to the Pharisees and the Saducees who are questioning him about his preaching and teaching – he offers it like a gift: You too can have a relationship with God and this is how. First, love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind!
Next week: we get to the second part of the commandment: “Love your neighbour as yourself”.
Prayer
Holy One, God of Mystery
we often come before you
with petitions of want or need
for ourselves and for others.
But today we come before you
humbled by the simple gift
offered to us by Jesus.
We so often think that loving you is
doing the right thing, saying the right thing,
believing the right thing
being the right kind of person
so as to be acceptable in your sight.
And Jesus says
Love the Lord your God
with all your heart, all your soul
and all your mind.
And love your neighbour as yourself .
Jesus offers us Joy
and we whine about wanting to be happy.
Jesus offers us Peace
And we worry that we won’t get want we want.
Jesus offers us Love
And we are afraid.
Help us to accept God’s gift to us
Help us to embrace a loving relationship with God
with the confidence and hope
and to live into and out of that love
every day.
Amen
Minutes for Mission
October 25
We Love Our Ministers!
The Rev. Bronwyn Corlett shares this reflection:
When my father was sick, my minister visited. The minister didn’t stay long—just long enough to let us know we were cared for, thought of, and prayed for. We were not alone.
After I was in a car crash, I visited my minister to share my fear, anxiety, and confusion. My minister listened and asked questions. Not too many—just enough to let me know I was heard, I was okay, and I was prayed for. I was not alone.
Our ministers are present in the big moments: baptisms and funerals, weddings and divorces, celebrations and crises. They are there in the everyday moments: visiting, witnessing, and walking with us. They remind us of God’s presence while we wrestle with life, faith, and love. Ministers are not perfect or infallible. They each have different gifts from God and are called to unique service.
Thank you to our ministers. Thank you for the sermons, the prayers, and the visits. Thank you for the times you leave your own families to sit with someone else’s. Thank you for your leadership and your late nights. Thank you for answering God’s call and living it out in The United Church of Canada.
Thanks to our gifts for Mission & Service, ministers are supported through training at theological schools and education centres and through continuing education.
If Mission & Service giving is already a regular part of your life, thank you so much! If you have not given, please join me in making Mission & Service giving a regular part of your life of faith. Loving our neighbour is at the heart of our Mission & Service.
When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
Reflection
What does it mean to love God with all our hearts and souls and minds? What does it mean to love God? What does it mean to know God? To be in relationship with God?
The remarkable teachings of Jesus tell us that a relationship with God is possible.
He calls God “Abba” – clearly he is not telling us what God is like, he is not writing scripture for others to read two thousand years later. He is telling us something that works at a much deeper level. That this God, this Yahweh, this Abba is a relational God and the nature of therelationship is love.
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind.”
Jesus is not pointing to the 613 purity laws nor is he lifting up sacrifice at the Temple as the way to measure our relationship with God. It’s not that he says these should be done away with or that they are meaningless just that there is something more important. He wanted those laws to work for everyday people not against them. We cannot forget that Jesus was a Jew who basically wanted and called Jews at that time to be better Jews, by putting things in a new perspective, by putting themselves in a new relationship with God.
What Jesus offers them (and us) is the possibility of that new relationship. But the way into the relationship is not the Pharisees and their hair-splitting interpretation of the Mosaic Law. Nor is it to be found with the Saducees and the Temple in Jerusalem. The relationship he offers us is not based on what is outside of us, it is not based what we do in public, this relationship is not mediated by or through others. Jesus places the relationship in our hands, our hearts, our minds. And the really great thing is that he tells us that it is not just a head thing, it is not just a spiritual thing, it is not just a feeling thing. It a matter that concerns our whole being, we are not to leave any part of ourselves at the door – our hearts, our souls, our minds are all dragged in.
If we are lucky we maybe have had an experience or two of God in our lives. It doesn’t matter how fleeting it may have been and maybe all that matters is that we have come to see it as an experience of God. A narrow escape in an accident, a prayer answered, a miracle, a sense of peace amidst tragedy, a hope fulfilled or come to fruition. Whatever shape or size that experience, however fleeting it is, claim it with all your heart - it is yours. You are held by God.
And if you are lucky enough to have soul filling experiences of God. If prayers and scripture or meditation or music or nature bring to you an experience of God then nurture those elements in your life with all your soul. God is all around and within you.
The mind, now that’s the tricky one for a lot of people. “Love God with all your mind.” This is the part of us that wants proof, the part that asks questions like “What is faith?” Doubts, questions, anger, disappointment; it’s all part of any relationship and for many people it is a part of their relationship with God. So love God with all of you, your whole self (warts and all). God loves the whole of you.
Jesus offers this to the Pharisees and the Saducees who are questioning him about his preaching and teaching – he offers it like a gift: You too can have a relationship with God and this is how. First, love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind!
Next week: we get to the second part of the commandment: “Love your neighbour as yourself”.
Prayer
Holy One, God of Mystery
we often come before you
with petitions of want or need
for ourselves and for others.
But today we come before you
humbled by the simple gift
offered to us by Jesus.
We so often think that loving you is
doing the right thing, saying the right thing,
believing the right thing
being the right kind of person
so as to be acceptable in your sight.
And Jesus says
Love the Lord your God
with all your heart, all your soul
and all your mind.
And love your neighbour as yourself .
Jesus offers us Joy
and we whine about wanting to be happy.
Jesus offers us Peace
And we worry that we won’t get want we want.
Jesus offers us Love
And we are afraid.
Help us to accept God’s gift to us
Help us to embrace a loving relationship with God
with the confidence and hope
and to live into and out of that love
every day.
Amen
Minutes for Mission
October 25
We Love Our Ministers!
The Rev. Bronwyn Corlett shares this reflection:
When my father was sick, my minister visited. The minister didn’t stay long—just long enough to let us know we were cared for, thought of, and prayed for. We were not alone.
After I was in a car crash, I visited my minister to share my fear, anxiety, and confusion. My minister listened and asked questions. Not too many—just enough to let me know I was heard, I was okay, and I was prayed for. I was not alone.
Our ministers are present in the big moments: baptisms and funerals, weddings and divorces, celebrations and crises. They are there in the everyday moments: visiting, witnessing, and walking with us. They remind us of God’s presence while we wrestle with life, faith, and love. Ministers are not perfect or infallible. They each have different gifts from God and are called to unique service.
Thank you to our ministers. Thank you for the sermons, the prayers, and the visits. Thank you for the times you leave your own families to sit with someone else’s. Thank you for your leadership and your late nights. Thank you for answering God’s call and living it out in The United Church of Canada.
Thanks to our gifts for Mission & Service, ministers are supported through training at theological schools and education centres and through continuing education.
If Mission & Service giving is already a regular part of your life, thank you so much! If you have not given, please join me in making Mission & Service giving a regular part of your life of faith. Loving our neighbour is at the heart of our Mission & Service.
