10.29.2023 - Obedient Love

Scripture: Matthew 22:34-46

Matthew 22:34–46 NIV

34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 37 Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” 41 While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, 42 “What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?” “The son of David,” they replied. 43 He said to them, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’? For he says, 44 “ ‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.” ’ 45 If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?” 46 No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions.

10/29/2023

Order of Service:

Announcements

Kid’s Time

Opening Worship

Prayer Requests

Prayer Song

Pastoral Prayer

Consecration Sunday Announcer #2 - Shannon Dalton

Offering (Doxology and Offering Prayer)

Scripture Reading

Sermon

Closing Song

Benediction

Obedient Love

Solomon’s Son Who Overturned the Empire

King Solomon was known for his wisdom. After his coronation, his first prayer was for God to give him the wisdom to rule well.

Solomon’s son Rehoboam succeeded him upon the throne of Israel after his death. 2 Chronicles 10 says that the elders of the tribes of Israel met with him and told him that Solomon had been hard on them, particularly the ten tribes north of Jerusalem. They asked Rehoboam for mercy and leniency in his rule. Rehoboam told them to give him three days to consider this and return for his official statement. He went to the older advisors first, and they agreed with the elders. Solomon had indeed been harsh on them, and they deserved a break. Then Rehoboam went to the younger advisors. They counseled against this, telling him that he needed to be strong and make a name for himself to stand upon rather than rule in the shadow of his famous father. (That is the PG version of what they said. The actual wording was much more vulgar.)

Rehoboam chose to follow the counsel of the younger advisors, ultimately choosing arrogance over wisdom. In three days, he dismantled the great nation that David and Solomon spent two generations building up. Israel went into Civil War, and the ten northern tribes split from the southern two. They would not be reunited as one nation until after World War II - over 3,000 years later. King Solomon showed wisdom in seeking God first and asking for Wisdom. Rehoboam showed arrogance in seeking man’s counsel first and showing strength rather than mercy.

According to Deuteronomy 17:18–20...

18 When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he (the king) is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the Levitical priests. 19 It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees 20 and not consider himself better than his fellow Israelites and turn from the law to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel.

- The New International Version (Dt 17:18–20). (2011). Zondervan.

The King of Israel had an obligation to learn and follow God’s Law by copying it himself and reading it daily. Rehoboam did not fulfill that obligation and consequently lost the kingdom. As we read last week, we all have obligations to meet, and sometimes, it is hard for us to figure out what to do first. Jesus taught that our most important obligation is loving God and loving others.

Ten Commandments

Most of the Jews could get their heads around the 10 Commandments. The Herodians may have been willing to compromise some of them to keep their privileged status in the Roman Empire. But the Sadducees supported, keeping the 10 Commandments. They were ready to get rid of most of the Old Testament scripture, especially the prophets, but they hung on to these as the moral and ethical obligations of the Jewish people. The Pharisees had the highest regard for scripture, which made them closest in lifestyle to Jesus and his disciples and, thus, their biggest competition in winning the hearts and minds of the people of Israel.

So, after dealing with the Herodian’s question about paying taxes and the question of the Sadducees about how marriage and heaven worked, the Pharisees approached and asked their big question.

What is the greatest commandment?

I think this was one of the most common questions they asked each other. The Pharisees were experts in the Law of God above all else. To them, the question itself went straight to the heart of their existence. Young students may have been asked this question as an initiation into the Pharisee group. They had developed hundreds of laws and traditions from the original Ten Commandments, the foundation of their faith. Which among the Ten was most important? Or was there a commandment outside of the Ten that was superior?

Sometimes, we consider this question as if it was asked in a very neutral, sterile environment, like a doctor’s office or classroom. Jesus certainly taught similar concepts out in the countryside in Galilee. However, this question did not come up in a classroom or on a peaceful hillside. This was in a crowd gathering in the Temple, ready to start a riot in Jerusalem, and all of the current religious factions were there trying to shut it down before everyone got hurt. They thought that if they could discredit Jesus, everyone would get to go home safely to their families that night. And suddenly, in the middle of that agitated situation, one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to join them by asking Him what His take on the Law was.

What is the greatest commandment?

