Go and Tell What You Hear and See

This sermon was heard at the First Presbyterian Church in Marshall, Texas on Sunday December 12, 2010, the 3rd Sunday of Advent.

Isaiah 35:1-10
Psalm 146:5-10
James 5:7-10

Matthew 11:2-11

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen

As we read last week, John had promised everyone who had come to the Jordan that while he was there to baptize with water for repentance; after him will come one who is more powerful than he, whose sandals he is not fit to carry. He who follows will baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

Then in the verse that immediately follows last week’s gospel selection we read, “Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John.” John recognized who Jesus was. Matthew’s gospel tells us that John would have prevented Jesus from being baptized by him saying, “I need to be baptized by you.” Jesus recognized who John was too. He said, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.”

They recognized one another. The story of the Baptism of Jesus ends with a voice from heaven saying, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”

John knew who Jesus was, but by the time of our reading this morning, Jesus wasn’t doing the things John had expected the Christ to do. Jesus wasn’t doing the Messianic stuff, the Holy Spirit and fire he had expected, he had prophesied, wasn’t coming. Where’s the brimstone when you need it?

Of course, John’s expectations of a Messiah who would come with fire weren’t his own creation. There was a long history of prophets who had prophesied the coming of the Messiah with fire. Our reading from Isaiah promised God will come with vengeance and with terrible recompense. Isaiah promised divine retribution coming to destroy the enemies of God. Now we’re talking about the Holy Spirit and fire with a vengeance.

The conventional wisdom of the day was that the Messiah would come to free the nation from its oppression by conquerors. Freedom from Rome, freedom from Babylon, freedom from Egypt; the Jews expected a military and political leader who would free them from the traditional shackles of the world and restore the Kingdom of God on earth.

But with everything The Baptist knew, knowing Jesus is the Christ, what Jesus was doing didn’t meet his expectations for the acts of the Messiah. He knew Jesus was the answer, but where’s the fire? Where’s the vengeance? Where’s the terrible recompense? Where’s the divine retribution? Where is the destruction of the enemies? John’s in prison. He isn’t long for this world, and I am guessing he is feeling the pressure of prophecy and the weight of the cosmos upon him, so he sends his disciples to ask. “Are you the one who is to come? Or are we to wait for another?”

Jesus answers John’s disciples. “Go and tell John what you see and hear.” He tells them don’t ask me, see for yourself and tell your master, your Rabbi; tell John what you see.

So, what has happened since Jesus has been baptized?

According to the New Interpreter’s Bible, in the narrative of the book of Matthew, Jesus performs twenty distinct miracles with additional miracles only mentioned in summaries.[1] This is more than any other gospel.

In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus cleanses the man whose skin is blemished, curing his leprosy. He heals Peter’s mother-in-law from her ailment. He heals the paralytic declaring that his sins are forgiven; then asking the Pharisees who declare this blasphemy which is easier to say, “your sins are forgiven” or “stand up and walk?”

He heals the man with the withered hand and gives sight to the blind on at least two occasions. While not found in Matthew’s gospel, there is a story of Jesus healing a deaf man in Mark’s gospel. On the flip side of this miracle, Matthew reports the story of a man who cannot speak becoming able to express himself in voice after he is exorcised of demons.

In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus performs two exorcisms and eight healings. He also performs three more healings that are also exorcisms. There are two miracles at sea and in three stories the needs of people are miraculously met. In life and in death; raising Jairus’ daughter from the dead and cursing a fig tree to its death rounds out the table of miracles.

In his own more concise words to John’s disciples, “The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.”

In just these few words, Jesus invites John’s disciples to remember what was written in Psalm 146, the Psalm we used as our call to worship this morning, “The Lord sets the prisoners free; the Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches over the strangers; he upholds the orphan and the widow, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin. The Lord will reign forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations. Praise the Lord!”

In one simple sentence, Jesus reminds John’s disciples of the miracles and blessings he has shared in the name of Holy God, to give glory to God. In one simple sentence, Jesus points to the Father, who points back to the Son.

