Not Far From the Kingdom of God

One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he 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 28-34

When I noticed this passage in the lectionary I thought that I might have preached on this verse before. Turns out I have, well sort of. I preached from Matthew's interpretation of the text not Mark's. I was very tempted to just use last year's sermon because I doubt many remember it and I could get away with it. But I think the general rule is to wait three years before you do reruns and Mark's text is very different from Matthew's and Luke's.

Jesus is debating with several scribes when one, seeing that Jesus answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the first of all?” Now Jesus has a lot of commandments to choose from, 613 Levitical laws to be exact; but he chooses two commandments. The first, from Deuteronomy 6:5 “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” The second, from Leviticus 19:18, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus goes on to say that there is no greater commandment than these.

The scribe, amazed, responds, “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 your 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.”

Jesus tells the scribe, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”

Not far from the kingdom of God.

A friend of mine asked several of us what our personal code was. She got several fascinating answers ranging from selfless acts to one crazy guy who quoted the VCU Ram saying, “Don't start no stuff there won't be no stuff” who turned out to be her crazy husband. The question got me thinking, what was my personal code? What is your personal code that you live by? What commandments, in other words, are the greatest in your mind? Are your answers the same as the ones Jesus gave?

Are we far from the kingdom of God?

I only had two strict rules when I was a youth minister: 1) Edify 2) We don't say "hate".

You can ask any number of my former youth and they will tell you that I was a stickler when it came to those two rules. My hope was for the youth group and myself to become builders and not destroyers of others. I strongly believe that if a group of teenagers are constantly being taught and shown why we lift one another up and not tear down, strangers who visit will find a safe place where they are encouraged and loved for who they are. Something I think every teenager truly wishes to feel. Of course it didn't always work. I mean they're teenagers and we're adults, we're people and we sometimes use words that tear others down even if we do not mean too so we all are in need of a gentle correction from time to time.

I do not like the word "hate" because it is an extreme. It is the extreme opposite of love. I think it's okay to not be a fan of something (I'm not a fan of Carytown) or not like something (I do not like fried okra) but to use the word hate means you have removed all hope of love. Though I may not be a fan of Carytown, VA and think it's overrated, it does not mean that given time I will never eventually come to see it for the unique place it is. Likewise just because I do not like fried okra, it does not mean that given time I will never eventually try it, even if it made me throw up when I was four.

That's why I try very hard to never say I hate ____. If I hate something or if I use the word hate, I believe I am opening myself to all forms of hate from hating beansprouts to hating dragons to hating people. If I use the extreme opposite of love to describe my feelings for something, I remove any hope of love and any hope of reconciliation.

Silly, I know. I get it. It's just a word, right? It's no big deal

Except it is for me.

Hate has a way of finding its way into our lives through our words and our actions. If I hate the smallest of creation then I have the possibility to hate the biggest of creation. If I say I hate meetings then I open myself up to say I hate where I work and the people I work with. Eventually I will find myself saying, I hate you and the moment I say “I hate you” I remove all hope of loving you and reconciling with you. You then become my enemy and my hate then becomes something that has no bounds.

In the terms of our gospel reading I am far from the kingdom of God the moment I start hating.

You may think it is an extreme interpretation of the word and it is to a degree. Surely if I hate a messy room that doesn't mean I hate the person who keeps it messy? Perhaps not. Perhaps it eventually does. Perhaps the thing that you severely hate eventually becomes what you hate about the person. What if what you hate about the person becomes the reason you hate said person? It is why I cannot say "Love the sinner, hate the sin." because if I hate the sin I will eventually hate the sinner because the two are not separated. If you hate my sin then you hate me because I am the one committing the sin. Forgiveness and love cannot, in my mind, exist in the same structure as hate.

Loving the Lord with every ounce of our being and loving our neighbor as ourselves means we cannot have room for hate in our vocabulary. I cannot love my neighbors and hate them at the same time. Love and hate cannot exist together because one will eventually become greater than the other. Hate takes us away from the kingdom of God and to go one step further, I do not believe we can fully love God if we use the word hate. I do not believe we can say, “I love God” and in another breath say, “I hate ___”.

John writes, “If anyone who say, “I love God” and hates his brother is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.” Our love for God is only true if we love our neighbor. In a time when we are pitted against one another based on party lines, tax brackets, race, doctrine, or who hasn't returned the lawnmower, the reminder of the greatest commandment is important for us. If I may speak honestly for a moment I believe we have lost our way when it comes to these two commandments. I believe that in trying to love God with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strength, we've been afraid to fully love our neighbor because we are afraid of what God might say. We're afraid that we might love the wrong people.

The Japanese troops approached the abandoned American university a couple of miles outside the little Chinese village. Morgan, the lone American missionary, could hear the menacing rattle of machine guns in the distance, but he decided to stand his ground at the the gate of the institution where he had taught until the invasion drove the school westward.

