10-29-2023 “The Big Biggies” Matthew 22:34-46 ~ Pentecost XXII

The Rev. Dr. John Tamilio III, Pastor

When I was a kid, I always knew that Easter was approaching because the 1956 Cecil B. DeMille classic The Ten Commandments was on TV. It wasn’t time to celebrate the resurrection unless Charlton Heston came down from the mountain carrying the two stone tablets containing those ten “thou shalt’s” and “thou shalt not’s.” Mel Brooks parodied this hysterically in his 1981 film History of the World Part 1. Brooks, dressed as Moses, descends the mountain carrying three tablets. He declares, “Hear me! Hear me! The Lord, the Lord Jehovah has given unto you these fifteen,” and then Brooks drops one of the tablets and it smashes to pieces, so he says, “These Ten, Ten Commandments for all to obey!”

Here’s the thing: in the Hebrew tradition, there aren’t Ten Commandments; there aren’t Fifteen of them either. If you read through the Law (another word for the Torah or the first five books of the Old Testament), you will find 613 commandments. You heard that right. There are 613 Commandments in the Torah. The Ten, that we typically think about, are the principal Ten, and they are emblematic of the other 603.

Most of us see certain Commandments as more important or binding than others. Most of us, for example, believe in following the Command that says, “Thou shall not murder” (Exodus 20:13). However, few of us subscribe to the command, “Not to eat worms found in fruit once they have left the fruit” (Leviticus 11:42). I’m not eating worms in fruit, out of fruit, cooked, raw, or sautéed. That said, traditional Judaism sees all the Commandments as binding — as did Jesus, who said in Matthew 5:18, “For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.”

All this is to set the stage. The Pharisees are seeking to trap Jesus. They believe that all of the Commandments in the Torah are of equal value. They want Jesus to say something heretical, so they ask him which of the Laws is of the utmost importance. Jesus knew they were fishing. He knew that they were trying to trap him, so, in his typical fashion, he reframes the question ever so slightly by crafting an answer that requires him to cite two of the Commandments. Jesus says,

“’ 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.”

In other words, all of the other 611 Commandments, and all the teachings of the great prophets, are contingent upon these. Everything else in the Hebrew Bible (essentially) supports these two claims: that we are to love God with everything we have and that we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. This is it. This is the Bible (of Jesus’ day) in a nutshell.

It’s hard to argue with that, and yet it is hard to follow these commands as well. Do we really love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and do we really love others as we love ourselves? Let’s take each one of these Commandments separately.

Loving God lies at the heart of our faith. God is our Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer. God created us out of nothing to be in a relationship with him. It was not due to some sort of divine “lack.” God did not need to create the universe. There could have been nothing rather than something. The fact that we are here is nothing short of an act of love. How can we not return that love for the one responsible for our very existence — for the very existence of everything!

Loving one another is central to our faith. Eastern religions have a lot to teach us about the connectivity of everything. Many Eastern faith traditions see all life as one: I am you and you are me. When Jesus tells us to love one another as we love ourselves, he is adding to something he already said — the Golden Rule: “treat others as you wish to be treated.” But it is more than that. If we are all created by God (if we’re all God’s children), then we are not loving our Creator wholeheartedly if we do not love our sisters and brothers, who are ultimately our siblings.

Nice theology, but it is hard to see that actually happening. I don’t know about you, but I am getting more and more concerned each day that I watch the news. Whether it is Israel and Palestine, Russia and Ukraine, or the internal divisions we see in this country, the state of the world does not like it is following the dual ethic of loving God and loving one’s neighbor. Actually, it looks like quite the opposite. Those mired in religious strife will say that they do love God (Hamas is motivated, in part, by religious beliefs), and those who say they love God yet kill their brother or sister do not really love God. This isn’t a critique of Islam. The same can be said of any religion where its adherents are motivated by hate and feel as if the solution to their problems lies in violence. The same can be said of individual actions. The actions of the recent shooting in Lewiston, Maine are not lost on me either.

I am very fearful as I look at the state of the world. I hope I am wrong — I pray that I am wrong — but my fear is that we are feeling the birth pangs of something big. The rational side of me thinks this. The spiritual side (which is also part of the rational side) the spiritual side cries out, “When are we ever going to learn? When are we ever going to get it right? When are we going to live the Gospel — and I mean truly live the Gospel? When is it going to love God with every fiber of their being? When are we going to see one another as bound together in this Gospel of grace and truly love one another as we love ourselves?”

Jesus selecting these two Commandments as the most important is no mistake. This was the heart of his life, teachings, and message — and it still is. I know this sounds like a rhetorical question, but it is more of a challenge, or better yet a call to clarity: clarity of thought as well as clarity of expression. These two Commandments (the two biggies) are to be the ultimate guide to our lives. You cannot serve God unless you love God, and you do not love God if you do not love your neighbor as yourself. This is why Jesus said that all of Scripture (the Law and the Prophets) hangs on these two Commandments.

So, what’s the answer? What do we do? Live the life. Live a life of love. Let the love of God swell in your heart until it’s ready to burst. Lift that love up to God, and cast it like a net around everyone you meet: stranger, friend, and, yes, enemy. For love is the answer to every question we have. Amen.