Info and Engagement

I suppose everyone has noticed that it is often easier to say a thing than to do it. Talk is important, to be sure, but as the saying goes it is also cheap. The only way it is not cheap is in the way it can roust up trouble that you then must work to resolve. I heard a Texan way of saying “He’s all talk” which is “He is all hat and no ranch.” I like that one.

I was thinking about the difference between the easier category of talk and the more involved category of living things out fully while reflecting on the Gospel lesson for this Sunday. Jesus, in this passage, is again interfacing with one of the religious authorities, in this case, one of the scribes. For once, it was not a contentious exchange, indeed, they come out agreeing with each other. 

The scribe has been listening to arguments among the Sadducees, which is what the religious seem charged to do. The rabbinic tradition and other religious entities knead conversation, debate, even strong disputes into the daily round. It seems almost a sport for them. One gets at the truth by being willing to argue your views and hear the views of others. They talk about the law of Moses, and it could get very contentious.

Having listened to the arguments, the scribe takes an opportunity to ask the rabbi, Jesus, about the commandments that come from the Torah. He wants to know which commandment is primary among them all. As you probably remember, Jesus puts two side by side at the top. They come from the Torah, Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18. The first names the primacy of loving God, the second, love of neighbor:

One of the scribes came near and heard the Sadducees disputing with one another, and seeing that Jesus answered them well, he asked him, “Which commandment is the first of all?” Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; 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.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” Then the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that ‘he is one, and besides him there is no other’; and ‘to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength,’ and ‘to love one’s neighbor as oneself,’ —this is much more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” After that no one dared to ask him any question.  (Mark 12:28-34)

The more we absorb what Jesus put forward, the more we realize that this is not a list of two commands, but two that are dynamically and inextricably connected. In his answer, the whole is greater than the sum of its two parts. In an experience of loving neighbor, one is loving God. In a heart-soul-mind-strength way of loving God, one is brought to  love of neighbor.

In the scribe’s enthusiastic response to Jesus’s wisdom, he says in effect, “Yes, yes, this interconnected love is much more important than all of the detailed rules of ritual sacrifices.”

What I am awakened to in this passage today is the final thing Jesus says in this exchange, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” I think this a powerful pronouncement, very akin to the places where Jesus declares, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:15, ESV) In a person’s first introduction to this pronouncement, it is hard to know if Jesus is saying the kingdom is here, now, or the kingdom is nearly here. Most theologians assert that the kingdom’s entry into the human realm comes with the presence and person of Jesus. The signs of the kingdom’s reality are his words and healing actions.

Turn again, then, to what Jesus says to the scribe. It strikes me that he is saying, “You see the primacy of love and the mandate of love in the law of Moses, we agree there.” With this in mind, Jesus seems further to be saying, “This puts you very near the kingdom.” It may be, the lesson here is we can converse, debate, and swap ideas about very important things, but there is another huge step to take.

When we have a sense of certainty about the truth, still, it remains to live out that truth. Jesus lives the truth that he reveals, and as the followers of Jesus, must not stop with the category of consideration and cognitive pondering. We must live the love of God and live the love of neighbor. This involves the will: good choices, and actions. It is critical we demonstrate love, on purpose, in the big and little events of our lives. We get stuck in the information aspect of faith.

We mix it up with people concerning the concepts and ideas about belief, but we should feel the perpetual pull from info to engagement. Our faith draws us toward experiencing transcendence and the sacred and fleshing it out within our actions. Jesus draws us from being very near the kingdom toward immersion in the kingdom. We will always love discussing the theoretical, the info surrounding connection to God. I want to move afresh, in all the ways I can into full engagement with the very life of God. I want that for us all.