From the beginning of my journey into ministry, I have identified with the office of deacon in The United Methodist Church. For this reason, I honestly never considered the possibility of becoming a pastor of a congregation. Being on a church staff? Yes. Being a solo or lead pastor? Never.
And yet, as I was told about this congregation and as I have learned more about them, I see that this is exactly the right place for me. And part of the reason for that is precisely because I am a deacon.
That being said, even in churches that have had deacons, there is still a bit of confusion not only about the role of deacons in the life of the church, but also how deacons are distinct from elders. And so, I am choosing to start my time with this new congregation by reflecting on what it means for me to be a deacon and, further, what it means for me to be a deacon in ministry with them.
Over the next several weeks, I am reflecting first on my personal grounding for ministry as a deacon. What is my scriptural touchstone for ministry and what does that have to do with being a deacon. Then, each successive sermon will take on the areas of responsibility that deacons have in the life of the church. In the UMC, the orders of ministry have general areas of responsibility. These areas overlap and reinforce one another, but are also distinctive in the different orders of ministry. More on that next time.
Today, we take a look at the Great Commandment (see Matthew 22:35-40, Mark 12:28-34, and Luke 10:25-37). What does it meant for me and for my understanding of myself as a deacon? What does this story have to do with the ministry of the church?
I have to admit that I wrestled with what I would say in my first sermon. Before going on staff at Newnan First last year, most of my opportunities to preach were in communities that I was already a part of, communities that I knew well. I had certainly had a few opportunities to preach in other churches for friends or colleagues on vacation, but those were less frequent.
All that to say that coming into a community you don’t know to share the Gospel is a bit daunting. How do I share the Good News in a way the people will hear? What word from God does this community need to hear? Will this group understand any of my movie references?
When I have had the opportunity to do a one-time pulpit fill in someone else’s church, there is a little freedom. If something gets lost in translation, at least we aren’t likely to see each other again. But coming into a congregation to serve and having to jump into the pulpit before you’ve had a chance to get to know people, that is something else.
Therefore, with a bit of trepidation, I wrestled with the word for my first message. The congregation and I don’t know each other yet, but this also isn’t just a one off.
I guess the only way to really solve that is to get to know each other. And so I decided to start with my approach to ministry. What lies at the heart of ministry for me? What scriptural touchstone do I constantly return to?
If you were to ask the people at Newnan First who had a chance to get to know me where the heart of my ministry lies, I would hope they would mention the Great Commandment.
The story commonly referred to as The Great Commandment is found explicitly in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. While similar teachings are found in John, it is not written the same way there. So we will look primarily at the first three gospels.
As we hear today, the Great Commandment refers to two connected statements, both drawn from the Hebrew Scriptures. The first part comes from Deuteronomy 6, verses 4 and 5: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.” (NRSV)
This piece from Deuteronomy is a core tenet of Jewish belief. The Shema (as it is sometimes known) is the centerpiece of Jewish morning and evening prayer: “Sh'ma Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Eḥad.” (Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one.) This passage proclaims not only a belief in God, but a belief that the Lord our God is our only God. This is why it continues to be such an important part of Jewish prayer today.
It is no surprise that Jesus (and others) would name this as the most important command to be found in their scriptures. For those of us who are Christian, it continues to be vitally important to our understanding of God and of ourselves. We believe in God, but more than that we listen to and follow God with every fiber of our being - body, mind, and spirit.
So it makes sense when asked about the greatest commandment that this would make the list. Love of God was central to the life and teaching of Jesus, and it remains central to our faith today. However, this is not where the story ends. Love of God comes first, but in all of the Gospels, love of others comes a close second. In fact, Jesus tells us that the second command is like the first. Loving our neighbors is like loving God.
Again, Jesus is referring to the Hebrew scriptures here. This second part of the Great Commandment comes from Leviticus 19, where verses 17 and 18 read: “You shall not hate in your heart anyone of your kin; you shall reprove your neighbor, or you will incur guilt yourself. You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.” (NRSV)
This is written as a direct command from God. It tells us that we should not hate, that if we see hate, we should say something about it, and that we should not take vengeance or bear a grudge. Each of these things goes against the law of love that God commands. Instead of doing those things, love your neighbor as you love yourself.
After quoting the Hebrew texts that are central to Jesus’ teachings, Matthew, Mark, and Luke each do something slightly different. This is due to the fact that each of these Gospel writers had a slightly different audience and a slightly different focus in their writings.
In Matthew, Jesus concludes, “On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” We are being told here that the only way to understand anything in the Hebrew scriptures is to interpret them through love of God AND love of neighbor. Nothing found in the Law and nothing found in any of the Prophets has any meaning aside from this. In other words, if we are interpreting anything in scripture in a way that does not fully express love of God and love of our neighbors, we are doing something wrong.
As found in Mark, this section ends a little differently. Jesus says simply, “There is no other commandment greater than these.” Interestingly, Mark then has one of the scribes state that Jesus has answered correctly. Mark wants us to recognize that Jesus’ teachings are fully in line with Hebrew scripture. Even the religious scribes of his own time recognized the importance of these two commands. Jesus is not necessarily saying something new. In fact, he is reiterating points already central to Jewish belief.
