This was my very first sermon at FUPC, Houston. My primary text was the Shema, Deuteronomy 6:4-5. I also used the New Commandment from John 13:12-17, 31b-35. I chose these readings because I thought they were particularly appropriate to the context for my ministry.
Love
Is an Active Verb (9/13/15)
Good
morning! I can’t begin to tell you how excited I am to be here this morning. I
am truly overjoyed. You have called me to serve as your interim pastor and I am
greatly honored and humbled by this opportunity. This is the ultimate
validation of my sense of call to ministry. Truly, in the Reformed tradition,
one cannot be ordained to ministry until a congregation has called you to be
their pastor. Though I will only serve here for a season—and we can be vague
about what that means—the First United Presbyterian Church of Houston will
forever be my first call. If the way be clear, I will be ordained into ministry
for this congregation! Thanks be to God!
Now I
have to tell you, I’ve been thinking about this day for a long time, and what I
might say in my first sermon for my first congregation. For the last year or
so, I’ve been doing pulpit supply almost every Sunday. I have preached all over
the Pittsburgh area; I’ve preached in Washington County, Beaver, Butler,
Fayette, Indiana, and Westmoreland Counties; I’ve preached in three different
churches in Ohio; I’ve even preached out in Bucks County, in the Philadelphia
suburbs. I feel kinda like Johnny Cash: I’ve been everywhere, man.
Pulpit
supply preaching can be very challenging. Finding the jobs can be quite
difficult. I mean that literally. Trying to find a little, country church in
Indiana County, when it’s minus-two degrees outside, and Google Maps doesn’t
name the roads correctly—and the church is tucked in a little valley along a
winding road so you can’t possibly see it from a distance—that was a real
challenge. Two weeks later, I preached at the same church. I think we had at
least six or eight inches of snow that morning. Maybe more. And my car couldn’t
make it up the last hill to the church. So I had to find another way to get
there. That was a real challenge, too. I think I preached to about a dozen
people. They were proud to tell me that they hadn’t canceled church on over twenty
years. Okay! Good to know.
All
kidding aside, the biggest challenge in pulpit supply is that you don’t know
the congregation. You don’t know where they’ve been or what they might need to
hear, so it’s hard to craft a message that speaks into their reality.
In
some ways, that’s the situation that we’re in this morning. I really don’t know
you folks—yet. But this is different.
I’ll be back here next Sunday; and the Sunday after that; and the next Sunday,
and so on. And I will get to know you and where you’ve been and where you hope
to go. And I will speak to you, not as a guest, but as someone who is walking
with you on this journey.
I
chose this morning’s Scripture from Deuteronomy for two reasons. First, I think
the Book of Deuteronomy is particularly appropriate to our situation this
morning—yours as a congregation and mine as a pastor.
The
name Deuteronomy can be translated as
“second law.” The book is presented as a final series of speeches or sermons
given by Moses to the Israelites before they enter the Land of Canaan. In that
series of sermons, Moses re-tells or resets the law that was given by God to
the Israelites during the Exodus. As one scholar puts it, “Israel was standing
in the interim period of the saving history between, on the one hand, the
completion of her election as [God’s] peculiar people, and on the other, the
fulfillment of the divine promise.”[1]
That phrase, “an interim period,” seems particularly appropriate for all of us
right now.
So
here’s the situation: God’s chosen people, Israel, are about to enter into the
Promised Land. They were delivered from slavery, but their salvation will not
be complete until they enter the land of Canaan. They are on the cusp of
something new, so Israel needs to be reminded of who they are and who they’re
called to be.
This
is why I am drawn to the Book of Deuteronomy. We, too, are on the cusp of
something new. Personally, I’ve been preaching in a different pulpit almost
every Sunday—it was my own version of wandering around the Sinai. And now I’m
entering into an interim period with you folks.
You
guys are also like the Israelites. Though you were not wandering in the
wilderness, CJ was your pastor for a long time; she was your shepherd for many
years. You are on the cusp of a new era in the life of your congregation. You
are in the process of discerning who you are and who God is calling you to be,
but you have a new leader to journey with you, even if it’s only for a season.
So as we begin this journey together, I want to focus your attention on one of
the central messages of the Bible.
Most
scholars think that Deuteronomy was composed over a number of centuries, and
long after Moses died and the Israelites entered the Promised Land.[2] The
Book of Deuteronomy articulates covenant theology, which is the “shape and
substance of Israel’s faith.”[3]
It provides a systematic interpretation of what it means to be in a right
relationship with God. The authors of Deuteronomy were trying to reaffirm and
revitalize the central tenets of the Jewish faith. And at the center of that
faith is this morning’s reading. But don’t take my word for it.
In
the Gospel of Mark—and you can find other versions of the story in the Gospels
of Matthew and Luke—a scribe asks Jesus which commandment is the greatest of
all. Jesus begins by quoting a portion of the greatest statement of faith in
the Old Testament: Shema y’israel, Adonai
eloheinu, Adonai echad. That is, “Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the
Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all
your soul, and with all your might.” Scholars refer to these verses as the shema. Practicing Jews also know this as
the shema, because that is the first
word in Hebrew: Listen! Hear! It’s a command. You can almost hear Moses
preaching to the Israelites: Listen to me, guys! This is really important! The
Lord is our God; the Lord, alone! This is the great statement of monotheism. It sets the Hebrew
religion apart from all other religions of the ancient Near East. Both Martin
Luther and John Calvin identify the Shema as the essential statement of the
covenantal relationship between God and humanity.[4]
Why
would the authors of Deuteronomy need to restate this? Why would the covenants
that were expressed in Genesis, Exodus, and Leviticus need to be restated and
then placed in the mouth of Moses? One answer is Israel had a long history of
questioning God and worshiping other gods when they doubted God’s love and
care. Think of the golden calf. Think of the Second Commandment. Remember, too,
that in the time of King Ahab, the people of Israel were trying to worship both
God and Baal. And the prophet Elijah said to the people: “How long will you go
limping with two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if
Baal, follow him.”[5]
There is even archaeological evidence of these divided loyalties: there are
inscriptions at cultic sites from the Northern Kingdom dedicated to “YHWH and
his Asherah.”
