1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,560 May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in your sight 2 00:00:06,560 --> 00:00:08,840 O Lord, our strength and our Redeemer. 3 00:00:08,840 --> 00:00:09,840 Amen. 4 00:00:09,840 --> 00:00:15,800 Can y'all hear me? 5 00:00:15,800 --> 00:00:16,800 Okay. 6 00:00:16,800 --> 00:00:18,800 Does this sound on? 7 00:00:18,800 --> 00:00:19,800 Okay. 8 00:00:19,800 --> 00:00:25,440 I just unclipped it from my belt, so give me a minute. 9 00:00:25,440 --> 00:00:27,680 This is going to be very embarrassing. 10 00:00:27,680 --> 00:00:31,880 We're going to have to cut it out of the podcast. 11 00:00:31,880 --> 00:00:35,040 Shannon, okay, we can hear you okay? 12 00:00:35,040 --> 00:00:39,720 All right. 13 00:00:39,720 --> 00:00:41,400 This is the first and great commandment. 14 00:00:41,400 --> 00:00:47,200 I love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind. 15 00:00:47,200 --> 00:00:50,720 And the second is like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. 16 00:00:50,720 --> 00:00:55,760 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. 17 00:00:55,760 --> 00:01:03,120 At some point in the third century, Jewish scholars decided that there were 613 laws 18 00:01:03,120 --> 00:01:05,800 contained in the Torah. 19 00:01:05,800 --> 00:01:09,480 Not surprisingly, you can't go, the Torah is the first five books. 20 00:01:09,480 --> 00:01:15,480 You can't go to the first five books of the Bible and find any list, one through 613. 21 00:01:15,480 --> 00:01:17,200 That would be too easy. 22 00:01:17,200 --> 00:01:21,520 I suppose Google might be able to point you in the right direction. 23 00:01:21,520 --> 00:01:32,200 But of these 613 laws, there are 365 negative laws, thou shalt nots, and 248 positive laws, 24 00:01:32,200 --> 00:01:33,840 thou shalts. 25 00:01:33,840 --> 00:01:38,880 Now, Jewish teachers have turned this into somewhat of a teaching device. 26 00:01:38,880 --> 00:01:45,240 365 obviously represents the number of times it takes for the earth to go around, excuse 27 00:01:45,240 --> 00:01:49,080 me, how, yeah, 365 days. 28 00:01:49,080 --> 00:01:53,720 That's how many days it takes for the earth to go around the sun in a complete orbit. 29 00:01:53,720 --> 00:02:01,040 And 248, not so obviously, equals the number of bones in your body plus the number of major 30 00:02:01,040 --> 00:02:02,920 bones in your body. 31 00:02:02,920 --> 00:02:10,000 And finally, 613 apparently represents the average number of seeds found in a pomegranate 32 00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:11,000 fruit. 33 00:02:11,000 --> 00:02:13,680 I dare you to count. 34 00:02:13,680 --> 00:02:17,360 So based on this information, it is thought that the forbidden fruit in the garden was 35 00:02:17,360 --> 00:02:22,840 actually a pomegranate and not an apple, as popular belief. 36 00:02:22,840 --> 00:02:30,120 Therefore, one might conclude that the pomegranate fruit with its 613 seeds representing the 613 37 00:02:30,120 --> 00:02:37,360 laws is what Adam and Eve would give them the knowledge of good and evil. 38 00:02:37,360 --> 00:02:42,480 But as we all know, just because Adam and Eve know right from wrong doesn't mean they 39 00:02:42,480 --> 00:02:44,920 do right. 40 00:02:44,920 --> 00:02:50,960 Such is the human condition, knowledge doesn't always lead to right action. 41 00:02:50,960 --> 00:02:56,560 A smarter people doesn't necessarily mean a better people. 42 00:02:56,560 --> 00:03:02,560 At best, a smarter people might mean a people who are better at hiding their flaws. 