Sunday, August 16, 2009
Mark 12:28-30
Tex
and Peggy Sample have been in love with each other and married for some fifty years
now. But it has not always been that
way. Tex was one of the most popular
teachers at St. Paul School of Theology when I was there. He has recently published a new book
entitled Earthy Mysticism with stories from his life. In it, he tells of how he and Peggy found
each other.
They
were at college together at Millsaps College in Mississippi. They had been friends for a couple of years
but it all changed when he saw her for the first time in a bathing suit. He began to want to see her more and they
began to date. After a few dates he got
up the nerve to kiss her. But as soon
as he did, he panicked and turned on his heel and ran.
He
called her later and apologized. Tex
writes, “From that time on we began to see each other much more often, and the
kissing increased to my delight; but it was clear that I cared for her in
ways she did not care about me.” (p. 94)
That summer Peggy went to Chicago and Tex went to work in the hot and sultry oil fields in the South. But he wrote her every day – well not every day he says, only 89 letters in 90 days. At the end of the summer they talked and decided that they could still date other people but would save Friday night for each other.
At the end of that school year they got married.
What
happened? Tex continued to love her,
didn’t he? Even though he knew she did
not harbor the same feelings as he did, at least early on, he continued to love
her and, over time, she began to reciprocate.
God
is loving us and waiting for us to reciprocate. It seems silly almost that we have to be told to love God – that
we have to have a commandment telling us to love God. But it has been true across history.
The
Jews had the great insight that God is their creator of the creator of all the
world and they recognized that God called Abraham to fashion a people that
would help others see that. God
delivered them from bondage and led them to freedom and to a land where they
could prosper. Yet, still they looked
away, they missed it. They missed this
one true God and turned towards other gods.
They needed a commandment to remind them.
In
today’s passage Jesus is asked what is the first commandment. By this time there were hundreds of
commandments by which Jews were to live.
Jesus quotes Hebrew Scripture and says, Hear O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall
love the Lord your God. You shall
love the Lord your God. You shall do
it. It is the thing to do. It is of utmost importance.
St.
Augustine wrote: “We do not walk to God
with the feet of our body, nor would wings, if we had them, carry us
there. But we go to God by the
affections of our soul.” (p. 142, The
Ten Commandments, Laws of the Heart by Joan Chittister) It is affection, it
is devotion, it is passion, it is a burning love of God that is our first order
of every day.
But
so often we fail to live that way. It happens
to me certainly; some days I am on fire for God – I feel it, I live it, my life
is permeated with it. But there are
other days where either I don’t feel it, or I fail to live it. I feel distant from God or maybe I fail to
even think about God at all that day. I
think we can all probably relate to that if we reflect honestly on our lives.
If
those distant days become the majority, then bad things can happen. You may have heard some of the news reports
that it has been discovered that there are terrorist cells operating in some
American churches. Authorities have identified five of those groups, they
are: Bin Arguin, Bin Coastin, Bin
Complainin, Bin Gossipin, and Bin Missin.
Their
leader, Osama Bin Lucifer, trained these groups to destroy the Body of Christ.
The plan is to come into the church disguised as Christians and to work within
the church to discourage, disrupt, and destroy.
However,
there have also been reports of a sixth group. A tiny cell known by the name
Bin Prayin. It is actually the only effective counter terrorism force in the
church. This group appears to be somewhat small.
But,
the Bin Prayin group does whatever is needed to uplift and encourage the Body
of Christ. Authorities have noted that the Bin Prayin cell group has different
characteristics than the others. They have Bin Helpin, Bin Livin, Bin Lovin and
Bin Longin for their Lord!
Which
group are you in? The people around us influence
us. Are the people around you helping
you draw closer to the Lord or more distant?
Are the people around you fueling your love for God? Are you helping them love the Lord their God
with all their heart? With all their
soul? With all their mind? And with all their strength?
That’s the place Jesus says we should start. He says that is the first and great commandment. Love the Lord your God with all you’ve got! Receive the love of God and then reciprocate. Chittister says it this way: “It is the total, unadulterated consciousness of the love of God for us and our obligation, since we are made ‘in the same image,’ to love back in the same way – freely, fully, faithfully…” (p. 138)
As
we move into the pattern of receiving the love of God and then loving God back,
our lives become marked by a love that grows throughout our lifetime. John Wesley, spiritual giant and founder of
Methodism, called it being “perfected in love” – this idea, that we continually
can receive the grace and blessings of God and return them, both to God and to
those around us. He said it was the
character of a Methodist to do just that.
We
talk quite a bit around here about becoming deeply devoted disciples of
Jesus Christ or what we refer to as 3-D Christians. We have a vision and mission statement
describing that, but did you know we also have what we call a Compass? The Compass challenges us to personalize the
Great Commandment: I shall love
the Lord my God with all my heart and all my soul and all my mind and all my
strength.
What
if we all really began to do that? It
would be a wonderful thing. At the
beginning of this school year, let’s start to do this together. As a way of symbolizing that, let’s just say
it together out loud: I have put it on
your outline and have asked Kurtis to put it up on the screens. There it is: would you join me in making
this most basic of commitments in the Christian life? Let’s say it together: I
shall love the Lord my God with all my heart and all my soul and all my mind
and all my strength.
It’s
a good start. Let’s carry that with
us, in our hearts this week.
Chittister has a great closing thought I want to share with you: “We are inclined to forget that the
commandments as we know them are simply guidelines meant to show us how to keep
the greatest commandment of all – the love of God – when the truth is that when
we really love God, we don’t need any of the other commandments at all. A sense of the presence of God is more than
enough to guide us.” (p. 140)
Tex
and Peggy Sample… “it was clear that I cared
for her in ways she did ______ care about me.”
God
is _________ us and waiting for us to reciprocate.
It
is of _________ importance.
But
so often we ______ to live that way.
Which
________ are you in?
…our
lives become marked by a love that ________
throughout
our lifetime.
…__eeply
__evoted __isciples of Jesus Christ or
what
we refer to as 3-D Christians.
The
Compass challenges us to personalize the Great
Commandment:
___ shall love the Lord my God
with
all my heart
and
all my soul
and
all my______
and
all my strength.
Let’s
carry that with us, in our _________ this week.
Kid’s
Question: What does Jesus say is the
first commandment?
is
the first and great commandment. Love
the Lord your
God
with all you’ve got! Receive the love
of God and
then
reciprocate. Chittister says it this
way: “It is the total,
unadulterated
consciousness of the love of God for us and
our
obligation, since we are made ‘in the same image,’ to
love
back in the same way – freely, fully, faithfully…”
“We
are inclined to forget that the commandments as we
know
them are simply guidelines meant to show us how
to
keep the greatest commandment of all – the love of God –
when
the truth is that when we really love God, we don’t
need
any of the other commandments at all. A
sense of
the
presence of God is more than enough to guide us.”