Loving God, even though we slip easily into fear, you invite us to be still, and to be aware of your love for us.  Help us to trust you in all things by the power of your Spirit, through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

            Today’s gospel comes from a time when there was plenty of turmoil surrounding Jesus.  As we heard last week, the religious leaders (and others) kept asking Jesus questions in order to try and get him to say something incriminating (or, at the very least, blasphemous).  It is all heading towards the time when Jesus will be arrested, and put on trial, and crucified.

         At the same time, as this is Reformation Sunday, we recall a time that was also full of turmoil – some of which swirled around a certain monk named Martin Luther.  He, too, ended up in a power struggle with religious leaders, as he lifted up passages of Scripture that contradicted what was being taught by the pope at that time.  The irony is that the Scriptures pointed to the depth of God’s grace and love, and this caused problems in a church that was more focused on fundraising through scaring people with hell and purgatory.

         Today, too, it seems that we are living in tumultuous times, with any calls to be aware of God’s love, and to love God, and to love your neighbour as yourself practically getting lost in the swirl of war and violence and competing messages and pursuit of the almighty dollar.  Still, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Ps. 46:1).

         While the gospel that we heard today is not the usual one for Reformation Sunday, loving God and neighbour is emphasized in much of Luther’s teaching – which is to be expected, one might think, from anybody who is trying to point to Jesus.  Those of you who studied Luther’s Small Catechism might recall that throughout Luther’s explanation of the Ten Commandments, “we are to fear and love God” while treating our neighbours with love and respect.  However, in these statements, as well as in today’s gospel, there are a few things that need to be unpacked.

         First, whether we are talking about loving God with our whole heart and soul and mind or loving our neighbours as ourselves, we are not talking about romantic love, or having a nice warm loving feeling.  When Jesus talks about love, it has more to do with how we act.  When we love God above all else, our actions show it.  Serving God by serving others becomes our number one priority, which means that we treat other people with dignity and respect, because God also loves them.

         Another thing that we need to clarify is who qualifies as a neighbour.  Our minds tend to go straight to the people who live next door to us, but Jesus’ definition of a neighbour is much broader than that.  In at least one of the parables that Jesus tells, a neighbour is whoever needs our help.  Another way to think of it is that most of the people we encounter from day to day are considered to be neighbours – or sometimes, even brothers and sisters!  We are to show love to those people – just as we would love ourselves.

         For many people, this is the most difficult part of the Great Commandment – loving your neighbour as yourself.  We find it difficult – not only because there are people who are very difficult to love – but because sometimes we don’t consider ourselves worthy of love.  Part of the reason that Jesus puts loving God first is that it is in this relationship that we find out how deeply God loves each one of us.  Not only did God create each one of us in God’s image (and saw that it was very good – Gen. 1:31), but God also sent Jesus in order to redeem and save us.  It is God who tells us that we are loved and that we are worth saving.

         A final thing to unpack is that recurring statement from Luther’s Small Catechism: “We are to fear and love God.”  This does not mean that we should be afraid of God, but we definitely should respect God, obey God’s commands, and be aware of God’s holiness.  Those who live in love and put their faith in Jesus have nothing to be afraid of.  As 1 John says, “perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment” (4:18).  While God might seem scary to those who only care about themselves, “We love because [God] first loved us” (1 Jn. 4:19).

         In this is good news, regardless of what kind of turmoil might be swirling either within or around us.  Psalm 46, which we read today, includes a number of things that might produce fear – like war, and earthquakes, and storms at sea, and kingdoms that are collapsing.  However, it also includes the declaration that “we will not fear” because “God is our refuge and strength.”

         There is also that lovely verse: “Be still, and know that I am God!” (Ps. 46:10) – something that the Israelites were asked to do on a number of occasions when the situation looked hopeless and God was going to fight for them.  For our part, then, we are invited into an awareness of God’s love for us that leads us to love God with our whole heart and soul and mind, and to love our neighbours as ourselves.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life (Jn. 3:16).

Thanks be to God!  Amen.

Reformation / Lectionary 30(A)     Matthew 22:34-46

October 29, 2023                             Psalm 46

St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church

Pastor Lynne Hutchison

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