22nd Sunday after Pentecost A; 10.25.26; G. Miles
Matthew 22:34-46 22nd Sunday after Pentecost A; 10.25.26; G. Miles Smith+
Have you ever been…lost in religion?
It is really frustrating when it happens. Because it is easy enough to be lost in so many other ways…lost in the latest news…lost in politics…lost in work challenges…lost in health challenges…lost in financial challenges…lost in technology challenges…lost in relationship challenges. There are so many ways we can find ourselves lost…confused…stressed…within the ever-expanding complications of everyday living. And then, to top it all off…when we also find ourselves lost in religion…then that can be profoundly disorienting…especially when we look to our religion to be the calm within the storm…the sure and firm foundation…clarifier and guide…for navigating everything else.
I know that many of you have been lost in religion. There have been many times when I have too. |
There is not a single version of Christianity that is not complex. Perhaps the most complex form of Christianity is Roman Catholicism since it not only has a complex liturgy like ours but also a very large catechism and very large set of canon laws. Eastern Orthodoxy does not have a single catechism but has the most complex liturgies of all. Then the third most complex form of Christianity would probably be Anglican and Episcopal churches. Protestant churches can appear to be the least complex because their liturgies often are; however, because they also attend to the Bible, which is an exceedingly complex book, then in principle, Protestant churches are also complex. Even the Quakers, who originally had no clergy, no creeds, no sacraments, and practiced silent worship, have undergone schisms over disagreements of discernment and practice.
There are times when all this can be very disorienting, especially when your life itself can be in crisis and you are grasping for a lifesaver to hold onto. And especially when one of the versions of Christianity is harmful to you…rejects you…or no longer can be a home for you. What do you do?
I suspect, especially nowadays, that there could be a whole new professional field of work for people called something like “Christianity Navigators”…when you are lost in religion…and need help finding a church that helps. But it isn’t just nowadays that religion has been so complex. It has always been like this. |
And so, in the gospel reading today, we hear Jesus navigating the complexity of the Judaism to which he belonged. Jesus ended up in a situation where fellow Jewish religious leaders sought to test Jesus yet again, hoping to get him into trouble: “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” This was already a widely debated question. Since Jewish tradition held that there were 613 separate commandments in the Torah (the first five books of the Old Testament) to which all Jews were accountable…Judaism was also highly complex and there were debates about what might be the most important laws of all.
There was even a famous story told in a collection of Jewish commentaries (the Babylonian Talmud) where a Gentile challenged two of the great Jewish leaders of the day to see if they could teach him the entire Torah “while he was standing on one foot.” One of the leader’s responses (Shammai) was to drive the man away with a stick…because it was deemed offensive to minimize any one of the commandments. The other leader’s response (Hillel) actually had a summary that he could give to the Gentile while he stood on one foot…and it was: "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor. This is the whole Torah; the rest is commentary. Go and study.” That was actually a negative form of the “golden rule” which Jesus taught: “In everything do to others as you would have them do to you, for this is the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 7:12).
So, Jesus was pulled into that ongoing debate amid Judaism’s complexity and the question of whether or not it could be simplified or summarized. And Jesus did have an answer, which is both expected and unexpected: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” This was part of a famous prayer which Jews recite twice a day, called the Shema. Every Jew knew it, including Jesus of course. You can imagine everyone hearing Jesus that day nodding their heads as he recited it.
Then Jesus paired that great commandment with another which was not so expected. It comes from Leviticus chapter 19 (v. 18). And as I scanned that chapter—which already has a lot of commandments—I actually missed it and had to go back and find it. It can be easily overlooked. But Jesus sure had an eye on it: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” And then Jesus went on to say: “On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” Jesus’ response was genius. And it still is. |
When we are lost in religion…lost in the vast…sometimes bewildering…sometimes injurious world of Christianities…then it is worth returning to the Great Commandment. But once we know to keep returning there…then what do we do? All these complex versions of Christianity still await us. Maybe you move from one form to the other, as many of you have done, and as I have done. And that can help. But even when you find your spiritual home, the complexities don’t end. Our spiritual homes are complex. And Christians and churches everywhere will still betray the Great Commandment. We still need Jesus to call us back to the Great Commandment.
Which is why it doesn’t really help to just step away from church altogether when we are lost in religion. Because we still need someone to read the Bible to us so that we can hear Jesus call us back to the Great Commandment. Yes, we could read it on our own…and maybe we would…for a while. But we need a practice involving other people where we can be read to. And where we might actually try…together… to obey the Great Commandment.
Sure, churches are full of people (and clergy) who will misunderstand…who can get off on tangents…and who will disobey the Great Commandment. Given the spiritual principalities and powers that assault everyone in the world, what did we expect? But, the only place we likely will ever hear the Great Commandment read will be in a church. And for one or two hours on Sunday, we can manage to find ourselves having become more like our truest selves in God…true to our souls…and actually loving God…together. And actually loving each other…together. And actually loving ourselves together (or at least not hating ourselves quite so much). Yes, it might be only one or two hours of this a week…but it is a return to the Great Commandment…it is a return to God and each other…and it can be a beginning once again. It is far better than just giving ourselves away to something else…to everything else…and becoming really lost.
The Great Commandment is the heart of the matter. It is how we can get ourselves un-lost…while many confusions and conflicts arise and linger…and while much remains beyond our ability to fix. We can still help one another again today to love the Lord our God with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our mind…and love our neighbor as ourself.