Jesus tells them exactly who he is. And if he isn’t what they expected, that wasn’t his concern. Jesus says that if his actions don’t pony up to their expectations about what the Messiah should do, they should take another look at their expectations.

Jesus is exactly who he is, he is exactly who he says he is, and he isn’t Lord of creation to meet others expectations or desires. Like John and his disciples, we all have an idea of who God is, but that may not be who God is at all. So how do we find out who God is? We do just what John did, he asked. So we ask.

But we must beware of the questions we ask and how we ask. To get good answers first we need to ask good questions. In Douglas Adams’ hilarious novel “The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” it is discovered that the ultimate answer to life, the universe, and everything is… 42. Oh, it’s the right answer, it was later discovered that they didn’t ask a very good question. The question wasn’t good enough to reach a meaningful answer.

Yet we are fortunate, one of the joys of our questioning is that we have the source of the answers. Scripture is the word of God. Its authority is in the fact that the Bible is the authoritative historical witness to Christ. It is the testimony of those who actually saw and witnessed to the saving acts of God in history.[2] The Bible is worthy to be called Holy Scripture because it conveys, mirrors, or reflects what is authentic and valid about God and God’s works.[3]

Of course we have to beware, there are lessons that are easy to take that are incomplete, or not really there at all.

Yesterday, protesters from the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas were on the picket lines again. According to their own website, “The humble servants of God at WBC have picketed 44,729 times - preaching on the mean streets of 814 Cities - including in all 50 States (plus Canada and Iraq) - commanding all men to fear God, and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment is come!”[4]

On a side note, for everyone who wants to spend time expressing rage and furious anger against these “humble servants,” according to their web site, they have lost and will lose exactly zero “nanoseconds of sleep” over anyone’s “opinions and feeeeellllliiiiiings.”[5] (emphasis theirs)

Westboro Baptist first made national headlines in 1998 for picketing the funeral of Matthew Shepherd, a University of Wyoming student who was brutally beaten and murdered. During the trial of his accused and convicted killers, witnesses stated that Shepherd was targeted because he was homosexual.

The congregation graduated to constant headlines in 2005 after declaring its intention to picket the memorial service of Carrie French in Boise, Idaho. At the age of nineteen, French was killed on June 5, 2005 in Kirkuk, Iraq where she served as an ammunition specialist with the 116^th Brigade Combat Team’s 145^th Support Battalion.

The Reverend Fred Phelps, Senior was once quoted saying, “Our attitude toward what’s happening with the war is [that] the Lord is punishing this evil nation for abandoning all moral imperatives that are worth a dime.”[6]

Yesterday members of the Westboro Church went to Raleigh, North Carolina to protest the funeral of Elizabeth Edwards because of her tolerance for gays. Their hope was to promote “awareness of the dangers of homosexuality”[7] and condemn her for “spewing blasphemy.”[8]

Now, here’s why I share this: In his own way, Reverend Phelps has asked a question and prayed for guidance. He sees something wrong with his community, and asks what can be done to redeem the situation. The answer he has received is that it’s just plain too late for America and he’s going to get the word out because time is short. He and the people of the Westboro Baptist Church have chosen to picket churches, funerals, football games, and rock concerts as the way to share the word that God’s hard rain is falling.

Rev. Phelps is telling the world and our nation in particular are going to hell in a hand basket, literally. In this way, he has joined in with what Jesus has commanded the disciples of John, they are going and telling what they see and hear. Frankly, this is what prophets do.

The Psalmist wrote, “The Lord sets the prisoners free; the Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches over the strangers; he upholds the orphan and the widow, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.” My guess though is that the people of Westboro are heavy on the ruin of the wicked.

As for me, I don’t agree with his interpretation of scripture. I will say nothing about the sincerity of their convictions; instead I think they have asked their questions poorly and got 42 for an answer.

