A Different Kind Of Love

September 25, 2016

A Different Kind Of Love

Text: Matthew 22:34-46

In the name of Jesus: Amen.

In your opinion, what is the greatest commandment in the Bible?

Take a moment and think back to all your Sunday School lessons, think through the Ten Commandments, think through all the laws directed at the nation of Israel, think through all the teachings of Jesus, and think through all the words of the Apostle Paul. Now, which one is the greatest commandment? Which one is the supreme command? Which one rises to the top? Are you thinking about the First Commandment: you shall have no other Gods? Maybe you are thinking of the Third Commandment: remember the Sabbath Day by keeping it holy. Or how about the Fifth Commandment: you shall not murder? What about one of Jesus’ teachings from the Sermon on the Mount or one of the Apostle Paul’s statements in the Epistles? What is the greatest commandment?

In today’s Gospel reading we heard that Jesus was asked the same question by a scribe. You see, the religious leaders were testing Jesus with the question of which commandment was the greatest. That is to say, they had murderous hatred for Jesus and were testing Him, trying to trick Him up with this question.

So, how did Jesus answer? He answered them by simply saying that the greatest of all the commands is to ‘love’ the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with your entire mind and to ‘love’ your neighbor as yourself.

Did you catch that? He answered that the greatest commandment is to ‘love’ God and to ‘love’ mankind, for love fulfills the Law of God.

Jesus did not go about ranking the Ten Commandments and He certainly did not go through and rank the 613 Rabbinic Laws that were present at that time. But rather, Jesus summarized the Law as being about love; love for God and love for one’s neighbors. Jesus was showing that love is the fulfillment of the moral Law.

Dear friends, what this means is that when we properly love God, we are fulfilling the first three commandments and when we properly love our neighbor, we are fulfilling commandments four through ten. The reason why this is so? Love is the key; love is the fulfillment of all the Law. In other words, Jesus is saying that when we properly love we are fulfilling God’s commandments. Therefore, to love God and to love our neighbor is the greatest because love is at the very center of God’s commandments!

There is a very big problem with this though. That problem is that it seems like everyone loves love; however, very few people actually understand what love is. In other words, Hollywood and television speak about love, but they do not completely understand it. Social media quotes and memes are constantly talking about the importance of love, but they rarely understand what love is. Wedding cards and high profile weddings gush about love, but have no idea what really constitutes love. Tragically, we live in a time where everyone from Hollywood to Washington D.C., from musical artists to celebrities, from motivational speakers to misinformed pastors, are talking about love, while not having the foggiest idea of what love really is.

To complicate things even more, not only are many talking about love, but they are also imposing their view of love upon the masses. We are being told that we must learn to love more and more, for love is that which offsets hate. In other words, we are told that we need to love in order to make this world a better place for everyone, as if love will make a perfect utopia. As previously mentioned though, those who are pushing the campaign to love more do not understand what real love is. They teach us that love is all about avoiding offense to someone else; however, this is not love. They tell us that love actively approves of what others are doing; however, this is not love. They share that love is quick to agree with our friends and neighbors; however, this is not love. They express that love makes sure our friends can have their way at all costs; however, this is not love. They impress upon us that love seeks to be inoffensive and glorifies diversity; however, this is not love. They gush that love is an intensity of feeling; however, this is not love. They say love is what makes us feel happy and fuzzy and warm inside; however, this is not love. They assert that love allows us to be free from hurt feelings and displeasure; however, this is not love. They tell us that love blindly validates and approves of another person’s dreams and aspirations; however, this is not love.

It seems that there is a great confusion about what love is in our culture. It is indeed true that everyone loves love; however, very few actually understand what it is.

So what is love?

