Who Do You Love?
Guest Preacher: Alan Olson
So
for the past couple weeks I’ve been hitting the books pretty hard. The other
day I took the Worship & Sacraments exam for the PC (USA). This is one of
the four ordination exams that Candidates for Ministry must take before the
Commission on the Preparation for Ministry—the CPM—can certify the candidate as
being ready to receive a call to ministry. One of the other things that a
candidate must do before certification is preach a sermon before a member of
the CPM. And hey, look, there’s Tom Smart, a member of the CPM. Hi, Tom!
So
on Friday I took the Worship & Sacraments exam. Maybe it would be more
accurate to say I retook the exam. I took this exam back in July, along with the
other three ordination exams. This was two and a half weeks after I got back from
Africa. I passed the other exams the first time around, but not Worship &
Sacraments, which was the subject that I thought I knew the best. But I
overloaded my schedule and I didn’t realize that after I got back from Africa,
I’d be too tired to study. I tried to study. Really, I did, but I just couldn’t
concentrate.
This
time around I’ve put a lot more time into my studies. I’ve been reviewing old
exams and writing practice essays every day. I’m really sick of paging through
the Directory for Worship. And I’m
busy doing all of this right before I have to preach a really big, important
sermon. Notice a pattern? I didn’t see it until I started writing this sermon;
but clearly, I have a habit of overloading my schedule. I try to cram too many
important things into a narrow passage of time. What can I say? I guess I’m a
glutton for punishment.
So,
on Wednesday night, I was trying to do some work on this sermon and I was
trying to work through one . . . more . . . essay! By 11:30, I’d had it. My
brain was fried and my body was beat. The well was dry. At that point, any sane
person would have brushed his or her teeth and gone to bed, but this is me. And
I saw a link to a blog entry in the Huffington Post, and it looked really
interesting. Notice a pattern?
The
title for the blog entry was “Most Depressing Brain Finding Ever.”[1]
The writer discussed an article from Dan Kahan, a law professor at Yale. In his
research, Kahan looked at how people processed information about politics. It
was fascinating. Now before I say anything else about this study, I want to
emphasize that I am NOT trying to lead a political debate from the pulpit. So I
won’t go into too many details about the experiments, but what Kahan found is
that our political beliefs affect our ability to do math. Seriously.
Kahan
showed some numerical data to the people who participated in the study. First
he said the data were about a skin cream, and then he asked the participants to
analyze the data. Most people were able to correctly analyze the data. However,
when Kahan showed the same data, to the same people, and said those data were
about some political topic, people were unable to reach the same conclusions. In
other words, when people believed the data were about a skin cream, they could
do the math. But when they thought the numbers were about politics, they couldn’t
do the math; no amount of objective information could convince people that
their political opinions were misinformed. Politics was more powerful than
math. Now before you go convicting your neighbors for their misinformed
opinions, please remember that I left the political details out of this sermon.
So I want you to hold all of that stuff about how we process information in the
back of your head while we consider this morning’s Old Testament and Gospel
lessons.
This
story in this morning’s Gospel lesson also appears in the Gospels of Mark and
Matthew. Jesus’ adversary in this version is described as a Pharisee, and a
lawyer at that, and he asks Jesus which commandment is greatest. As usual, the
authorities are trying to trick Jesus into making a mistake; as usual, Jesus
offers a better answer:
“‘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.”
Jesus
responds by quoting Scripture, Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18; Jesus says
that all of the law and all of the prophets hang on these two pieces of
scripture. So let’s take a closer look at the text from Deuteronomy.
The
Book of Deuteronomy is presented as a series of speeches—sermons, actually—given
by Moses, to the Israelites before they enter the Promised Land. In these
sermons, Moses recasts the law that was given to the Israelites in the Sinai. In
fact, the name Deuteronomy actually means, “second law.” Most scholars think
that Deuteronomy was composed over a number of centuries, and long after Moses
died and the Israelites entered the Promised Land.[2]
The Book of Deuteronomy articulates covenant theology, which is the “shape and
substance of Israel’s faith.”[3]
It provides a systematic interpretation of what it means to be in a right
relationship with God. The authors of Deuteronomy were trying to reaffirm and
revitalize the central tenets of the Jewish faith. And so is Jesus. Notice the
pattern?
