YOU ARE HOLY NOW...SO LOVE!
Rev. Tiare L. Mathison, Pastor & Soul-Tender
Leviticus 19.1-18; Psalm 1; Matthew 22.34-46
She-ma yis-ra-el Adonai e-lo-hey-nu
Adonai e-chad
Six years ago I taught you this tune. Anyone remember it?
“Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord...”
3300 years ago, these words were recorded, attributed to Moses, in Torah, in the section called Deuteronomy. Faithful Jews all over the world sing this prayer morning and night . It is called The Shema, which means ‘hear’. I spent time this week enjoying this particular tune for the prayer; I sang it over and over again. I remember something important: I am a part of Israel. This prayer belongs to us Christians, just like it did to the ancient Hebrews whom Moses brought up out of slavery in Egypt. We are adopted into the one family, Jews and Gentiles, slaves and free, all people, all children of God, the fulfillmenT of the covenant first made with Sarah and Abraham. We who were far off, without hope, have been brought near by the blood of Jesus Christ. 3300 years ago Moses wrote these words, never knowing who might be singing along with him in the 21st century. You are holy now...
This is the starting point to engage our minds and hearts as we hear these ancient words in Leviticus, and Psalm 1 and Jesus’ crucial response to the ‘gotcha’ question in Matthew 22. It is a living word we read and listen to, not simply an historical document for our study, rather, it is our book of knowledge and wisdom, a Living Word, as it presents us with our salvation through Jesus Christ.
God is holy. Right? Right. God intends us to be holy. Right? Right. What is holiness? It is performative speech. It is to behave as if there is power in actions of love. To set apart. To be sacred. To recognize, deep in our bones, Coram Deo - we live in the presence of God. All day, every day. Therefore, we are to scaffold our lives in holiness, framed in by these instructions: no idols, keep the sabbath, take care of the poor, don’t steal or lie, don’t defraud your neighbor, no slander, no grudges, no vengeance. Love your neighbor as yourself. I Am Adonai, God says. Be holy, for I AM holy.
Listen to these words after Moses records The Shema, I think they are very powerful. He says “write these words on your heart, teach them diligently to your children, talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way, when you rise up and when you lie down. Bind them as a sign upon your hand, and as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” Phylacteries and Mezuzas--know what they are? (Explain, remember the Torah scroll inside the pouch) They are physical reminders of the 613 commands of the law. I’d love for us Christians to have some symbols that remind us of God’s very presence and Her demand for holiness that we touch every time we go out and every time we come home. It might help us not take the path that sinners tread or sit in the seat with the scoffers. You Are Holy Now...
Every Friday afternoon, I am in Pastor’s Bible Study with 2 Lutheran colleagues, for a lectionary based discussion. Our covenant is to quote “sit under the text”, unquote, that is, without scholarly interpretations at our side, what does The Word have to say to us in the very fabric of our daily humanity. We submit to being interrogated by the text, first, before we examine The Word for preaching. It’s quite an exercise. I want to try it with you this morning. Let’s look again at Psalm 1.
*Do you meditate on the Law of Adonai day and night?
*Do you take the advice of the wicked?
*Do you tread the path of sinners?
*Do you sit in the seat of scoffers?
*Do you delight in the law of Adonai?
Our struggle? We think we can do it on our own. We don’t face our own capacity for wickedness. We say to ourselves and one another, “I’m not that bad. I haven’t really done anything horrible.” We are the scoffers and walk wherever we want. We meditate on our own thoughts and schemes, rather than God’s Law. We generate a hierarchy of sin. But Scripture says sin is sin, wickedness is wickedness. Fallen nature is the reality we must own, the system in which we are all born, live and die until the building of the kindom of God is complete. Granted, consequences of some sins are more severe, thats true. But fundamentally, All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. I often say, “welcome to the gutter. Glad to have you.”
Our hubris blinds us to the evil systems we swim in, the air we breath and we don’t notice. But They do press in for a loyalty call, every once in awhile. We live in both worlds, this tension, the one created by Torah and the presence of Christ, and the ways of the wicked. It is only through amazing grace that opens up the possibility to be remade, made new. The mystery of the root of evil is not disclosed here, rather the possibility of holiness is offered, for Adonai is holy. What is so important to understand and to remind yourself over and over, it is not your work that makes you holy. It is God’s great love for Her creation, including you, that makes it possible to say, “I am holy. Thanks be to God.”You are holy now...”
“On these two, Love God, love neighbor the whole law dangles.”
In one fell swoop, Jesus upends the image of the Law. Rather than a whole bundle of laws hanging on high, Jesus says, no there is 2 pegs holding all the words of the Bible. Everything else is given to support Love of God and love of neighbor. Therefore, your holiness is enacted through love. First of God, and then all the other image-bearers you encounter starting in your homes, moving out to your neighborhoods, your work places, stores, cafes, clinics.
God first. I was thinking about this after I said out loud, “I love you Lord.” Yes it was on the sermon walk, in the beauty of the trees, again. I looked all around me and got soft inside and said, “I love you Lord. I love your creation. I love your beauty and your majesty.” I begun to ponder: how often do I tell God I love her? How often do you? We tell our spouses, our children, our families, our intimate friends, even our sports teams. What kind of intimacy can we create to be free enough to speak love to God? Where can we find the words of our hearts and be brave enough to speak them?
On the other hand, some of us don’t have what is called a personal relationship with God. Rather, we experience the presence of Christ through community. Listen to Debi Thomas, a CE Director, writing in the Christian Century: “my spiritual bedrock is not a personal relationship with God rather it’s the mystery of the incarnation fleshed out in embodied community - shared worship, liturgy, song and prayer.” Unquote
However you find the Presence of God, recognize the abiding love God has for you.
Now the hard part. We are called to love whom God loves in the way God loves, indiscriminately! Enemies, friends, political foes. Suddenly the neighborhood is very large. This is not love as a feeling, you know that. It is love in action. In the Name of Christ, praying for your enemies to be redeemed, is an act of love. Resisting evil is an act of love. Pursuit of justice is an act of love. Standing with Black Lives Matter is an act of love. Giving generously to Familyworks and Campbell Farm is an act of love. Forgiving your spouse, your children, your siblings, your parents, your neighbors, is an act of love. The demand is high but power comes from on high.
You are holy now...