Of course, in their own words, they won’t lose any sleep over my “opinions and feeeeellllliiiiiings.”[9]

This week my Facebook profile has been ablaze with no shortage of people who hope that the folks from Westboro get a sore throat, forcing them to be quiet. Some have suggested they would like to picket Rev. Phelps’ funeral with signs that are far from complementary. As for me, I would like to see a funeral sign that says, “God is love and God loves… even Rev. Phelps.”

As for me, I believe we live in a nation that is a shining light among the nations of the world. Do I believe that our nation is all that it can be? Do I believe that we have reached the apex of our ability to follow God? No, surely I believe that sin is real in this world, in both individuals and in the governments we create.

Yet I have faith, I believe that no one and nothing is beyond God’s redeeming work done in Jesus Christ. I believe that as long as there is life in Christ, the miracles of the Lord are still real. I believe we are a Psalm 146 nation following the Lord lifting up those who are bowed down and loving the righteous. We are a nation that watches over the strangers and upholds the orphan and the widow. And we are a nation that will truly bring the wicked to ruin.

I believe this because it is what I have seen and what I have heard. It is what I have found in scripture. It is what I have seen on the faces of the people, people whose lives reflect the light of God. I find it in individuals in the military. I see it in teachers. I even see it in a handful of politicians. It is what I hear in the voices of those who sing God’s praises and cry for God’s justice. I believe this because it is what I have seen and what I have heard; and it is what I must go and tell.

John’s disciples asked if Jesus was the one. Like only Jesus can, he says, “Yes I am, just look around and see the Kingdom of God blossoming around you. It may not be what you expected to see, but it is what my Father expects me to do.” Fred Phelps sees wrath, I see grace and redemption. We are both called to share what we have heard and seen. And by this, may no one take offence at the Lord our God.

John’s disciples left to spread the Good News of Jesus. We need to ask: Who are you, O Lord? Where are you at work in this world? What are you doing? How shall we share what we have seen and what we have heard?

Advent is upon us. Let us share this, the good news that Jesus is coming. As for me, I am excited. So now, let us spread the Good News of our God who reigns now and for all generations.

---

[1] “The New Interpreter’s Bible,” Leander E. Keck, Convener. Vol. VIII. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1995, p 241-244.

[2] Authority of Scripture, Richardson, Alan, “Interpreters’ Dictionary of the Bible.” 21st Printing 1992. Abingdon Press: Nashville, 1962

[3] Authority of Scripture, Barr, J. “Interpreters’ Dictionary of the Bible—Supplemental Volume.” 13th Printing 1996. Abingdon Press: Nashville, 1976.

[4] http://www.godhatesfags.com/picketlocations.html, retrieved December 11, 2010.

[5] http://www.godhatesfags.com/index.html, retrieved December 11, 2010.

[6] Oxley, Chuck. “His church was bombed, and now he protests funerals of the war dead.” Seattlep.com. Retrieved October 5, 2006.

[7] http://www.carynews.com/2010/12/11/v-print/24444/westboro-baptist-protest-sparks.html, retrieved December 11, 2010.

[8] WBC Press Release found at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/09/elizabeth-edwards-funeral-westboro-baptist-church_n_794333.html, retrieved December 11, 2010.

[9] Ibid. http://www.godhatesfags.com/index.html, retrieved December 11, 2010.

Lightning Strikes

This sermon was heard at the First Presbyterian Church in Berryville, Arkansas on Sunday June 6, 2010, the 10th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

1 Kings 17:8-24
Psalm 146
Galatians 1:11-24
Luke 7:11-17

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.

Here’s a bit of grade school humor that I recall from many a long days past. Does lightning strike the same place twice? No, because after the first strike, the place is never the same. I think it was out of the Boy Scouts of America’s “Boys’ Life” magazine from the 1960’s or early 70’s. Then again, I suspect it gets reprinted every five years or so, as the readership of “Boys’ Life” turns over to a new generation of scouts.

