Introduction: Grace be to you and peace, from God our Father, and from our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. Our text is the Old Testament Lesson just read, from Leviticus 19. We begin with prayer.
Dear fellow disciples of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ:
- Our text is all about love. As we saw in the Gospel Lesson, we are to love God “with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind.” Those who thus love God are also to “love your neighbor as yourself.” This is a bit like the Golden Rule – “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” This is the intuitive side of love – and our minds can recognize that this is the way things should be.
- However, this is a tough challenge for sinful human beings – and as we also saw in the Gospel reading, people are always interested in “justifying” themselves. We do the same – whenever we have done something that negatively impacts another, but do not want to “fess up” and repent; and whenever we have chosen not to do something that will benefit our neighbor – because of selfishness or laziness, and we don’t want to be honest about it. Jesus used the parable of the “good Samaritan” to teach us about love – that it is denying our selfish and lazy tendencies, risking whatever is necessary, and sacrificing for the good of others, knowing and believing that God will take care of us.
- Often we look at the Old Testament “Law” as being somehow harsh and rough – unreasonable and absurd. Yet our text in essence teaches the same kind of love advocated by Jesus – and all the authors of Holy Scripture. And our text also shows us how we can come to “love” and to “fulfill the law.” It begins with a reminder of God’s great love for us. And this is where we must always begin when considering “LIVING IN LOVE.” It is as the apostle John stated clearly: “We love because He first loved us.” So we first consider that:
I. We Are All Called To Know And Believe God’s Love, His Grace, Goodness, And Generosity Toward Us
A. Consider His Goodness And Generosity In The Abundance Of Nature
Text: “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. You shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard.”
B. Consider Also His Grace And Love Toward Us
Text: “I am the LORD your God.”
Statement: You can see the difference between those who know God’s love and those who do not by how they treat their harvest – and we might add by how they conduct their business affairs and approach their labor. Those who know God’s love, goodness and generosity do not have to worry about getting every last grape, and every last grain of wheat. They know that God has provided for them – and that they do not have to “maximize” their profits; they know that God will continue to bless them and provide for them.
They especially know these things because of God’s love – His promises to forgive them, to protect them, to deliver them, to watch over them, and to bring them ultimately to the blessedness of His heavenly kingdom. They know God to be even better than the good Samaritan. He is always and ever providing for all our needs and healing us and binding us up!
Application: I’m sorry to say that this “wisdom” from God is generally ignored – even among, or perhaps especially by those who are good, hardworking, thrifty, clever, ambitious people, like those of us cut from northern European stock. What is that compels us to work so hard, to add extra hours? Is it not to enrich ourselves, because we are dissatisfied to live in the bounty that God has already provided for us? Or is it out of fear – because we are afraid that God will not provide for us in the years to come? And as we work, and live, and buy, and sell – how much are we looking out for the other person, the other people who are also trying to make a living?
So the first thing that we need to think about when it comes to “LIVING IN LOVE” is God’s love for us, and whether or not we are among those who truly “know and believe the love that God has for us.” Unless and until we grasp His great goodness and love – and also His forgiveness and mercy, and His commitment to our good and blessedness, we will never be free from serving ourselves, and thus free to love and serve God and to love and serve our neighbor. So let us confess our sins of lack of faith and trust in God, and humble ourselves, that we may receive assurance of His forgiveness. And let us also consider how we are to reflect this love in our daily lives – and also in our “life goals.” For this is the only pathway to “LIVING IN LOVE.”
Transition: And this leads us to consider how we are to love, for God bids us first look at Himself and to know Him, and then:
II. God Bids Us To Be Like Him, Not As Misers, But As Lovers – To Fulfill The Law Of Love
A. By Living Generously With Goodness Toward Others
Text: “You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner; I am the LORD your God.”
Gospel: [to the lawyer] “You, go and do likewise.” [showing mercy to all]
B. By Taking Care That We Do No Harm To Others
1. Not stealing from them, not even by dishonesty or ways which “appear right”
2. No falsehood, lying – which profanes God’s Name by obliterating God’s good purpose and blessing of language
3. No financial oppression of our neighbor, those who are vulnerable to us – we should always be thinking of his need and have mercy on him
4. No mocking and taunting of the weak and disabled – the deaf, the blind, the mentally or physically impaired; how dare we? But rather we are to have mercy and compassion for all people – in fear and reverence of God, knowing how He loves and cares for us in our weakness and need
5. No slandering of others, whether trying to kill them or to just make a mess of another’s life. God is the LORD – He is watching out for others, those whom you slander and seek to destroy. When we do this we are on the wrong side of God, and on the wrong side of love!
6. We cannot hate our brother in our heart – thinking evil of him and maliciously conjuring up ways to harm him. Rather, we are to go the brother, the other person, and reason frankly with him. We are, as much as possible, to live at peace with everyone. Let the other be the cause of conflict if they insist upon harboring animosity toward us.
7. There can be no arrogance or denigration of others in love, no vengeance or holding of grudges – and here we hear the same wisdom of Jesus: “you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.”
Statement: Now all of these thoughts, desires, emotions, wishes, and behaviors come very naturally to our sinful nature. They are in fact our “default mode” and our “auto-pilot.” They make perfect sense to us – as to how we are to take care of ourselves, and make sure that we are not only surviving but prospering more than others; and they make perfect sense in regard to what others deserve from us who hurt or harm us, or who are weak and pathetic, or even those who simply displease us in some way.
All of this lives inside of us – if it were not so we wouldn’t have to be warned about these things. So there is much for us to confess, and there is no room for any pride or arrogance from any human being! So we must return to consideration of what it means when God continues to say: “I am the LORD your God.” This brings us face to face with His compassion, mercy, and love – for those who repent and embrace His forgiveness and redemption in Christ Jesus. Yes, in love for us – because He is love, He has provided us with the ultimate experience of His love, in His beloved Son Jesus – Whose blood cleanses us from all sin.
Application: So let us turn to Him in honesty and repentance, and receive the gracious mercy and forgiveness which we so desperately need. Let us humble ourselves and consider His gracious love for us, that in spite of our selfishness and greed, our insecurity and unbelief, our arrogance and malice, He continues to forgive us and to bless us with all that we need, that He does indeed remain our God.
But let us also take care to note His good and gracious will for us, that we should come to love even as He loves us – and this means being kind, generous, good, merciful, compassionate, and caring for others; and also taking care that we not hurt or harm others because of our sinful impulses. This is how God wills to bless us most richly, that we be renewed inwardly by His love so that we be like Him, “LIVING IN LOVE.”
Conclusion: The Old Testament “Law” is no different than God’s instruction and encouragement throughout His Word – it is all about love, “LIVING IN LOVE.” It centers first and foremost in the reality and assurance of God’s great love for us – which we experience each day in the bounty of His creation, and whenever we turn to Him in genuine repentance and sorrow over our sin and He assures us of His full and complete forgiveness and pardon of all our sin.
The experience of God’s love is the only thing that can move us to love for others – and it inexorably does so. We love because He first loved us. We cannot help but do so – seeking the good of others and refraining from harming them.
It is a lifetime of change and transition, putting the sinful nature to death, destroying our “auto pilot,” and allowing God’s love to become our pilot. God grant us the blessedness He wills for us when He says: “You, go and do likewise.” Amen.
Votum: And the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds in the true faith, which is in Christ Jesus, even unto life everlasting, Amen.