Think of all the beautiful imagery of the Psalms. The Lord is my Shepherd; is a Rock, is steadfast love. These poems and writings speak of life, faith, suffering and love. Yet the very first image, the introductory image of people, is being like trees planted by the stream, and doing what trees do, bearing fruit and prospering. Yet, when I thought of the trees planted by streams
of water I laughed to myself, because our three redwood trees are planted by a continuing water source as well. Our septic tank, which is made from redwood, offers an abundant source of water for these giant trees. Water that allows them to grow and flourish.
People, happy people, are likened to trees. People who delight in the Lord and meditate on God’s law, reflecting on the Torah, find this happiness. But happiness here is not warm feelings or fun, but in Hebrew it means “to go straight” or “to advance.” Such an understanding of the emotion suggests following the instruction of God allows us to move forward, to develop, to grow in life. In our gospel lesson, the Pharisees who are the interpreters of God’s law, try to test Jesus by asking him which law is the greatest. The Pharisees are very good at doing the first law Jesus mentions, but they fall short on the second one. That is why Jesus does not answer with only one
law but connects loving God with loving neighbor. READ Matthew 22:34-46.
When Karla preached on stewardship, she spoke of being rooted in love. I had already titled this sermon calling it, “Planted in love.” We both are thinking about stewardship as a way to love. Jesus when answering the Pharisee’s question, adds to loving God with every fiber of our being,
the direction to love your neighbor as yourself.
And yet what does it mean to love? Hear some answers given by children.
Mary Ann, age 4, says: “Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day.” Tommy, age 6, says: “Love is like a little old man and a little old woman who are still friends even after they know each other so well.” Bobby, age 5, says: “Love is what’s in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.” Jenny, age 7, says: “There are two kinds of love. God’s love. Our love. But God makes both
kinds.” (Sermons.com, Frank G. Adams). God is love and so yes Jenny is right, God makes both kinds.
Yet Jesus just told us to love God and love neighbor as yourself. We have all heard many sermons on the great commandment. But I heard a new way of thinking about them this week. It came from Thomas Aquinas through commentator Zina Jacque. “Thomas Aquinas, a medieval church father, defined love as ‘to will the good of the other.’ Not to feel warmly toward the other. Not to tolerate the other. To actively, structurally, sacrificially
orient your will toward the flourishing of another person. It is a definition that cuts through every sentimental misreading of the commandment. Love is not a feeling that comes and goes. It is a choice, made again and again, in the direction of someone else’s good.” (WP Zina Jacque).
“But Aquinas understood something else as well. The will cannot orient itself toward the other if the self is still crowding the center. You cannot will the good of someone you have quietly decided is beneath you. You cannot love without first making interior room for the other person to matter as much as you do. That interior making-room has a name. It is called humility.”
“This is what the commandment assumes and what we persistently skip. We try to go directly to love without first passing through humility, and we wonder why the commandment doesn’t hold. We agree with it on Sunday and violate it by Tuesday, not because we are hypocrites, but because we have not done the interior work. Humility is not a spiritual nicety that lives alongside love. It is the structural foundation without which love, cannot be built” (Working Preacher, Zina Jacque).
This became real to me this week. Someone let me know how it bothered them that we never prayed for Israel in all that is going on in the Middle East. I had to look at myself and I realized I had not made room for Israel in my heart. My travels there colored my beliefs and made me prideful about who was right. I judged them, so I could not love them. I had not done the work of humility. Which led me to not pray for them. I was not loving my Israeli neighbor as myself.
Yet it can be difficult to see our blind spots, I only realized mine when it was brough to my attention. Most of us live our prideful beliefs, they color our actions and they keep us from loving our neighbor as ourselves. Who is it that you have a hard time making space for in your heart? Who have you judged and so cannot treat them as you would like to be treated. You
cannot love them as you love yourself?
Humility is the precursor of love. And Jesus then illustrates this teaching with his question to the Pharisees about the Messiah. Everyone knows the Messiah will be the son of David, but then Jesus quotes a Psalm in which David says, “The Lord said to my Lord.” In other words, God said to the Messiah, “The Lord said to my Lord” sit at my right hand. David humbled himself to the Messiah, even though the Messiah will be his descendant. “He bent the knee to someone he could have claimed superiority over.
David demonstrated the humility that makes love possible. And the Pharisees, who know the commandment perfectly, cannot answer the question because the question is asking them to do the same thing David did: to subordinate themselves to someone they did not expect to be above
them. They cannot do it. Not because they don’t know the commandment. Because they haven’t done the prior work of humility” (Working Preacher, Zina Jacque).
“Jesus gave them the commandment. Then he gave them the example. Love God. Love your neighbor. And remember that you cannot do either without first doing what David did: humbling yourself before the Lord, who is greater than your own lineage, your own tradition, your own very correct answers. Humility is the prerequisite for love to flourish” (Working Preacher, Zina
Jacque).
Humility is also the principle of stewardship. Humility in giving, humility in loving, humility in seeing others as God’s beloved children. In humble stewardship we see that all that we have and all that we are, belong to God. We put pride aside and make space for loving neighbor by giving some of what we have to God. Giving to God facilitates worship and powers outreach and mission, caring for the least of these in our midst. Giving to God also fosters our community. A community that prays for one another, that worships and sings together, and that humbly serves those in our midst.
We have all been planted in love within St. Andrew Presbyterian Church. When we share our gifts with God and the church, we are showing love for God and for neighbor. We become like the trees planted by the stream of water, sending down roots before we reach towards heaven and God.
I am so grateful to live in a place where redwood trees grow. These majestic trees grow in community creating family circles and support each other through their roots of love. They are physical reminders of the way we are to be interconnected in this life, loving God and loving neighbor.
Today we are dedicating our pledges to God, even those of you who have already turned in your pledge cards we will pray for them today and thank God for all the wonderful gifts we have received. Thank you to all who have already communicated their pledge for next year, and I ask those who have not yet shared their intentions to simply email the church office with your
commitment. Your email will count as your pledge. Together we can all grow in the love we have planted at St. Andrew Church. Amen.
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