Wee sermon

Proper 26, Year B
Deuteronomy 6:1-9
Hebrews 7:23-28
Mark 12:28-34

The scriptures today are familiar ones-- that teaching we call the Great Commandment. And we get to hear it twice: first in Deuteronomy, when Moses gives them to the Israelites. Then, in Mark’s Gospel, where Jesus repeats it for the benefit of the temple scribe and a bunch of gathered religious leaders come to question him. Pharisees, Herodians, Sadducees... not an easy crowd. In Episcopal terms, this would be a little like trying to talk about "proper worship" with a group of Anglo-Catholics, Evangelicals and Charismatics all gethered together! In other words, they were a diverse lot, and it’s not unlikely they were looking to trip one another up, as well as Jesus. But he was not so easily caught, especially when it came to knowing Torah, the books of the Law.

And here’s something to notice: though there are other places in scripture that Jesus expands, and explains, and interprets Old Testament teaching, this one he simply repeats verbatim.

“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..." But then he adds to it: "...and you shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Now, the folks that were listening to Jesus would have been thinking of the "other commandments" to which Jesus refers as those contained in the Torah-- the 600+ rules and regulations that that good Jews would be expected to follow.

But as a Christian, when I hear “Other Commandments,” the first thing I think of are the Ten Commandments. You and I could probably sit here and list them off pretty promptly-- and, depending on how thoroughly we were drilled as a child, maybe even in order.

When I was young and learning them, I thought of them as the “Shalt Nots” (yes, this is one of those things I still think of in the King James Version). That’s how most of them start. “Thou Shalt Not murder, steal, commit adultery... 8 of the 10 are Thou Shalt Nots-- and for very good reasons, I think.

That list of Shalt Nots was in the news again this week. On Monday, the Supreme Court announced that it would not hear the appeal of the Alabama judge who had installed a stone monument to the 10 Commandments in the courthouse, and was fighting its removal. The judge was interviewed on the television; he was very angry, and promised to keep fighting to reinstall it. He feels that the large stone image of “shalt nots” is that important.

Well, maybe. I certainly wouldn’t argue with anything on that list. But look again at what we heard and read this morning:

“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... and you shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.”

We are told that as good, and righteous, and important as those commandments are, there is something more important still. The list of “Shalt Nots” is summed up and overridden by “Shalls.” Don’ts become Do’s. Negatives become positive. Warning becomes promise.

Now, this sounds wonderful, and it is; but don’t be fooled. Wonderful is not the same as easy. It’s not like we can count on our fingers, and assume two rules are easier to live by than 10. Those two up the ante on the 10, and then some. Listen to the way this same verse is written in another translation:

“You shall love the Lord God with all your passion, and your prayer, and your intellect, and your energy; and then love your neighbor as much as you do yourself.”

No, that's not easy. It's an awesome responsibility-- to not simply follow the rules, and sort of passively be well-behaved; but to step out, to act, in a fully absorbing way. “Seeking and serving Christ in all persons," as we promised again just last Sunday.

That’s All Persons. The enemy as well as the friend. The criminal as well as the victim. A controversial new bishop, as well as those who oppose his consecration. It is an incredibly hard task, to try to love those we don’t like, or with whom we disagree, or fear, or distrust. This, I believe, is why we are commanded to turn to God first, and with our whole selves; because only in God is it possible at all.

“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... and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Maybe these are the words that should be carved on a monument-- not one of granite, but on our hearts and in our lives.