43 00:03:02,560 --> 00:03:08,760 It doesn't take a sociologist to know that there's a gap between knowing what is right 44 00:03:08,760 --> 00:03:14,360 and wrong, in doing what is right and refraining from what is wrong. 45 00:03:14,360 --> 00:03:19,000 When Paul says it like this, I do the very evil I don't want to do and do not do the 46 00:03:19,000 --> 00:03:21,440 good that I want to do. 47 00:03:21,440 --> 00:03:25,660 So it's not enough to know what is right and what is wrong. 48 00:03:25,660 --> 00:03:30,040 As our collect for this morning, that opening prayer for this morning suggests, we need 49 00:03:30,040 --> 00:03:35,640 to be able to love what is right in order to do what is right. 50 00:03:35,640 --> 00:03:42,280 In other words, our behavior, our actions, our words are a product of who and what we 51 00:03:42,280 --> 00:03:43,640 love. 52 00:03:43,640 --> 00:03:48,160 The problem of course is that we humans love imperfectly. 53 00:03:48,160 --> 00:03:53,400 I read recently that humans are natural pagans. 54 00:03:53,400 --> 00:03:55,240 We are not monotheists. 55 00:03:55,240 --> 00:03:58,760 We worship a lot of different gods. 56 00:03:58,760 --> 00:04:00,680 Our hearts are divided. 57 00:04:00,680 --> 00:04:03,160 We can't love just one god. 58 00:04:03,160 --> 00:04:10,520 We seek out those lesser imperfect gods, those mortal gods, material possessions or success 59 00:04:10,520 --> 00:04:14,360 or entertainment or popularity. 60 00:04:14,360 --> 00:04:16,600 These are our lesser gods. 61 00:04:16,600 --> 00:04:20,000 Well, they might not be bad in and of themselves. 62 00:04:20,000 --> 00:04:25,240 They can misguide us if they become the most important thing in our life, above the God 63 00:04:25,240 --> 00:04:26,740 of love. 64 00:04:26,740 --> 00:04:33,240 And when we misplace our love, when we put our love in the wrong things, these lesser 65 00:04:33,240 --> 00:04:38,480 gods tend to promote love of self over love of others. 66 00:04:38,480 --> 00:04:45,640 While the love of God tends to promote the love of neighbor as I self. 67 00:04:45,640 --> 00:04:51,600 Over the last few weeks in Matthew's Gospel, we've had one of those seats to the ongoing 68 00:04:51,600 --> 00:04:58,540 feud between Jesus and the religious leaders in the days leading up to the Passover, staged 69 00:04:58,540 --> 00:05:00,440 in the Jerusalem Temple. 70 00:05:00,440 --> 00:05:05,640 A diverse group of religious leaders, leaders that are used to debating each other, have 71 00:05:05,640 --> 00:05:07,520 now teamed up as allies. 72 00:05:07,520 --> 00:05:14,400 And this time, they are debating Jesus in a not so friendly game of stump the rabbi. 73 00:05:14,400 --> 00:05:20,560 Today, we see the Pharisees try to take one last stab at Jesus. 74 00:05:20,560 --> 00:05:24,920 They want to know what Jesus thinks the greatest commandment of all is. 75 00:05:24,920 --> 00:05:29,000 Apparently, that's a favorite pastime to sit around the water cooler and talk about which 76 00:05:29,000 --> 00:05:33,640 of the 613 is the greatest, which of them sums up the rest. 77 00:05:33,640 --> 00:05:38,560 Jesus gets this answer, what seems like a softball answer correctly. 