Sermon in Humboldt this last Sunday

This past Sunday, October 26th, I went down to Humboldt Nebraska to visit the Humboldt Christian Church, and to do Pulpit Supply for my good friend Howard Blecha.  Howard was away with the youth at Camp again.  He had lined up a different Pastor who had to cancel on him, so he called me with a bit of short notice to come down and preach.  It was an absolutely beautiful day for a drive down and Gail and I enjoyed the road trip a great deal.  After the service was over we stopped in Nebraska City for lunch and to go to a couple of the orchards for a bit of an apple fix.

We did record the sermon successfully, however the audio on it leaves far too much to be desired to put it up on youtube.  The Humboldt Church is blessed in having a bit of a 'baby boom' going on, and there were several very little people in the service on Sunday.  Unfortunately, a number of them were less than happy, and pretty much screamed and cried throughout the service.  On the video most of the time, all you can hear clearly are babies crying.  Gail told me she was having a hard time hearing over them, and I told her that for a while up front I was having trouble hearing myself over them.  Oh well, that is just part of the joy of preaching, especially in a small church. Having little children in the Church is an incredible blessing and I was happy to see them there.

Since the video isn't worth listening too, I have once again attached the manuscript for the sermon.  This sermon was in flux pretty much all the way to Humboldt, as I was a bit short on time to reflect adequately on the topic.  For me it takes about a week to really be comfortable with my sermons.  Therefore, I generally start by reading the scripture and the book that it's in on the Sunday afternoon prior to my sermon.  

But none-the-less, I thought it was a good sermon though Gail thought it was a bit too long.  That is one of the problems of having a short time frame it doesn't allow you sufficient time to edit and trim things up.

I hope you enjoy reading through the sermon.

In God's Absolute Love & Abundant Grace,
Roy

Sermon – Humboldt Church, October 26^th 2014

Good morning, it's great to be here with all of you once again. As you may or may not remember my name is Roy Karlen and I was a classmate of Howard's in the ELM or Educating Lay Ministry Program, that we both completed last year at just about this time. My wife Gail has come along with me today, and we are as always very happy to be here in Humboldt to join you all in worship. It is a beautiful morning for a road trip and there's no better time to come out into the country than the fall with all the beauty that nature affords us with the foliage changing colors.

Now I will warn you that Howard contacted me later in the week about filling in here today, so I have not gone through my normal routine as far as preparing this sermon. Normally, I like to read the scripture on Sunday afternoon and spend Sunday and part of Monday just thinking about a direction for the sermon and reading through the book where the scripture is located. Then on Tuesday, Wednesday and a little bit on Thursday I am researching and reading. On Thursday night I generally start writing down what I've come up with in my head and I try to have it all written out by Friday night. That gives me time to run through the sermon out loud a couple of times on Friday evening. Next on Saturday, during the day I will read through the sermon several times, and make any final adjustments. And last of all on Saturday evening I will run through the sermon out loud three or so times.

However, with the short notice for this sermon, I was coming up with new thoughts even on the way here this morning and scribbling notes into my manuscript.  So this sermon is evolving as we speak... so this could get interesting.

Interestingly enough, today is Reformation Sunday. This is the Sunday when we recognize the anniversary of Martin Luther nailing his 95 thesis to the door of the Church in Wittenberg on October 31, 1517. On the eve of 'All Saints Day' he committed the act that would spark the Reformation and which would ultimate lead to the development of the Protestant branch of Christianity, in all it's so very many forms and flavors. One of which of course, evolved into the Disciples of Christ.  In just three short years, we'll be celebrating the 500th anniversary of this historic event and as fate would have it, those that use the Lectionary will be preaching over this same bit of scripture on that Sunday as well.

Like Jesus, Martin Luther never intended to start a new religion.  He was out to transform Catholicism, just as Jesus was trying to transform Judaism.  In the end though both of them ended up creating something brand new.  

Martin Luther was certainly not a perfect man and the Reformation wasn't without it's shortcomings, but today we recognize the great courage that it took to confront the Catholic Church in those days. A time when he could have very easily been burned at the stake for his offenses.  And not just by the authorities of the Catholic Church but by leaders and followers of rival Protestant movements.  It was a time of turmoil to be certain.

Before we go any further though, let's go before the Lord to prepare our hearts and minds.

Lord God, Heavenly Father, we come before you today and we ask that you calm our hearts, our minds and our restless spirits. We ask that you ease and ready our souls to hear, and to discern, and to implement your Almighty word and wishes for this world. Let us listen to your word and accept your commission to be your hands and feet to this wanting world. In Christ's Holy Name, AMEN

Today we're looking at a bit of Scripture in the Gospel of Matthew. Now as we're digesting this piece of scripture we would be well served to remember that the Gospel of Matthew is the most “Jewish” of the Gospels. Here we see Jesus portrayed as being genuinely Jewish. The Gospel of Matthew was written to a group of Jewish Christians, whom likely continued to think of themselves as being fully Jewish. Most likely they believed and thought of themselves as the only 'true jews' the 'fulfillment' of Judaism.  We need to remember that in Matthew we are told this:

Matthew 5:17 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

The Law and the Prophets

17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.