Well, love does not act the way that we might think – it does not typically operate the way that it is portrayed in Nicholas Sparks movies or sung about in Beyoncé and Katy Perry’s music or talked about on Oprah’s Super Soul Sundays. For example: love does its works secretly and hides its actions from the applause of others – it does not do its acts of charity to be seen or known by others. It is not boastful or arrogant. It does not seek to gain but seeks to give. It does not insist on its own way and it is not irritable or resentful. Love does not make a lot of noise rejoicing in the evil of others, but it rejoices and works for the truth – it pleads with people who are in error, it risks the possible offense in order to restore a neighbor in the freedom of truth. And finally, love does not hold on to its actions towards a neighbor as if it is keeping score, but rather, it acts for others free of charge.[1]

A little more specific though, love is not the same as tolerance. It is not a floaty feeling. It is not a romantic emotion. It is not a self-serving. It is not sourced in ourselves. But rather, love seeks to honor God and Him alone for our good and joy. Love seeks the proper teaching about the Lord in accurate doctrine. Love seeks to remember the Sabbath and God’s Word. Love seeks to respect those in authority like parents and governing officials. Love seeks to preserve life, especially those that are weak and insignificant – those unable to protect themselves in the womb or at the end of life. Love seeks to protect marriage from pornography, divorce, and adultery. Love seeks to defend our neighbor’s possessions and it seeks to defend our neighbor’s reputation. Love seeks to rest in contentment.

What does this mean? The Law is not just a bunch of empty commandments, but rather, it is the essence of what love looks like. And love is not some floaty emotion or an abstract buzzword on social media or some empty word on a church’s mission statement, but rather love involves all the powers of our body and soul and it involves all of our senses outwardly and inwardly. It involves all of our intellect and all of our reason, with all of our thoughts, words, and works. It involves all of these dimensions focused on God and our neighbor – love is ready to cherish God and serve our neighbor.

Now, with all of that said, if we are truly honest with ourselves at this point, we need to confess that none of us here today always keep the Law of God perfectly. The reason why? Because none of us properly love; none of us perfectly love God and perfectly love our neighbor. Sure we might talk about love, but in all truthfulness, we do not love the way in which the Bible talks about love. Who among us loves God perfectly? Who among us loves our neighbor perfectly? Instead of loving God and loving our neighbor, more often than not, we talk about a pretend superficial love and then proceed to love ourselves. When God calls us to love Him and to love our neighbor, we desire to love ourselves. This is how it is with our human nature. Instead of loving God and our neighbor in the ways that the 10 Commandments express, we use our minds to dismiss the 10 Commandments and then invent silly ideas of what love is and what love is about. Maybe that is why our culture talks so much about love, because it knows so little about it. Either that or we are trying to convince ourselves that our own ideas about love are actually true, when they actually are not.

Even though we do not love the way that we ought to, God does not lower the bar. In other words, loving God and our neighbor is not optional. A life of love for God and neighbor is what it looks like to be a Christian; it is the calling of all of humanity. God commands this, He commands us to love Him and our neighbor – no exceptions, no lowering the bar. We are called to do this perfectly and all of the time.

But who of us loves perfectly? Who does this perfectly? No one!

Well, this is not exactly true though. There was one who loved God the Father perfectly and loved His neighbor perfectly. That person was Jesus Christ. Jesus fulfilled the commandments perfectly, because unlike anyone else who has ever lived, He loved perfectly. Jesus’ love was so perfect before God and mankind that His love led Him to go all the way to the cross and grave for you and for me.

Dear friends, we do not properly keep the commandments because we do not properly love. And because we do not properly love, we need to be properly loved. And how are we properly loved? We are properly loved by Jesus Christ.

Dear Baptized Saints, perfect love for God and for mankind does exist, but it does not exist within you and within me, but rather, it exists in Jesus Christ who is for you and for me. It exists in our Savior who pours this love out on you. Hear this today: your sins and lack of love have been completely forgiven, for Jesus has fulfilled the Law of God in your place and has loved you to the point of the Cross. We know what love is, that He gave Himself for us.

There is more though, you and I cannot properly love until we have first been loved. And the good news is that we are loved, the Lord has promised to continually create in us a clean heart and renew a right spirit within us as He comes to us with the Word and Sacraments.

Do not despair, the Lord has promised to strengthen our faith towards Him and our love towards one another by delivering us His love, mercy, grace, forgiveness, life, and salvation through the Word and Sacraments – Word and Sacraments that are especially for every one of you.

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