At my high school, as on many other tall buildings, on the top of the tall exhaust stack were lightning rods. The purpose of this type of lightning rod is to attract lightning, not to repel it. Placed in the highest point possible on a building, the rod attracts the lightning bolt and its electrical current and directs it safely to the ground so that there will be minimal if any damage to the building or disruption to it’s electrical system. Larry and Margaret have seen first hand what happens when lightning strikes a building.

Unfortunately, this technology doesn’t always work. My high school also had a two story stairwell that had a spire at the top that accidently acted like a lightning rod. It’s a beautiful feature; it’s even the image on the school’s logo and letterhead, but about every five years of so, it takes a bolt instead of the nearby lightning rods or trees. Sitting in one of the rooms within ten yards of the spire tip during a thunderstorm could be a spectacle. Believe me; I was there for one of those times. The experience definitely reminds me of the lightning strike joke, where I was sitting was not the same place it was moments earlier.

But lightning strikes once and lightning strikes twice in the stories of the widows whose sons have died.[1] The stories themselves from 1Kings 17:10 and 17-24 and Luke 7:11-17 are nearly identical.

Both of these stories take place when the prophet came to town. In the reading from 1Kings, it was Elijah; in the reading from Luke, it was Jesus; the prophet, priest, and king. In both stories the woman whose son had died was a widow. Elijah stretched himself across the child three times. Jesus touched the bier and said, “Young man, I say to you, rise.” Life returned to both of these widow’s sons. Elijah and Jesus both gave the young man back to his mother.

There are two differences though. The last (and least) difference is that in 1Kings, only the woman proclaimed “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.” Where in Luke we read, “The crowd said ‘God has looked favorably upon his people.’” I say this isn’t much of a difference because in the Kings reading only the woman was present when her son returned to life. In Luke not one crowd, but two were there when the man received new life. In both stories, everyone who witnessed the miracle praised God. In the first case, it was one woman; in the other, it was the whole crowd.

The other case is quite different, wonderfully different. In 1Kings we read that Elijah cried out to the Lord. In Luke we read that he had compassion for the widow. The glorious difference is this: Elijah cried out to God and for Jesus this action would have been unnecessary. Since Jesus is God, there was no need for Jesus to call out to anyone else.[2] Jesus sees what the Father has done in 1Kings and follows.

It is said that Luke’s gospel fully and intentionally formatted this miracle, which appears only in this gospel, to resemble the reading from 1Kings 17. The genre, structure, detail, and even the vocabulary connect these two stories beyond what could be expected by coincidence.[3] I’m not saying what a skeptic might say, that this didn’t happen it’s just a “copycat miracle.” What I am saying is that the way this story was recorded in Luke’s gospel intentionally tied these together.

I am not saying that the writers of Luke’s gospel put this story in here because they thought that it was a good story to copy and a good place to put it either. For doubters, I just want to remind you of the end of John’s gospel where it is recorded, “But there are also many other things that Jesus did; if every one of them were written down, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.” This could be one of those things not written anywhere else.

What I am saying is that lightning struck twice, and neither time was the place the same after it struck.

It is easy to focus on the triumphant aspects of these readings, everybody loves a happy ending. But before every happy ending, there is a time of trial and tribulation.

Elijah has seen his trials. In the reading immediately before our reading from 1Kings, Elijah went to Ahab, King of Israel, and told him of the coming seven year drought. Especially in instances like this one, the only thing worse than a prophet being wrong is a prophet being right. Directed by the Lord, Elijah is sent to a place for fresh water and promised bread and meat. But it didn’t take seven years for the wadi, stream, to turn bone dry. So Elijah is sent to Syria, to Zarephath, where he is met by a widow who is also in dire straights.

Elijah asks for water, which she provides and then he asks for a morsel of bread. This is when we find out how nasty things are for the widow. In so many words, she apologizes for not keeping the sacred responsibility of hospitality but she is preparing the last meal for her family. The death sentence has been handed down by the drought and she’s making their last meal. Elijah shares the greatest invocation God ever gives the people, “Fear not.” “Do not be afraid,” he says, “because the Lord, the God of Israel promises that their meal will not run out and their oil will not run dry. Fear not, the Lord will provide.