This story as found in Luke is my favorite. To be fair, if I had to pick a favorite gospel, it would probably be Luke. Looking at the tenth chapter of Luke, we find the familiar commandment, but with a few key differences. First, Luke does not have the words come from Jesus. Instead, when questioned by one of the scribes, Jesus turns the question around and asks the scribe what he finds in the scriptures. The scribe summarizes all of the law with the familiar phrases - love God with all that you are and love your neighbor as yourself. But it is what comes next that is most important, in my opinion.
For after responding that the scribe has given the correct answer, the man continues to press Jesus: “And who is my neighbor?” In essence he is asking “And what are the limits? Who are my neighbors that I may only love them and not others?” What follows is a familiar teaching that is too often disconnected from the Great Commandment. And yet, it is central to helping us understand exactly why, even though Jesus is not teaching us something new, he is in fact pushing us to stretch our understanding.
Luke continues the teaching around the Great Commandment with a parable most commonly referred to as the parable of the Good Samaritan. Now this common title is a bit problematic. It would be kind of like today referring to the Good Muslim or the Good Mexican, as if only certain of “those” people are good. I think calling it the parable of the Good Neighbor makes more sense, but maybe that is a bit of a digression.
At any rate, we all know the story. A man is traveling along a stretch of road and is set upon by robbers that beat him, take all of his things, and leave him to die on the side of the road. Some time after, a priest comes along. Seeing the man, he crosses to the other side of the road to continue on his way. A Levite, or temple servant, comes along next. He also crosses over to pass by the man. Finally a Samaritan comes along. He sees the man lying there and has compassion for him. He tends his wounds before taking him to an inn and setting him up to be cared for as he continues his own journey. He even promises to cover any additional expenses the innkeeper may incur when he returns.
Alone, this is a pretty powerful message. Think about the world we live in today. How easy is it to ignore the needs of others? Think about how excited we get when people show genuine care for others.
And yet, the story is deeper even than that. Jews and Samaritans violently disagreed with one another over their religious beliefs. For Jews, Samaritans were outsiders and heathens. Not only does Jesus make this one the hero of the story, but he places good, religiously observant leaders in a villainous role.
I am sure we can all think of relevant examples for our world today. We know the conflicts that exist in our world. We know where the lines of oppression are drawn, even when we don’t want to admit it. Who would be the priest or the Levi in today’s story? Who might we put in the place of the Samaritan?
But again, I digress just a little. We were talking about the Great Commandment. The scribe wanted to know how to limit himself to only a certain group of neighbors. Jesus tells this story to make it clear that there are no limits on who is our neighbor. Sometimes those we expect to treat us as neighbors do not. And sometimes the one who treats us as neighbor does not look, act, talk, or even believe the same as we do. Jesus makes it clear that these distinctions do not matter.
Now, I mentioned earlier my love of movies. Without sitting down and intentionally trying to, I often find spiritual themes in movies, songs, and TV shows. While probably not the intention of those creating these works, I can’t help but notice themes that remind me of God in all aspects of our world.
Some of you may be familiar with the movie Groundhog Day with Bill Murray. In this movie, Murray is a TV weatherman for a local station in Pittsburgh. He is sent on assignment to cover the emergence of the groundhog, Punxatawny Phil. As we get to know this weatherman, we find he is not very nice. He is totally self-centered with no regard for how his comments or actions affect those around him. In other words, he is pretty much exactly the kind of person that Jesus’ listeners would have pictured when he mentioned the Samaritan.
Now the twist in the movie is that this weatherman continues to wake up everyday on Groundhog Day. He lives the same day over and over countless times. After getting over his initial confusion, he first gives in to his vices, exploring each of what we might call the seven deadly sins, before eventually falling into despair.
It is only when he begins to express genuine love for other people that he is finally able to escape the cycle. He provides food and support for others, saves several people from injury or possible death, and brightens the lives of those around him. It is only when he has love for his neighbors that he is able to break free of the repetitive nature of his previous life.
As we think about our own lives that can seem repetitive and monotonous, especially right now, we can look to this reminder to spread love to those we encounter throughout our day. When we reframe our day with a focus on loving our neighbors, it puts a positive spin on our own lives.
As the different Gospel writers make clear, there are many reasons for us to hold this Great Commandment. Mark tells us that the entirety of the Laws as found in Hebrew scripture can be summed up in these two phrases. Matthew takes us a step further and reminds us that we cannot fully understand anything in the Law or the Prophets unless we interpret them through the command to love. Luke stretches us even further by showing us that there are no limits placed on the category of neighbor. We are called to love God and to love everyone we share this earth with. This is how we should interpret everything we do and everything we understand about our faith. And it is this understanding that sits at the center of my approach to ministry.
As a deacon, I am explicitly ordained to ministry that reminds us in the church of our need as church to love our neighbor. Love of God is our starting point, but it must always lead us to love all of those we may encounter in our lives, and even those we may never meet. Over the next few weeks, I will be reflecting a bit more on what it means for me to be a deacon. Some of you may have heard this term before or may be familiar with it from other churches, but I want us to reflect together on what it means for me and how this is central to my ministry. I hope that you will join me in the coming weeks as we continue this time of reflection on ministry together.