Love God, Love People Part 2 - A Deeper Dive
Scripture: Mark 12:28-34 and Matthew 25:31-46
Message Recap
This week is part 2 of our series Love God, Love People, in which we are taking a closer look at Jesus’ response to the question, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
“29 The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.
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Our focus last week was on loving the Lord. Jesus says we must love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. We considered these elements and discussed why Jesus might have added “all your mind” to the original Hebrew prayer found in The Book of Deuteronomy. We finished the first part of the series by discussing how loving God opens our hearts to loving others and that the more we love God, the more we love those around us.
This week we turn our attention to the second part of Jesus’ answer: to love our neighbor. We say it often, but we believe it to be true: Ocoee Oaks is a love God, love people church! Visitors and guest pastors often comment on the genuine feeling of love from this congregation. We demonstrate our love through our outreach and by supporting programs that help those in our community. But as much as we show our love for our neighbors, there is always room for growth.
Our ministry partners, the church that meets in our building on Sunday afternoons, recently showed us love by spending an entire day cleaning and helping take care of the facilities. We didn’t ask them to do this. The building wasn’t in dire need. They simply took it upon themselves because they are also a “love God, love people” church. How does it feel when someone does something for us without our asking? Pretty great, right? Isn’t that a feeling we should want to spread to others? Imagine how different our world would be if everyone were driven by the feeling we get when we help others.
When Jesus said, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” he quoted Leviticus 19:18. While this was a familiar verse to his audience, the Jewish leaders and scholars misinterpreted the word neighbor. They taught that “neighbor” included only those Jews in good standing with the church. Those who gave money, followed all of the laws, and fell in line with what the leaders taught were exclusively neighbors. Jesus, on the other hand, taught that everyone we meet is a neighbor. During the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus calls out the incorrect teaching that it’s ok to hate those who are not your neighbors when he says:
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”
No Old Testament scripture says hating someone not your neighbor is acceptable. This interpretation was an invention of the Jewish leaders.
The question isn’t, “Who is my neighbor?” It’s, “Am I loving my neighbor?” Loving our neighbor is a manifestation of loving God. It is an extension of the greatest command to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Loving others means taking action and making a difference for someone other than ourselves. It means being in service to someone you don’t even like.
One of the natural outcomes of loving and caring for people first is that it draws others to see where your source of power comes from. It draws them to God. The Church often seems confused about what is most important. We hear that our priorities are to increase numbers, raise more money, or plant more churches. If we focus on what Jesus said is most important - to love god and love people - the other priorities will naturally fall into place.
All of this leads us to ask, “How well are we living up to the commands Jesus says are the most important?” The Apostle Paul offers a test in the well-known and often quoted love passage from his letter to the Corinthians:
“4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”
Paul provides the attributes of perfect love. Go back and reread the passage, but this time substitute “Jesus” for the word “love.” God is love. Jesus is love. As followers of Jesus, we try to be more like him daily. We want to behave as Jesus behaved. Think of this passage of scripture anytime you need to check yourself and how you love others.
Don’t be afraid to love others. Pride is the enemy, holding us back from freely loving those around us - even those we may not like. Just as Paul wrote to the Corinthians, love is not proud. It isn’t just pride that holds us back. Sometimes we forget what love means. We’re not talking about your romantic love for a spouse or nurturing love for a child. We’re talking about the type of love expressed by helping one another. We don’t have to show others affection to love them. We simply need to care enough to help them in times of need.
The only way we can effectively spread God’s love to the world is to prioritize loving our neighbor. We only get better at loving by practicing. We close this week’s message by considering the words of the Apostle John:
“19 We love because he first loved us. 20 Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.”
What is Love?
Love is a complex emotion. How we express love to one person may be completely different than how we show it to another. In scripture, we find four unique forms of love communicated through the Greek words: Eros, Storge, Philia, and Agape.
Eros (pronounced AIR-ohs) refers to sensual or romantic love. It is the love shared by two people who feel physical attraction. While the word does not appear in the New Testament Greek, it is generally accepted that the Old Testament Book Song of Solomon vividly portrays the love described by Eros.
Storge (pronounced STOR-jay) describes family love. It is the affectionate bond that develops naturally between parents, children, and siblings. As the family of God, followers of Jesus also form the familial bonds described by the word Storge.
Philia (pronounced FILL-ee-uh) is the powerful emotional bond seen in deep friendships. We often hear the term “brotherly love,” which is synonymous with Philia (think Philidelphia - the city of Brotherly Love). Philia is the most general type of love in scripture. It encompasses love for fellow humans, care, respect, and compassion for people in need.
Agape (pronounced Uh-GAH-pay) is the highest form of love found in the Bible. It defines God's immeasurable, incomparable love for humankind. Agape is the divine love from God, perfect, unconditional, sacrificial, and pure.
Love is not only complex, it is one of the most powerful emotions humans can experience. As followers of Jesus, love is the truest test of genuine faith. With the help of the Holy Spirit, we discover in scripture how to experience love in its many forms and to share it with others as God intended.
Love God and love people. Amen.