“Hear what our Lord Jesus Christ saith: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hand all the Law and the Prophets.”

The Summary of the Law is a curious piece of our liturgy. It is not included in any of the English Books of Common Prayer and first appears in the American Prayer Book of 1789, though various groups toyed with its inclusion in experimental liturgies as early as 1718. The 1789, 1892, and 1928 American rubrics, or instructions, call for its optional use after the Decalogue (Ten Commandments) as part of the Penitential Rite which served as a response to the Collect for Purity and consisted of the Decalogue, Summary of the Law, Kyrie, and a concluding collect. The Summary was always said if the Decalogue was to be omitted. The 1979 Prayer Book retains the traditional placement of the Summary in Rite I and the rubrics leave its inclusion up to the discretion of the Celebrant.

The Summary of the Law in the Book of Common Prayer is taken from the twenty-second chapter of The Gospel according to St. Matthew. Each of the Synoptic Gospels contains an account of this moment in Jesus’ ministry. In Luke, this passage is placed before Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. In Matthew and Mark, it appears after He enters Jerusalem and teaches three parables condemning the Jewish leadership. It is here that the Pharisees and Sadducees attempt to ensnare Jesus with three trick questions. The third of these is asked by a scribe or lawyer: “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” In response, Jesus summarizes the Jewish law with two inseparable commands: love God (Deuteronomy 6:5) and love your neighbor (Leviticus 19:18).

There is no doubt that we love God with all our heart, and all our soul, and all our mind, and all our strength at Good Shepherd. It is also abundantly clear that we love our neighbor. Our love for our neighbor is evident in the way we greet those members of our community who have been here a while and it is evident in the way we treat newcomers. We accept one another as Christ accepted us (Romans 15:7), show hospitality to strangers (Hebrews 13:2), and offer hospitality without grumbling (1 Peter 4:9). It is through this self-giving that we embark on the journey toward theosis. It is through the love of God and neighbor that we begin to share in the divinity of Him who humbled Himself to share in our humanity. And it is through our collective realization of the Summary of the Law that I see God in this place – reflecting back on all of you.

At Good Shepherd, perhaps our history, at least in part, is the reason we welcome the stranger. And while that history most certainly does not define us, it does inform the way in which we are called to go forth into the world to love and serve the Lord. Twice a day in the Daily Office, we pray “for all yet unknown to us whom God will draw to this place to come to know and love our Lord Jesus.” It is because of these prayers and the movement of the Holy Spirit that many of us are here today. We have all benefited in myriad ways from this holy place. Every week, we encounter the divine and find a place in which to rest. As stewards of this place, we are called to sacrificially offer to God our time, treasure, and talent. We all earnestly desire God’s fatherly goodness to accept our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving – our selves, our souls and bodies. In doing so, we ensure that Good Shepherd will continue to be a place where the newcomer is seen through the eyes of Jesus and a place where we may worthily serve the world in Christ’s name.

William Hillegeist
Vestry Member at Large