Opening Responses
The world belongs to God
The earth and all its people
How good and lovely it is
To live together in unity
Love and faith come together
Justice and peace join hands
Song “I the Lord of sea and sky”
Let us in silence remember our faults and failings
Christ have mercy on us, deliver us from ourselves and help us to put right our lives.
Amen.
The Lords prayer in our own language
Reading-Matthew 22v34-40
34 But when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered themselves together. 35 One of them, a lawyer, asked him a question, testing Him,36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”37 And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the great and foremost commandment. 39 The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”
Song “The Lords my shepherd”
Reflection
The religious leaders didn't know how to answer Jesus. He made them look foolish. So they got together and one of them put a question in order to test him, catch him out with this question. Jesus is being baited into a discussion over the importance of the 613 biblical laws, to damage his credibility. His answers contributed to his arrest and death. He was viewed as someone who had come to abolish the law.
Jesus gives an answer, dividing the law into the first and second commandments. “Love the Lord your God with all your passion, prayer and intelligence". Love your neighbour as yourself". For a Jew, one's neighbour is their fellow Jew and for many Christians this means a Christian neighbour. The parable of the Good Samaritan shows us our neighbour is anyone we meet. Jesus points out that all Old Testament laws stem from these two commandments.
This passage prompts numerous questions:
1. What does it mean to love God?
2. Who is my neighbour"?
3. What does loving your neighbour mean?
4. What does it mean to love your neighbour as yourself?
5. How is love of God and love of our neighbour related? Is caring for broken humanity the same as loving God?
6. Are both commandments equally important, or is the first greater?
7. Does the law of love replace the Torah? The Torah outlines the practical details of love.
8. Are these two commandments laws to be done or ideals to be aimed at?
These two commands summarize God's perfect law, demanding righteousness. They remind us that our right-standing before God is not gained by obedience to laws. Its about our heart attitude. Its about love. Amen
Song “We cannot measure how you heal”
Our Prayers
We pray for people and situations we are concerned about including, people coping with ongoing lockdown, the desperate people crossing the sea in dinghies, people with Covid19, the people of Belarus, the people of Hong Kong and the people of war torn Syria, Nigeria, Thailand, Armenia, Azerbaijan and other places we never hear about, rising fascism, the government, the Rohinga Muslims, Muslims being persecuted in China, protection for key workers and adequate PPE, protection for Black and Asian people, for people on low or no incomes, for those with underlying health conditions and those over 60, care for those who are alone and those struggling in whatever way, suffering with depression, protection for asylum seekers and refugees and ensuring that food is reaching the vulnerable and global warming.
May we not fail you. Amen
Song “In Christ Alone”
The blessing of God be upon you
On those you love and those you meet
This day and forevermore. Amen
With thanks to the ©Iona Community adapted
