3 Nov – An unexpected direction – Psalm 119:1-8, Mark 12:28-34
Years ago, I worked with a man who was far more charismatic than I am. I’m talking about the charismatic form of Christian expression, but he was also very lovely – so charismatic in many ways! And one Sunday morning we had a baby dedication.
For those of you new to Baptist life, Baptists – unlike many other churches – don’t do christenings or baptise babies. We believe that each person decides to commit themselves to the way of Jesus, and that when you do, you are baptised and become part of the church. (If you’d like to talk to me more about this – please do!) But traditionally, in Baptist churches, when a child is born, we hold a dedication service – to give thanks to God for this new life and to dedicate them and their parents and the whole church to God so we can care for one another well.
So that’s what was happening at church that morning. And the young couple came up with the baby and my colleague asked how it was all going, “Great!” they said, “But sleep is a bit of an issue. She’s having six or seven short sleeps overnight. But it’s going great.” So my colleague took the baby in his arms and gave thanks for her, and prayed for her and her family, and everyone, and then he went on, in his more charismatic way, “And, Lord, turn that seven sleeps into six sleeps, and those six sleeps into five sleeps, and those five sleeps, Lord, to four sleeps, and the four sleeps to three sleeps, and three sleeps to two sleeps, and two sleeps to one sleep and that one sleep, Lord, finally, to no sleep. Yes, Lord, let there be no sleep! No sleep at all.”
At which point the parents looked very alarmed and the rest of us too, but so carried away by the prayer was my colleague that he didn’t realise. It was a prayer that went in an unexpected direction!
I was reminded of it as I read our passage from Mark for this morning, of the Jewish religious tradition recorded here of attempting to express the whole of the law – all that it means to be a faithful Jew – in just one sentence. Commentator William Barclay speaks of King David narrowing down the 613 commandments said to be in the Torah (the first five books of the Old Testament) to 11 in Psalm 15; of the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 33:15) reducing that eleven to six; of Micah reducing the six to three – three we know well: “He has told you, O mortal, what is good, and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8) And finally, Barclay says, the prophet Habakkuk reduced them to one – “The righteous live by their faithfulness.” (Habakkuk 2:4)
However, when Jesus is asked, “Which commandment is the first of all?” (or which commandment sums up best all the rest?), he doesn’t answer the question properly! Did you notice this? He begins on good, solid, orthodox ground, the words of the Shema, the prayer prayed daily by faithful Jews, from Deuteronomy 6, ‘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.’ But then he adds, from Leviticus 19, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ He’s asked for one commandment, and he gives two. Two that he calls one! “There is no other commandment greater than these.”
Like the prayer, Jesus’ answer goes in an unexpected direction! No one – other than Jesus – is known to have brought together these two widely separated commands.
He could have stopped with Deuteronomy 6! As New Testament scholar Bill Loader points out, “At one level it is nonsense to say that there can be any other command than to love God, because that must entail obeying all God’s commandments, including the command to love one’s neighbour… [But] God cannot be the inspiration for the hatred and violations committed out of love for God and religion…. By citing the second command, Jesus is making a profound theological move which seriously defines the first command and reveals his theology [understanding of God]. The God to be obeyed is the God of love and compassion….”
In the same way love for neighbour that is not informed by love for God can become a particular moral exploit – a feat of our own choosing. Catholic theologian Karl Rahner writes, “Love of God and love of neighbour stand in a relationship of mutual conditioning. Only one who loves his or her neighbour can know who God actually is. And only one who ultimately loves God (whether he or she is reflectively aware of this or not is another matter) can manage unconditionally to abandon himself or herself to another person, and not make that person the means of his or her own self-assertion.”
We cannot love God fully without loving our neighbour, and we cannot love our neighbour fully without loving God.
There is a story about Mother Teresa taking in a woman too weak to walk from the streets of Calcutta. Her body was covered in open sores infested with parasites. Mother Teresa bathed her and cleaned and dressed her wounds, and all the while the woman didn’t stop shrieking insults and threats, but Mother Teresa only smiled.
Finally, the woman said, “Sister, why are you doing this? No one behaves like you. Who taught you?”
“My God taught me,” she said, and when the woman asked who this god was, Mother Teresa kissed her on the forehead and said, “You know my God. My God is called love.”
My God is called love. We cannot love God fully without loving our neighbour and we cannot love our neighbour fully without loving God.
In another way Jesus’ entire conversation with the scribe goes in an unexpected direction.
