Pastor Sean DeLawder
Thurmont Trinity United Church of Christ

"When the Pharisees heard that he (Jesus) had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest? 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. This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’" - (Matthew 22:34-39 NRSV)

(11/1) What does it mean to love God and to love your neighbor? What does it mean to love period? Often when we think of love we think of the feelings that we have when we are in the presences of someone who is very special to us. This could be romantic love; that exciting and stirring feeling that we have when we were first attracted to our husband or wife. It could be that all-encompassing and indescribable feeling that we have for our children. It could be that feeling of comfort that we have when we are in the presence of our best friend, that feeling of being able to be ourselves without fear of being judged. But no matter what type of love we are experiencing, generally we associate it with a feeling; so how do we express or feel that love for our neighbor? How do we feel love for a complete stranger? How do we feel love for God who is so abstract to many of us?

Love is more than just a feeling. When we love someone we show our love through our actions, through our behaviors. How do we know when someone loves us? We know because of how that person behaves towards us; we know because of how that person treats us. If I say I love you to someone but my actions demonstrate otherwise, then even though I have said those words that person is not going to feel love from me. If I know that my spouse has had a hard day at work and I have already started dinner and have the children’s home work finished and then I tell her to go in to the living room and relax and unwind, she will feel my love. If she comes home from a hard day at work and I say "I love you, when will dinner be ready? I am going to go in and check my emails" she is not going to feel the love that I spoke.

The same is true for loving God and loving our neighbor. It is one thing to say the words but if our actions do not back up the words then they are meaningless. If I say that I love God and then do my best to live a life in service to God then my words are demonstrated through my actions. If I say I love my neighbor but then act unjustly towards someone whom I deem different from me, then I am neither demonstrating love towards that neighbor nor towards God. If I turn my back on someone in need, then I am neither demonstrating love towards that neighbor nor towards God. One of the biggest criticisms that people have towards Christians is that we act hypocritically, often citing that we judge others differently than we judge ourselves; when we do this we are neither demonstrating love towards that neighbor nor towards God.

"And whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many." (Mark 10:44b-45 NRSV)

As Christians we are also commanded to serve, which is also a tangible demonstration of our love for our neighbor. In our culture today it is easy to slip into the mindset of self-centeredness. We see it in the countless "selfies", pictures that a person takes of themselves which is then posted on the various social websites. Many people spend their times in front of their screens (computer, tablet, smart phones) and a mass a group of "friends" that they may not actually know nor will every interact with outside of the computer. And there are recent studies that suggest that loneliness has become one of our greatest health risks. It seems as if we forgotten that God commands us to serve one another; to stop focusing on ourselves and to place our focus outside of ourselves. I have often found that when I am feeling bad or sad, all I have to do is help someone else and I spirits are immediately lifted.

There are many ways to serve our neighbors. Some of us have professions focused on service: police, firefighters, EMT’s, doctors, nurses, social workers, teachers, people in the military just to name a few. But there are many ways to serve outside of a professional career: volunteering at schools, with senior citizens, food pantries, homeless shelters and the list goes on and on. It is also very easy to serve our actual neighbors in the community by shoveling a driveway, preparing a meal for a shut-in, taking someone to a doctor’s appointment, picking up medication at a pharmacy and again the list can go on and on.

As we approach Thanksgiving and Christmas we are often moved to think about our less fortunate neighbors and make donations to food banks and donate toys for families that cannot afford gifts for their children. This is a wonderful way to show our love for God and our neighbor, and to serve others, but let us also remember that God calls us to demonstrate these commandments not just during this time of year, but that they are to be expressed each and every day throughout our entire year. May we all be moved to demonstrate this love and service continually, and if you do make this loving effort through your actions, I think that you will find that the feeling of love will be present there too.

Trinity United Church of Christ acknowledges and honors the service and sacrifice of the men and women who have served and who are currently serving in the military. For the past several years the church has held a special Veteran’s Day worship service with a complimentary luncheon following in appreciation of the sacrifice that those who service in the military and their families have made in for all of us. The service will feature special music honoring each branch of the military as well as other patriotic music. The names of our veterans in our community will be read aloud and a Veterans Day Message will be given by Lt. Col. Carol VanSchenkhof. We hope you will join us for this special service on November 11, at 11 a.m. at Trinity United Church of Christ, 101 East Main Street, Thurmont. If you would like more information, or if you would like a veteran’s name listed in our church bulletin please called the church at 301-271-2305. You are also welcome to any of our regular Sunday worship services which are held each week at 11 a.m.. Visit our website at www.trinity uccthurmont.org.