Homily for Trinity 18

In Matthew 22:34-46, Jesus sums up the whole Law of God with the two great commandments: love God with your whole being, and love your neighbor as yourself. This text gives us a good opportunity to look at ourselves in the mirror of our Lord's summary of the Law. When we walk through the Ten Commandments, we discover that, no, we do not love God as we ought, nor do we love our neighbors as ourselves. (A special thanks to the late Dr. Kenneth Korby for the diagnostic questions - many of which are used in this homily - that help us "use the law lawfully" as we examine ourselves and prepare to confess our sins. These same questions find their proper place in Pr. Peter Bender's Lutheran Catechesis.)

So we certainly thank and praise our gracious God for sending His Son, Jesus Christ, to become our neighbor. Yes, in His incarnate Son, "God Has Become Your Neighbor"! And He has loved you so as to suffer and die for you and thus forgive your many sins of not loving Him or the neighbors He has given you.

To listen to "God Has Become Your Neighbor," click here and download the audio file.