Sermon for October 26, 2008: “Love in Action”
Scripture Lessons: Leviticus 19:1-2, 15-18; Matthew 22:34-40; Ephesians 5:28-29
The focus of this sermon was love as action rather than feeling. When we are called to love our neighbors as ourselves, we are not called to feel a particular affection for somebody. We all know that such feelings can neither be commanded nor forbidden – they just are. We are fond of some people, while others do not solicit such emotion from us. In fact, the are some people that we do not like very much. Some people irritate or annoy us, some people excite no particular feeling at all. God knows this. God also knows that this is a normal state of affairs with us.
Nevertheless, we are called to love our neighbors as ourselves. This means that just as we more or less aoutomatically act in our own best interests, we are to act in the best interests of our neighbors as well – even those we do not like very much. To act in ways that promote the highest good for those around us is what it means to love our neighbors as ourselves. Love, in this command, is not a feeling. It is a way of acting. Love of neighbor is not found in feeling, it is found in action. Love in Action.
