Which Matters Matter?

A sermon based on Mark 12:28-34 and Deutéronome 6:1-9

Don Friesen
November 1, 2009
Ottawa Mennonite Church

www.ottawamennonite.ca

About a century or more ago two paddleboats left Memphis, travelling down the Mississippi River to New Orleans. As they travelled side by side, sailors on the one vessel remarked, rather loudly, on the snail's pace of the other vessel. Words were exchanged – sailors' words – challenges were made, and a race began. The competition became intense as the two boats raced down the river. One of the boats began to fall behind. Their fuel was running out! They had loaded sufficient coal for the trip, but not enough for a race. As the boat dropped back, however, an enterprising sailor took some of the ship's cargo and tossed it into the ovens. Other sailors joined in, fuelling their boat with the material they had been paid to transport. They won the race, but burned their cargo and probably lost their source of livelihood. (a favourite story of Clovis G. Chappell, 1882-1972, cited in Max Lucado, In the Eye of the Storm)

Sometimes, in the heat of the moment, one loses perspective, and it becomes difficult to tell what is important, and what is not important. For example, does one land at the Minneapolis airport as scheduled? Or does one take an extra hour or two to work on one's laptop? ("Pilots focussed on laptops flew airliner astray," CBC News, October 26, 2009) How does one sort out the important from the less important? During the early days of the Salvation Army, William Booth (1829-1912) and his associates were bitterly attacked in the press by both religious leaders and government leaders. When his son, Bramwell, showed Booth one of these scathing pieces, Booth replied, "Bramwell, fifty years hence it will matter very little ...how these people treated us; it will matter a great deal how we dealt with the work of God."

An Unlikely Ally: A Scribe of a Different Stripe

In our Gospel story Jesus meets a person who was skilled in sorting out what matters most and what matters less. He was a scribe, a teacher and interpreter of the law – a lawyer, in modern terms. As such he was trained to sift through a mountain of laws and determine the central issue, the most important issue. Just as important as mastering complicated legislation – and lots of it – was the ability to figure out what matters to the task at hand. And so it's not surprising that when this lawyer met Jesus, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?" (Mark 12:28, NIV) A good lawyer-ly question!

The context in which the lawyer asked this question is interesting. Jesus had arrived in Jerusalem and immediately encountered strong opposition. The lawyer's question came on the heels of a series of confrontations between Jesus and other lawyers and other religious authorities. The tone of these exchanges is what we've come to expect in the New Testament, the lawyer-scribes portrayed as hard-headed, hard-hearted villains more concerned about the letter of the law than with its spirit. They didn't like Jesus, and they were the first to complain when Jesus sat down to eat with people they considered bad. "Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?" they asked. (Mark 2:16) "What kind of example is this, acting cozy with ...riffraff? (The Message) They assumed that if you hang out with bad people, some the badness is going to rub off on you. Their questions soon turned to attacks! They said, "He is possessed by ...the prince of demons...." (3:22, NIV) Eventually they attempted to do away with him altogether!

The context in which the lawyer asks Jesus to identify the most important commandment is one of tense polarization, and so it would be easy to assume that this is yet another trick question. There were 613 commandments in the Old Testament body of law, and if Jesus picked only one he left himself open to a barrage of criticism from those who dealt with the law every day and favoured a different commandment.

There is a hint in our text, however, that this encounter is of a different sort. The tone is different. Mark tells us that this lawyer had overheard the other disputes – the other questions – "and seeing that (Jesus) answered them well" (Mark 12:28), he asked his question. And Jesus answered it. Some of Jesus' previous answers sound just as cagey as the questions, but Jesus seemed to sense that this lawyer was different, that the question was genuine, and he gave a straightforward answer. He said, "The first (commandment) is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.' The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." (12:29-31)

The lawyer said, "You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that ‘he is one, and besides him there is no other'; and ‘to love him with all (our) heart, and with all (our) understanding, and with all (our) strength,' and ‘to love one's neighbour as oneself,' – this is much more important than all ...burnt offerings and sacrifices." (Mark 12:32-33)

The lawyer's response to Jesus' answer is remarkable! They were standing in the courtyard of the Temple just days before Passover, and the lawyer agrees with Jesus and draws the inference that these commandments are more important than what is going to transpire here in just a few days! And notice that the lawyer didn't just say, "more important," he said, "much more important".

