Not Far from the Kingdom of God
Craig Atwood
Home Moravian Church, Nov. 3, 2024
Mark 12:28-34 (NIV)
One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘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 mind and with all your strength.’The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
“Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.
INTRODUCTION
The festival of All Saints was Friday, November 1, the day after Halloween. Another time we can talk about which came first Halloween or All Saints Day, but not today. I just wanted you to know why we prayed the liturgy for All Saints this morning. One of the nice things about All Saints Day is that it is a time to remember and honor every saints, even those whose names have been forgotten. We remember all the faithful servants of Christ who are now rejoicing in his more immediate presence.
All Saints Day is not a big holiday in the United States, and you may have not even noticed it, but it is very important in some countries. A couple of years ago, when I was lecturing at a university in Mainz, Germany, I discovered that most businesses, including grocery stores and restaurants, were closed on All Saints. Had I known that I would have done my shopping the day before. As it was, I had to fast on a feast day. Episcopalians understand that joke better than Moravians, I think.
All Saints Day is not the only important day this time of year. This Tuesday is a special day in our secular calendar. As I’m sure you’ve heard from countless text messages, emails, and robocalls, Tuesday is election day. Election day is not a religious holiday; it is not even a day off from work. But it is a solemn and special occasion when citizens of the United States chose their leaders. The right to vote was originally reserved to free white men of property, but over the centuries that right and duty was extended to all citizens over the age of 18. We started worship with the liturgy for All Saints as a way to remember those who have gone before us, and we will end our worship with prayers from our liturgy for national occasions thinking of those who will come after us.
SAINTS
First, let’s talk about saints. As you may know, the Catholic Church has a long process to determine whether people should be declared a saint after their death. The Christian calendar is filled with days to honor different saints, such as St Patrick on March 17 or St Valentine on Feb. 14. Saints are the heroes of the church. Many of them were martyrs, like St Perpetua who was executed by the Roman Empire around 200 AD or Oscar Romero who was murdered by a death squad in El Salvador in the 1980s. In the Catholic tradition, saints have to perform at least three miracles, but that wasn’t always the case. In the early days of the church, congregations simply named people saints because they were such good examples of Christian faith.
Protestants, in general, are reluctant to declare individuals as saints; however, we do honor heroes and exemplars of faith. We Moravians often celebrate Holy Communion on July 6 or there abouts to honor the martyr John Hus. In the very first Moravian catechism, Bishop Luke of Prague, had a lot to say about saints. He warned people not to worship saints or pray to them instead of praying to God, but he also wrote that it is good for Christians to remember the saints and learn from their example.
On All Saints Day, we remember all our ancestors in the faith who are now in heaven, including saints that we knew personally. You don’t have to be a hero, missionary or martyr to be a saint. You just have to trust in Christ and try to live as he would have you to live day after day. In the New Testament, saints are simply anyone who believes in Jesus Christ and tries to follow his teachings. Paul addressed letters to the saints in places like Corinth and Rome. He wasn’t writing to miracle workers and martyrs, but to the everyday saints in the church.
Every Sunday I look at this congregation, and I see a gathering of the saints. I know what you are thinking: “We’re not saints, we’re sinners. We’re ordinary people living ordinary lives.” That’s true, but that is also what makes us saints. We are saints because Jesus Christ has redeemed us. We are saints because we are struggling to be who God wants us to be. We are saints because the Holy Spirit is with us, blessing us, strengthening us, and guiding us. We are saints because we struggle to do the right thing in difficult times, because we seek to be a light in the world. And we should treat each other as saints.
GOSPEL LESSON
Our gospel lesson for this morning clarifies what it means to be a saint. Someone asked Jesus to name the most important commandment. He responded with a short summary of what it means to be a faithful child of God. His answer is simple, profound, and timeless. Unlike many of the commandments in the Bible, Jesus’ words can be applied in any culture and any period of history, including our current situation.
As you may know, Jesus lived in a time of political and religious polarization, suspicion, and violence. Judea was divided into factions, and people wanted to see which side Jesus was on. The different factions in Judea were often angry at each other and accused each other of ignoring God’s word and violating God’s law.
One faction was called the Zealots. They wanted to foment a violent revolution against the Roman rulers and re-establish the kingdom of Judea ruled by the Messiah. Two of Jesus’ disciples Simon Zealotes and Judas Iscariot may have once been Zealots. This is dramatized so well in Jesus Christ Superstar.
Another faction was the wealthy elite who controlled the Sanhedrin Council and cooperated with the Roman rulers. They were called the Sadducees, and they wanted to preserve the status quo since they profited by it. This included the religious status quo. They did not consider the writings of the prophets to be Scripture.
And then there were the Pharisees, who were the educated middle class. They studied the Law and the Prophets and tried to follow the Old Testament laws strictly. Some of the Pharisees were scribes who copied the Scriptures and helped interpret the laws of Moses. We hear a lot about the Pharisees in the gospels because Jesus often ate with Pharisees and discussed the Bible with them.
There are many times in the gospels that someone asks Jesus a question that is loaded with political and religious implications. In Mark’s gospel, Jesus dealt with Sadducees and priests who were hoping to trip him up and get him to say something he shouldn’t. They wanted a “gotha” moment that they could use to discredit Jesus or get him in trouble with the authorities. If they had had smart phones, they would have been ready to film Jesus disrespecting the Bible, or the Sanhedrin, or the Romans. But Jesus was too shrewd for them, and they gave up questioning him.
When we read in our lesson for today that a scribe came up to Jesus, we expect that he is also just trying to trick Jesus. But this scribe was different from the other inquisitors. He had been impressed by Jesus’ answers to the chief priests and Sadducees, and he treated Jesus with respect. This scribe genuinely wanted to engage Jesus in a discussion of the law rather getting into a fruitless debate with Jesus.