Gloriously, the Lord provides. Even after the cruelest twist of fate, the later death of the widow’s only son; gloriously, the Lord provides.

By the same turn, Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us, the Word become flesh, is the Word threatened by those who would take his life. Between Luke 4 and our reading today, Jesus is tempted by the devil, tempted with the most wonderful treats of this world if he will only betray God.[4] He discovers the truth of the old adage that no prophet is accepted in his home town.[5]

He healed the paralyzed man, this healing being more than the physical healing of the man’s body; Jesus forgave his sins as well healing his entire being, raising the ire of the scribes and Pharisees.[6] Eating with the outcasts, Jesus is scorned by those he has been sent to save.[7] He teaches on fasting[8] and the Sabbath,[9] turning from conventional wisdom and showing the world new constellations in the midst of the oldest stars.[10]

Jesus is nearly in constant danger from those who rule the land where he lives, those who he has come to save, and finally by one of his disciples. Jesus knows his woes so he knows the joy of restoration. He knows the joy of the Father’s presence, the presence that enters our lives like a bolt of lightning, making it so that we will never be the same.

Elijah and Jesus were both surrounded by those who would have their heads should the opportunity arise; so as we read their words, as we soak in their actions like the waters of our baptism, we are reminded that they knew the woes of the world as well as and better than we do. They don’t come to us as some lofty above-it-all types that promise new life without experiencing our life. They come as the Lord’s emissary and as the Living God, the ones who know our pain by experience, not by just hearing the story. Woes surrounded one of the greatest heroes of the faith, Elijah and the subject of our faith, the Lord Jesus Christ, and yes, woes surround us too.

There are some things I want to repeat that I have said in the last couple of minutes:

-Before every happy ending, there is a time of trial and tribulation.
-Elijah shares the greatest invocation God ever gives the people, “Fear not.” “Do not be afraid,” he says.
- Fear not, the Lord will provide.

I believe this, truly I do. I know that only in Christ is life worth living. Christ is the Victor over the forces of this world. I know this and I believe it.

The psalm from our Call to Worship makes this abundantly clear, the Lord cares and sustains those who the powerful push to the sides of society.

Happy are they who have the God of Jacob for their help!
whose hope is in the LORD their God;
who made heaven and earth, the seas, and all that is in them;
who keeps faith forever;
who gives justice to those who are oppressed,
and food to those who hunger.
The LORD sets the prisoners free;
the LORD opens the eyes of the blind;
the LORD lifts up those who are bowed down;
the LORD loves the righteous
and cares for the stranger;
the LORD sustains the orphan and widow,
but frustrates the way of the wicked.[11]

I know this to be true. I have faith that sustains me, even if some days I’m hanging by a thread. One of the recurring themes that can come from our readings is “Don’t worry, be happy! Fear is a sin, trust and believe because God is greater than the world.”[12] But this can be offered naively, and like the whitewash that covers Aunt Polly’s fence, it doesn’t last long. I say this because I know that there are many, many who live daily in the space between the joy of dancing in the morning and living in long, dark times that are always darkest before the dawn.

Pain and suffering is as close as the foodbank. It is as close as the hospital. For people sitting on either side of the visitor’s glass, pain and suffering are as close as the jail. They are as close as the city square and the skate park. They’re as close as these pews and this pulpit. We know that Jesus is calling us to life triumphant, we know that we should have no fear, we know that the Lord will provide; but there are still many who can’t be sure if that next call is salvation or (more likely) a debt collector.

To me, this is the hardest part of speaking the truth to speak; the truth that God provides and in the meantime there are widows and orphans in this world, like the families restored by Elijah and Jesus. The hardest part of this truth is that there are people in this world who wait and wait faithfully for restoration. They wait faithfully for the dawn that never seems to rise.

