Love God. Love Your Neighbor. That's All.

In this Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus boils the whole law and prophets down to two commandments, so I wonder if we can do that with all the readings for this Sunday – break them down, add some prayer and life experience, and reduce them to their essence. It’s like making jam – cut up the fruit, add sugar, and boil it down. It’s a simple process, but as I’ve learned the hard way through mishaps and misadventures (like jam that’s runny or too sweet or burned) simple isn’t necessarily easy.

So, here goes: In our First Reading, the commandment from Exodus is to refrain from oppressing immigrants, widows, orphans, and people living with poverty. In the Second Reading, the community at Thessalonica is commended for imitating Christ and for becoming “a model for all believers.” And in the Gospel, Jesus reduces all the commandments to loving God with your heart, soul, and mind and loving your neighbor as yourself. So, love God and other people, not only by not harming the vulnerable, but by imitating Christ, who loves everyone wholeheartedly.

 When I reduce it down this way, it seems kind of easy. In the face of heartbreak and hardship – and there’s a lot of both going around these days – I can respond by standing at a distance and causing no harm. That’s easy. Or I can try to help people, and direct service is a way to do that, although I personally don’t know what people really need. I can also advocate for people — be a voice for those who have no voice. Except that every person does have a voice, and maybe my speaking would be speaking over their voice, and that could drown them out. So, these may seem like ways to imitate Christ, do no harm, and love God and neighbor, but I also have to be careful.

There’s nothing wrong with service and advocacy, of course, but if I think about it in a me-versus-them, helper-versus-recipient kind of way, that’s a problematic dynamic. Scripture doesn’t call me to that dichotomy. In fact, each reading redirects back to its audience and invites self-reflection. Why do we not oppress immigrants and refugees? Because “you were once aliens yourselves.” Why did the community at Thessalonica imitate Christ? Because it was modeled to them first. And how do we love our neighbors? By loving them as ourselves, by entering into mutual relationships rather than othering people.

To “other” someone is to treat them as if they’re different from me, really, to treat them as less than me. Jesus doesn’t other people. He enters into a relationship as one with them and calls me to do the same. If I really love my neighbors, I acknowledge our shared humanity and even appreciate our differences. The term “neighbor” implies a mutuality. It shows equity and not a power differential. It’s not me-versus-them, but us together. And the ways in which we do or do not love others is intimately connected with how we love God. How can we say with a straight face that we love God with our whole selves if we don’t treat people well?

If that’s true, if our love for God is bound up in how we love people, how do we justify violence in the name of God? How are there religious wars? Destroying people is clearly the opposite of loving them, and you’d think that would be an obvious obstacle to loving God. But it’s not that simple, is it? Religions might come from God, but they’re made up of people, and people tend to act out of our own brokenness and selfishness and ego, and sometimes we even do so in the name of God. I recently heard someone describe the conflict in Israel and Gaza as a war between two religions, but I just don’t think that’s what’s happening. It’s more complicated than that. I’m not going to venture into the politics of it all — I don’t have the expertise to do that. However, there are spiritual implications, and those affect all of us.

A couple of weeks ago, I heard an interview with a Rabbi and an Imam on NPR on All Things Considered. One of them, Rabbi Sharon Brous, quoted a doctor who treated people after the initial attack in Israel, “The real dividing line is not between Israelis and Palestinians but between those who believe violence is the answer and those who believe there is another way. And I believe there's another way.” Imam Mohamed Herbert agreed. That really spoke to me. It’s not really a conflict between Jews and Muslims either. Neither Judaism nor Islam condones violence; in fact, both promote the belief that there’s another way. And we Christians have no right to judge. How many times have we entered into war and violence in the name of God, and yet we know our Scriptures promote peace, justice, and love of neighbor. In fact, all faith traditions call people to love rather than violence. And yet, humans hurt each other. That’s about us, not God.

How do we help each other to love God with our whole selves? How do we help each other to love our neighbors? I certainly don’t have the answer to worldwide peace, but I do believe, though, that there’s another way than violence to resolve conflicts. Also, as soon as we other people, as soon as we separate ourselves from another person or group, our empathy and compassion evaporate, and conflicts emerge. I think that peace starts small, in my own heart, in my own relationships, and then extends from neighbor to neighbor and neighborhood to neighborhood and, eventually, nation to nation.

We humans are a complicated bunch, aren’t we? Each of us — each of us — has the potential to inflict terrible hurt, but we’re also capable of offering beautiful, wholehearted compassion. We try to choose to act out of the parts of us that are like God and avoid reacting out of the small, broken, selfish parts of ourselves that are not like God. Maybe now more than ever we need to be in mutually caring relationships with our neighbors. Each tiny action that builds relationships goes a long way to break down barriers and resolve conflicts – or avoid conflicts altogether. It’s not easy, but the essence of God’s call is simple: imitate Christ by loving God and caring for our neighbors with our whole hearts, minds, and souls because we are one with each other.

For Reflection

• Have you ever had the experience of connecting with someone who was a little different from you –maybe someone in your neighborhood, someone in your local community? What was that like?

• How has getting to know other people deepened your awareness? Has it ever brought you closer to God? What was that like, and where was God in that experience?

• What does loving your neighbor as yourself look like in your life?

• How are you loving God with your heart mind and soul?

By Sister Leslie Keener, CDP

Sister Leslie Keener, CDP is the director of God Space, a community-building spirituality ministry in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. She’s a Sister of Divine Providence with a Masters in Ministry and a Certificate in Spiritual Direction and Retreats from Creighton University. She directs retreats, meets with people for spiritual direction, and serves as the vocation director for her community. She also serves on the Board of Spiritual Directors International. She enjoys music, dancing, and meaningful conversations.