The scribe asked Jesus the perfect question for discussion. What is the most important law. According to Jewish tradition, there were 619 commandments in the Law of Moses. The most famous of these laws are of course the Ten Commandments, which are found both in Exodus and Deuteronomy. Rabbis and scribes often debated which of the laws was the most important. Was it the commandment to rest on the Sabbath and keep it holy? Was it the many laws about eating kosher and never break bread with Gentiles? Was it the requirement to have all male children circumcised? Each of these laws caused conflict with the Roman authorities who disliked the idea that Jews did not follow Roman laws and customs. There were Jews who were killed by the Romans because they followed such commandments.
One problem in the time of Jesus was that each of the Judean factions had different answers to the question: What does it mean to be faithful to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob when there is no king on the throne in Jerusalem? Does God want his people to rise up against the oppressors and idol worshipers and set up a theocracy? Or does God want the priests to perform sacrifices in the right way in the Temple and keep the Temple pure? Or does God want people to withdraw from the world and build pious communities in the desert, like the Essenes did? The scribe wanted to know where Jesus stood on the most pressing political and moral question of the day. Unlike the other inquisitors, this scribe genuinely wanted to here Jesus’ views.
JESUS’ ANSWER
Jesus answers by quoting the Old Testament, specifically a passage known as the Shema, which is Hebrew for “Listen.” “Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God is one.” This verse is part of the daily prayers in Judaism, and Jesus would have known it by heart.
A few minutes ago Betty beautifully read a passage in Deuteronomy that begins with the Shema. In Deuteronomy the command to listen is followed immediately by the Ten Commandments. It is illuminating that Jesus didn’t go on to recite those commandments. He focuses on the statement that we should love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.
If you were listening closely, you may have noticed that Jesus in Mark did not quote Deuteronomy precisely. In Deuteronomy, Moses says “love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and strength,” but Jesus adds :all your mind.” It is a subtle difference, but it reminds us that Jesus often paraphrased Scriptures rather quoting them exactly. Unlike the lawyers and scribes for whom every letter, every jot and tittle (as the King James Bible says), was sacred and important, Jesus focused on the meaning of the text, not just the words.
By adding “mind” or “understanding,” I think Jesus was emphasizing that love is not just an emotion that we feel in our hearts. We love with our minds, too. He wanted to make sure that people understood that we shouldn’t separate our love for God from our thinking. We should use our minds in our worship of God and in doing God’s work in the world. The old Moravians declared that there are three essential things in our Christian life: faith, love, and hope. Some Protestants teach that we are saved by faith alone, but the Moravians pointed to passages like this to say that love is essential. And love is more than emotion. Our deepest desires and thoughts should be for God. And we should use all our strength serving God.
Jesus could have stopped there, and I think the scribe would have been happy with his response. The Shema was the heart of Jewish daily prayers. When Rabbi Akiva was being tortured by the Romans, he recited the Shema. Many of the saints of Christianity were so filled with the love of God that we can say that they loved God with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength. Some, like Julian of Norwich, spent their lives secluded from the world in prayer and study.
NEIGHBOR
But Jesus did not stop with the Shema. Love of God comes first, but equally important is to love your neighbor as yourself. He was not going to let the scribe trap him into a false contradiction between the two. Which is most important? Both of them.
You may be surprised to learn that Jesus is quoting from the book of Leviticus, which is not the most popular book of the Bible. Leviticus is filled with instructions for the priests of Israel on how to do sacrifices and rituals the right way. But Jesus lifts out something timeless from Leviticus. Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no greater commandment, he says.
In other words, it is wrong to put your observance of the other laws above love of neighbor. This is the radical part of Jesus’ teaching. Your religion should not get in the way of doing good to others. This commandment to love your neighbor as you love yourself is similar to Jesus’ Golden Rule to do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
We could spend all day discussing what this means in practical terms. The old Moravians made long lists of things you should and shouldn’t do based on love of neighbor. Modern Moravians have the Covenant for Christian Living to guide. The core of Jesus’ teaching is simply that if you love your neighbor, you will do what is good for them. You will not steal from them, abuse them, bully them, insult them, exploit them, harm them, or kill them. Instead you will do what you can to protect them, make sure they have food to eat and clean water to drink, and treat them with respect. Most importantly, you will ask how you can help your neighbor. Why? Because that is what God wants us to do!
The scribe recognized the wisdom of what Jesus said. It is the scribe who says that love of neighbor is more important that burnt offerings, sacrifices, and other outward religious actions, even worship. And Jesus tells him that he is not far from the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is not a place. It is not a nation. It is not a political platform.
The Kingdom of God appears whenever we understand that love of neighbor and love of God are the same thing, and act accordingly. The way we love God with all our soul, mind, and strength is through our love for our neighbors. This is what it means to be a saint. It is not miracles or heroics, it is loving your neighbor day after day. It is combining prayer with action; devotion with ethics. And yes, brothers and sisters, I see that at work in this congregation. I see a gathering of saints here today.
CONCLUSION
2000 years ago when Jesus and the scribe were discussing the law, the political situation in Judea was tense. People were divided into factions and condemned one other for disagreeing over politics and religion. Soon after speaking these words in our gospel lesson, Jesus was arrested and executed for disturbing the peace. Thirty years after his crucifixion the region would erupt into a violent insurrection that left Jerusalem in ruins and the Temple destroyed.
We are living in tense and dangerous times. We are living in a time of bitter partisanship and violence. A time when some use the Bible and even the Ten Commandments to abuse and threaten others. In times like this, it is important to return to the teachings of Jesus, especially this passage in the Gospel of Mark. What is the greatest commandment? Love God and love your neighbor as yourself. This is only political platform that Jesus had. This is the path leading to the kingdom of God.
