Sermons
Actions Speak Louder than Words
BY THERESA MCCONNELL |
OCTOBER 26, 2008
Matthew 22:34-46
The Greatest Commandment
34 When 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 neighbour as yourself.” 40On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.’
The Question about David’s Son
41 Now 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.
Over the past few weeks we’ve seen how the Pharisees and Sadducees, feeling threatened by Jesus, try to trick him with questions about faith and his authority. Today’s text is no different. All “good Jews” believed that all the scripture (Torah, first 5 books of Hebrew Scripture, “Old Testament”) were equally important. For Jesus to be asked “which is the greatest” was surely a setup!
It is also interesting to know that by the time Jesus was preaching the concept of Messiah was changing…some thought this Messiah was to be a descendent of David and set up an earthly “Kingdom” and therefore leaned toward a call to rebellion against the Roman army. Others thought the Messiah was to be one that came at the culmination of history, as we know it, and would usher in God’s kingdom. Jesus’ understanding of the Messiah was more akin to the “suffering servant” of II Isaiah…the one who gave his life for the many.
So not only did Jesus refuse to play their game but he completely turned their expectations upside down.
What Jesus does is turn their expectations of his choice of answers upside down. They present “either-or” choice to him; he gives them a new paradigm. Wow! Jesus was radical! He went to the heart of the matter. Rather than our actions hinging on “the law”; “The Law” hinged on our love of God and neighbor.
Now days we talk about “loving” this or that food and wanting to have the recipe for it. We so often talk about how we love this or that program on TV or love how someone does their hair or we’d love to be able to play football the way so and so does. What we get confused about is that Jesus was not talking about how we “feel” toward God and neighbor; he was talking about how we ACT toward God and neighbor. Love, in most of the Scripture, means our committed action. (Douglas Hare as quoted by Donald Tuttle in “Love: Committing Oneself Fully,” www.esermons.com). As Donald Tuttle reminds us, “Neither lust nor affection is at the heart of the faith.” (Ibid.)
Love is committed action over the long-haul.
Actor Christopher Reeves had everything--wealth, fame, fabulous health. He was one of the most handsome, physically-fit men in Hollywood. Then he fell from a horse. And suddenly he was a quadriplegic. When he awoke from his accident, his first thought was that maybe he should go ahead and die. But one thing stopped him and gave him the will to live. His wife, Dana, spoke to him firmly, yet gently. "I am only going to say this once," she said. "I will support whatever you want to do, because this is your life and your decision. But I want you to know that I'll be with you for the long haul, no matter what. You're still you, and I love you." Those words gave Christopher Reeves the strength to go on. (Relationships: The Power of Love from King Duncan, Collected Sermons, www.esermons.com).
Love is learned.
Sandra Palmer Carr in The Upper Room tells about rocking her younger son Boyd, then four years old, in a high-backed wooden rocking chair. Boyd was facing his Mom as they rocked, his legs folded at the knee.
Suddenly, he lifted his small head, stared straight at his mother, and became very still. Then he cupped her face in his tender little hands and said almost in a whisper, "Mommy, I'm in your eyes." He had seen his own reflection in his mother's eyes, and this strangely affected him. Mother and son stayed in that same position for several long moments as the rocking stopped and the room grew quiet. "And I'm in yours," his mother said. Then he leaned his head against her contentedly, and she resumed rocking and singing. Occasionally, in the days that followed, Boyd would check to see if his discovery was lasting. "Am I still in your eyes, Mommy?" he would ask as he reached up for her. (Love is Learned from King Duncan, Collected Sermons, www.esermons.com).
You and I might ask ourselves what we are teaching our children and friends and neighbors as we interact with them. We tell our children not to hit, but we punish them (sometimes in anger) by hitting them. We tell our children to be honest, but they see us keep the extra change mistakenly given us by the cashier. We tell our family that they matter, but we are seldom home. We tell our children that God and Jesus are important, but we don’t regularly visit God’s house. What do others see in our actions?
Love has un-intended consequences.
In 1977, Guideposts reported the story of a man hiking in the mountains. He was taken by surprise by a sudden snowstorm and quickly lost his way. Since he was not dressed for the chilling temperature, he knew he needed to find shelter fast or he would freeze to death. Despite all of his efforts, time slipped by and his hands and feet became numb. He knew his time was short. Then he literally tripped over another man who was almost frozen to death. The hiker had a decision to make: continue in hopes of saving himself or try to help the stranger in the snow.
In an instant he made his decision and threw off his wet gloves. He knelt beside the man and began massaging the man's arms and legs. The man began to respond and together they were able to find help. The man was later informed that by helping the man who had fallen in the snow, he had most certainly helped himself. The numbness that had stricken him vanished while he was massaging the stranger's arms and legs.
We cannot truly love another without ennobling ourselves. Even when love is crucified on a cross, love is not in vain. (Love is not in Vain from King Duncan, Collected Sermons, www.esermons.com).
Actions speak louder than words. How we act tells how much we love God. As we approach our time of financial stewardship commitment, let us remember that our actions speak louder than our words. Love is commitment over the long-haul. It is giving when times are tough and when times are easy. And this is certainly a time when many in our country are much worse off than we are. I encourage you to pray daily - at the same time your prayed during the Capital Campaign – that God will guide you and this church in our actions about our financial commitment to this church. It is action that speaks louder than words.
Love is learned. We learn many things in our process of giving to God. We learn about God’s abundance and grace… we learn that God provides for us even in hard times. We learn that there is a great joy in being able to give.
Love has unintended consequences. We find we are more joyful as we give to God. We find the love comes back to us 10 fold. We find actions speak louder than words… and they continue into time far longer than we might expect.
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