In
a dispute with a Pharisee, Jesus begins by quoting a portion of the greatest
statement of faith in the Old Testament: Shema
y’israel, Adonai eloheinu, Adonai echad. That is, “Hear, O Israel, the Lord
is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your
heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.” Scholars refer to
these verses as the shema. Practicing
Jews also know this as the shema,
because that is the first word in Hebrew: Listen! Hear! It’s a command. You can
almost hear Moses preaching to the Israelites: Listen to me, guys! This is
really important! The Lord is our God; the Lord, alone! This is the great
statement of monotheism. It sets the
Hebrew religion apart from all other religions of the ancient Near East. Both Martin
Luther and John Calvin identify the Shema as the essential statement of the
covenantal relationship between God and humanity.[4]
Why
would the authors of Deuteronomy need to restate this? Why would the covenants
that were expressed in Genesis, Exodus, and Leviticus need to be restated and
then placed in the mouth of Moses? One answer is Israel had a long history of
questioning God and worshiping other gods when they doubted God’s love and
care. Think of the golden calf. Think of the Second Commandment. Remember, too,
that in the time of King Ahab, the people of Israel were trying to worship both
God and Baal. And Elijah said to the people: “How long will you go limping with
two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, follow
him.”[5]
There is even archaeological evidence of these divided loyalties: there are
inscriptions at cultic sites from the Northern Kingdom dedicated to “YHWH and
his Asherah.”
Yet
for all this, for all the times Israel turned away from God and worshiped idols,
God still welcomed the chosen people back. And when even that wasn’t enough,
God didn’t give up on humanity. No. God sent Jesus into the world, so that
humanity might have another chance at reconciliation. Notice the pattern?
Nothing
can separate us from the love of God. Nothing. What does God do when humanity
still can’t get it right? God sends Jesus. What does Jesus tell us to do? Love
God with every fiber of your being. It’s worth noting that the verb, to love,
has a different sense in Hebrew than it does in English. In English, the verb
describes a state of being. I love my mother. I love pizza. I love the
Steelers. At no point in the last three sentences does my love require me to
act. Though I love pizza, I have no plans to eat pizza after church today. Now
I’m going to watch the Steelers today, but in March or April, I will still love
the Steelers, even if there is no game to watch. I might even love them more
because they’re not playing and I won’t have to watch a bad football game. My
love doesn’t call me to action.
The
Hebrew language is very different. It’s a language of verbs. The verb, to love,
implies action on the part of the one who loves. To love God is to act on that
love. To love God is to act ethically in service to God and on behalf of God. So
Jesus reminds us that we are commanded to love God. We’re not supposed to argue
which of the Ten Commandments is most important; we’re supposed to love God
with every fiber of our being and in everything that we do. Oh, and Jesus says
something else. He reminds us of Leviticus 19:18; he commands us to love our
neighbors as we love ourselves. This isn’t just a state of being; this is about
acting on our love. We must demonstrate our love in tangible ways—for God and
for the rest of humanity. God created our neighbors, too, so showing love for
our neighbors becomes an act of love for God; it is a way for us to remain in
the covenant with God.
But
that’s not easy. Some people are difficult to love. And there are so many
problems out there. At times, it doesn’t seem like our love is enough. Sure, we
all want to be God’s church, sent out into the world, but it just seems like it’s
harder to do that nowadays. Thirty years ago, it seemed like it was easier to
be the church.
Something
changed. We see that something is different, but we don’t know who was
responsible or why it happened. We want what we used to have, but it’s gone. We
can’t quite figure out where and what God is calling us to be. We see lots of
data and we hear lots of explanations—conflicting explanations. We talk about
things but we don’t seem to move forward. We’re stuck.
