Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:30-31
Love God with all I've got, and love my neighbor as myself. How hard can this be?
I used to run a couple of food pantries that helped low income people stretch their money by filling their cupboards. The postal and scouting food drives were great sources of donations for sharing with our neighbors in need. But... they were also a pain. I set up a contest every year for these big food drives, and offered prizes to my hard-working volunteers for the oldest and weirdest items donated.
It took a lot of time to sort the food and check every date. The prizes made the hard work fun, but why did we have to do it in the first place? Because people would go through the back of their cupboards and donate the stuff they hadn't used or didn't want any more. The leftovers. It was disrespectful to the volunteers who were sorting the donations, and undignified for our neighbors receiving the food.
Is giving my leftovers to my neighbors in need showing them the love I give to myself? After all, this was the food I didn't want anymore... so why did I think someone else would want it?
Jesus asks us to give all of ourselves in love to God, and to love our neighbors as ourselves. This seems to suggest that we should give our best to God and our neighbors, not our leftovers. Instead of giving an old, tired sofa to church when we buy a new one for our living, why don't we save enough to buy a new one for God's work as well? Instead of giving our old, unwanted food to the nonprofit, why don't we give the good stuff?
Our world tells us to take care of Number One first - ourselves - and if there is something left over, then give it to a nonprofit to serve people in need.
This is not the message of Jesus.
Love God with all of yourself - the best parts first - and love your neighbor as yourself. Love those in need with the same level of action and stuff as you take care of yourself. John Wesley demonstrated this by changing his lifestyle so he had more to give others. He had long hair, not because it was in style, but because he saved on haircuts so he could give more money to people in need. He saved as much as he could so he could give as much as he could.
Jesus is challenging us: what are we really willing to give to God and our neighbors? Our leftovers, or the good stuff? Amen.
Pastor Anna-Lisa Hunter
March 6, 2024
