30th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A
Exodus 22:20-26
Psalm 18:2-3, 3-4, 47, 51 (2)
1 Thessalonians 1:5c-10
Matthew 22:34-40
October 29, 2023
“Thus says the LORD: “You shall not molest or oppress an alien, for you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt.”
The topic of immigration is a controversial one. Opinions range from closing our borders to an open-door policy. Questions arise about what we do with those who have already entered illegally. Who do we let in? How many do we let in?
These questions are beyond the scope of what I feel called to preach on today but what is clear from our first reading is that we must care about immigrants. Why? Because almost all of us are descendants from immigrants. Our ancestors came for various reasons. We need to be mindful of the needs of immigrants today.
From immigrants, our first reading turns to widows and orphans.
“You shall not wrong any widow or orphan.”
Why? Because the same thing, the loss of a parent or spouse can happen to anyone. We must be mindful of the needs of widows and orphans.
The first reading then offers thoughts on how we conduct our business.
“If you lend money to one of your poor neighbors among my people, you shall not act like an extortioner toward him by demanding interest from him.”
We should not extort people. We shouldn’t demand their cloak as collateral. Why? The Lord says, “for this cloak of his is the only covering he has for his body.”
If we want to be good Christian disciples, we need to think about how we treat immigrants, widows, orphans, and how we conduct business.
Why?
Because the way we do these things says something about our faith.
Jesus was asked, “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?
Hearing this we think of ten commandments. The Jews thought in terms of 613 commandments. Which one does Jesus say is the greatest?
Jesus does not point us to one of the Ten. Jesus points us to Deuteronomy 6:5 when He says, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and will all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment.”
We are to love God. Loving God stands are the heart of the first three commandments to worship only one God, not taking his name in vain, and keeping the Sabbath holy.
Jesus continues, “The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Commandments 4-10 are about loving others. Honor thy parents. Don’t kill. Don’t keep adultery. Don’t steal. We don’t do these things to people we care about.
Even if they are strangers to us, we should care about immigrants, widows and orphans. We should care about those we do business with.
If you want a human reason why we should care, it is because we could end up in the same situation as them.
If you want the spiritual reason, even if they don’t know it, they are children of God. They are our neighbors in God’s eyes and so we are called to love them.
Jesus tells us the greatest commandments are to love God and our neighbor. I am not sure we know what it means to “love” today.
We love God as our strength, our fortress, our deliverer. We can love God because in sending his Son Jesus to die for us, He delivers us from our sins.
But love is not just about getting. Kathryn Hepburn once said, “Love have nothing to with what you are expecting to get – only what you are expecting to give – which is everything.”
Jesus died for us. So, we have good reason to love him.
Our neighbors? One might ask what they have done for us. True Christian love does not start with what they do for us. True Christian love starts with how care for them. If you want to change the world, love your neighbor, care for their needs.
It isn’t always easy to love. Sometimes we need to tell people things they don’t want to hear. When that seems to be the case, first ask God to be sure you are thinking and seeing what is going on as He does. Then ask God if He wants you to say something and what to say. If God wants you to say it, it is the loving thing to do.
Paul preached Jesus to others because Paul wanted them to be saved. Paul cared for others because he loved them as his neighbors. We do well to imitate Paul.
In “imitate” I do not mean we should just “act” like him. It means to become what he is an example of – what it means to follow Jesus, what it means to be like Jesus.
In becoming good Christians, we become a model for others. Conversion is possible. Love is possible. Love is what we are created for. May God grant us what we need to love him and our neighbor.