Act on Your Love, For God and Others

And one of them, a lawyer, asked Jesus a question to test him. “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” And Jesus said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

It is a pretty straight forward question for Jesus. And he gives a clear answer…and then some. The man asked Jesus about the greatest commandment, singular. One. And Jesus answers him with the singular greatest commandment, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.”….”And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” A second? We were only asking about the one commandment.  

But Jesus knows us. He knows that if we are turning the commandment to love the Lord with all our hearts into a test question, then we probably need help unpacking the application. Loving the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind is first, but it is tethered to loving your neighbor as yourself. The first cannot but lead to the second.

We see throughout the Bible that love is tied to action. In John 14, Jesus says, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” In John 21, Jesus asks Peter, “Do you love me?” Peter says, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” What does Jesus tell him in response? “Feed my sheep.”

In Luke’s gospel, this back and forth with the lawyer leads right into the parable of the good Samaritan. And who proved to be a neighbor to the injured man? The one who did something. No one demonstrates this connection between love and action better than God himself. Romans 5 says, “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Love is evidenced by action.

Over the last year, many, if not all, of our previous patterns and routines of acting on our love for God and love for others have been upended. We’ve had to change course and adapt, often very quickly. God has been faithful to show us new ways to love others. There are some new patterns we should hold onto and there are some whose season of usefulness are drawing to an end, Lord willing. We are not in the clear yet, but this is a good time to evaluate our opportunities to serve one another out of our love for God.

At Cities, we have some very practical areas of application that we should consider. Is it time for me to volunteer in child care again? Should I join the team of greeters and ushers that welcomes people into worship each week? Can I help set up for Sunday morning worship?

The exhortation is this: Consider anew the ways in which we can act out of our love for God and others. But there is a caution that follows: Is there any area where sin has seized upon the upheaval of the last year to keep us from serving one another in love?

This reminds us of our need to confess our sins.

Father, this pandemic has brought numerous challenges and trials into our lives, but there is no excuse for sin. Where we have allowed sinful isolationism or tribalism or even laziness to creep into our minds and hearts, we ask for your forgiveness. Where there are sinful motivations for withdrawal from serving and loving one another, please reveal them and forgive us. Forgive us for sinful divisiveness. We know God that if we regard sin in our own hearts, then our prayers will be ineffectual, so we confess our private sins to you in this moment of silence.  …

Father, thank you for Jesus. Thank you for his example of perfect love spilling over into action. How can it be, God, that his every act of obedience to you flowing from his love for you could clothe us in a righteousness we do not deserve? We tremble thinking of our place on the cross - taken by Jesus, of his own will. And we rejoice at his resurrection - sealing our inheritance in your presence. What amazing love! Please, God, work in us by your Spirit, to act in loving service according to the pattern modeled by your Son.