It's a remarkable exchange, given all the other exchanges between Jesus and lawyers in the New Testament. This lawyer was impressed with Jesus, with his mastery of the law as well as his ability to sift through the important issues, and he didn't hesitate to say so. He continues the genuine dialogue by affirming and elaborating on Jesus' answer. After this encounter, Mark tells us, "no one dared ask Jesus any more questions." (Mark 12:34, CEV)

It's a pleasant and fruitful exchange. The conversation between the two resembles an exchange between kindred spirits. They seem at ease with each other. Unlike the other lawyers, who seem cut from a nastier cloth, this one listens to Jesus, agrees with Jesus, and is willing to admit he agrees. He's an unlikely ally, but essentially he was saying, "You know, Jesus, you are right." And Jesus honours the lawyer with a word of praise! "You are not far from the Kingdom of God." (Mark 12:34)

The lawyer had figured out what matters, or which matters matter. The kingdom of God is not about what is legal or illegal; it's about a higher devotion, and that is why Jesus healed people on the Sabbath despite legal reasons against working on the Sabbath. That is why Jesus associated with sinners, despite regulations prohibiting such fraternization.

Jesus Expands a Core Text

Jesus and the lawyer were dealing with a core text, the Shema, from Deuteronomy 6: "Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might." (Deuteronomy 6:4-5) No one in the circle of Jesus' admirers or opponents would have disputed that "love of God" is the greatest commandment. The Shema is a prayer considered to be the essence of Judaism, the prayer recited at least twice daily. The prayer was so important to the community that it was passed on to the children – and the children's children – by every means available. This was not a prayer to be said half-heartedly. It called the community to an intimate, trusting, covenantal relationship with God and required total commitment.

Jesus chose wisely when he lifted this ancient and sacred text from the book of Deuteronomy. It was Israel's confession of faith, the primary obligation for every generation. It would have been difficult for any of the lawyers to argue with him on this point. Then Jesus expanded on the core text, linking it to an obscure line from the book of Leviticus, chapter 19, which reads, "You shall love your neighbour as yourself...." (Leviticus 19:18) Well, the line may have been obscure, but the concept was not. There are other texts in Leviticus that also encourage concern for the neighbour, if not love of neighbour." (Leviticus 6:2; 19:13, 15, 16; 25:14, 15) And Deuteronomy, likewise, tells us not to be "hard-hearted or tight-fisted toward your needy neighbour" (Deuteronomy 15:7), and not to "view your needy neighbour with hostility...." (Deuteronomy 15:9) Indeed, one of the Ten Commandments warns us "not (to) bear false witness against your neighbour. (Exodus 20:16)

"Everything in the Law and the prophets," said Jesus, "hangs on these two commandments." (Matthew 22:40, NEB) The lawyer must have been pleased with Jesus' ability to wade through the mind-numbing minutiae that often distracted members of his profession from the things that really matter. Jesus got right to the heart of the matter.

Jesus said that what matters is that you "love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength." (Mark 12:30) It's a text which has all the makings of a fine four-point sermon, and some preachers develop the text in this way, telling us that to love God with our heart involves our emotions, which in biblical terms is the very centre of who we are; and secondly, to love God with all our soul is to love God with all that is spiritual about us; and thirdly, to love God with all our mind is to devote our intellectual powers to God; and fourthly, that to love God with all of our strength is to love God with our bodies and with all of our physical energy.

