Year A Proper 25 Matthew 22:34-46

What is love? If each of us gave a response to that question we might find we get a number of different definitions ranging from family love, to love of spouse, love of God, community, country. Some of us may think of love as an emotion while others define it as a state of mind. But in every case we would probably hear definitions that are filled with caring, kindness, devotion, and fidelity. We would all agree that love is good, and we want to think that it is also always gentle and not overly demanding. We like to think of love as that which makes us happy, makes us feel good, something that leaves us feeling positive and peaceful.

But then, what is “tough love”, that about which we hear so much today? If you check the definition of “tough love”, you will get this answer. It is “promotion of a person's welfare, especially that of an addict, child, or criminal, by enforcing certain constraints on them, or requiring them to take responsibility for their actions.” Ah! So love can mean we have to be firm and clear and set limits, and that we may not always get a big hug for our efforts. In fact, we may be sorely resented for them and the person we love in this way may turn on us with anger and rebuke.

Love, it seems is very complicated, so it helps that St. Paul defines love for us: Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

That really ought to give us pause for thought, because it turns out love isn’t all about making us feel good, or all about setting limits for others. The Love God expects from us, the Love that Jesus teaches, while it encompasses both joy and responsibility, is all about humility and holiness.

The LORD said to Moses, "This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, `I will give it to your descendants'; I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not cross over there." Then Moses, the servant of the LORD, died there in the land of Moab, at the LORD's command.

Moses is not to enter the Promised Land because, earlier on in his story, he broke faith with God. But Moses is the man who formed an intimate bond, a loving relationship with his Creator, and because God loves Moses, God allows him to see the land he has struggled so long to reach. We do such things for love, because love is kind and caring. And then, Moses dies as he has lived, according to God’s will.

But because he loves and cares for them, Moses doesn’t leave the Children of Israel without a leader.

Joshua son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, because Moses had laid his hands on him; and the Israelites obeyed him, doing as the LORD had commanded Moses.

Moses has shown his love in that he has appointed a successor to continue to guide and care for the Israelites. Love makes plans for those who remain behind.

“‘Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?’ Jesus 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.’”

Jesus’ way of teaching and living and proclaiming the Good News was nothing like anyone had seen before. It was confusing and can still be so for us today. Our Gospel passage, from Matthew, comes on the Tuesday before Christ’s execution. Matthew first records three of Jesus’ parables, and then three of the religious leaders’ riddles or trick questions of Jesus. The reading today comes during their last attempt to entrap Jesus in His own words.

According to rabbinic tradition, and, we need to remember that Jesus was a rabbi, the accepted number of commandments is 613. 613! That’s a lot of commandments. These are the laws that the religious leaders are called to follow and enforce. In His answer to the Pharisees, Jesus follows the rabbinic law, the laws of His ancestors; “You shall love the Lord’’ is part of the Shema, the basic affirmation of Jewish faith. Pirkei Avot, the ethics of the Jewish Fathers, contains a similar axiom: “The world stands on three things: on the Torah, on the service of God, and upon acts of loving-kindness.”

While Jesus follows tradition, the way He answers, summing up everything in two basic commandments, is something unheard of. “Love God, love your neighbor.” These two commandments will change the world.

But, simple as they sound, the two commandments can be – well – confusing. Jesus’ followers, then as now, need to understand the type of love to which our Savior refers. In His day, and we still recognize them today, there were three types of love. There was and is Philia – or “brotherly” love. It’s the type of love family members share, and the city of Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love, uses this form in its name.

Then there is Eros. That’s the form of love we’re thinking about when we think of passionate kisses, of desire and romance. Eros is a sort of madness that fills us with euphoric feelings for “the beloved” – and it sells a lot of flowers and chocolates too.

But then there is the form of love about which Jesus is speaking, agape. It is this love He defines for the Pharisees and Sadducees.

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart” To us, this may sound like a romantic statement, because we connect the heart with feelings, but in Jesus day, the heart was connected with the will, with action, with deeds. We like to think of the work of love as being always pleasant and delightful, but to love God with all your heart means that you must be willing to do the hard work of love, which involves setting limits, and can involve personal sacrifice and suffering.

Sometimes, to love with our whole heart means being willing to say “no”. Sometimes it’s very hard to say “no”, as God had to say “no” to Moses about entering the Promised Land, but setting the limits, is an important part of loving. We, Jesus followers, are the ones called to set the limits in a society where limitlessness is highly prized.

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your soul.” The soul is life. We are asked to give up our lives to God. This doesn’t necessarily mean that death is required of us. What it does require of us is that we live lives of sacrifice and humility, not just when it suits us, but all the time, every moment of every day.

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your mind.” This doesn’t mean that we are meant to think about God, but rather that we are to develop the mind of Christ. Our natural human tendency is to be somewhat gentle and forgiving with ourselves, while being considerably more judgmental and demanding with others. Loving God with our whole mind requires that we see the other person in the same way that Jesus does, that we look with eyes of love, that we “cut them some slack”, while maintaining strict discipline within our own lives. In this way we also “love your neighbor as yourself.”

Jesus’ summary of the Law sets limits for us, His followers. We all know and understand what is expected of us, that each of us must live according to Jesus’ commands, right up to the very best of our ability. And since our best is all we have to offer, we think we’re doing enough. That’s when God asks us to stretch our boundaries. That’s when Jesus throws us a curve.

Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them this question: "What do you think of the Messiah? Whose son is he?"

The Pharisees know their faith very well, they know the Law, the scripture, and they answer immediately from their own tradition. They said to him, "The son of David." They respond from a preconceived notion they have taken for the Truth. Jesus knew, before He asked, what their answer would be, because this is a deeply held belief of the Pharisees, that the Messiah will be the Son of David. It’s not something they would ever dream of questioning.

Jesus said to them, "How is it then that David by the Spirit calls him Lord, saying, `The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet"'? If David thus calls him Lord, how can he be his son?"

And there it is, that’s the curve. As they stand in the Presence of the Messiah they do not recognize, Jesus challenges them to stretch their boundaries. Love does that. It makes us go beyond ourselves, it calls us to be better people than we are, and it demands that we open ourselves up continually to new and greater loving revealed to us by the Truth. Sometimes this is a very hard thing to do. In our lifetimes in our society there have been many challenges; civil rights, women’s rights, gay rights, to name a few. “Thou shalt love” Jesus says. It’s not a request. It’s an order.

“No one was able to give him an answer, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.” The religious leaders are stumped, and this is the part of the story where they begin to plot ways to remove the threat. As soon as they can, they take Him and execute Him.

By being executed as a political martyr, Jesus demonstrated God’s love in a way that would change his descendants forever. Today we are still calling ourselves followers of Christ. The mantle of Christ’s teachings, life, responsibilities, and authority have been passed from one generation to the next over thousands of years. T.S. Eliot described it thus:

Love is the unfamiliar Name Behind the hands that wove The intolerable shirt of flame Which human power cannot remove.

It isn’t easy wear the mantle Christ has given us, to love as we have been commanded to do, but Love has its moments – moments of pure joy and deep peace. And, though Jesus ascended to the Father, Love makes plans for those who remain behind. Thus always, through pain and sorrow, sadness and joy, we have Jesus’ promise, that He is Present with us, to guide and direct us, to love and support us, even unto the ends of the earth.

Let us pray:

Almighty and eternal God, so draw our hearts to you, so guide our minds, so fill our imaginations, so control our wills, that we may be wholly yours, utterly dedicated to you; and then use us, we pray you, as you will, and always to your glory and the welfare of your people; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.