There are a couple of quotes from the Reverend William Sloane Coffin that I want to share with you. The first is like a whetstone for my sharp tongue. Coffin quotes the Reverend Reinhold Niebuhr saying, “Despair is the fate of realists who know something about sin, but nothing about redemption.”[13] And yes, as I say the hardest part of speaking the truth of God is the reality of people waiting in pain, this quote speaks to me. I know Niebuhr’s despair, I know realism, and I know about redemption. Some days the difference between knowing about and truly knowing can be measured by inches, other days by light years.

But the other thing Coffin says is “Hope is what’s still there when all your worst fears have been realized”[14] When the wolf is at the door, when it is darkest before the dawn, that is when all we have left is hope. This hope is not in might or power. It’s not in the princes of this world. Our hope is in the love of Christ, Christ who walked in our shoes 2,000 years before we did.

Christ who walked with us. Christ who knew all that this world had to offer from personal experience. Christ who would experience the most degrading death the Roman Empire had to offer. Our hope is not in the sun that rises, but in the Son who calls upon it to rise. Our hope is not in the words of my mouth, but in the one whose Word brings new life.[15]

Today in our Call to Worship, we praised the Lord who sustains the orphaned and widowed; frustrating the ways of the wicked.[16] In our Call to Confession we prayed declaring that the Lord visits “calamity’s child with the gift of new life.”[17] In our Confession of Sin we confessed not only our faith, but our failure to live our faith as we are called to live it.[18] As we prayed together in our Prayer for Illumination this morning, this is Christ’s word to the helpless, the needy, those who mourn, and those who are desolate or wounded by life.[19] In our scripture readings this morning we heard of how Elijah and Jesus both restored life to the sons of widows, and in the eyes of their cultures, restored their mothers to new life too.

This is the joy of life in Christ, we receive new life. We receive life that we could have neither expected nor imagined. In Christ all is new. This is the word that spread throughout Judea and all the surrounding country. This is the word that is true in our lives today. This is the word that we must continue spreading throughout the world beginning with our next door neighbor.

[1] My wife Marie noted that given the miracles of modern medicine, the miracle of resuscitation can seem almost commonplace, ordinary, no longer the thing of miracles. I like the point but I really couldn’t find the place to put it.
[2] Comparison taken from a table in “The New Interpreter’s Bible.” Volume IX. Keck, Leander E. General Editor. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1995, page 157.
[3] Ibid, 158.
[4] Luke 4:1-13
[5] Luke 4:24
[6] Luke 5:17-26
[7] Luke 5:27-32
[8] Luke 5:33-39
[9] Luke 6:1-11
[10] The “Stars/Constellations” turn of a phrase comes from William Sloane Coffin. I do love the way he preached.
[11] Translation of Psalm 146:5-9 from “Book of Common Worship.” Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1993, pages 777-778
[12] Among others, the June 4 and 5 entries of: Chambers, Oswald, “My Utmost for His Highest.” Grand Rapids, MI: Discovery House Publishers, 1935, 1963, 1992.
[13] Coffin, William Sloane, “The Collected Sermons of William Sloane Coffin, The Riverside Years.” Volume 2. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2008, page 66.
[14] Coffin, William Sloane, “The Collected Sermons of William Sloane Coffin, The Riverside Years.” Volume 1, Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2008, page 137.
[15] In the pastoral prayer, I noted that things are difficult for this part of the Body of Christ. Our hope is not in our wisdom, but in the grace and peace of Christ. Amen.
[16] Psalm 146:9
[17] Kirk, James, G. “When We Gather, A Book of Prayers for Worship.” Louisville, KY: Geneva Press, 2001, page 313.
[18] Ibid.
[19] Prayer for Illumination, Year C, Ordinary 10. “Revised Common Lectionary Prayers: Proposed by the Consultation on Common Texts.” Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 2002.