Yet
for all this, for all the times Israel turned away from God and worshiped
idols, God still welcomed the chosen people back. And when even that wasn’t
enough, God didn’t give up on humanity. No. God sent Jesus into the world, so
that humanity might have another chance at reconciliation.
Nothing
can separate us from the love of God. Nothing. What does God do when humanity
still can’t get it right? God sends Jesus. What does Jesus tell us to do? Love
God with every fiber of your being. It’s worth noting that the verb, to love,
has a different sense in Hebrew than it does in English. In English, the verb
describes a state of being. I love my mother. I love pizza. I love the
Steelers. At no point in the last three sentences does my love require me to
act. Though I love pizza, I have no plans to eat pizza after church today. I
watched the Steelers on Thursday night, but in March or April, I will still
love the Steelers, even if there is no game to watch. I might even love them
more because they’re not playing and I won’t have to watch the secondary get
torched by Tom Brady. Cheater. My love doesn’t call me to action.
The
Hebrew language is very different. It’s a language of verbs. The verb, to love,
implies action on the part of the one who loves. To love God is to act on that
love. To love God is to act ethically in service to God and on behalf of God.
So in that episode, Jesus reminds us that we are commanded to love God. We’re
not supposed to argue which of the Ten Commandments is most important; we’re
supposed to love God with every fiber of our being and in everything that we
do. This commandment is what Jesus says is the very most important commandment.
And in the very next breath, Jesus says something else. He reminds us of
Leviticus 19:18; he commands us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.
This isn’t just a state of being; this is about acting on our love. We must
demonstrate our love in tangible ways—for God and for the rest of humanity. God
created our neighbors, too, so showing love for our neighbors becomes an act of
love for God; it is a way for us to remain in the covenant with God.
Jesus
reiterates that last point in this morning’s Gospel reading: “I give you a new
commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you should
also love one another.” Remember, when we hear this, we hear it first in
English; we hear the word love and we think of it as a state of being, but I
think Jesus is working with the Hebrew understanding—to love is to act. By
acting on their love for one another, by demonstrating that love for one
another, Jesus tells them, “everyone will know that you are my disciples.”
Everyone will know. And as disciples, they are called—and we are called—to show that love for everyone, share that love with
everyone, and teach everyone about Jesus and the love of God.
Now I
could just say, “thanks be to God; Amen,” and end this sermon right here. But I
think this message needs a call to action, and to illustrate that, I’d like to
tell you a little story about my family. My grandmother, on my dad’s side, was
one of ten kids. Grandma was number six of ten and she was the first person in
my family to go to college. She became a teacher. And three of her sisters
followed her into education. So did my dad. And many of his cousins. In fact,
some of them are even here this morning—we had a little reunion yesterday and
they wanted to hear me preach. Education became the family business.
Grandma
lived her life surrounded by family. She was also surrounded by a huge network
of retired teachers and an active church congregation. Grandma enjoyed over
thirty years of retirement and she was able to live in her own for nearly all
of her life. Just before she turned 97, we moved her into a personal care home.
It was a lovely place and the staff were very attentive. There was just one
problem. Grandma had outlived all of her brothers and sisters and nearly all of
her friends. The only people she knew were members of her own family. Grandma
hadn’t made a new friend in fifteen or twenty years. And by the time she moved
into the home, she had forgotten how. Also, her memory wasn’t so good.
I
bring this up because you folks are in a similar situation. It’s not exactly
the same, but over the next year or so, you’re going to be building
relationships with not one, but two different pastors—and it’s been quite a
while since you’ve been in this situation. You’re all very used to the
relationships you had with Pastor CJ, and also, the ways in which you’ve
related to one another under her guidance.
So in
this new season, as I am serving as your shepherd, I want to cultivate new
relationships with each and every one of you. At the same time, I hope to tend
the vines of the relationships that already exist among you. I want to help you
strengthen the bonds that already exist, so that we can all work together to
live into our calling as Christ’s disciples. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Benediction
Now, friends, as you depart from this place, remember that
God never turns away from us. Remember that we are commanded to love God with
all our heart, all our soul, and all our might. Remember that we are commanded
to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. And remember that love is an active
verb; love leads to visible acts of faithfulness, justice, mercy, and peace. So
go forth and be instruments of God’s love and peace and reconciliation. Do not
return evil for evil to any person, but know that we are all loved by God, and
that we are called to reflect that love and act upon that love to everyone we
meet. In the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, Let all God’s children say, Amen!
[1]
Rad, Gerhard von. Old Testament Theology.
Volume 1. Translated by D.M.G. Stalker. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press
(1962), 223.
[2]
Clements, Ronald E. Deuteronomy. In
Volume 2 of The New Interpreter’s Bible.
Nashville: Abingdon Press (1998), 278.
[3]
Brueggemann, Walter. Deuteronomy.
Nashville: Abingdon Press (2001), 17.
[4]
Miller, Patrick D. Deuteronomy. Louisville:
Westminster John Knox Press (1990), 14-15.
[5]
1 Kings 18:21
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