Well, that's a nice thought, except that in Hebrew those four terms – heart, soul, mind, and strength – are virtual synonyms! Each word means essentially the same as the next. Jesus uses four terms to reflect the intensity with which we are to love God. We are to love God totally, with every fibre of our being. We are to love God without hesitation, without reservation, without qualification, without calculation. Even putting God first in a line of other things that matter is not enough. Give God the lion's share of your being, and you can have the rest! No! The repeated use of the word, "all," underlines the complete devotion required.

There are several ways in which the biblical phrase often used at weddings – "What therefore God hath joined together, let (no one) put asunder." (Matthew 19:6, KJV) – is applicable here. For one thing the four terms – heart, soul, mind, and strength are one – we are integrated beings, whole beings – but there is also a more profound way in which the marriage phrase is applicable. When the lawyer asked Jesus, "Which commandment is the first of all?" Jesus cited two commandments. The lawyer asked for the greatest commandment – one commandment – but Jesus responded with two! And then talks about them as if they were one! They are. They are inextricably linked. The New Testament says that "if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us." (1 John 4:12) Those "who do not love their brothers and sisters" are not of God." (1 John 3:10) Further, it says that "those who say, ‘I love God,' and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen." (1 John 4:20)

In other words, love of God and love of neighbour are inseparable. If you attempt to separate them, you damage both. Loving God, while ignoring the neighbour, is an empty piety of the worst kind. It's a detached and disembodied love of God. Loving neighbour, without any reference to God, can construct moral issues out of anything. What matters is left to human capriciousness, since it has no reference to anything that transcends our existence.

Once you've Seen the Rabbit ...

What does this have to do with our daily lives? Isn't love of God a pious platitude to which we all subscribe? Of course we love God, but sometimes loving God is like loving our old Uncle Jake who lives three provinces away. We may visit him every second year we're out that way, and call him if something urgent comes up, but we think of him only occasionally. We love and appreciate old Uncle Jake, but it's not often we seek him out. We may also love and appreciate God, but it's kind of a long-distance, dry and obligatory love. That's not what Jesus had in mind. Let me respond with a story that's a bit of a twist on Francis Thompson's Hound of Heaven metaphor.

A thoughtful, curious young man went to the desert to visit an elderly monk who had lived in the desert for many years. Arriving at the holy man's cave, the young man saw the monk sitting outside, enjoying the sun, his dog lying lazily at his side. Like the lawyer in our Gospel reading, this young man also had a question: "Why is it, teacher," he asked, "that some who seek God come to the desert and are zealous in prayer, but leave after a year or so, while others, like yourself, remain faithful to your quest for a lifetime?"

The monk smiled and replied with a story. "One day I was sitting here quietly in the sun with my dog," he said, "and suddenly a large, white rabbit ran across in front of us. My dog jumped up, barking loudly, and took off after the rabbit. He chased that rabbit up and down hills with great passion and persistence. Soon other dogs joined him, barking loudly as they crossed creeks, jumped across stony embankments, and ran through thickets and thorns! Gradually, however, one by one, the other dogs, discouraged and frustrated, dropped out of the chase. Only my dog continued in hot pursuit of the rabbit," concluded the monk. "And that, young man," he said, "is the answer to your question.

The young man was silent, and not a little confused. "I don't understand, Teacher," he said. "What is the connection between the rabbit chase and the quest for God?"

"You fail to understand," answered the monk, "because you failed to ask the obvious question, that being: Why didn't the other dogs continue the chase? And the answer to that question is that the other dogs had not seen the rabbit. They were attracted by the barking of my dog. Once you see the rabbit, you never give up the chase. Seeing the rabbit, and not following the commotion, is what keeps me at my life of prayer." (adapted from a story by Richard Fairchild)

It may not be the most elegant story, and the "white rabbit" metaphor brings up other distracting literary (e.g., Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland) and cultural (e.g., Jefferson Airplane's song by that title) references, but the point is that loving God with all of our heart, and with all of our soul, and with all of our mind, and with all of our strength requires more than liking the idea of doing so, or doing so because others do so.