These Are the First Thing

This sermon was preached at the First Presbyterian Church in Berryville, Arkansas on November 5, 2006

Ruth 1:1-18
Psalm 146
Hebrews 9:11-14
Mark 12:28-34

May the words of my mouth and the words of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen

How many of us have ever heard someone say, “The first thing you need to know is…” In seminary, it happened pretty often. During the course of a semester, many professors would say that their classes—their disciplines—are the most important. The first couple of times I heard this, it was confusing, after a while, it was amusing. My Old Testament professor said that the New Testament was for people who didn’t get it the first time. The battles between the Bible and Theology departments played like the chicken and the egg. “Theology is faith seeking understanding!” “Well, without scripture, there is no faith to understand!” The Preaching professors remind us that the Word of God is the word written, incarnate, and living—so the living, the proclamation of the Word had better be worthy of its place. My Mission and Evangelism professor said his discipline was the most important. In a recent Austin Seminary publication, this professor says, “Teaching about the non-western church is sometimes a hard sell, but I am convinced it is the most important task in theological education today.”[1] The Stewardship professor was in line with the Mission professor, to a degree. He said people give when they know the church is doing mission, but believe me, mission was a function of stewardship, not the other way around.

You can hardly blame these professors. After working at a community college and at the University of Arkansas, it is the way of the professor to believe that what they study is the center of academe. Professors have dedicated themselves to years of study and research and writing and if they thought for a moment their specialty was unimportant, their lives would fall like a house of cards. Sure, maybe some take it a step too far. I can think of some professors who thought their work was the center of known and unknown universe. Some see themselves as gatekeepers to the University or a professional field. But a certain level of honor for the specialty is not only to be expected, it can be healthy.

Well, we have established that in seminary, everything is the first thing of all things to be learned. And surviving—thriving after being asked questions designed to trap him; Jesus is asked one more question. What commandment is the first of all?

Jesus gives his answer in three parts.

The first part: Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one.

This is a prayer known as the Shema. This prayer is said by Jews in the morning prayers and in the evening prayers. It is one of the first things a Jew thinks on in the morning and one of the last things in the evening. Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Found in Deuteronomy 6:4, this is one of the primary affirmations of the Nation of Israel. It is the benchmark of the faith.

The Lord is our God. The first part affirms not just that the Lord is God. But the Lord is our God. This is not an issue of ownership. The Lord is not our God like a possession. The Lord is not our God like this is my cup and this is my water.[2] The Lord is our God as we are the church. We are the church only when we are in relationship with one another. The Lord is our God because the Lord chooses to be in relationship with us.

The Lord is One. In the time when the Shema was recorded, the Egyptians, the Babylonians, the Assyrians, the Moabites, and so on had a pantheon of Gods to choose from. There were gods of rain, gods of harvest, gods of fertility; gods of everything imaginable. So with a plethora of gods, the devout would be able to pray a particular prayer to an appropriate God. Not Israel. For Israel there was only one God, the Lord. Idolatry in the Old Testament was not so much about worshipping gods that do not exist as it was about worshipping useless gods.

The second part of the prayer is: “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.” This statement follows the Shema in Deuteronomy. It’s a little different in the Old Testament, but for a reason. Deuteronomy 6:5 says, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might.” So why does the New Testament include the phrase “all your mind”? Simply because in the Hebrew, this addition is unnecessary; in the Old Testament the heart and mind were taken together because the Hebrew concept of heart included both the emotional and the intellectual centers.[3] Without exception, both versions of this prayer demand that we love the Lord our God with our entire beings. By this command, the Lord demands not that we give all that we have, but that we give all that we are.

The last part is from Leviticus 19:18, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” This is such an important concept that this command is the reason the parable of the Good Samaritan exists in Luke’s gospel. “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” We must be conscious that we are to love ourselves and love our neighbors not because of who we are or what we have done. We are to love one another as the children of the Lord our God. We are to love as God sees us, not as we see ourselves.

While in a Nazi prison, the German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer was writing an outline for a book. Two sentences in the outline stand out. The first, “The church is the church only when it exists for others.” The second is, “The church must tell persons of every calling (and life situation) what it means to live in Christ, to exist for others.”[4] Living day to day, not knowing whether he would live or die at the hands of the Third Reich, Bonhoeffer translates the command of loving our neighbors into the work of the church.

