I was driving up to Pittsburgh the other day
for a meeting with Pastor Bish
When all of the sudden the car in front of me,
the car that I had been following for
about 10 to 15 miles
dropped to about 15 mph slower than
they were going
Not only that,
but the car started to weave
from side to side
running on to the shoulder at one point
So I decided
I was going to go ahead and pass this person
As I got up next to her,
I looked over
and not only was she talking on the phone
but she was trying to write something down
on a pad she had pressed up against
the steering wheel
And not only that,
could see that she had opened
on the passengers seat a copy of the newspaper
She was doing
what they call multi tasking
while driving I-79
at about 70 mile per hour
Now don’t get me wrong,
there is nothing wrong with these things
well, the paper maybe
that might be a stretch
But there is nothing wrong
as long as they don’t distract you from
the task at hand
the primary thing you are suppose to be
doing and that is driving
Now I am not going to lecture anybody on driving,
because I have no room to talk
But when you sit down in the drivers seat of a car,
your primary responsibility
the thing you need to make sure you do
is to operate that two ton vehicle
But unfortunately, as I saw on the interstate
we do get distracted
we do get side tracked
and we lose sight of the primary
task at hand
And in many ways,
I would argue
that is what has happened
in churches across the U.S.
There are churches in this country right now
that are floundering
that are struggling
because they have taken their attention
off the primary task at hand
In today’s Gospel lesson, a lawyer
I don’t know if you heard the story
about God getting made at the Devil
and told the devil
I am going to sue you
And the devil just began to laugh and laugh
and God got angry
and said I am serious,
I’m tired of it and I am going to sue you
and the Devil laughed even harder
And God finally said
what is so funny
and the Devil said you can’t sue me
I have all the lawyers
But a lawyer comes up
and he asks Jesus what is the greatest commandment
basically what is the one thing
we should make sure we always do
the one thing we should never forget
Jesus tells us the greatest commandment
is not one of the ten
it is not it is not some self righteous
rule for life
But it is an emotion
that we are called to share with the world
the Greatest commandment
is love
You shall love the Lord your God
with all your heart,
with all your soul
and with all your mind
and you shall love your neighbor
as yourself
Notice that,
you don’t just love your neighbor
but you love them
as you love yourself
which adds all whole new dynamic
to this command
The greatest commandment
the thing that all Christians should know
should live by
and should never forget
The thing that should set Christians apart
the thing that the Church
should be know for in our society
is Love
Love which leads to forgiveness
Love which force us to care
Love which beckons generosity
Love which will not allow us to sit by
ideally as other suffer
Love that recognizes
what Christ did on the cross for us
and calls us to share that story
with everyone we come in contact with
Love
No need to add to it
nothing to subtract
just pure and simply as the Church
we are called to reflect
the love of Christ
to the world around us
But too often
like the lady I was following to Pittsburgh,
as the Church and as Christians
we do get distracted
from that simple
but very important task
Soon aspects of Christianity
that have no bearing on our salvation
issues that Christ never even mentioned
items that dog gone it just aren’t that crucial
begin to distract us from love
too often, the Church that is called to be Christ beacon
love, hope and grace in the world
Becomes a place of power struggles
turf wars
and status quo
It becomes a place where
Robert’s Rules of Order
the Altar Guild Book
and the way we have always done it
trump the Greatest commandment
A place where we care less about people’s feelings
and more about being right
and being proper
Soon it becomes a place
where people become very religious
but never really become very godly
or very Christian
And as you go out,
you will find that many congregations
are not know for their love
Which is a shame,
because when Christ was upon this earth
that was what drew people to him
his love,
his forgiveness
his caring
his compassion
And as his Church
as his body on earth
we should be know for the same
Nobody was more religious than the Pharisees
nobody,
at the time of Jesus
there were 613 laws that
a devout Pharisee must follow
And they did,
they followed all 613 to the tee
but in following them they never did
reach up to help people
They never did make sure
that all of God’s creation was being cared for
the followed the law for one reason
to make sure they were going heaven
In fact, they used the law as a weapon
A weapon to beat people up
to force the ones they didn’t like
and the ones who were not like them
away from the temple
and to oppress God’s people
They were extremely religious
but Jesus reminds them
in today’s Gospel lesson
and throughout the Gospels
that following the law is not
what it is all about
It is not just about you and your salvation
but it is about making Christ known
by showing the world the same love
that Christ showed us
Christianity is not about following
rule and regulations
it is about living out our faith,
it is about helping our neighbor
it is about welcoming all
it is about love
it is like the old saying
God does care how much you know
God knows how much you care
As the Church,
it is high time that we stopped being distracted
by things that really do not matter
that have no bearing upon salvation
and that Jesus Christ never even
mentioned
And start focusing in
on that commandment
on that emotion
that Christ told us was the greatest
Love
It has been truly overwhelming
to see the outpouring of love and generosity
that Americans have shown
the victims of the South Asian Tsunami
the gulf coast Hurricanes
And of course the most recent,
the Pakistani Earthquake
the has left nearly 80,000 dead
It has been great,
please do not hear this wrong
but it should take a natural disaster
to get God’s people to do what
we are called to do everyday
Every three seconds a child in Africa
dies of starvation
last month over 3,000 Sudanese women
were rapped
Every 5.7 seconds a child in Haiti is orphaned
and if you want to come closer to home
in the last four years- in this country
1.6 million people fell below
the poverty level
Many of them
right in our own backyard
The church is needed now more
than any other time in recent history
and we need to stand up
to shine Christ’s light
to show God’s love
In the 13th Chapter of 1st Corinthians
St. Paul gives us a wonderful definition
of what Christian love truly is
and we often hear it read at weddings
However that text isn’t just about married couples
it is about what the Church
Christ’s body on earth is suppose to be
it is about how all Christians should
treat all people
not just their spouses
Paul tells us
Love is patient;
love is kind;
love is not envious or boastful
or arrogant 5or rude.
It does not insist on its own way;
it is not irritable or resentful;
it does not rejoice in wrongdoing,
but rejoices in the truth.
Love bears all things,
believes all things,
hopes all things,
endures all things.
Love never ends.
That is what the Greatest commandment is
and that is what as the Church
we need to get back to living out
and showing the world
that is what as Christians our lives
should be based upon
What is the Greatest commandment?
What is the most important thing
in all of Christendom?
What must we never forget?
Love the Lord
Love your neighbor.