Two months ago, at Jon and Anna's wedding reception, they used a unique technique to determine when they would kiss. They would kiss whenever someone used the hoola-hoop provided, and they would kiss for as long as the hoola-hooper could keep it going! That immediately disqualified some of us who cannot keep that thing in orbit. Jesus' answer regarding the most important commandment stressed the importance of remaining in orbit around God.

God's wholehearted love should not be answered in a half-hearted manner. God wants our whole-soul-ed love. Everything begins and flows out of our love for God! And as we intentionally seek to increase our love for God, our love for others – and all of the implications of that for peace and justice issues of every stripe – will increase.

An Expanding Circle of Neighbourliness

Jesus' inclusion of love of neighbour as part and parcel of the greatest and first and foremost commandment was not particularly unique to him, given the many Old Testament injunctions to do the same. Jesus, however, pushed the boundaries of the meaning of the word, "neighbour". His definition included those one wasn't likely to view as members of one's community, like tax collectors, Samaritans, and such. Jesus expanded the circle of neighbourliness.

Jesus enlarged the circle of love, and that's the ultimate test of our love of God. This week Dorothy and I got new neighbours, and we're waiting to see if they're better than the last ones. We hope so. We certainly want to start the relationship with a positive attitude. I recently read an disturbing plea from a couple exasperated by their neighbours. They wrote: "We are looking for any creative ways to annoy, badger, aggravate, bother, bug, ...disturb ...(or) vex some Terrible People that live below us in the house we ...share. ... Why don't I just grow up? (you ask me) Trust me, I am being the bigger person here...." Some neighbours are nasty, but the circle of love includes even them. Neighbourliness is a test of the depth of our love.

In contrast to nasty neighbours, a woman tells the story having to commute several times a week from her home to the university in another city while earning her master's degree. Often she came home late at night, and each time she saw an old man sitting by the side of her road. He was always there, even in sub-zero temperatures and stormy weather, no matter how late she returned. He made no acknowledgment of her passing, and she wondered what brought him to that same spot every evening. Was it a mental disorder? She asked a neighbour about him: "Have you ever seen the old man who sits by the road late at night?"

"Oh, yes," said her neighbour, "many times."

"Is there something the matter with him? Does he ever go home?"

The neighbour laughed and said, "No, no. There's nothing disturbed about him, and he goes home right after you do. You see, he doesn't like the idea of you driving by yourself all alone on these back roads late at night, so every night he walks out to wait for you. When he sees your tail-lights disappear around the bend, and he knows you're okay, he goes home." (adapted from a story by Garret Keizer)

Do we extend the same care to our neighbours? And who are our neighbours? Do they include the poor in our city? Some years ago, in a relatively short span of time, a homeless man, a train maintenance worker, and a dog were killed on the subway tracks in New York City. Ninety people called the Transit Authority to express concern about the dog, only three called about the worker, and no one enquired about the homeless man. (Austin Chronicle, May 24, 1991, page 9)

I wonder whether our circle of neighbourliness has grown sufficiently large to include the poor in our city. Recently I came across facts and figures on poverty in Ottawa, and discovered that 1 in 6 children in our city live in poverty; that 44% of immigrant children and youth live in poverty; that 43% of food bank users are children; that 16,000 children use Ottawa food banks in a month; and that 17% of families in our city live in housing that is either un-affordable, over-crowded, or in need of major repair. In addition, our city boasts more than 9,000 homeless people.

The facts and figures I read are three years old, but I can only imagine that the recession has made things worse. Many of the things we take for granted are not enjoyed by all of our neighbours. School fees, "pizza days," field trips, musical instruments, and agendas are un-affordable to the children and youth living in poverty.

Who are our neighbours? Yet another question Jesus was asked, but he answered the question with another story, a story that left no doubt that the circle of neighbourliness is large and that neighbourliness is generous.