Latest / Exploring The Holy Scriptures with Rev Dr David Wright / We have each other. We Have Christ.

Transcript

We have each other. We Have Christ. · Exploring The Holy Scriptures with Rev Dr David Wright

• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome, sisters and brothers, and peace be with you.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: May the words on my lips and the meditations in our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord our strength and our redeemer.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: I recently watched a television program that follows the presenter on a journey through South America, and he spent time with the leader of a community in one of the favelas, the poor informal neighborhoods in Rio de Janeiro.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: In this community, people from very different backgrounds have learned to look after one another.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: It's a very, very poor community.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: Life is not easy.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: Government support is lacking, families struggle to find work, they struggle with the cost of food and other daily essentials.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: However, when someone is sick, neighbours turn up.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: When a family loses a loved one, people come together.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: When a child needs a place to learn, people make time.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: And when there is a problem in the neighbourhood, people have discovered that they can accomplish far more by working together than by standing apart.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: One person summed up the attitude beautifully.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: We may not have much, but we have one another.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: That is remarkably close to the heart of what Jesus says in today's gospel.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: Matthew chapter twenty two verses thirty four to forty-six.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: The religious leaders have been asking Jesus difficult questions.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: They have been testing him, and now they want to know which commandment is the greatest.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus could have given them a long theological answer.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: He could have quoted an entire section of the law.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: Instead, he gave them two commandments.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: You shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart and with all of your soul and with all of your mind.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: You shall love your neighbour as yourself.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: Notice that Jesus does not say love God, forget everybody else.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: He does not say Be nice to people, and God will take care of Himself.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus joins the two together.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: Love God, love your neighbour.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_00: The vertical relationship with God and the horizontal relationship with other people, they belong together.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: We cannot claim to love God while deliberately refusing to love those whom God has placed around us.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: This challenges us.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: You see, loving God can sometimes seem relatively easy.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: We can come together with our faith community, we can sing hymns, we can say prayers, we can read the Bible, we can listen to sermons, we can talk about our faith.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: But then Jesus says, How do you treat the person standing next to you?
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: How do you treat the person who disagrees with you?
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: How do you treat the person whose politics are totally different from yours?
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_00: How do you treat the person who has made a mistake?
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: How do you treat the stranger?
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_00: How do you treat the person who has absolutely nothing to offer you in return?
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_00: How do you treat the person you would rather avoid?
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: That is where love becomes real.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus does not describe love simply as a feeling.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_00: Love becomes something we actually do.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_00: Then the gospel takes an interesting turn.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus asks the religious leaders a question.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: What do you think of the Messiah?
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: Whose son is he?
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: They answer, The Son of David.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: And Jesus takes them deeper.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_00: They know the scriptures, they know the correct answer, they know the religious language, but Jesus is asking them whether they recognize who he really is.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: The Messiah is not simply a descendant of David.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus is revealing that he is more than another king, another teacher, another religious leader.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_00: He is Lord, and that matters.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: Because the command to love our neighbour is not simply a piece of moral advice.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_00: It comes from the one who is Lord of our lives.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: We love because Christ first loves us.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_00: We forgive because Christ has forgiven us.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: We welcome because Christ has welcomed us.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_00: We show mercy because Christ has shown mercy to us.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_00: Suddenly the two commandments become inseparable.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_00: If we truly love God, we cannot remain indifferent to the people God loves.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: And if we truly love our neighbour, we begin to see that person not as an inconvenience, an opponent or a stranger, but as someone created by and loved by God.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_00: Today, this is especially important in countries, in a world that seems increasingly determined to divide people.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: We seem to be increasingly encouraged to ask, which side are you on?
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_00: Who belongs?
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_00: Who doesn't?
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: Who is right?
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_00: Who is wrong?
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: Who deserves our attention?
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_00: Who deserves our vote?
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_00: Who deserves to be ignored?
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus gives us a different question.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_00: Have you loved?
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_00: Not have you won an argument?
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: Not have you proved that you were right?
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: Not have you defeated your opponent.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_00: This can be mighty challenging because it reaches beyond our opinions and into our lives.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_00: It reaches into our homes, it reaches into our workplaces, it reaches into our faith communities, it reaches into our social communities, and it reaches into the way we speak about people who are different from us.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: That community in Rio de Janeiro that I mentioned earlier have discovered something important.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: We may not have much, but we have one another.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_00: As Christians, we have something even greater.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_00: We also have Christ.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_00: Because we belong to Christ, we belong to one another.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_00: So perhaps today we could take Jesus' words with us as a simple test of discipleship.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_00: When we meet someone, ask how can we love this person?
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_00: When someone annoys us, ask how can we respond with grace?
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_00: When someone disagrees with us, ask how can we listen before we judge?
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_00: When someone is struggling, ask how can we help?
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus gives us two commandments, but they actually form one, just one way of life.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_00: Love God, love your neighbor.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_00: And when these two loves come together, well things begin to change.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: When these two loves become the center of our lives, families change, fair communities change, social communities change, and perhaps, just perhaps, little by little, the world changes too.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_00: So may we close today remembering not simply what Jesus taught, but who Jesus is.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_00: He is the Messiah, He is the Lord, and because He has loved us so completely, may we learn to love God with all that we are, and to truly, truly love our neighbor as ourselves.