Throughout Mark chapters 11 and 12, following the triumphal entry into Jerusalem, the conflict between Jesus and the religious authorities intensifies. In 11:18 we’re told the chief priests and the scribes “kept looking for a way to kill him…” In 11:27 the chief priests, scribes and elders demand to know by what authority he is doing what he is doing. In 12:13 they send Pharisees, one group of religious leaders and Herodians, those who supported King Herod, to try and trap him with a question about taxes. Then it is Sadducees, the religious elite, who come with a question about the resurrection. And finally, he has this encounter with the scribe.
But this encounter is very different. Firstly, the scribe is described as having heard and seen Jesus. Throughout Mark hearing and seeing are marks of discipleship. And the scribe approves of Jesus’ conflation of Deuteronomy 6 and Leviticus 19. He draws on 1 Samuel 15:22, “to obey is better than sacrifice”, and Hosea 6:6, “I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice”, to declare that love of God and neighbour do indeed take priority over obedience to the temple cult. And Jesus, in turn, affirms the thoughtfulness of the scribe, saying, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”
This passage models its message. It tells us that despite the attacks on Jesus, the threat of death that he is facing, he continues to engage with others, to love others, and for that reason this conversation with the scribe goes in an unexpected direction.
In my last Sunday to Sunday before my leave, I mentioned the Zoom prayers for peace that the European Baptist Fellowship are having on the last Wednesday of the month. It was an early start on Thursday (7pm CET is 5am on Thursday AEST!) but it was incredibly powerful to hear Alia Abboud and Lucas Shindeldecker in Beirut speak about how they could now tell what kind of bomb was being dropped by the sound in the air – knowledge no one should have – how 1/3 of Lebanon’s population are now displaced, how tensions are growing as resources are stretched, how one of the tools of war is to create greater schism between different groups, Sunni and Shia Lebanese and Syrian refugees, and how the task of the church is to respond without prejudice, how daily the tiny group of Baptist churches are coming together, to pool their resources, and cook meals for those who are displaced. “Pray for us,” they said, “that we can be agents of peace and hope.” (Copies of European Baptist Federation prayer guide are on the back table.)
We pray for them; that unexpected directions may become possible as people love God and love their neighbours.
The conversation with the scribe, I said, goes in an unexpected direction. Or does it? Many of the commentaries I read noted the positive interaction between the scribe and Jesus, but they stated – take Ched Myers for example – “Jesus’ final comment falls short of commendation, much less invitation to discipleship.”
“You are not far from the kingdom of God.” How are we to take this statement?
I am choosing to take it in the unexpected direction. I am choosing to take it as commendation – not condemnation – because this statement describes our reality as we seek to love God with all that we are, and to love our neighbours as ourselves. We are not far from the kingdom of God. We are not there yet. None of us are there yet. But we are not far.
This short reflection was written by American Bishop Ken Untener on the anniversary of Bishop Óscar Romero’s death. Romero, many of you will know, was the Archbishop of San Salvador, in El Salvador, who was assassinated on 24 March 1980, during mass, for speaking out against social injustice and violence.
It helps now and then to step back and take a long view.
The Kingdom is not only beyond our efforts,
it is beyond our vision.
We accomplish in our lifetime only a fraction
of the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work.
Nothing we do is complete, which is another way of
saying that the kingdom always lies beyond us.
No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith. No confession
brings perfection, no pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the Church’s mission.
No set of goals and objectives include everything.
This is what we are about. We plant the seeds that one
day will grow. We water the seeds already planted
knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces effects
far beyond our capabilities.
We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of
liberation in realizing this.
This enables us to do something, and to do it very well.
It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning,
a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord’s
grace to enter and do the rest.
We may never see the end results, but that is the
difference between the master builder and the worker.
We are workers, not master builders, ministers, not
messiahs. We are prophets of a future not our own.
May you know that – even if you cannot see it – you are not far from the kingdom of God. May you discover how to love God fully by loving your neighbour, and how to love your neighbour fully by loving God. May you discover the love of our God that – praise be to God! – has gone in an unexpected direction and continues to do so.
Call to Worship
In a world that cries out, “Fear me!”
We will listen to Jesus’ words,
“Don’t be afraid!”
In a world that wants us to hate the other…
We will live Jesus’ call to,
“Love God. Love your neighbour, as you love yourself.”
In a world that radicalizes…
We, too, will be radical.
Radical with our hospitality.
Radical with our hope.
Radical with our love.
Then come to this place,
ready to be who we are called to be.
Let us gather together
and worship God.
~ written by Richard Bott, and posted on Sharing Liturgy. http://liturgy.richardbott.com/
Prayer of Confession
Loving God, we take this time today to come before you,
and as we do, we know that all is not right within us.