78 00:05:38,560 --> 00:05:42,120 Of course, love your God with all your heart, mind, and soul. 79 00:05:42,120 --> 00:05:45,560 And then he tosses a fastball right back at him. 80 00:05:45,560 --> 00:05:51,120 For starters, he implies that if you say you love God, but you do not love your neighbor, 81 00:05:51,120 --> 00:05:54,520 then you're really just giving lip service to God. 82 00:05:54,520 --> 00:05:59,600 He then goes on to say in a roundabout way, and oh yeah, by the way, I am God and y'all 83 00:05:59,600 --> 00:06:02,280 are not loving me right now. 84 00:06:02,280 --> 00:06:08,480 Another in God's, in Matthew's Gospel, Jesus will say, if you want to love me, then love 85 00:06:08,480 --> 00:06:11,160 the least, the last, and the lost. 86 00:06:11,160 --> 00:06:15,560 And if you reject the least, the last, and the lost, then you are neglecting to love 87 00:06:15,560 --> 00:06:16,560 me. 88 00:06:16,560 --> 00:06:19,480 First, John has a little bit more in your face about it. 89 00:06:19,480 --> 00:06:25,680 He says, if you say you love God, but hate your neighbor, then you are a liar. 90 00:06:25,680 --> 00:06:30,440 If you're being honest with yourself, then this teaching on the love of God, equaling 91 00:06:30,440 --> 00:06:34,000 the love of neighbor, should call you up short. 92 00:06:34,000 --> 00:06:36,200 I know it calls me up short. 93 00:06:36,200 --> 00:06:40,920 Too often have I said something with my lips to do another thing in my life. 94 00:06:40,920 --> 00:06:46,440 Too often have I professed my love for Jesus only to pass him by on the way home. 95 00:06:46,440 --> 00:06:52,440 Dorothy Day says it like this, I only love God as much as I love the person I love the 96 00:06:52,440 --> 00:06:53,440 least. 97 00:06:53,440 --> 00:06:57,320 I only love God as much as I love the person I love the least. 98 00:06:57,320 --> 00:07:00,400 I'm just going to sit with that for a second. 99 00:07:00,400 --> 00:07:06,840 A little over a week ago, it's in lost a man whose love of God was evident in how he loved 100 00:07:06,840 --> 00:07:08,200 his neighbor. 101 00:07:08,200 --> 00:07:10,360 John Wilson was our community outreach chair. 102 00:07:10,360 --> 00:07:13,800 He was the leader of our ministry to feed the hungry in Avondale. 103 00:07:13,800 --> 00:07:16,200 He was active member of the choir. 104 00:07:16,200 --> 00:07:21,520 The beautiful hymns and prayers John said here on Sundays only made sense because they 105 00:07:21,520 --> 00:07:28,480 called him to love and serve the Lord outside these doors for John love of God and worship 106 00:07:28,480 --> 00:07:32,160 of God didn't stop at 1130 on Sunday. 107 00:07:32,160 --> 00:07:33,160 It continued on. 108 00:07:33,160 --> 00:07:35,360 It was just getting started. 109 00:07:35,360 --> 00:07:39,800 Like clockwork, you could count on John showing up on Tuesdays to stock the pantry for the 110 00:07:39,800 --> 00:07:40,800 Abbey. 111 00:07:40,800 --> 00:07:44,880 And those who distributed lunches on Thursday mornings could always trust that John would 112 00:07:44,880 --> 00:07:49,560 be there with a hot batch of cheese grits. 113 00:07:49,560 --> 00:07:54,880 And now during this annual campaign, there have been other ways for us to reflect on how 114 00:07:54,880 --> 00:07:59,440 we as a parish community are loving God by loving our neighbor. 115 00:07:59,440 --> 00:08:03,440 Obviously, a part of that evidence is with the Abbey or with the first light shelter 116 00:08:03,440 --> 00:08:06,040 or at the weekend backpack program. 117 00:08:06,040 --> 00:08:11,160 We love God by coming up alongside fellow parishioners who've received scary news about 118 00:08:11,160 --> 00:08:14,000 their health or when a loved one has died. 119 00:08:14,000 --> 00:08:17,880 We love God by showing up to celebrate and encourage a family when they've had a new 120 00:08:17,880 --> 00:08:19,080 child. 121 00:08:19,080 --> 00:08:24,040 We love God by visiting and spending time with those who are lonely and afraid. 122 00:08:24,040 --> 00:08:28,240 We love God by hosting a birthday party every year at Episcopal Place for those who might 123 00:08:28,240 --> 00:08:31,240 not otherwise have a birthday party. 