We’re
stuck and we’re busy trying to figure out where we went wrong. This is true in
all of the mainline denominations. It’s as true for the Lutherans and
Methodists as it is for us in the Presbyterian Church. Our congregations are in
decline and we miss how things used to be. We miss the families that we don’t
see in the pews anymore. Maybe it was easier to be the Church when there were
more people in the building, but they’re not here anymore. And we’re bogged
down, trying to figure out what went wrong.
Despite
our best intentions, things changed. I’ve only spent a little bit of time here
at Emsworth, so I don’t know all of the bits and pieces of your story. But here’s
what I believe to be true about the changes that have happened here over the
last generation: it isn’t Susan’s fault. It isn’t Bob Downs’ fault. Nor is it
George Leitze’s fault. It’s not even your fault. The world changed. That’s it.
Now we have to find a way forward.
Remember
that study I talked about a few minutes ago? Once we start talking about
politics, we lose the ability to do simple math. I think what that study shows
is that we don’t want to let anyone challenge our identity. If you and I have
different opinions about the President, and I say something about the economy,
and then you offer some piece of data that conflicts with what I just said,
then you haven’t just challenged my statement about the economy, you’ve
challenged my identity. The question about politics really becomes a question
about identity, and I’m not going to let anyone challenge my identity.
The
bigger problem is we trust too much in our own ideas. We form our identities
around our faith, yes, but also around our ideas, our sense of place, our political
ideologies, and our cultural sensibilities. We construct our identities around
these other things, and then we hold them sacred. We are not to be questioned
or challenged on our beliefs about guns or birth control or the righteousness
of loving the Pittsburgh Steelers. The problem, really, is that we do not base
our identity in God and in Christ. At best, that’s just part of our identity, one part among many, competing for our
loyalty.
The
answer, the way forward, is Jesus. Recognize the pattern? When we get bogged
down, when we turn away from God, God doesn’t turn away from us. When we can’t
figure out where to turn, God sends Jesus into our lives. And what does Jesus
tell us? Love the Lord our God with all our hearts, all our souls, and all of
our might, and also, to love your neighbor as yourself. What stops us from
doing these things? We don’t trust enough in God’s love and God’s faithfulness
in us. We make idols of ourselves, our minds, and our past. The way forward is
to turn away from our idols and toward Jesus. The way forward is to find our
identity in Him. When we let go of our idols and embrace God, we show our love
in visible ways. We love God in the original sense of the Hebrew verb and we do
the same for our neighbors. This is how we are called to be the Church in the
world. Not the church of thirty years ago, but the Church of today! So turn to
God and turn to Jesus and love the Lord with all your heart and all your might
and all your soul! Thanks be to God! Amen!
Benediction
Now,
friends, as you depart from this place, remember that God never turns away from
us. Remember that we are commanded to love God with all our heart, all our
soul, and all our might. Remember that we are commanded to love our neighbors
as we love ourselves. And remember that love is an active verb; love leads to
visible acts of faithfulness, justice, mercy, and peace. So go forth and be
instruments of God’s love and peace and reconciliation. Do not return evil for
evil to any person, but know that we are all loved by God, and that we are
called to reflect that love and act upon that love to everyone we meet. In the
name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, Let all God’s children say,
Amen!
[1] Marty
Kaplan, “Most Depressing Brain Finding Ever.” Retrieved from Huffington Post,
10/23/14: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marty-kaplan/most-depressing-brain-fin_b_3932273.html
[2] Clements, Ronald E. Deuteronomy. In Volume 2 of The New Interpreter’s Bible. Nashville:
Abingdon Press (1998), 278.
[3] Brueggemann,
Walter. Deuteronomy. Nashville:
Abingdon Press (2001), 17.
[4] Miller,
Patrick D. Deuteronomy. Louisville:
Westminster John Knox Press (1990), 14-15.
[5] 1 Kings
18:21
