Mark 12:28-34
Our tax code, at the most conservative count, takes up 2,652 pages. If you add to it the tax law and past cases, you come up with over 74,000 pages! All trying to get us to do the right thing.
In Jesus’ day, the scribes and Pharisees and teachers of the Law took the 613 Hebrew letters that spell out the Ten Commandments, and developed some corresponding 613 individual statutes in the Law. Next, they tried to sort these 613 statutes into heavy commandments and light commandments, but they could never reach a consensus.
Throughout Mark chapter 12, these Pharisees and Scribes and Teachers of the Law repeatedly put Jesus to the test. They were trying to trip him up. Finally, in today’s passage, it seems a teacher with no hidden motive presented Jesus a question: “Of all the commands in the Bible, which is most important?” It’s a great question, really. It’s like asking someone, “What truly matters most in life?” Or, “What is our chief purpose here on earth?”
Jesus didn’t hesitate. He went right to the Shema, so named for its first Hebrew word, our word “hear.” The Shema is found in Deuteronomy 6:4-5. It states, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” Every good Jew knew the Shema, because they said it aloud as a confession of faith every morning and every night. Jesus said, “It’s most important to love God first.” And that’s our first point today:
1. Love God first and foremost.
We’re not to simply love him with our emotions. That’s a modern concept of love. We’re to go well beyond that, and to love him with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Our love for God will influence all we do, what we say, where we spend our money, how we spend our time, who we befriend, who we marry. As the Shema states, there is but ONE God, and he must be OUR God. Anything or anyone else that takes that top spot becomes an idol, a cheap substitute. We must put God first, or everything will be out of order in our lives. Nothing will make sense. As Saint Francis Xavier wrote, “E’en so I love thee, and will love, and in thy praise will sing; solely because thou art my God and my eternal King.”
Sometimes people wonder, “Why does scripture say God is a jealous God?” He is jealous for your affection, because he knows nothing else will do. If you put anything or anyone else first, you will be let down. Why? Because your priorities will be out of whack. God knows that, so God protects first place for himself. Put God first, and he will help you with everything else. That’s what the first four of the Ten Commandments are all about: keeping God first.
Jesus addressed this in his Sermon on the Mount. He talked about how people worry about food and clothes. After reminding how God feeds the birds of the air and clothes the flowers of the fields, he said, in Matthew 6:33, “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Love God first and foremost. Put God first. Seek God’s will in everything.
Secondly, Jesus teaches us to...
2. Draw on God’s love to love your neighbor as yourself.
Jesus took two different verses from the Torah—the first five books of the Bible, considered most holy by the Jews. The two shared a rarely used verb in the Hebrew: “Ve-ahavta.” It translates, “And you shall love.” So Jeus tied together the idea of loving God from Deuteronomy 6:5 with loving neighbor as yourself from Leviticus 19:18. Nobody asked him for a second commandment. Yet, it’s as if he was saying the two are inseparable. In fact, I would go so far as to say it is impossible to love God and hate your neighbor. If you truly hate someone around you, you do not have the love of God in your heart.
The Apostle John wrote similar words in 1 John 4:20: “Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.” It’s impossible to love God and hate your neighbor. You just can’t do both at the same time.
So the alternative is to draw on God’s love to love your neighbor as yourself. So we are to love God more than ourselves, and our neighbor as ourselves. The last six of the Ten Commandments are all about loving neighbor as yourself. If you are having trouble loving your neighbor, ask God for help. God will give you that supernatural love that comes from heaven alone.
In his book, “Mere Christianity,” C.S. Lewis writes, “Do not waste your time bothering whether you ‘love’ your neighbor; act as if you did. As soon as we do this, we find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him. If you injure someone you dislike, you will find yourself disliking him more. If you do him a good turn, you will find yourself disliking him less.”
Jay Wolf writes about this kind of love in an article entitled, “Do We Need New Love Songs?” We knew Jay as an infant; he was called Jason back then. His father, Jay, was our senior pastor before I left active duty to go to seminary. Well, little Jason (as he was known then) grew up and married his Sanford University sweetheart, the two had a child, and all was well, until his wife Katherine suffered an unexpected and near-fatal brain-stem stroke. Everything came crashing down around them and their little family. Katherine miraculously survived three surgeries, although her face remained permanent disfigured and she walked with a cane even in her 20s. God gave them a second child later. Jay put aside his law career and the two speak and write about their experiences full-time now. Jay writes, “While modern cultural narratives tell us to be true to ourselves, I’ve experienced something different and stunningly hopeful. When I do the loving and sacrificial thing, especially when I’m not totally feeling it, over time, I actually begin to want to do it.” He continues, “Katherine and I have beaten the odds in an extraordinary circumstance, one which results in a 90% divorce rate typically, and for this new life and second chance we are so grateful. But this is not to say that I, myself, am extraordinary or heroic. What I’m trying to do is what I promised in my vows: To love Katherine’s whole self throughout her whole life. And something mysteriously wonderful is happening; our souls are weaving together.” [https://darlingmagazine.org/do-we-need-new-love-songs/]
In the context of marriage, Jay has learned, through the power of God’s love for him, to love his neighbor as himself. Love God, love your neighbor, and lastly,
3. Trust your life to the author of love.
The Apostle John tells us how we are able to love anyone. He says, in 1 John 4:19, “We love because He first loved us.” God is the one who can help us to love him and to love our neighbor as ourselves. We just won’t be able to do it otherwise. After all, God is the very definition of love. 1 John 4:8 says, “God is love.” So why not trust your life to the author of love?
Jesus talked about love for neighbor when he said in John 15:13, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends.” That’s a great verse for Veterans. That’s what motivates most to fight on the battlefield, to protect their friends. And that’s what Jesus did for us. He laid down his life for us.
In today’s story, the Teacher of the Law seemed to have all the right answers. He knew that loving God and others was more important than any outward actions like making the proper sacrifices. Relationships trump rules every time. The Teacher got that. And yet he was missing one relationship. Jesus said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God” (Mark 12:34b). He was close, but he wasn’t quite there.
You see, you can know all about God’s love, and still not trust your life to the God of love. This man was not far off. He knew the right things, but he had not yet submitted to the right person. The Son of God was standing in front of him, and he hadn’t realized it. He thought he was coaching Rabbi Jesus, and in reality, Jesus the Christ was coaching him: “You’re not far now, son. Make the last leap. Trust your life to me.”
What about you? Have you made that leap of faith? It doesn’t count to be “not far off.” “Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades,” as my son likes to remind me. You’re either in the kingdom or you’re not. You’re either sealed for eternity in heaven or you’re not. Which is it for you? If you’re not, today you can become a child of God, as you say, “Jesus, thank you for your love. Please come into my life and replace my sin with your forgiveness.” And from that moment on, trust the Lord of Love to lead you, as you love him and share his love with others. Let’s pray:
Lord God, we get so confused about love sometimes. Our own agendas constantly get in the way. And to be honest, we don’t love you or the people around us or sometimes ourselves like we should. We need your love to help us. We open up ourselves to your love today. Help us to grasp how fully and completely you love us. And help us to reciprocate that love, to return it to you and to extend it to those around us. For the one that is “not far off” from your kingdom, please draw them into your family today. Help them to trust their life to you right now, in Jesus’ name, amen.
