Readings: Deuteronomy 6:2-6; Psalm 18; Hebrews 7:23-28; Mark 12:28-34
Grace and peace to you my dear brothers and sisters in the Lord.
The First Reading and the Gospel of today are instinctively related, their central message being the love of God and love of others. Jesus reduced the 613 precepts into the precept of love for the Scribe who asked Jesus, which was the greatest commandment.
The fundamental foundation of spirituality is love (charity). This is the mistake of many Christians today – we practice stringent spirituality, undertake all kinds of spiritual exercises, disciplines and activities but they are not prompted by the love of God, neither are they vivified by the love of others. Lack of love renders spirituality shallow and bereft of any significant divine worth (1 Corinthians 13:1-3).
The question today is do I really love God and do I love others, as God wants me to?
Jesus tells us that it is enough to say we love God but we must love Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. We must love Him with all we have and are.
What does it look like to love God, as we should?
What are the indications?
Let us reflect on these five concise points.
- He will be our priority and at the center of our lives. Love of anyone or anything will not override or eclipse the love of God.
- We will seek to be in His presence and enjoy spending time with Him, to talk to Him, listen to Him, to know Him more. When we truly love anyone we want to spend time with them learning about them and telling them about us.
- We will intentionally avoid whatever displeases Him.
- We will love those He loves. In this case, we will learn to love everyone, especially those unloved by others because He loves them so much.
- We will be willing to do anything He wants us to do and go anywhere He wants us to go. Obedience won’t be a burden (John 14:15).
Let us run a test on ourselves, using these parameters. How much can we say we love God? If our love for God is not absolute, paramount and total then it is not enough.
The second question is loving others, as God wants me to. This question is deliberate. It doesn’t ask if we love others. I know many of us are loving but do we love others, as Jesus wants us to love them? He says to love one another as I have loved you (John 13:34; 15:12). We need to understand the nature of God’s love because it is the model for loving others.
To love others as God/Christ loves us is:
I. To love selflessly and sacrificially. It was love that prompted Jesus to give everything for our sake. True love is not just an emotion; it finds definitive expression in actions of sacrifice and self-giving. It lays down or gives up something for someone we love.
II. To love others like Jesus is to love unconditionally and without expecting anything in return
III. To love like Jesus is to be open to forgiving people and to be compassionate instead of being judgmental, cruel or holding unto bitterness, even against our enemies.
IV. To love others like the Lord is to love universally, that is everyone without discrimination. This means to see and love God in everyone, irrespective of our differences in language, ideology, religion, race, cultures, nationality, social status, denomination, appearance, personality etc.
V. To love others like Jesus is to love with stability. This kind of love is more than feelings. Feelings change and excitement fades. The love of God for us remains, no matter what we do (Isaiah 54:10). We are to keep loving people no matter what they do to us. Our love should not be On and Off. This is the way most people love. We love people at once and suddenly after knowing their weaknesses we switch off our love.
Having said this, let us note that love is a theological virtue and a fruit of the Holy Spirit. It is a spiritual fruit that is in each of us through the Spirit, which we have all received (Romans 5:5). Let us nurture this gift, pray for its growth and open ourselves to the Holy Spirit, asking Him to teach us the power of love and increase our capacity to love God and others.
In the long run, we shall be judged not according to how learned we are, how busy we are, how active we are in Church, our positions and duties in the Church, our social status, worldly achievements or the number of awards we have received in Church, but according to how much we love God and we love others.
Love of God and love of others are the two legs on which we walk to the kingdom of God.
Sermon preached by Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Baraka-Gukena Okami on October 31, 2021