September 1 – Matthew 22:34-40

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Main focus: Learning Jesus’s way leads to genuine, full-life worship.

Continuing on in Humans Being we’ll take a look at a third theme of the way Jesus taught his disciples: worship. You might think most immediately about signing, taking communion, prayer, that sort of thing, but we’re going to start by looking at the Great Commandment to love God and love neighbor. This will help us see how worship is rooted most essentially in our love of God and how worship can encompass the whole of our lives. We’ll then hop over to Colossians 3:12-17 to talk more about that full-orbed approach to worship.

For some context on Matthew 22, we find Jesus teaching in the temple a few days before his crucifixion. There he was being quizzed by religious leaders trying to make a fool of him. A lawyer, a highly trained religious expert, asked, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” Is essence he was asking Jesus for his overall approach to obeying the Law of Moses. Jesus, in his wisdom, answered with a slam dunk. His command, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind,” is straight out of the Shema (Deut. 6:4-5), an important prayer that devout Jews like the Pharisees prayed every morning and evening.

But Jesus didn’t stop there; he added onto this the love of neighbor. Jesus points out in this two-fold commandment that love of God and love of neighbor are intimately tied. True love of neighbor is impossible without love of God (i.e. adoring him and valuing what he values), while true love of God is incomplete without love of neighbor. God’s love, the love that he pours into our hearts (Rom. 5:5), is a love that overflows and acts. Love of God will lead to love of neighbor, and both have inherent movement, propelling us to acts of service, devotion, sacrifice, and benevolence.

It’s the two loves combined that gives us a full concept of what all worshiping God can entail. In discussion we’ll ask what, practically speaking, a life lived with this sort of love looks like. Such a love is meant to shape us into a certain kind of person; such a love should inevitably govern our actions, thoughts, motives, efforts, pastimes, dreams, decisions, spending patterns, and more. This is an all-of-life love, which again helps us see how worship is an all-of-life affair, as we’ll see in Colossians momentarily.
But before going there we’ll take a moment to sit in this question: do I think God deserves this sort of love? If we’re ever dealing with problems in our devotion to God like apathy in worship or lackluster obedience, always there will be some gap between the worship God objectively deserves and the worship we feel ready to give. Some days we simply do not feel like God is worth it all. Sometimes we feel like God asks too much, that we can’t possibly give him every square inch of our lives. While we know the right theological answer here, that God is worthy to receive all glory from all things for all time, we should engage with this question to determine what things might be hamstringing our love for God; likely it is a competing love, or else a fear of somehow coming out worse off for having given ourselves as living sacrifices to him (Rom 12:1-2).

To close out discussion, we’ll read Colossians 3:12-17 to get some of the multifaceted aspects of worship. This will help us get to the last question, where we’ll ask how these sorts of worship practices can work their way into the natural rhythms of our lives. This might take some thinking, but there are certainly ways in which growth in loving God and loving neighbor can simply be added onto those commitments and responsibilities we already have. Going for a run? Maybe ditch the pump up music and use the time for prayer. Sitting in the carpool line? Maybe work your way through a book of the Bible instead of just scrolling. Intentional conversations, encouraging texts, shared time in prayer with others, or taking a moment to sing together (Jesus did it with his friends, Matt 26:30)—all of these and more are examples. It’s important to note here that the goal isn’t just to “fit” worship into a busy life; it’s to seed your everyday life with worship here and there with the hope that it grows into the whole.

Discussion questions

– Could someone read Matthew 22:34-40 for us?

– What stood out to you in the passage?

– Practically speaking, what do you think it looks like for someone to love God and neighbor like this?

– If you ask yourself, ‘does God deserve this sort of love?’ what thoughts does that stir up in you?

– Could someone read Colossians 3:12-17?

– How can this passage help us see the different ways we can worship God together?

– What are some ways you can incorporate worshiping God like this into the natural rhythms of your life?

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