October 2005 by E. Louise Williams
(Click here for downloadable artwork)

Being in Love
Matthew 22:34–40

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart . . . and your neighbor as yourself.” —Matthew 22:37a; 39b

It was the last of a long series of trick questions meant to trip up Jesus. “What is the greatest commandment? Of all the things God asks us to do, what is the most important?” Jesus reframes the question. The greatest commandment isn’t so much about doing something. It is more like being in love.

Jesus isn’t talking about the “I really need someone to be with” or the “I’m really attracted to you” or the “warm wonderful feeling” kind of love. It’s more the “I want to spend my life with you” or the “I want to give myself to you” kind of love.

It’s the kind of love a mother has: she hates what her son has done, but writes and visits him faithfully for all the years he is in prison. It’s the kind of love someone has who sticks with a friend, no matter how difficult, through the loss of a marriage, the loss of a job, or the loss of hope. It’s the kind of love a husband has who goes every day to the nursing home to spoon-feed meals to his wife with Parkinson’s disease. It’s the kind of love that wants all the best for the beloved and works for it.

That sounds like a tall order. But it is really no order at all. It’s an invitation. This invitation comes from the God who has fallen in love with us—the relentlessly loving God who says, “I want to give myself to you—for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health—even death won’t part us. I’ve marked a cross on you in baptism to remind you that I want to spend my life with you. And look around at these other cross-marked people, the Church, the body of Christ, given, out of my love, for you and for the whole world.”

The loving heart of God is where the answer begins.

Now what was the question?

For reflection and discussion: Where do you see someone in love with God and neighbor? What happens in your congregation when people become preoccupied with obeying commands rather than living in love?

Prayer: Gracious God, you love me with all your heart. Teach me to love you and my neighbor with my whole being. Amen.