All Saints' Day

A time to step back and reflect.

Today is a great day to step back and look at the whole picture. Getting caught up in the smaller things can have a way of making us miss the forest for the trees. It’s not that individual trees don’t matter. It’s not that small things are unimportant. It’s that often we can get so bogged down by the details that the goal is lost.

What is the greatest commandment in the law?

What is the thesis? What sums it all up? If I can only remember a single thing about life, what is it?

Jesus does not dance around with this answer. He has no returning question. He does not offer up a riddle or a quiz or a parable to illustrate the point. He simply steps back and gives the whole picture as asked for:

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being, and with all your mind. And Love your neighbor as you love yourself.

Who are the followers of Christ who’ve most inspired you to love Jesus? Why are they inspiring to you? Does this passage mean anything as you think of them?

I bet it does.

Matthew 22:34-40

When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had left the Sadducees speechless, they met together. One of them, a legal expert, tested him. “Teacher, what is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

He replied, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: You must love your neighbor as you love yourself. All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.”

Prayer

God,

Everyone’s arguing. Well, maybe not everyone, but it sure feels like it. This issue and that issue. This is right and this is wrong. You are wrong. You are hateful. No, you are. Blah, blah, blah. A resounding gong, indeed.

I want to love you and I want to love people.

So help me, God.

By your spirit & in Christ,
Amen.