This is as I said, a throughly Jewish Gospel and we need to bear that in mind while we work to decipher the message that the author of Matthew is conveying to us.

With that let us read the scripture that the Lectionary has guided us to for this Sunday.

Matthew 22: 34 – 46 NRSV

34When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, 35and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36“Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?”37He said to him, “’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38This is the greatest and first commandment. 39And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

41Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them this question: 42“What do you think of the Messiah? Whose son is he?” They said to him, “The son of David.” 43He said to them, “How is it then that David by the Spirit calls him Lord, saying, 44‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet”’? 45If David thus calls him Lord, how can he be his son?” 46No one was able to give him an answer, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.

Well, love God, love your neighbor. That seems simple enough, this just might be the shortest sermon ever...... No, probably not, I've been here enough times now that you all likely know better than that.

Jesus is known to us as a radical, and believe it or not there is some pretty radical thinking in this passage that we just read. But before we get into that we need to lay a bit of groundwork first. Just a few verses back Jesus has entered Jerusalem, he is building to the final confrontation with the Sanhedrin and the Romans. Here we have the final of a series of confrontations with Jesus by other religious leaders and teachers. Now today when we read these interactions, they all look to be very aggressive, and some almost certainly were. BUT... what we need to remember is that this is the style of dialogue, known as 'ask-assertive conversation', which these groups used in 'testing' each other. This was especially true between the various groups that made up the Pharisees. Here we have a 'lawyer' obviously, a very well versed Pharisee and he is testing Jesus.

We find that when Mark discussed this same incident in his Gospel he portrayed it slightly differently than Matthew did. This same exchange is found in Mark 12:28-34

Mark 12:28-34 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

The First Commandment

28 One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, he asked him, “Which commandment is the first of all?”29 Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; 30 you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32 Then the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that ‘he is one, and besides him there is no other’; 33 and ‘to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength,’ and ‘to love one’s neighbor as oneself,’—this is much more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” After that no one dared to ask him any question.

Here the Scribe questions Jesus because he has seen that Jesus is answering well. He's basically set Jesus up to deliver a knockout blow, and not set Jesus up to trip him up. The Scribe agrees with Jesus and tells him he has answered well.  In both versions, the story in Matthew and then again in Mark, no one dared to ask him anymore questions.  But in Matthew it's because he stumped them and in Mark it's because he has impressed them so much with his knowledge.

We also find this same exchange in Luke, though the author of Luke has again altered the conversation somewhat.

Luke 10:25-28New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

25 Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus.[a] “Teacher,” he said, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?” 27 He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And he said to him, “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.

There is certainly nothing scandalous about telling people to love God with all their heart, with all your soul and with all your might. This is a part of the Shema which is a Jewish prayer traditionally prayed twice a day, it is also found in Deuteronomy.

Deuteronomy 6:5 New International Version (NIV)

5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

Nor does there seem to be much to debate about loving your neighbor, which is found in Leviticus.

Leviticus 19:18New International Version (NIV)

18 “‘Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.

So, as I said, nothing to talk about over all this, 'loving your neighbor' stuff, seems pretty cut and dry.

Well... that's not exactly true. Whereas to us today saying to love your neighbor as yourself may seem clear enough, to a Jew living in the first century... it was not so clear, not so clear at all.

To understand this we need to know that in the first century there were two prominent leaders in the Pharisee movement. One was named Shammai, and the other Hillel. Shammai was very, very conservative and Hillel was known as being extremely liberal in his interpretations of the Torah.

Now as to who is 'our neighbor' Shammai maintained that our neighbor was a fellow Hebrew.  Did you catch that part in Leviticus that I just read, that 'among your people' part?  Now on the other hand Hillel maintained that our neighbors included everyone, Hebrew and gentile with the exception of the much maligned Samaritans.  Not even Hillel could see his way clear in saying that a Samaritan was to be considered your neighbor.

So what did Jesus mean by 'neighbor'? Well, we don't really have to guess here. In the version of the 'Great Commandment' in Luke it is directly followed by the story of the Good Samaritan. Let's go back and re-read that scripture again, but this time I'll carry on through the parable of the Good Samaritan.

Luke 10:25-37 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

25 Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus.[a] “Teacher,” he said, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?” 27 He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And he said to him, “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.”

29 But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii,[a] gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.’ 36 Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” 37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

The Samaritan models what it means to truly love your neighbor, certainly Jesus intends that to the Hebrews even the much hated Samaritans are their neighbors and are to be loved. It is really difficult to over emphasis this point, Jesus is really, really radical in his teachings here.   Jesus has outdone even Hillel, he is farther to the left than even the famous liberal Rabbi of his time.

In some sense, this isn't actually all that amazing, when we compare Jesus' Theology with that of Shammai and Hillel, we find Jesus agreeing with Hillel on every point save for two. The one here, where Jesus is to the left, or even more radical and liberal in his love than Hillel, and on the issue of divorce. Interestingly, when it comes to divorce, Jesus, is farther to the right or more conservative than Shammai if we consider the evidence in both Mark and Luke, where Jesus absolutely forbids divorce. It is only in Matthew the more Jewish of the three synoptics where we see Jesus taking the exact same position as Shammai on divorce.

