Obedience to the Law

Deuteronomy 6:1-9 NRSV   

6:1 Now this is the commandment--the statutes and the ordinances--that the LORD your God charged me to teach you to observe in the land that you are about to cross into and occupy, 6:2 so that you and your children and your children's children, may fear the LORD your God all the days of your life, and keep all his decrees and his commandments that I am commanding you, so that your days may be long.

6:3 Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe them diligently, so that it may go well with you, and so that you may multiply greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, as the LORD, the God of your ancestors, has promised you.

6:4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD is our God, the LORD alone.

6:5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.

6:6 Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart.  6:7 Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise.  6:8 Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead,  6:9 and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

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According to Mark, some Pharisees and Herodians and Sadducees were debating with Jesus and with each other on a wide range of topics, from paying taxes to the resurrection at the end of times, featuring that well-worn trick question that the Sadducees loved to trip up the Pharisees with, “Whose wife will she be after the resurrection?”  These are things on which none of them agreed with one another, and Jesus had answers that astounded them all.  

One of the things that we need to remember is that the Pharisees and Sadducees were both well educated in the Law, but held different understandings of it.  They were kind of like clergy folk who have gone to different seminaries.  Each seminary teaches it own point of view, its own theological understandings, and the graduates tend to espouse those things which they were taught.   And, in case you aren’t aware of this, there is very little that theologically trained people enjoy more than debating their particular understandings of God and scripture.  Some of the great debates of the middle ages included such life changing topics as “How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?”  So, when we see that Pharisees and Sadducees and Jesus were all debating various points of the Law (Torah), it wasn’t necessarily a “let’s prove this new guy wrong” situation.  It very easily could have been, “Oh cool.  A new point of view to consider!”  Because they had heard each other’s arguments over and over again.  

So one of the scribes, hearing all this debate and seeing that Jesus looked at things a bit differently, asked one more question.  “Which is the first and greatest commandment?”  And 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 scribe, of course, agreed. 

Because, indeed, this is the first and greatest commandment. This commandment, known as the Shema, is so important that God instructed the Hebrews to teach these words to their children, to talk about them all the time and everywhere, and even write them on the doorways of their homes and wear them on their bodies.  You can tell when you are at the home of a Jewish person because on their front door is a mezuzah - a case containing these words.  The  artwork today is a mezuzah decorated with a Tree of Life, in honor of the 11 people who were shot and killed last week at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, PA.  

Now, as it is November, a month often designated as Gratitude Month, I have planned a sermon series called “How do we show our gratitude to God?”  This week the form of gratitude we will look at is Obedience to the Law.  And the first and most important law is this, “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.”  

We often tend to immediately leap from this statement to the rest of what Jesus said to the scribe that day, “The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'”  And while this is indeed important, it is second.  First in importance is “Love the Lord your God”.  First is the requirement to teach this to our children, of talking about it everywhere and always.  Even maybe writing the words on our front doors, so that everyone will know what is most important to us.  

Now this is more than just teaching your children the Bible and bringing them to church, although these are very good and important things to do.  Some of my best memories of childhood are sitting on the couch with the family Bible, reading the stories in it, and talking about them.  What God says, however, is simply “Teach your children to love God.”  They can learn some of that through reading the Bible, but mostly they will learn it through watching us - you - me - other Christians. We all know that, right?  Our actions speak louder than our words.  Our children - and other people around us - will learn more about Christianity through watching us and listening to us than by reading the entire Bible.   It is not enough to just say “I love the Lord!”  We must show it by our obedience to the Law.  This first and greatest law, and the second one.  Which, as we all know is, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'   Jesus went on to say, There is no other commandment greater than these.”   And the scribe said to him, "You are right, Teacher. . .'to love God 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.”  

But I know for certain that loving God is not demonstrated by shooting 11 Jews in a synagogue on Shabbat, or 2 African Americans in Kroger’s, or sending pipe bombs to people whose political views you don’t like, or being part of any organization whose stated purpose is to kill or otherwise eliminate any group people.  Or by speaking badly about any individual or group of people.  And I don’t know about you, but I am so ready for the elections to be over so that at least some of the hateful words that invade our space through television and radio and the internet and the Postal Service will stop!    Not loving!  None of it!   Loving God means wanting to please God, and pleasing God means doing things that exhibit love for all of God’s creatures.  We don’t demonstrate our love for a friend by killing their child, or talking trash about their family members, so why would anyone think that killing or hating on another human would please God, who loves all his children, and who grieves when these things happen, just as we grieve. 

I got an email yesterday from a friend who is completing the classroom part of her PhD program and wants input on the question, “What is transformational learning?”   My immediate reaction was, ‘It’s what I wish I could do. I wish I could preach and teach in such a way as to truly change lives and hearts.” Teaching love is a challenge, at best.  Especially if we have to teach it through our actions.  And then there is the whole “What is love?” thing.  We know it is more than a feeling.  Although I say that I love my tiny car and chocolate, that’s not really love.  I love my cats.  I care for them and about them.  I give them good food and keep bad things away from them (like chocolate), and I discipline them (sort of, ’cause, cats.)  I can teach someone how to take care of cats, but I cannot teach anyone how to love cats.   I can preach and give people books to teach them about God, and about how to worship God, but those things will not teach anyone to love God.  That is something I must teach through the way I live my life, and I could do much better.  It is hard to always behave lovingly.   It is hard to always be grateful.

Mere words will not transform lives.  Transformation comes through action, and through gratitude, and through a great desire for a different way of living and being.    My life was transformed when I started spending my time with people who consistently demonstrated God’s love, who tried to practice unconditional love for others, and spoke often of God’s loving care and forgiveness.   They rarely talked about religious practices, but they talked about loving God all the time.  And that is what God says we are to do.   “Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. . . . talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise.”

The scribe said to Jesus, “"You are right, Teacher . . .’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.”  

May we go from this place today with an attitude of gratitude that leads us to obey God’s Law.   May we speak always of our love for a loving God, and act with love toward our neighbors.   And may we teach love for God through our words and our actions, in everything we do, all the days of our lives.