We neglect to read and to reflect on your word,
we forget to pray, to listen and to speak with you,
we do things that we know are wrong
and we do not put you first in our lives.
Forgive how we have failed to love you
with all our heart, our soul, our mind, and our strength.
Loving God, our relationships with one other are not all that they can be or should be.
There is hurt and injury between ourselves and others.
There are walls of anger and hatred between us and our neighbours.
Forgive us for how we deny our part in this – for how we blame others.
Forgive how we have not loved our neighbours as ourselves.
Gracious God,
we believe that you offer to us and our world a whole and good life.
For all that we have done to deny this life to each other and to ourselves,
we ask your forgiveness and your mercy.
Words of Assurance
Brothers and sisters in Christ,
as you choose again this day to love God and to love one another
know that God has forgiven you that which is past
and offers to you a new and full life.
Praise be to the name of God, now forever. Amen.
~ from the website of the Tuckahoe Presbyterian Church , Richmond, VA http://www.tuckahoepres.org/
Invitation
We are here – gathered around this table – because Jesus has met with us
and engaged with us and loved us
and told us that we are not far from the kingdom of God.
So come, not because you understand,
but because you are understood.
Come, not because of how you feel,
but because God has food for you.
Come, not because you deserve a place,
but because Jesus invites you, just as you are.
Prayer – Nathan
The Story
On the night of his arrest, Jesus took bread and having blessed it,
He broke the bread, and gave it to his disciples saying,
“This is my body, given for you.”
In the same way, he took the cup, and after giving thanks for it,
gave it to his disciples, saying,
“This cup is the new relationship with God sealed with my blood.
Take this and share it.
I will drink wine with you next in the coming kingdom of God.”
We pray, O Christ, graciously nourish us,
so that we who try to follow you
may receive food for the journey
and be bound in solidaity with all who walk your way.
Amen.
The Bread
We break this bread in remembrance that Christ died for us,
and we are thankful.
The Cup
We drink this in remembrance that Christ lives in us,
and we are thankful. (We will hold our cups).
In this time of communion Christ comes to us
– as Christ always comes to us –
with love from God.
The gifts of God for the people of God.
Peace
The words which came from heaven
Are given to reconcile us to God and to each other.
Peace be with you
And also with you.
Let us share a sign of peace with one another.
Song – Youth go out
Prayers of Intercession
We will love (response) with all our heart, soul, mind and strength.
Loving God, our prayer today is for this community and all its people
Those who are concerned about health or family or work
Those who are rejoicing over good news or new opportunities.
We pray especially for Judith and Richard Bauer, for the health challenges each is navigating, for Richard as he recovers from this latest surgery.
Be with all of us – as we love and care for each other.
We will love with all our heart, soul, mind and strength.
Our prayer today is for the activities and ministries of this church
Our small groups, Family Church, Nathan and the youth group as they prepare for camp next weekend.
We also bring you the activities we run during the week – yoga, playgroup, crafty fingers, the community garden – and all the groups and people that we host here –
may these be places where your love – and you in that love – are present.
We will love with all our heart, soul, mind and strength.
Our prayer today is for our country
We pray for the government and for all who work in government in this city, be with them and give them wisdom,
Be with those communities around this nation that are struggling, and be with all preparing for the summer ahead as we face the challenge of climate change
Help us to care for this country and its future.
We will love with all our heart, soul, mind and strength.
Our prayer today is for the people of the world
We pray – as we have been asked to – for the churches of Lebanon that you will help them to be agents of peace and hope.
We pray that there will be a ceasefire and a just peace – for the sake of those in Lebanon and Gaza and Israel.
We pray this too for Ukraine and Russia and other communities and countries in conflict.
We pray for the people of Spain as they recover from this recent disaster.
And we pray for the US as the election comes this weekend – again may you raise up people to be agents of peace and hope and love.
We will love with all our heart, soul, mind and strength.
The Lord our God is one:
We will love with all our heart, soul, mind and strength.
The Lord our God is one:
We will love with all our heart, soul, mind and strength.
The Lord our God is one:
We will love with all our heart, soul, mind and strength.
Offering Prayer
Our prayer today is for the gifts we give
that we will give generously and thankfully
and that we’ll use these gifts with wisdom and love.
The Lord our God is one:
May we love with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. Amen
Benediction
Through God’s way of love, we have become the body of Christ.
So, let us go into the world in peace and courage, holding to the good, honouring all of God’s children, loving and serving the Lord, rejoicing in the power of the Spirit.
And the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.