Part of what made Jesus such a radical was that he didn't care about what was liberal or what was conservative, he cared about what was correct. Jesus cared about all people, not just the Hebrews, or the Gentiles, or just the Samaritans. To Jesus and therefore to us, to love our neighbor means to love everyone. To love the thoroughly unlovable, to even love those that hate us, to love those that would wish to destroy us.

Now, I for one do not believe this commandment means that we are not to defend ourselves if we are attacked, but it does mean that we extend grace and love to those that have wronged us. We are called to extend love and charity to an unloving and uncharitable world. This is a large part of the radical that is Christ Jesus.

Let's keep going though, Jesus goes on to tell us that on these two commandments. Loving God and our neighbor, hangs all the rest of the Law and the Prophets. What does he mean by this? Does he mean that the rest of the Law is irrelevant, and that all we really need to do is these two commandments?

Well here again, Jesus seems to be modeling his statement after a famous remark of that old Rabbi Hillel. There is a story about a Gentile who came to Shammai and asked him to tell him all of the Torah while balanced on one leg, insulted Shammai reportedly struck the man with a measuring rod. No doubt a reference to Shammai's measuring of the law and it's many details. The Gentile then went to Hillel and made the same request. Tell me the whole of the Torah while balanced on one leg. To which Hillel responded “That which is hateful to you, do not unto another: This is the whole Torah. The rest is commentary — [and now] go study.”

Now what Hillel is saying here is not that the rest of the Torah is unimportant or frivolous, but rather that the rest of the Torah is an aid to explaining, understanding and implementing this statement. This is a commentary, (holding up commentary) it helps us to understand just two of the books in the New Testament. The books of Matthew and of Mark. Now in this collection of commentaries there are volumes of varying lengths for each and every one of the 66 books in the Bible. They are written by various Theologians to help others to discern just what is being relayed in the scripture.

Now, in my opinion Jesus is saying something very similar in nature but at the same time, distinctly different. What he's saying is that the rest of the Law and the Prophets “hang” on these two commandments. We cannot understand the rest of the Law or the teaching of the Prophets unless we look at them through the “lenses” of Loving God with all that we are and loving our neighbor as we love ourselves. If we do not “hang” our understanding of the rest of the Scripture on this understanding, this “LOVE”, we will certainly misinterpret something along the way. The thing we need most of all for our commentary is our grasp of this abundant “love”. I do believe though that Jesus even though he did not state it fully intended for us to do as Hillel commanded the gentile, and that is for us to “go and study”. Study scripture through the lenses of love.

It's interesting that once again Jesus has surpassed the love and grace from even the most gracious of the Rabbis of his time. He has taken it from "don't do unto others what you wouldn't have done unto you", to love everyone, even the Samaritans. That is really radical thinking for a first century Jewish Rabbi.

In many ways this sermon is the story of the three Rabbis, Shammai, Hillel, and Jesus. During his lifetime Hillel became the head of the Sanhedrin and Shammai was for all practical purposes the number two man in the Sanhedrin. When Hillel died in the year 10 ad or as it's also know 10 ce or common era, the House of Shammai took over control of the Sanhedrin and Jerusalem. The disciples of Hillel maintained control in the synagogues outside the city and most notably in a small back water place known as Galilee.

Now there is just no way for us to know if Jesus ever met Hillel, but it would seem to be very obvious that Jesus was very aware of Hillel's teachings and in my opinion Jesus was certainly a student of a Disciple of Hillel's. One of Hillel's followers that lived and taught in Galilee. But of course Jesus was nobody's yes man. He took positions farther than Hillel had done, and he also pulled back and took positions that were far more restrained than Hillel.

Hillel's Disciples would go on for many more centuries and ultimately would be the guiding force behind modern Judaism. Most of the Talmud is the teaching of Hillel or of his students. And of course his teachings and disciples very much influenced Christianity. And do you remember that voice of reason that we see in the Sanhedrin in the book of Acts, that Pharisee by the name of Gamaliel who spoke up and prevented the leaders from persecuting farther the Apostles after Christ's ascension. Did you know that Gamaliel was the grandson of Hillel.

In many ways, Hillel was there even before John the Baptist, moving the ball down the field in preparation for the coming of Christ. Hillel in no small way set the stage for Jesus to teach us that all the Law and all the Prophets hang on just two things.

“’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38This is the greatest and first commandment. 39And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’

When we read scripture let us read it through these eyes, through these lens that Christ himself has prescribed for us.

Let's Pray!

Dear Heavenly Father, we lift up to you, great thanks for your message to us of love and grace.  We thank you O Lord, for men such as Martin Luther and Rabbi Hillel, who have helped reveal your teachings to us.  We most ardently thank you O God, for the gift of Jesus who brought to this world your full nature.  We pray that you will see fit to guide us, and to direct us as to accomplish your will, and your desire of love and grace in this broken world.

We pray this in faith in Jesus who is the Christ.

Amen!