As disciples of Jesus, we've been called to follow him by claiming his example and learning from his teachings. From June to October, we're going to focus on the Gospel of Mark so that we might better understand how we might follow our Savior and live as his community.
Mark 12:28-34 [Contemporary English Version]
One of the teachers of the Law of Moses came up while Jesus and the Sadducees were arguing. When he heard Jesus give a good answer, he asked him, “What is the most important commandment?”
Jesus answered, “The most important one says: ‘People of Israel, you have only one Lord and God. You must love him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.’ The second most important commandment says: ‘Love others as much as you love yourself.’ No other commandment is more important than these.”
The man replied, “Teacher, you are certainly right to say there is only one God. It is also true that we must love God with all our heart, mind, and strength, and that we must love others as much as we love ourselves. These commandments are more important than all the sacrifices and offerings that we could possibly make.”
When Jesus saw that the man had given a sensible answer, he told him, “You are not far from God’s kingdom.” After this, no one dared ask Jesus any more questions.
Andrew Bennett, a member of parliament over in Britain, said something that I think is pretty profound. He said, “The longest journey you will ever take is the 18 inches from your head to your heart.” In other words, even though the head and heart are only eighteen inches from each other, most of us spend our entire lives trying to make a genuine connection between what we know in our heads and what we actually believe in our hearts. Now in my book, that’s what I call profound.
And I’ll tell you, I think it’s also true. Let me give you an example. Last week Debbie and I celebrated our anniversary; in fact, that’s one of the reasons she’s here this morning. Of course, for a lot of men, anniversaries are sort of a mine field, and trust me, that has definitely applies to me. I mean, even after I got to the point when I knew it was on the 22nd and not the 23rd, which took about ten years, I still seemed to have a lot of difficulty nailing the right gift. But believe me, it wasn’t for a lack of knowledge. And right here is where the quote kicks it. You see, in my head, I knew anniversaries are important. And in my head, I was aware of the kind of stuff Debbie really likes. And in my head, I even had a pretty good idea about what to get and where to find it. I guess what I’m trying to say is that my head was in the right place. But for some reason, the stuff I knew up there never traveled those 18 inches to my heart, you know, that place where the actual decisions are made. You see, although I knew the right thing to do, I’d procrastinate and I’d just kind of dink around until it was too late to do much of anything. And so I’d wind up getting every man’s anniversary punt gift, and I’m talking about flowers and a card from the grocery store. And even though they were received with grace and compassion, because that’s who Debbie is, carnations that have the faint smell of deli meat just can’t compare to the personal and appropriate gifts my wife got for me. And even though my head was committed to doing something special, I’ve learned the hard way that, despite what they say, the thought really isn’t what counts.
But of course, this gap between the head and the heart, well, it’s not just about anniversaries and birthdays (another minefield). No, I think applies to most aspects of living, including our Christian lives. And you know, that’s what we’re going to talk about this morning, namely how we can move what we know in our heads to what we actually believe in our hearts.
Jesus answered, “The most important one says: ‘People of Israel, you have only one Lord and God. You must love him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.’ The second most important commandment says: ‘Love others as much as you love yourself.’ No other commandment is more important than these.” [Mark 12:29-31, CEV]
Now that’s what Jesus said, and frankly, I don’t think he could have been more clear. I mean, da. God wants us to do one thing; he wants us to love. And he wants us to direct that love in two directions: to himself and to those around us. Now that’s pretty straight forward. And since Jesus didn’t just make this stuff up on the fly, instead he quoted two passages in the Old Testament, that lawyer knew exactly what he was getting at. And that’s why he said, “Teacher, you are certainly right to say there is only one God. It is also true that we must love God with all our heart, mind, and strength, and that we must love others as much as we love ourselves. These commandments are more important than all the sacrifices and offerings that we could possibly make.” [Mark 12:32b-33, CEV] Pretty good, right? But you know, I think it’s interesting. Instead of Jesus jumping all over the response and praising the lawyer for both his support and knowledge, Jesus’s response, well, in my opinion, it was kind of muted. I mean, Mark wrote, “When Jesus saw that the man had given a sensible answer, he told him, ‘You are not far from God’s kingdom.’” [Mark 12:34a, CEV] Of course, he could have had a whole bunch of things in mind when he said that; I don’t know because I wasn’t there. But in light of what we’ve been talking about, I just wonder if Jesus saw that the lawyer knew the right answer but wasn’t convinced that he actually believed it. And so, even though he wasn’t far, he was still about 18 inches away from living under the rule of God.
But you know, I don’t think that has to apply to us, and I’m talking about that “not far” business. You see, I think we can bridge those 18 inches and connect what we think with what we actually believe we should be doing. In other words, as it relates to loving God and loving neighbor, I think we can move from head to heart. You see, I think that’s possible, but, in my opinion, we’re going to need to accept two things to get there.
And I’ll tell you, to demonstrate this kind of love, man, it’s going to take dedication. I mean, let’s get real, it’s going to take more than mouthing some religious-sounding words or making a bunch of spiritual promises. No, that’s the kind of love that never leaves the brain. I think to show the type of dedication that leads to this kind of love, man, we’re going to need to decide to factor God into everything that we do, and I’m talking about every word we say and every action we take and every decision we make. I mean, when Jesus used the word “whole,” I think he meant it. And even though our humanity will prevent us from ever reaching perfection, when we have the opportunity to pause before speaking or doing or deciding, we might want to ask ourselves if this is really something that the one whom we’ve decided to love would want us to say or to do. But if we do pause and ask ourselves these questions, we also have to be open and honest as we consider the answers, because let’s face it, I’m always amazed at how often God wants me to say and to do and of course, to have exactly what I want to say or to do or to have. I believe genuine dedication means challenging those assumptions. And I’ll tell you, that’s exactly what we need to claim and to develop, if we’re serious about loving God. Now that’s the first command.
And to actually get there, to move from thought to desire, well, trust me, it involves a whole lot more than a lot of good intentions. As a matter of fact, in his letter, James had a lot to say about good intentions. He wrote, “If you know someone who doesn’t have any clothes or food, you shouldn’t just say, ‘I hope all goes well for you. I hope you will be warm and have plenty to eat.’ What good is it to say this, unless you do something to help?” [James 2:15-16, CEV] Or as Samuel Johnson wrote, “Hell is paved with good intentions.” Amen. No, good intentions aren’t enough. Instead, if we desire to be more loving toward those around us, somewhere down the line we’re going to have to develop a loving attitude. And frankly, I’m not sure there’s a better description of this kind of thing than in what Paul wrote to the Corinthians. Just listen to what he said:
Love is kind and patient,
never jealous, boastful,
proud, or rude.
Love isn’t selfish
or quick tempered.
It doesn’t keep a record
of wrongs that others do.
Love rejoices in the truth,
but not in evil.
Love is always supportive,
loyal, hopeful,
and trusting. [1 Corinthians 13:4-7, CEV]
I’m telling you, it ain’t easy to become a loving person, and that’s why I think it takes some genuine desire, if we’re serious about loving our neighbors. And that’s the second command.
Now, regardless of what we do, there’ll always be an 18 inch gap between our head and heart, you know, separating what we know from what we believe. But as we go about our Christian living, we can bridge that gap and make the connection, but only if we recognize that there’s a couple of things that are also true. You see, if we’re seriously about actually loving God with our whole being, that’s going to take some dedication. And if we want to love our neighbors as we love ourselves, well, that’s going to take some desire. And I’ll tell you, in my opinion, that’s how we can move from our head to our heart.
No comments:
Post a Comment