Leviticus 19:1-2, 15-18 (Click on the scripture to read it)
Matthew 22:34-46 (Click on the scripture to read it)
Two weeks ago I had the privilege of being the guest preacher at Trinity Episcopal Church in Reno. It was a great to travel less than 5 miles away and experience worship with our Episcopal neighbors. It was good to see some familiar faces and to be reminded that as an Episcopal parish, St. Paul’s does not stand alone. We are a part of a greater wholeness and a greater holiness.
Last week was our diocesan convention in which I was again reminded that we do not stand alone and that we are a part of a larger diocese made up of 32 parishes and 2 other worshiping communities. Though each parish is unique, we are in common worship and common mission. We are a part of a greater wholeness and a greater holiness.
Last Sunday as convention wrapped up I boarded a plane and traveled 2,600 miles to Baltimore, Maryland for a workshop on being a mentor for a young newly ordained priest, a priest whose ministry is not in Nevada, but in another state and another Episcopal diocese. Again I was reminded that we are a part of a greater wholeness and a greater holiness.
Today’s scripture readings remind me that we are a part of an even GREATER Holiness.
Do you think you are holy?
Really...do you think you are holy person? I have known many people through the years that not only felt they were holy, but saw themselves as holier than everyone else…that’s never a good thing. Others of us try and try to be holy, but we never feel like we are…and maybe some of us feel that we are not even worthy of being holy. Well God clears that up for us today. In our Leviticus lesson it says, “The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them: You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.”
God just said that we are holy because God is holy. God did not say, you might be holy. God did not say you must try to be holy, God said “you shall be holy”. It was commanded by God…you shall be holy. We were created in God’s image and we are holy. I can hear the argument already brewing inside us: “But…but God, how can I be holy…I mess up all the time. I don’t really trust you and I worry way too much. I am not always a nice person and I don’t always do the right thing. I sin…a lot! How can I be holy? And God replies, “because I said so!”
We are often told to stop trying to be something that we are not, but in this case, God is telling us to stop trying to be something you already are. God’s words in Leviticus also tell us of our equality with each other and how to be in relationship with each other, so if we think we are “holier than thou,” God has just straightened us out there as well.
God tells us that we are holy, so what are we to do now?... How are we to respond as a people who are holy?...a people who are a part of a greater wholeness and a greater holiness?
The good Christian answer is for us to turn to scripture. This is all well and good, but we often get overwhelmed when we look inside the cover of the Bible. It contains so much stuff,…so much confusing stuff that we can easily get lost. Lucky for us, Jesus helps us out here. Out of all the scriptures, Jesus gives us a summary of the Bible, or summary of the Law. Jesus gives us the core of what it means to live as holy people. He says to us, "`You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: `You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."
Jesus does not reinvent the wheel…these are not “new” words, but ancient words to even him. Jesus begins with the Shema, a prayer that was and is said by the Hebrew people at the beginning and ending of everyday…a prayer that reminds them that they are holy and to love the one who made them that way. Then Jesus takes that prayer a step further when he reaches back to the ancient laws in which God told us that we are to love our neighbors as ourselves. These are not new fangled words made up by some revolutionary, but these are ancient words from God.
As a holy people we are to love God first and foremost and then we are to love each other as we love ourselves…we are holy people who are to see others as holy people and love them.
Everything begins here…on these two commandments hangs all the law and the prophets…on these two things hangs our ancient past and our prophetic future. It is through loving God and each other that we filter out our differences and focus on our commonalities…our commonality of being a holy people,… our commonality of being a people with real struggles, fears, hopes and dreams,…. our commonalty of trying to accept and believe that each of us really is holy.
Now that God has revealed our holiness and Jesus has given us a plan of action, where do we actually begin?
If everything hangs on loving God and loving neighbor then we have to learn to love in balance. We have to bring ourselves to a daily awareness of what it means to actually love with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our minds. It is like the balance of the Holy Trinity. If we focus on one part of the Trinity more than the other two parts, our relationship with God will be out of balance. To love God with all that we are we must find a balance in our heart, soul, and mind.
What does it really mean to love with all your heart? Though I’m sure the answer is fined tuned for each of us, for me there are a couple of words that come to mind. First there must be intimacy. For me to love with the wholeness of my heart there must be a sense of intimacy in that love. There are so many words that can be linked to an intimate relationship with God...each of us should find what speaks to us. The other thing that is required for me to love God with my whole heart is to posses the willingness for that love to be irrational. Things that come from the heart don’t always make sense...you can’t plan them or explain them, they just are what they are...they are of the heart.
When it comes to loving with the wholeness of the soul there has to be a sacredness that wraps around it. Love from the soul has a deep yearning...a love from the deepest core of our being.
If we only loved with our whole heart and soul we would be out of balance. We were created to think...we must love with our whole minds. Loving with the mind is rational,... logical,... reasonable. When we begin to love with the wholeness of heart, soul, and mind, we begin to love with all our holiness.
Where do we begin? We begin with the basics. We must begin to see ourselves as already holy and we must love ourselves and our holiness. The road to believing we are holy is long and sometimes difficult. Because of this we can’t travel it alone,... we must walk together in community.
For us to love others we must first love ourselves and to love ourselves we must first love God... and it all rests in the loving balance of your Heart, your Soul and your Mind.
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