The Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity (October 20, 2019)

Amos 8:4-12

1 Corinthians 1:4

Matt 22:34

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be alway acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, our strength and our Redeemer. Amen.

Introduction

Today in our collect and our readings, we talk about the idea of the Law a bit.

This week in the life of Jude, he has been learning the 10 Commandments, which he has summarized as “10 Commandments, may not do that. Make it Sabbath, keep holy.” We have a little more work to do.

On Thursday night, at our Genesis study,, we spent our time in Genesis 3 where we talked about the first sin of Adam and Eve.

On Friday morning, at our CS Lewis, we talked a lot about the idea of Christian morality. Both related topics which are coincidentally in conversation with the readings from this morning (if coincidence exists, of course, which I don’t think it does).

This is especially important in light of our collect for today where we asked the Lord to "grant thy people grace to withstand the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil; and with pure hearts and minds to follow thee."

In the book of Galatians, Paul discusses the relationship between Law and the sin that I think is helpful to introduce this topic. In effect, Paul’s argument is is that the Law is good because it comes from God and reveals his nature. But, because we are sinful, we cannot keep the law. Even if we could obey all of it, the Law cannot create spiritual life (which, by the way, isn’t a problem with the Law but a problem with us).

This is why grace is so important. Christ does what we cannot do in living a life which fulfills the Law and offers himself as a sacrifice to the Father so we could participate in the divine life.

1 Corinthians 1:4

Grace is given to us by God in Christ (through that sacrifice on the cross).

It’s in that work that we are enriched. That is, in our Baptism, we are “born again” because we die to sin and are raised again in a spiritual sense. This benefit is what Paul, in our reading this morning calls “enrichment” or “being made rich.”

What Paul means here is that we are not lacking. We have been given spiritual gifts by the Holy Spirit as a result of our entrance into the Church. While we wait for Christ to return, we can be confident that God provides for us. He has given us all that we need so that here, in His Church, we may become who it is we are in Christ.

Only by Christ’s work, not by our personal achievement are we “sustained to the end,” in Paul’s words.

Matthew 22:34

In our Matthew reading this morning, the Pharisees have gathered to try and trick Jesus by asking him the question: “Which is the great commandment in the law?” Jesus responds with an answer that is very familiar to us: the Summary of the Law. After Jesus answers their question, he asks the Pharisees one: Whose son is the Christ? Their answer is David. In response, Jesus pulls a quote from Psalm 110 to say that if the Messiah is God’s son, why does David refer to him as the “lord” in the Psalm?

It is because of the work of Christ and the Holy Spirit that Jesus’ summary of the Law is so important.

What is the Greatest commandment? Love the Lord and love others.

Love post-cross, takes on a new dimension. “We love him because he first loved us” (1 John 4;19) and “God proves his love for us in this: while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8). God’s love for us is exhibited on the cross and so our love for him and others must be cruciform.

The result of his love is extrapolated further in the second half of the reading.

The Jews believed that thee Messiah would be the Son of David (and technically, they aren’t wrong for thinking this even though Jesus rebukes them for giving that answer).

As I mentioned, Jesus appeals to Psalm 110 to say “David called the Messiah “lord” but that’s not how a father addresses a son. A son is typically “inferior” in rank to their father but we know the Messiah is far superior to David.

However, notice the interesting part in the Psalm: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.” Who are these enemies?

Colossians 2:15, “Christ disarmed the principalities and powers [that would be Satan, sin, and death] and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in him.”

Hebrews 2:14, “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same nature, that through death he might destroy him who has the power of death, that is, the devil.”

God’s love that makes itself known in the cross actually sets us free by destroying those forces which hold us in bondage.

As an aside, I would like to point out that when we talk about freedom and bondage, I don’t think we tend to understand those terms well in our modern context.

To many, freedom is the assertion of the will through the act of choice.

Freedom is to lack constraints which limit choice.

But I would disagree. Only in following the example of Christ can we be truly free.

Freedom is only found in the “the law of love.”

Romans 13:9-10, “The commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery, you shall not kill, you shall not steal, you shall not covet,’ and any other commandment, are summed up in this sentence, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.”

Conclusion

There’s an old Andrew Lloyd Webber song with the line “Love changes everything.” It’s quite true.

Though I think our culture’s definition of love is shallow and self-centered. Too often, we love based on what we can get out of it.

But real love isn’t that way. Real love is a decision, often one that is self-sacrificial.

We have the ultimate template for that in Christ’s love for us, which is so great that he went to the cross for us.

While God’s love is perfect, however, human love is capacious. In other words, the more we do it, the more we can do it.

This, I think, connects back to our collect from this morning and its focus on withstanding temptation.

If you read Genesis 3, the serpent does not persuade Eve through rational argumentation. He does not give Eve a checklist of propositional truths.

Rather, Satan cut straight to her desire, causing her to see the fruit and then subsequently wanting it.

Temptation arises frequently from our disordered desires. By feeding those desires, we are warping our love.

So how ought we to turn from temptation? By emulating Christ in self-sacrificial love. We don’t do this because we want God to love us. It is because God already loves us that we, emulating that love, can become those who love what is True, Good, and Beautiful.

Are you being tempted? Cling to the cross of Christ and love God with all your heart, soul, and mind. This is the only way to withstand temptation.

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.