Psalm 116:1, 10-17

1 I love the Lord, because he has heard the voice of my supplication, because he has inclined his ear to me whenever I called upon him.
10 How shall I repay the Lord for all the good things he has done for me?
11 I will lift up the cup of salvation and call upon the Name of the Lord.
12 I will fulfill my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people.
13 Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his servants.
14 O Lord, I am your servant; I am your servant and the child of your handmaid; you have freed me from my bonds.
15 I will offer you the sacrifice of thanksgiving and call upon the Name of the Lord.
16 I will fulfill my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people,
17 In the courts of the Lord's house, in the midst of you, O Jerusalem. Hallelujah!

This year, Monday Matters is focused on wisdom conveyed in the treasures of the book of Psalms. We'll look at the psalms read in church before Monday Matters comes to your screen.

What does it mean to love the Lord?

As some denominations labor to limit the leadership role of women in their churches (I’m glad to be an Episcopalian), my thoughts turned to Teresa of Avila, a sixteenth century nun, a prominent mystic, a spiritual reformer and apparently a spitfire. I wish she was around today. I’d love to get her take on the church, because she didn’t mince her words. On one of her missionary trips, the wheel of her cart fell off and she landed in a mud puddle. This prompted her to raise her fist to heaven and say: “Lord, if this is how you treat your friends, it’s no wonder that you have so few of them.”

As I reflected on one of the psalms served up by our lectionary yesterday (reprinted above), a psalm which begins with the phrase “I love the Lord,” I remembered this bon mot from St. Teresa. She confessed: “Lord, I don’t love you. I don’t want to love you. But I want to want to love you.”

In my own spiritual journey, the question of what it means to love God has increasingly occupied my exploration. Loving God clearly suggests a relationship. But what does that relationship look like? As I scratch at the surface of the reality of a higher power, I can wrap my mind around aspects of that relationship. I have an idea what it means to fear the Lord, to praise or give thanks to the Lord, to ask the Lord for all kinds of stuff (God as valet), to obey the Lord as suggested by biblical commandments, to support the values of the Lord conveyed in scripture. But the idea of loving the Lord takes it to a whole new level, one that is as perplexing and mysterious as it is desirable.

The persistent message of scripture, from the laws outlined by Moses in the first five books, to the repeated refrain of the psalms, to the teachings of Jesus, to the writings of apostles: we are called to love the Lord. I suppose we approach that in a way that is similar to human relationships marked by love.

We grow in any loving relationship as we spend time together. In the spiritual life, that means practicing the presence of God in all of life, not sequestering God to an hour on Sunday morning. Through prayer and study, meditation and contemplation, worship and service we open our hearts to know God more deeply. We get to know each other, which is part of falling in love.

We grow in love of God as we give thanks for blessings. As the psalmist said: What can I render to the Lord for all his benefits to me? Take time this week to think of what those benefits might be in your life. You may end up loving God for it.

The New Testament seems to recognize that this love of God business has a mystical dimension. The letters attributed to John towards the end of the New Testament speak about love a lot. The phrase that stuck out for me: “Those who say, “I love God,” and hate a brother or sister are liars, for those who do not love a brother or sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.” (I John 4:20) The author is pointing out what Jesus taught and what our liturgy affirms: There can be no separation of love of God and love of neighbor, as annoying as that may be at times, since a lot of our neighbors are annoying.

All of this speculation about love of God suggests that we won’t always get it right. That’s why in our confession we admit that we have not loved God with our whole heart, soul and mind. Right after we say that we admit that we have not loved neighbor as self. The two go together. That shortfall is true of my life every day, even as I'm working on it.

A favorite collect recognizes that we need help in order to know what it is to love God. It’s the collect you will hear in church next Sunday (a coincidence?). How about this for a practice. Pray this prayer each morning until next Sunday and see if that brings any change or growth:

O Lord, make us have perpetual love and reverence for your holy Name, for you never fail to help and govern those whom you have set upon the sure foundation of your loving-kindness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

- Jay Sidebotham