Word to the Wise
Sunday, October 29, 2017 - 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time - A
[Exod 22:20-26; 1 Thess 1:5c-10; Matt 22:34-40]When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a scholar of the law tested him by asking, "Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?" [Jesus] said to him, "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments." [Matthew]
Researchers in various areas often try to develop what is called a "field theory" that will explain everything in their particular area of knowledge. Some claim to have found one only to have someone else poke a hole in the matter. In Jesus' time (and before), scholars of the Mosaic Law tried to find one overriding commandment that would give significant unity to the 613 precepts and would allow for a perspective that showed the way through the maze! Jesus provides one that is taken from Leviticus and Deuteronomy (Lev. 19:18 and Deut. 6:5). These two are two sides of one coin: love of God with all one's heart, soul and strength and love of neighbor as oneself. These form not only the basis for the Mosaic Law, but they are the foundation of all that Jesus teaches.
The Mosaic Law (Gen., Exod, Lev., Num. and Deut.) encompassed much of daily life. If we take a look at the first scripture for today from Exodus (which is one of the five books of the Torah or Mosaic Law), we are given some examples of love of neighbor which touch on some very politically sensitive topics in our time: immigration and payday loans! There are many other areas of public and private life we could find there. When I get into a conversation about such things as immigration or economic activity or other sensitive political issue, I eventually have to ask the person with whom I'm speaking, "What is your starting point in all of this?" Is it "national security" or "capitalism," etc, or is it the gospel? How do we address critical challenges for our society as Christians? What is our starting point? Or have we compartmentalized life to such an extent that faith becomes simply a private thing with no implications for our neighbor or our community? it is a sobering question. At the end of time, the standard by which we will be judged is love of God and neighbor. That is not a theory but a fact of faith! AMEN