Love Neighbor
The Collect
Almighty and everlasting God, increase in us the gifts of faith, hope, and love; and, that we may obtain what you promise, make us love what you command; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
The Gospel Matthew 22:34-46
When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
The gospel of the Lord!
Almighty and everlasting God, increase in us the gifts of faith, hope, and love; and, that we may obtain what you promise, make us love what you command.
“Teacher, what do you command, and which commandment is the greatest?”
“’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is its equal in every way: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
Because God is Spirit, you can only love God by loving your neighbor. Where love (AGAPE) is courtesy, kindness, thoughtfulness, generosity, consideration, helpfulness, encouragement
And who is my neighbor? The question is answered for every Christian in the Parable of the Good Samaritan: your neighbors are the people you despise most in the world. Your neighbor is your enemy, the bad guy.
Almighty and everlasting God, increase in us the gifts of faith, hope, and love;
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; 5 it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never ends; as for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For our knowledge is imperfect and our prophecy is imperfect; 10 but when the perfect comes, the imperfect will pass away. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 12 For now we see in a glass darkly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. 13 So faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
Almighty and everlasting God, increase in us the gifts of faith, hope, and love; and, that we may obtain what you promise, make us love what you command.
Make us love what you command, that we may obtain what you promise.
What does God command? Love God, love neighbor.
How do we love what God commands? By loving neighbor. How do we love?
Continue in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers.
Persevere in resisting evil, and, whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord.
Proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Jesus Christ.
Seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself.
Strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being.
Almighty and everlasting God, increase in us the gifts of faith, hope, and love; and, that we may obtain what you promise, make us love what you command.
… that we may obtain what you promise. And what does God promise?
From the sinner on the other cross, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom”.
And the promise: truly I say unto you: this day you will be with me in paradise.
Jesus will remember me.
Jesus will remember you.
That’s the promise.
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Homily in Holy Nativity Episcopal Church, Panama City, Florida. Sunday, 25 Oct 2020, the Rev Tom Weller. Texts: the Collect, the Gospel, 1st Corinthians 13,