124 00:08:31,240 --> 00:08:37,500 Now, using our annual giving tagline, you can start to find evidence of your love of 125 00:08:37,500 --> 00:08:44,000 God by examining how you spend your own time and your own talent and your own treasure. 126 00:08:44,000 --> 00:08:47,760 And looking at all this, looking at your time, talent, and treasure, how you use it is going 127 00:08:47,760 --> 00:08:51,080 to tell you a little bit about what you love and who you love. 128 00:08:51,080 --> 00:08:55,040 It will also tell you how much you love, who you love, and what you love. 129 00:08:55,040 --> 00:08:58,800 There's no doubt you will find all kinds of evidence that you're loving God by loving 130 00:08:58,800 --> 00:09:02,440 your neighbor and maybe in ways you didn't even think about. 131 00:09:02,440 --> 00:09:07,080 And despite your best efforts, I imagine you'll also find a little bit of evidence of how 132 00:09:07,080 --> 00:09:09,800 you don't love God as much as you would like to. 133 00:09:09,800 --> 00:09:14,640 You'll find evidence that your heart is divided, that you love several lesser gods, sometimes 134 00:09:14,640 --> 00:09:17,600 more than the one true God. 135 00:09:17,600 --> 00:09:22,320 And again, even on our best days, there's going to be a gap between what we want to 136 00:09:22,320 --> 00:09:26,960 do and what we actually do, but this isn't a reason to despair. 137 00:09:26,960 --> 00:09:32,600 In fact, the realization of this gap will actually help you live more fully into the 138 00:09:32,600 --> 00:09:35,060 good news of Jesus and his kingdom. 139 00:09:35,060 --> 00:09:40,480 Our natural instincts will tell us to try harder to fill the gap, but that's really 140 00:09:40,480 --> 00:09:45,000 just another form of idolatry because it's still about us trying harder. 141 00:09:45,000 --> 00:09:47,880 We're still putting ourselves at the center. 142 00:09:47,880 --> 00:09:53,840 You've become the lesser God in that case, but Jesus is actually saying, return to me, 143 00:09:53,840 --> 00:09:55,040 rest in me. 144 00:09:55,040 --> 00:09:59,280 And when you find your rest in me, my love for you will give you all that you need and 145 00:09:59,280 --> 00:10:02,680 all that you have to get from here to there. 146 00:10:02,680 --> 00:10:07,520 On the cross where Jesus died, the love of God, that vertical love, and the love of neighbor, 147 00:10:07,520 --> 00:10:12,080 that horizontal love intersect and fills the gap between the two. 148 00:10:12,080 --> 00:10:17,360 On the cross where the gap between love of God and love of neighbor is filled hangs all 149 00:10:17,360 --> 00:10:19,320 the love in the world. 150 00:10:19,320 --> 00:10:24,800 All the world, all the world, all the sad and lonely world needs is found right there 151 00:10:24,800 --> 00:10:25,800 on the cross. 152 00:10:25,800 --> 00:10:28,400 That's all we need to thrive in this world. 153 00:10:28,400 --> 00:10:32,640 So when you find yourself worshiping those lesser gods, when you find yourself, your 154 00:10:32,640 --> 00:10:37,640 heart divided between the lesser gods and the one true God, I encourage you to return 155 00:10:37,640 --> 00:10:39,480 to the cross. 156 00:10:39,480 --> 00:10:44,000 Return to the place where God's great love for you and the world may give you the grace 157 00:10:44,000 --> 00:10:51,000 to love God and love your neighbor 365 days of the year with all your might and all your 158 00:10:51,000 --> 00:10:53,200 mind and all of your body. 159 00:10:53,200 --> 00:10:54,200 Amen. 160 00:10:54,200 --> 00:11:11,800 Thank you.