And Jesus looked out upon that very anxious crowd and led them in the Shema, a prayer they learned to pray as soon as they could talk.

“ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’

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Two Sides of Love

That may not sound like a prayer to our ears because we typically think about prayer as having a conversation with God. For the Jews, though, prayer often meant humbling themselves to enter God’s presence. Instead of getting God to do something for them, they used prayer to take God’s commands and do something for Him. They used that prayer to move themselves into the right relationship with God. I imagine that when Jesus answered with that prayer, every head bowed and every eye closed as they prayed right along with Him. There was no arguing with that answer.

Then Jesus added to that prayer something new. The second greatest commandment, which is like the first, is to love your neighbor as you love yourself. Paraphrasing the command from Leviticus 19:34, Jesus showed that these two commandments are not given as an either/or choice. Both are necessary. They are two sides of the same coin that shows our obedience to God. To understand the total weight of that second half of the Great Commandment, though, we need to go back and read the original scripture it came from. Leviticus 19:33-34 says:

33 “ ‘When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. 34 The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.

The New International Version (Le 19:33–34). (2011). Zondervan.

Why would Jesus change the word “foreigner” to neighbor? Because there in Jerusalem, the Romans lived right next door. Their neighbors were foreign, and many in that crowd did not want to love them. They wanted to kill them and take back their country. And to that bloodthirsty, ravenous crowd, Jesus called out Love as the foundation of our faith.

Love God with all you are and all you have.

Love your neighbor, the outsider, the widow, the orphan, and your enemy the same way you love yourself.

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Focus on the Foundation

No long-winded sermon for the masses that day. Just love as the foundation. Love for God and love for others at the same time. I bet He got an “amen.” I bet some Pharisees clapped while their peers looked at them in frustration. Then, before they had a chance to come up with a loophole about who counted as their neighbor and what it meant to love them, Jesus turned the focus to their foundation.

“What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?”

“The son of David,” they replied.

Then how can David call Him Lord in the Holy Spirit-inspired scriptures? The very first verse of Psalm 110, a psalm of David, says,

1 The Lord says to my lord:

“Sit at my right hand

until I make your enemies

a footstool for your feet.”

The New International Version (Ps 110:1). (2011). Zondervan.

This is not the mighty warrior-king they expected the Messiah to be. He does not follow in the footsteps of King David, slaying giants and conquering the Promised Land. This describes a Messiah who trusts God to fight for Him. If you want to be sure you are following the true Messiah, you make sure you are following the one that leads with love, leading you to love God and others. Any other foundation is founded on a human agenda, trusting in human strength. We are free to love first because we know God loves us and will provide for and protect us.

Jesus called out the Pharisees on their faulty foundation. Because they were focused on obeying many things, they missed the one thing that encapsulated everything: Love. Not enjoyment or wishy-washy love. Not love when it is convenient or love for those who love you first and best. Love that trusts. Love that gives all. Love that does not puff itself up but invites God to come in and build a life upon. That is the love of God and others that is the foundation of our faith.

In many of these parables, Jesus reiterated some of the fundamental lessons of the faith that He taught His disciples in the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew 5-7. He ended that sermon speaking about foundations as well. His call to action was reminding them that the stormy days are coming, and if our lives are built upon a foundation of sand, we are lost and without hope. But if we build upon the foundation of solid rock, we can withstand any storm. The upper part of the house can be repaired or replaced as needed, but the entire thing will fall if the foundation is faulty.

So, how do we build on that solid foundation? Jesus said the one who hears the Word and does it is the one who builds on the rock.

The one who hears about loving God and others lives on a foundation of sand.

The one who considers loving God and others lives on a foundation of sand.

The one who makes a decision today to love God and others still lives on a foundation of sand.

But the moment we start loving God and others, we have moved onto the Rock of our salvation and cannot be moved.

What are you standing on?

Is your life sitting on a first principle of loving God and others? Or are you trying to put something underneath that foundation?

No matter where you are building your life, God can move you onto the solid rock of His love for you.

He has created, saved, called, and redeemed you. He wants you to take all the love He gives you and respond by loving Him with all you have and all you are and to love everyone else the way He loves you.

What do you need to do to move onto the Solid Rock and let God’s love flow through you today?