Sermon by Ms. Kacy Brubaker

Director, Elementary and Family Ministry

January 25, 2009

Loving God, Loving Neighbor

Scripture: Matthew 22, 25

It’s no coincidence that both of our scripture lessons this morning come from the Book of Matthew. When reading them, we should remember that Matthew is full of examples of Jesus teaching the disciples that love of neighbor includes love of all, love of enemy, love of stranger, love of the least of these.

The first reading, Matthew 22, shows Jesus telling the Pharisees what is most important - love of God and love of neighbor. The second reading from Matthew 25 shows Jesus telling the disciples how to love God and love neighbor. The “what” and the “how” they compliment each other nicely.

In our first reading, Matthew portrays the Pharisees as testing Jesus, pushing him to a dangerous limit. You see the rabbis had already counted 613 commands, which they believed to be equal in importance and equally binding, they the ones who set the rules, the guidelines, the structures, had already deemed that no command was more important than another.

So who was this Jesus character to question the rabbis? Jesus’ command to love God and love neighbor above all other commands was unique to his teachings. Matthew stresses Jesus’ pronouncement that the whole of the law and prophets hang from those two commands. It’s not a statement explaining the commands nor is it a summary. It is the key to interpreting all divine revelation. The key to the whole of Jesus and his message is loving God and loving neighbor. It’s as simple as that. Many of us spend our lives trying to understand the gospel. Theologians make careers out of it. Biblical scholars spend their entire time decoding messages but the key is right before us – loving God, loving neighbor. Therefore, one must abide first by this command to love God and love neighbor in order to understand any of Jesus or God’s message to humanity.

Love is not to be seen as an emotion but as a commitment and action. The “what” therefore leads to the “have” that is spoken of in Matthew 25. First and foremost in this scripture is the primacy of ethics and action over an above all else. We see again the KEY - loving God, loving neighbor. And in this passage we’re told that when people respond to human need they are in fact responding to Christ. There’s a deeper meaning to providing food, drink, clothing, shelter and company to those in need, because in providing for a brother or sister in need, one is also providing for Christ in their midst.

So let’s fast-forward this 2,000 years and put it in our own context. Let’s ask the question - what does loving neighbor and loving the least of these have to do with us?

If we go home to a closet full of clothes – maybe a walk-in closet or better yet two closets - one for the winter and one for the summer clothes - what does that mean if we are loving neighbor as self?

If we jump into our SUV to drive home from church and our spouse jumps in his or hers - what does it mean if we are loving neighbor as self?

When we take our children to the best clinic in the city, receive top-notch care and are immediately seen by doctors but we know that other children are going without even basic healthcare, nutritional and vitamin supplements, what does that mean if we are loving neighbor as self?

Sometimes we think that our personal actions and our daily decisions will not and do not impact others. We are wrong. Our actions are like the penny that we throw into the pool of water. The penny drops in a specific place, but the ripples spread throughout the entire pool, effecting and impacting all of the water, so too with our actions.

Some of you might remember a couple months ago when The Rev. Dr. Hunter Farrell preached during our Mission Conference. He told the story of how he and his wife opted for simple gold bands to signify their commitment to one another. Thinking that they had taken the modest route, it wasn’t until years later that they learned that in order to make those simple rings, just the bands, the ring that symbolized eternal love for them, sixty tons of Gods earth had to be dug up. Dirt, stone, rock and gold were sprayed with toxic chemicals. The gold had to be pulled apart from the stone and all of this took place in a plant that emitted harmful toxins into the air, poisoning the children in the community and the environment. So the simple choice they made represents a curse for those who created the ring, the land of God’s earth and the children living in the community. Their simple choice impaired others. When I go home and open up my jewelry box to a wealth of gold, silver, diamonds, sapphires and pearls- what does that mean if I am loving neighbor as self? The neighbor, the least of these, you, me - we are bound together.

Christ gave us the KEY to understanding his message, but we find that the door is so difficult to unlock. It is much easier, more comfortable, less challenging to stand on the other side of the door, key in hand, doing nothing. Unfortunately, this lack of action simply is not good enough.

Since today our focus is on the children, let’s look at the world through the eyes of many of Georgia’s children. Georgia’s infant mortality rate is among the nation’s worst. Georgia still has nearly 300,000 uninsured children. Georgia ranks 41^st in high school dropouts and the percentage of children living in poverty has risen each year since 2002. What is the KEY to unlocking the plight of so many children?

You hear these statistics and you think, this is horrible - Someone should do something. Someone should stand up for the children. Someone should speak out against harmful policies and laws. Someone should find a solution to make our state, our nation, our world a safer place for all children. Someone, someone, someone should love neighbor as self. What if that someone is you?

One of my favorite poems by German pastor Martin Niemoller is

“First They Came.” He says in his poem:

When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.

When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.

When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.

When they came for the Jews,
I remained silent;
For I was not a Jew.

When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.

What if we all lived our lives without ever speaking out, without ever taking a stand for the least of these, without ever loving neighbor, without ever sliding that key into the lock? So, we ask ourselves- what can I do? I don’t have all the answers, but Jesus has given us the KEY to understanding what must be done.

In response to the struggles of Georgia’s children…we say, “I’m not a doctor, I cannot provide healthcare to all expecting mothers so that all children are guaranteed a healthy start.” No, but I do have a voice and I can speak up for increased Peach Care funds. I can educate women about the importance of nutrition and prenatal care. But we say, “I’m not an educator. I can’t teach all children how to read, write, add, subtract, multiply and divide.” No, but I might have children of my own and I can help out in the schools. I can learn about and address the underlying causes of low performance, poverty, class size, lack of materials, need for additional resources and training opportunities for teachers. We say, “I’m not an economist and I can’t fix the rate of unemployment or the economic crisis.” No, but I do have a vote and I can urge policy makers to make the minimum wage a living wage. I can volunteer with community outreach programs that provide direct assistance to those in need. Still we say, “What can

I do?”

I’ve learned a considerable amount about WHAT we can do from our 5^th graders. Over the past three months, the 5^th grade LOGOS children showed me what it means to be neighbor and do for the least of these. Our focus during the Bible study in LOGOS has been Matthew 25:31-40. The children didn’t simple want to read the scripture. They wanted to experience scripture. So, they brainstormed about twenty projects that they could do to serve neighbor. Because of time constraints we had to narrow down our list, but during the months of November, December and January, the children prepared meals for the women in our Women’s Shelter, made Christmas cards for persons in prison, sent care packages to soldiers overseas, helped organize the Fall Food Drive, and led a clothing and toy drive for our friends in need.

Forever we can hide behind the question, “But what can I do?” Or, we can do as the children did. Instead of sitting complacently and asking the question “What?” We can grab hold of the key that Christ has given us and use it. Like our children we can take the KEY and open up a door to loving God and loving neighbor.

Amen.