Proper 26 (B)

Sunday, November 2, 1997

On Being Near the Kingdom

Mark 12:28-34

How do you measure distance in God's kingdom? Is it metric or feet and yards? Is it linear and spatial or in terms of time? Is it like the distance from Atlanta to Nashville or Seattle to San Francisco or is it like the distance from Martin Luther to Pope John Paul II? If a car trip were made in God's Kingdom, would there be incessant cries of "Are we there yet?" In this pericope, the one commendation Jesus ever gives to a scribe is to say, "You are not far from the Kingdom of God."

It is now the last week of Jesus' life. He has made His triumphal entry into Jerusalem. The crowds have given Him their acclaim as a conquering hero. He has cleansed the temple, thus throwing Him into conflict with the religious gatekeepers of Jerusalem. The Pharisees and Sadducees have had their turns in putting Jesus on the defensive. If they weren't asking Him about ridiculous scenarios with multiple marriages and the resurrection, they were trying to pin Him down on taxes.

Now Jesus' critics try to get Him on the essence of the law. It's a fair question. What is the essence of the law? After all, there are a lot of laws. It can be a lot to try to keep up on what they all have to say. If we could remember a rule of thumb, wouldn't it be easier? Discussions like this took place among the Rabbis. The Rabbi Hillel, was challenged by a Gentile, "Make me a proselyte on condition that you teach me the whole law while I stand on one foot," replied, "What you hate for yourself, do not do to your neighbor; this is the whole law, the rest is commentary; go and learn"

It was not unusual to attempt to summarize the law in a catch-phrase of some sort. What was unusual was the spin Jesus puts on it. The Rabbis taught that love was one law along-side of all of the other laws. Jesus said law was the essence of the law -- the primary commandment. Further, while Hillel put a negative spin on the law -- don't do what you don't want someone else to do to you -- Jesus said, "Do what you would want others to do for you." Christianity is active. Faith without works is dead.

Jesus said the greatest commandment is to love God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength. We often speak of these as dimensions of love which are spiritual, emotional, intellectual and physical. That may be true but Jesus is not speaking of a compartmentalized kind of love. Rather, He is saying "Love God with everything that you have and that you are." This love flows from the unity of God, the God who has taken the initiative to reveal His love in Jesus Christ.

These were the words that the devout Jew was to quote every morning. These were the words that the devout Jews tied to their foreheads and to their arms.

The partner of love of God is love of neighbor. One is to love his or her neighbor as he loves himself. Jesus is not ordering self-love as much as he is presupposing self-love. I don't know that Jesus ever told anyone that their problem was that they didn't love themselves enough. It is much more likely that he would say, "You're too wrapped up in yourself, go do something for someone else." How does love of neighbor manifest itself on an individual level? As Jesus has summarized, it is the Golden Rule. Do for your neighbor what you would like someone to do for you. Don't waste energy trying to stir up self-love before you attempt to minister. Give yourself without reservation and discover true Biblical self-esteem.