March 22, 2022 – “Love Your Neighbor as Yourself”

 “And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.” Mark 12:28-34

In the conversation between the scribe and Jesus, the scribe asks Jesus, “Which commandment is the first of all?”  Jesus answers with Deuteronomy 6:4 – 5, what is commonly known as the Shema – the most important piece of scripture for the Jew: ⁴ Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. ⁵ You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.

The Shema is prayed in every worship service in the synagogue. It is so important because it defines Judaism as worshipping a monotheistic G-d – in the context of the pagans who have many, many G-ds. This aspect of Judaism, “Hear O Israel: the Lord our G-d, the Lord is one” was an important and defining aspect of Judaism – in the context of their surroundings. G-d, the One G-d, the only G-d, had chosen this people to be a special, priestly nation. Jesus, then, teaches that to “Love your G-d” and to “Love your Neighbor” are to be the central defining commandments for Christianity.

Let us pray,

Lord Christ, you command us to love. It is good that you did not just suggest us to love one another for loving each other could be the most difficult commandment to keep. Grant me your Holy Spirit as I move through this day learning to love. Amen.

Pastor Dave

March 21, 2022 – “Putting Up Fences”

And he began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower, and leased it to tenants and went into another country.When the season came, he sent a servant to the tenants to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. Again he sent to them another servant, and they struck him on the head and treated him shamefully.And he sent another, and him they killed. And so with many others: some they beat, and some they killed. He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ And they took him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard. What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others.” Mark 12:1-9

The Parable of the Wicked Tenants begins with these words, “A man planted a vineyard, put a fence around it…”.  Why do so many people put a fence around themselves and refuse to share their fruit with others? When we put up fences between us and our neighbors, we are, in essence, putting a fence up between us and G-d. But there are many reasons why people decide not to share their G-d-given fruit with others.

First, they believe that what they have is theirs and theirs alone. They forget that all we have comes from G-d. Second, by hoarding their things, they believe they are protecting themselves from having others steal their fruit, or damage their fruit. After all, it is their stuff.

I know that at times we pray for G-d to put a hedge of protection around us so that we are protected from our enemies. But this hedge of protection can become a wall that separates and isolates us from the “others” around us. In his poem “Mending Wall” Robert Frost writes:

 Before I built a wall I’d ask to know
What I was walling in or walling out,
And to whom I was like to give offense.

His poem may go on to say “Good fences make good neighbors”, but I believe good fences only leave us feeling isolated and alone. Instead of fences, let’s build relationships modeled from our relationship with Jesus Christ.

Let us pray,

Lord Christ, we too often want to isolate and wall ourselves away from others. Give to me your love and presence so I can learn not to wall others out, but to reach out to others in love. Amen.

Pastor Dave