What is Most Important? – sermon on October 26, 2014
Matthew 22: 34-40 When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
Sermon: What is Most Important? by Rev. Doreen Oughton
Some of you know that I have twice applied to a writing program for pastors, and twice I was rejected. I have heard some outstanding preachers, read so many wonderful essays or sermons by my clergy colleagues that I wanted to step up my game, see if I could learn to do better, and inspire you all in your faith in the way that I have been inspired by those so gifted with the written and spoken word. But my wish was thwarted. But you know, I’ve been thinking about it, about what I did with the applications and the writing samples they requested, and I have to confess, I did very little. I took things I had already written and spent absolutely no time editing, refining, or in any way trying to improve what was there. I took a little time articulating the reasons why I wanted to get into the program, but really, not much time. And so I shouldn’t be surprised that I did not get in. And I confess that the appeal of the program was that it was a 1-week intensive course. I figured I could go away for a week, focus on writing for just that week, learn the tips and techniques, and come out a better writer, focused and capable.
But now I am thinking maybe it doesn’t work that way. If I want to be a better writer, I have to spend more time with my writing. I have to do better than sitting at the keyboard and typing out the thoughts that occur to me in connection to the scripture. I would need to spend time considering various metaphors to find the right one, work and rework the phrasing to that it is evocative and beautiful. I would have to read and reread and edit. I would have to start my writing well before Friday so that I had time to do all that. I would not be able to accomplish my goal of being a better writer and preacher by going away for one week. Of course the instruction would be helpful, would offer guidance for getting where I want to go, but it’s not so simple as having someone tell me what to do, and I do it. The instruction and guidance are not shortcuts, but tools.
The question of the lawyer sounds to me like an attempt to shortcut a process, to find out the one most important thing so he can not worry much about the other things. Now we know from the lead-in to the question that this is not the case. He does not really want Jesus to answer for his own enlightenment, but to trip Jesus up. Now a lawyer in those days is not what we consider a lawyer today. Lawyers were theology or bible teachers. They were experts on Jewish law, by which they mean not just the 10 commandments we referred to in the children’s message, but 613 commandments given by God to Moses. The lawyer was probably eager to argue with Jesus, to show him up, by tearing down whatever answer Jesus gave – okay, so maybe like some lawyers today. It’s like the mother who puts out 2 shirts for her son – one blue and one red. Which do you like the best? I like them both the same. Well choose one and put it on. When he comes out with the blue one, she says, what, you didn’t like the red? What was wrong with the red?
Anyway, Jesus’ response shut down the lawyer, and like the Sadducees before them, the Pharisees and their lawyer ally were silenced. Jesus gives a sincere answer, not one meant to expose the questioner as a hypocrite, as he did with the Pharisees, but perhaps to call them to remember these commandments to love.
Now that is an interesting concept, isn’t it? Commandments to love. Can love be commanded? I know my mother tried to make my brothers and sisters love me, but they still pushed me around when she wasn’t looking, and I them. A command is an order, something one MUST do. And I don’t think feelings can be ordered up. We could always say that love is not just a feeling, but behavior, and perhaps people can be commanded, or ordered, to treat one another lovingly. But to me, the idea of the God who gave us free will ordering us to do certain things does not jibe.
And so I truly appreciated coming across a reframing of the “laws of God” not as commandments, but as commitments – descriptive rather than proscriptive. They explain what living in the kingdom looks like. They are signs that we are on the path to living as fully realized as possible, living in harmony with God’s song. And I understand God as a God of freedom, who wants us to co-create our own lives and experiences. I tell you, the times I have prayed and asked Jesus, “what should I do,” Jesus always comes back with “what do you want to do?” And I know his question is reaching into my deepest desires, those that long to be expressed so that I can be my highest self.
In this exchange between the lawyer and Jesus, I wonder if Jesus is describing for us in the broadest possible terms what living in God’s kingdom looks like. It includes love of God and love of neighbor. And I believe that following either path with sincerity will bring us to kingdom living, and circle us right around. We get to choose. Do we want to dip a toe into kingdom living by increasing our love of God? Try keeping Sabbath – really devote a day to rest and prayer, to laughter and rejoicing. Try honoring the power of your words – invoking God’s name only for Godly things. If you want to wade into kingdom living by loving your neighbor, try being honest, faithful, generous with your goods and with your spirit. Pick one and follow it. Keep trying, over and over. These are avenues into the kingdom. And when you’ve achieved some mastery over one, try another, not because God has commanded you to, but because it is what you want, because it brings you a freedom and a joy you hadn’t imagined possible.
Even though this lawyer did not have pure motives for his question, he asks a good question. We often yearn for clarity about what is essential in life, we want guidance in living in a way that matters. We want someone to take us on a retreat and spell it out for us. But our freedom and our joy, our sense of being most fully who we want to be, will not come from being told what to do. Sure there is guidance available, but we won’t be dragged or pushed along. If I want to be a really good writer, I have to do the work. And it’s okay if I don’t. I’m not a bad person. There might be other gifts I wish to develop, other modes of expression, other interests I have. But it makes no sense for me to SAY that is what I want and not be willing to do the work. Maybe I need to be honest with myself that I just kinda want it, and not enough to do the work at this point.
Maybe some of us just kinda want to know God and Jesus. Maybe we just want to check out kingdom living from afar, get a sense of what we’d be getting ourselves into before we work really hard for it. In which case not even 614 commandments, or points of entry, will get us there. With self-honesty comes clarity, especially if we let go of judgment. If I stop thinking I SHOULD be a better writer, and instead think about what I WANT to be better at, it might not feel like work, and I might be excited to apply myself.
So if you find yourself praying, asking God, “what should I do? How do you want me to live? What is the most important thing?” – listen deeply to the invitation that might be coming back to you. What do you WANT to do? How do you want to live? Based on that answer, there is guidance available, and if you have answered honestly, you will be excited about applying yourself to that path.
Now this gets more complicated when we ask the question as a church, but it is still a good question to ask, a good invitation to ponder. When there’s a group of people involved, we rely on the Holy Spirit to move within and among us to help create a shared vision. What is the most important thing about being a church? What do we want to be? What challenges have we faced or are facing that energize us and draw us in? What challenges drain and deplete us? Are we wasting our energy and joy by trying to be something we think we SHOULD be but aren’t really called to be? Could something be freed to grow in new ways if we just focused on our deepest desire to express something about what it means to us to be Church? What does it mean to us to love God with all our hearts and souls and minds? What does it mean to love our neighbor as ourselves? Instead of being silenced by Jesus’ response to a question, could we enter into the dialogue bravely and with sincerity?
As I was writing this, I started considering these questions deeply, realizing that I don’t just want to leave them for you to ponder for yourselves. I wonder if maybe we need to take some time to be together and explore them, perhaps a retreat – overnight or day long, for those who have supported this church with their presence and participation in a consistent manner. Let’s explore who we are, where we are, where we want to go, who we want to be. I’m really excited by the challenge, so I’ll do some work on it, and I will keep you posted. I think I found the call I’m excited about, and it is to be a better leader. To help lead people to kingdom living, where love of God and love of neighbor flow freely, well, I believe that would, indeed, leave me joyful, joyful.