Then Jesus tells this scribe—and all who have ears—there is no other commandment greater than these. In English grammar, there is a concept known as subject/verb agreement. If a subject is singular, the verb is singular. With verbs of being, the noun in the predicate needs to agree with subject. Here the subject is singular and the predicate noun is plural—but bad grammar makes good theology. We have several things—but together they are one thing, the first thing. Considered separately, these statements are important. But separately they are not perfect. When one or another of these statements is overemphasized, its value is reduced. Piety without love of neighbor hides the gift of God like a light is hidden under a bushel. Good works without giving thanks to the One who makes these works possible, the One who calls us to do these works, is building a good home on a poor foundation.

Each statement twists together with the others like three cords are braided together to form a rope. The strands are strong separately, but together they form a cable that is stronger than the sum of the individual parts. Together they form the first commandment.

The question remains, why did Jesus combine these three statements, from two different pieces of the Old Testament? It returns us to the relational element of the Shema from Deuteronomy 6:4. The Lord is our God and we whether in this sanctuary or this city or this world—we are our neighbors. It returns us to Deuteronomy 6:5, we must love the Lord our God as he loves us—fully, completely, and without reservation. And it returns us to Leviticus; we must love one another as we love ourselves as children of God.

I love good church signs. You know the ones, things like “Sign Broken, Message Inside” or “Prayer Conditioned.” I haven’t been very good about changing the sign over the last year. I wish I was witty enough to come up with new and fresh sayings more often. Sure, we’ve used the sign to promote the Thanksgiving service last year and the Easter Service earlier this year. At Easter we even posted the traditional Pascal greeting, “He is risen, He is risen indeed.” We’ve used it to promote Vacation Bible School too. As for witty sayings, the sign has said, “First Pedestrian Church—Walk the Walk” and “Serving the Lord for over 150 years.” I thought these were pretty good, nothing over the top, but fresh and witty. Well, about six weeks ago, I was trying to decide what to put on the sign, so I put up a paraphrase of today’s gospel passage, “You shall love the Lord your God and your neighbor as yourself.” It’s a solid message and I thought it was the kind of thing that everyone should read before going into the courthouse. I believe when we take this seriously, we become better and treat one another better.

The writers of the Synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, thought the same thing. They thought this is the sort of thing people need to be reminded of early and often. This is why this event appears in each of the first three gospels.

When asked to consider how we are to respond to this reading, it is straight forward. The doxology in our Call to Confession, Psalm 146 reminds us of the Shema. We are called to give glory to the God who calls us into relationship, the Lord our God. The call to love God is reinforced in the reading from Hebrews where we are reminded that the sacrificial love of God is greater than the sacrifices made by priests. And we are to love our neighbor as Ruth loved Naomi—with devotion, grace, and peace.[5]

We continue to talk about stewardship; it’s that time of the year. We talk about tithes and we talk about offerings. We talk about time and talent and treasure. But this passage teaches us something more important about stewardship. God has offered us everything, and that is what the Lord our God expects in return from us, everything. These are the first thing. Hear, O Church of Jesus Christ, the Lord our God, the Lord is one, love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. This is what God expects of us…everything.

[1] Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, "for the record, the faculty of Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary." Austin, TX, 2006, page 11.
[2] I keep a PC(USA) coffee cup with water on the pulpit
[3] Homiletics Magazine, http://homileticsonline.com/subscriber/printer_friendly_installment .asp?installment_id=2994, accessed October 30, 2006.
[4] Foote, Jr, Ted V. and Thronburg, P. Alex, Being Disciples of Jesus in a Dot.Com World, A theological Survival Guide for Youth, Adults, and Other Confused Christians. Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox Press, 2003, page 117.
[5] Bruggeman, Walter, et. Al., Texts for Preaching, A Lectionary Commentary Based on the NRSV—Year B. Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1993, page 566ff.