Loving God with All Your Strength

Abridged sermon from October 10, 2010

Deuteronomy 6:20-25; 2 Corinthians 8:1-5; Luke 14:16-24

The Message paraphrase of the Shema from Deuteronomy 6:5 is: Love God (Yahweh, personal name), your God (Elohim, office or role), with your whole heart: love him with all that’s in you, love him with all you’ve got.”

Where The Message has “with all you’ve got,” most other translations say “with all your might’ or “with all your strength.” One commentator suggests that, “with all your very muchness,” gets at the meaning.

When Jesus quotes this passage and Mark reports it, almost all the translations opt for “with all your strength.” For most of us, our first image of strength or might has to do with muscle. But let’s start with muscle and see what we need to add to get to the range of meaning: all your muscle, might, strength, energy, substance, resources, possessions, influence, excessiveness, totality, “all you’ve got,” “all your very muchness.”

In previous weeks, have suggested that your heart means the formative place within you, that your soul means your life and self, that your mind means the mental processes by which you connect your personal story to God’s great story and decide what it means to walk in God way and wisdom. Now I am suggesting that your strength or might means everything you’ve got, your very muchness. There is not much held back in this Greatest of All Commandments, is there?

What does it mean to love God with everything you’ve got? I think that a parable Jesus told will help us get at it. Luke 14:16 But Jesus said to him, “A man once gave a great banquet and invited many guests. 14:17 At the time for the banquet he sent his slave to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, because everything is now ready.’ 14:18 But one after another they all began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please excuse me.’ 14:19 Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going out to examine them. Please excuse me.’ 14:20 Another said, ‘I just got married, and I cannot come.’ 14:21 So the slave came back and reported this to his master. Then the master of the household was furious and said to his slave, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and alleys of the city, and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’ 14:22 Then the slave said, ‘Sir, what you instructed has been done, and there is still room.’ 14:23 So the master said to his slave, ‘Go out to the highways and country roads and urge people to come in, so that my house will be filled. 14:24 For I tell you, not one of those individuals who were invited will taste my banquet!’”

This parable is one of those that often perplexes people. They think that Jesus is asking them to choose whether they will have careers, possessions, labor-saving devices, marriage, family life, and so forth, or whether they will just serve the kingdom of God, as though the two are mutually exclusive. But that is not true. Jesus is not against any of those good things, but he wants everything we let into our lives to be dedicated to the love of God. Rather than allowing a conflict between these things and God, we are to manage them so that we serve God and celebrate God through these things, and so that they do not get in the way of important celebrations of God’s redeeming love.

Now, I understand that this is easier said than done. Any of these things can end up in conflict with loving God, and it is not always easy to figure out how to resolve the conflict. Even religious work can end up in conflict with loving God. It is especially hard when we are working for a company or an employer who does not value our goal of loving God through everything that we do. There may be situations in which we need to look for another job, but I would not urge a hasty decision on that. Employees who prayerfully seek creative ways to represent Christ can often find appropriate and surprising ways that keep the obligation they have to their employers and still show love for God. Several of you have been very creative at finding such ways.

Finding ways to be faithful in showing our love for God through the major components of our lives—our employment, our skills, our family relationships, our money, our possessions, our education, our hobbies, our friendship circles, and so forth--opens doors for larger opportunities. Our lives deepen in satisfaction.

Take a moment to select one or two areas of your life in which you would like to show more of your love for God. Ask God to show you how to do it appropriately and effectively. Listen until something I list grabs your attention. Then go with it for a few moments.

How could you show more of God’s love through:

1. Your employment?

2. Your skills?

3. Your family relationships?

4. Your money?

5. Your possessions? Don’t forget your transportation and communication devices.

6. Your education?

7. Your hobbies?

8. Your friendship circles?

Love God with all your very muchness! You’ll be glad you did. Amen.

[For posting on the Web, I have left out two illustrations of living our daily lives with God in the forefront, one illustration regarding a Christian plumber and one illustration provided live and impromptu by our youth ministries leader Scott Frame. Think about Christians you know who find creative ways to live out their Christian faith and witness].