They came along the road—dirty, disheveled, tense, and utterly wear. “As tired looking bunch of men as I've ever seen.” Morgan thought. It was a small contingent, a sort of advance guard. They would trot along the road a hundred yards and then squat down, set up a machine gun, and spray the road ahead. They paid little attention to the man standing by the gate as they went by.

By the next day the nearby village had become a field headquarters for the Japanese, and Morgan's tribulations began. As he had anticipated, the Japanese officers cast covetous glances at the university buildings. Soon a group of them called on Morgan and demanded the keys. The missionary declined, politely but firmly. He explained that the property belonged to American mission boards, that it had been entrusted to his care, and that the was not at liberty to hand it over to anyone else. An hour and a half of discussion, with the missionary remaining always courteous and friendly but firm, convinced the Japanese and they left.

Unfortunately, that was not the end. Periodically, on an average of every two weeks, the village garrison changed, and each new contingent had to be persuaded all over again. Through it all Morgan did his best to remain calm and friendly. But then a major crisis. This time something had happened to make the Japanese less patient, less willing to listen to the missionary's arguments. Morgan sensed the tension in the air immediately. He could not help reflecting that, isolated as he was, the Japanese could do with him as they would. No “neutral” witnesses could be summoned to testify against them. A dead missionary could easily be explained by a “stray bullet—so sorry!” Nevertheless, he greeted them cordially, as always, and refused their request for the keys of the building with his usual regretful firmness. This time, though, the most eloquent of arguments appeared only to inflame the soldiers more. Finally the officer in command delivered an ultimatum.

“Surrender the keys,” he demanded flatly, “or we shoot you!” The missionary stood a little straighter. “I have told you how it is,” he replied quietly. “I wish you no harm, but I cannot do what you ask. I cannot.” Grimly the officer counted off three men and lined them up facing the missionary. “Ready!” he commanded, and the rifles were raised to shoulders. He turned to the missionary. “Surrender the keys!”

“I cannot. I have told you I cannot. I have no hatred against you. I have only the friendliest feelings for you. But I cannot give you the keys.” Morgan thought he could see admiration in the soldiers' eyes—admiration and baffled wonderment, as though they could not understand what held him erect and smiling in the very face of death. “Aim!” The officer's voice was gruff as he turned once more to the missionary. “You're last chance,” he said, “Surrender the keys!” There was a pause. Morgan looked directly at the men who stood leveled with rifles facing him. He spoke to them, as one man to other men, as brother to brother.

“I cannot,” he said, “you know that I cannot.” The stillness was absolute. The missionary looked steadily at the men. The officer seemed uncertain, the men uneasy. Then one at a time they relaxed. Rifles lowered; sheepish grins replaced their looks of grim desperation. But the danger had not passed. One man of the firing squad apparently was disgusted and embarrassed at the outcome of the situation. He gripped his rifle and glared at Morgan.

“Father,” the missionary prayed, “a little more love. Let me show a little more love.” The soldier had decided. Abruptly, with fixed bayonet on the end of his rifle, he launched himself full tilt at the missionary. He came fast and he came hard. At the last instant, when the point of his bayonet was not a foot from Morgan, he dodged. The soldier missed, and the force of his charge carried him up to Morgan. Morgan reached around him and with his right hand grabbed the butt of his rifle. With his left hand he grasped him around the shoulders and pulled him tight up against him. Morgan was taller than the soldier and he had to look up to Morgan. When their eyes met, his face was contorted fury.

Their glances locked and held for seconds that seemed ages long. Then Morgan smiled at the soldier, and it was like a spring thaw melting the ice on a frozen river. The hatred vanished and,, after a sheepish moment, the soldier smiled back! That was the end. A few minutes later the soldiers, like a group of bewildered children, were trailing the missionary into his living quarters—to have tea before their tiring journey back to the village (Anonymous Missionary, “It Was Like a Spring Thaw”. John Howard Yoder, What Would You Do? pg. 91-94).

Are we far from the kingdom of God?

One clarifying answer to that will come November 7. The day after our election we will be faced with the ultimate truth: life continues. We can either mope if “our” guy loses or celebrate if “our” guy wins but life is going to continue. We will go about our daily lives and the world will continue to turn. Our answer will be seen in how we respond. Will we respond to others in love or will we turn over buses and burn buildings? Will we respond to our neighbors with love or will we see them as the enemy? We live in an “us vs them” world but we do not have to be a part of it. We can choose to honor and follow the great commandments if we wanted to, if we choose to.

After the incident with the soldiers, Morgan said, “I felt no fear. I was perfectly calm. My only prayer was for enough love to disarm my attackers. I tried to show them—the men as well as the officers—that I had in fact the friendliest feelings for them, that I recognized them as brothers and would refuse to cooperate with them only when they wished me to do something wrong. I tried to put that into my eyes as well as into my words.” (Yoder pg 93).

Let us make the choice to love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, and soul. And to love our neighbor as ourselves. All we have to do is try and I think then we won't be far from the kingdom of God.