I don’t share my sermons here on substack, but the lectionary readings this week are relevant to our present context that I feel the need to share it.
The biblical readings this Sunday are Leviticus 19:1-18 and Matthew 22:34-46. Here is a portion of the gospel reading that we are very familiar with.
“Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” 37 He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the greatest and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Matthew 22: 36-39).
The lectionary readings remind us to love God and our neighbor. For many of us, it is really easy to love God. We show our love to God by worshipping, praying, and reading the Bible. However, loving our neighbor is much harder for us as it requires some action towards them to show our love. Loving our neighbor means standing up for the oppressed, the marginalized, the broken and the outcast. It means that we are to treat everyone equally whether they are poor, Jewish, Muslim, Christian, able bodied or not, immigrant….
This is hard to do.
This past week alone, there were so many mass shooting in the U.S. To be exact, there were 18 mass shootings including the ones in Maine and Chicago. In Gaza, since Oct 7th, over 8000 civilians have been killed where half murdered are children. In Israel, 1400 have died. The number of Ukrainian and Russian troops killed or wounded since the war began February 24, 2022, is nearing 500 000.
When Jesus tells us to love God, he is telling us that loving God means loving our neighbor. It is two sides of the same coin. Jesus says, ‘‘The second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Matthew 22: 39).
We love God by loving our neighbor and that includes everyone. We need to stop the mass shootings and the murder of innocent civilians in Gaza. I hope that we can practice this love as our humanity depends upon it.
[Today’s worship service at Presbyterian Church of Catasauqua where all are welcome.(my sermon begins around 24 mins)].
Read also:
Praying for Palestine and Israel
Special Events:
1. Read, sign and share this petition, “A Call for Repentance” which has nearly 15 000 signatures.
2. I will be speaking at King’s University College Nov 16 at 7p.m. Please join me for the talk and book signing.
3.I will be preaching at Knox College, Toronto, on Nov 14th followed by a book signing. Please meet me at Knox College.