"Beyond Right and Wrong" | The Rev. Heidi Thorsen | October 25, 2020

Proper 25, Year A | October 25, 2020

Leviticus 19:1-2,15-18
Psalm 1
1 Thessalonians 2:1-8
Matthew 22:34-46

Jesus said, “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.” May I speak in the name of God, who is to us Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

This week I have been grappling with what it means to “love your neighbor as yourself.” For me, this hasn’t been just a hypothetical sermon-prep exercise. It’s been a real, concrete issue that landed on our doorstep last week, so to speak, when we at Trinity were called by a local neighbor to consider the issue of Kensington Playground, in the Dwight neighborhood of New Haven. Let me tell you a story.

Late last week, Trinity was contacted by Pat Wallace, a local neighbor who expressed concern about the sale of some parkland in the Dwight neighborhood. The public land where Kensington Playground sits was being sold for $1 to The Community Builders, a developer, for the building of affordable housing units. This plan had been in the works for some time, and it meets a real need in our city - the need for more affordable housing units, to reduce and end homelessness. The plan required the Community Builders to enrich green spaces elsewhere in the City of New Haven. However, many people in the Dwight neighborhood expressed concern. Why does affordable housing have to come at the expense of public green spaces, particularly during a pandemic when outside space is so valuable? - they asked. Why is affordable housing being built in neighborhoods with already high poverty rates, as opposed to wealthier neighborhoods? - they asked.

Pat Wallace asked us to consider calling our local alders to share these concerns, and to increase public awareness of this issue. So I did. I sent an email to, at first, a few members at Trinity. And then Luk requested that we share it more widely in an email blast. And then, something amazing happened. People responded. Some people responded to my email saying that they decided to call their alder, to ask them to vote against the sale of the land at a meeting that took place this past Monday. Other people reached out to say that they supported this building project. They noted that affordable housing is scarce, and that it will never get built if people always push back and say “not in my neighborhood.” They highlighted how the deal supported the growth and improvement of green spaces in other neighborhoods across the city. And still others reached out to me to say that they didn’t know what to think about the issue, which side to support, which voice to amplify. And while they didn’t take a specific action, they still took the time to care, and read, and learn about something that impacts our greater community. In each one of these responses - for, against, unsure about this building project - I saw the face of God. In each one of these responses, I saw what it looks like to love your  neighbor as yourself.

On Monday night, the Board of Alders voted to approve the sale - and to move forward with the project as planned. This wasn’t the outcome that Pat Wallace and other people in the Dwight neighborhood were hoping for. And yet these affordable units will still bring much needed housing to the city. I now know my alder better; I know some people at Trinity better; and I know my community better. And we have all taken time to stop and think about what is necessary and good - not just for ourselves, but for our neighbors.

I must admit, after all of this, there was a moment when I asked myself whether it was worth it. Was it worth it to speak up to my alder with concerns about a project that is moving forward anyways? Was it worth it to share this issue with my Trinity family, when it exposed differences of opinion that we would sometimes rather not face? And the hardest question of all: was I right? Was it right to believe that maybe we shouldn’t build affordable housing on public park land? Or was the other side right - those who advocated for the sale and development of this land, so that people can have affordable homes?

In response to all of these questions, the answer I received was this: our lectionary readings for this week. And these readings are exactly the answer I needed. Consider our gospel passage for this week. The Pharisees ask Jesus, “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” In response, Jesus says this: “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. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” 

After reading this scripture I realized that all the questions I was asking - was it worth my time, was it worth the conflict, was I right? - these questions were not the most important questions to be asking. The most important question was this: did my actions stem from my love of God, and my love for my neighbor?  If I can answer yes to this question, then I am on the right track. If you can answer yes to this question, then you are on the right track.

I think that when the Pharisees asked Jesus “which commandment in the law is the greatest?” they were looking for a straightforward answer. They were looking for a “right or wrong kind” of answer. Think of the ten commandments: Thou shall not murder (check). Thou shall not steal (check). Instead, Jesus offers a commandment that goes beyond a simple checklist of yes or no; right or wrong. Jesus gives us a commandment that encompasses our whole heart our whole lives: Love God. Love your neighbor as yourself.

When the Pharisees ask this question of Jesus they are thinking in terms of right and wrong - and they are also hoping that perhaps they can trip Jesus up. Perhaps they can expose his wrongness to reaffirm their rightness. The Pharisees don’t come across too well in the gospel, and yet I think it’s important to say: we are a lot like the Pharisees. We want simple, straightforward answers. We want to know what is right and wrong, and we want to be on the side that is right. Sometimes we will even avoid getting into a conversation if we recognize that it’s one of those gray areas - and we would rather say nothing at all, than be wrong. 

Too often we are afraid to engage with an issue because it is too complicated. It is too messy. And yet where would be, if God had not sent Jesus into our messy, complicated world? We, like Jesus, are called to enter into the fray. Whenever we refuse to engage, out of caution or fear, we are refusing to listen to our neighbors. And if we don’t listen to our neighbors, how can we possibly love them?

Jesus does not say to his disciples, “Seek first to be right at all times!” No, Jesus says to his disciples “Seek first the kingdom of God, and God’s righteousness” - and that is a very different thing from our human  notions of right and wrong. In our gospel passage for today Jesus tells us how we can seek first the kingdom of God, and he does this through that same commandment that is worth repeating again and again: Love God. And love your neighbor as yourself.

Loving people is not about right or wrong - because there is no one right way to love. Each one of us loves differently. And so each of us will respond differently. We will respond differently to the needs of our community. We will respond differently to one another. And that’s okay! In fact, I think it is necessary. We need to learn to love our differences. And we need to begin to notice, and appreciate, the different ways that we show love for one another. 

Perhaps some of you are thinking: but wait! There are wrong ways to love. What about abuse, either physical or emotional? I will keep my response short: that is not love. That is a convoluted version of hate. Let’s not waste time poking holes in the greatest commandment, which I’ve found to hold true through the most complicated times. Instead let us choose to love. It’s as simple and as complicated as that: just love. Love, as God loves us.

Sometimes I think that we are obsessed with right and wrong. One need only tune into the news to see how our obsession with right and wrong is tearing us apart. Instead of focusing on what is right and wrong, let us focus on what is good and true. This does not mean ignoring the things that are bad or complicated in this world. In fact, our passage from Leviticus specifically states “you shall reprove your neighbor, or you will incur guilt yourself.” We have to keep an eye out for one another. And we have to keep each other accountable. But the standard by which we do this is not right and wrong. The standard by which we keep ourselves and one another accountable is simply this commandment: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and all your soul, and all your mind. And love your neighbor as yourself.

The Sufi poet Jalal al-Din Rumi writes these words, which I find myself returning to in this season of division and uncertainty. Rumi writes:

Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,

there is a field. I will meet you there.

This field that Rumi describes, that place beyond right and wrong - I think Rumi is describing the kingdom of heaven. It is a place that we are always working towards, in our worship together and in our daily living. And it is a place that we can get to if we lean into the complexity of life. If we wade through those faulty human standards of right and wrong and pick up the only standard that matters - the standard of love.

Jesus said, “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. On these two commandments hang all the law, and the prophets.” Amen.