Sermon 10/31/2021

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Proper 26 B

All Saints Sunday 2021

When I was a little kid, most of my time was spent outside playing with my siblings or reading a magic treehouse book in my wooden fort in the backyard. But sometimes, our parents would let us watch an episode of TV. I loved that time - and not the TV time where I overheard Grandmamma watching Wheel of Fortune while she made dinner or stole peanut butter crackers from my dad while he watched another episode of Star Trek. No, the time I loved was when I got to watch my own shows - shows made for kids. I had my go-to shows like Franklin, The Big Comfy Couch, and Arthur, but my favorite show was Mr. Rogers Neighborhood. I loved his routine of donning a sweater and changing his shoes. I loved his soothing voice and his funny little puppets. But most of all, I loved what he had to say, the things he had to teach us. There were so many episodes, so many songs, but one that I will always remember is Many Ways to Say I Love You. It goes like this:

There are many ways to say I love you

Many ways to say I care about you

Many ways, many ways, many ways to say

I love you.

And my favorite verse of the song is not the one about cleaning a room, which is no surprise if you know me well, it is the verse about what seminary taught me to call a ‘ministry of presence.’

There are many ways to say I love you

Just by being there when things are sad and scary

Just by being there, being there

Being there to say, I love you

In one episode where he sings this song, he follows the tune with this: “As you grow, I trust that you are finding many more ways to show and tell people that you love them. Those are the most important things that you’ll ever learn to do. Because loving people, and animals, and the world we all live in is the most important part of being alive.”

In a way, Mr. Rogers taught the greatest commandment - the one that Jesus said was the most important in our scripture for today from Mark. So if you have your bible, I invite you to turn to the Gospel of Mark. We’ll be reading from chapter 12, verses 28-34. 

This text comes after religious leaders in the temple were trying to trick Jesus with their questions. He, of course, answers in clever ways that subvert their intentions and expectations. And then, we read that someone else approaches Jesus with a question - and not a question to trick him this time, but one to solidify his impression of Jesus’s wisdom. That’s where we pick up - Mark 12:28-34.

28 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?” 29 Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; 30 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.’ 31 The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32 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’; 33 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.” 34 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.

To love. That is the greatest commandment. And Jesus isn’t pulling these commandments out of thin air - he is reciting from the Hebrew scriptures. The first commandment is from the Shema, which is a passage of scripture that is still recited daily by persons of the Jewish faith. It comes from Deuteronomy 6:4-5 but Jesus adds to it - not only are we to love God with all of our heart and soul and strength, we are also called to love God with our mind. Jesus adds to his response yet again by citing a second scripture, this time from Leviticus 19:18: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” And if you’re thinking, “I don’t remember those from the 10 commandments…” you would be both right and wrong - while these commandments are not explicitly named among the 10 given to Moses, those 10 fit into the description of loving God and loving neighbor quite nicely. Plus, the bible has lots of commandments - many more than just the 10 in the familiar story. In fact, the Old Testament has 613 commandments in total. Don’t worry, I didn’t count them myself as I am very bad at math, including counting - I just looked it up and benefitted from the work of dedicated Rabbis. 

So out of 613, Jesus chooses these: to love God with all you are and to love your neighbor as yourself. And like John Mayer says in that song, “Love ain’t a thing, love is a verb.” I am fairly good at English and passable with my biblical Greek and Hebrew so I did check that out for myself and am pretty confident I can be trusted in my conclusions. But really, we don’t need grammar to know that love is an action, not just a feeling. We find it to be true all over scripture - especially in the life of Jesus. Love is embodied, it is lived out. And Jesus isn’t the only one who sets a great example of such great love. 

Today, we are celebrating All Saints Day. Today we remember saints like Martin Luther King, Jr., Mother Teresa, Harriet Tubman, Francis of Assisi… public figures known for their love lived out. We remember Saints close to our own hearts as well - especially those who have died this past year. I remember my mentor and friend, Melissa Browning. We remember together the members of this church we lost this year. And you remember the saints in your own lives - both those departed and those that still bless us with their lives and presence. 

So what is a Saint? Who is a Saint? I got a good laugh from an article I read by a retired PCUSA Pastor named Donald Stake who writes, “When I was growing up, I did not particularly aspire to sainthood, at least not as I understood it. For one thing, to be a saint, I thought, you had to be dead, which had no appeal for me. Then you had to have lived a life of super piety and purity, which was clearly beyond my grasp. Finally, you had to be voted into the exclusive club of those permitted to use “St.” before their names, an election I could never win.” He goes on to say that in time, he learned that there was another way to look at sainthood: the biblical way. In the New Testament, the word saint refers to any or all of God’s people. 

And as God’s people, we are called to live lives of love. That commandment gives us a lens through which we can read all of scripture, for it tells us something beautiful and meaningful about the divine. It tells us what Jesus, God embodied in human form, prioritized as paramount. Love. And that love to which we are called is twofold while also one and the same - to love God is to love your neighbor and to love your neighbor is to love God. And while I do believe that when Christ said to love your neighbor, he was talking about all of humanity, all the saints, I also believe that the call is incredibly specific. We are called to love everyone, yes, for all people are our neighbors in a sense. But not only can that be overwhelming, it can sometimes feel impersonal. We don’t need to cross state lines to love our neighbor. You can love your neighbor here and now. Your neighbor on your block, your neighbor in this city, your neighbor sitting next to you in the pew! And though it can sometimes be a bit harder, you can love your neighbor on the other side of the political aisle and you can love your neighbor who doesn’t mow their grass often enough, and if you try really hard you can even love your neighbor who lets their dog poop in your yard and doesn’t clean it up. 

And I know that you can love well because I’ve seen it, I’ve heard it, I’ve experienced it. 

You are loving your neighbor when you make meals for someone going through a hard time - you loved Cindy so well after her knee surgery that she had to tell me not to bring her food on the day I’d signed up for because her fridge and freezer were already full of your labors of love. And I know that hers isn’t the only fridge you’ve filled. 

You are loving your neighbor when you hold their baby for a few minutes so they can take a bathroom break. You are loving your neighbor when you put food in the pantry outside. You are loving your neighbor when you send them a text or give them a call to let them know you’re thinking of them. You are loving your neighbor when you ask them how they’re doing and actually want to know the answer. 

And in the same way, your neighbors are loving you. Every prayer shawl knitted, every mask worn in a crowded place, every casserole delivered, every hug and every smile, all of these are acts of love. And with every act of love we share, we get a little closer to the realm of God on Earth. By no means are we doing it perfectly - but I do think we’re doing alright. So when you start moving out of the sanctuary and back into your everyday lives, remember those everyday acts of love. And find your way to live into that greatest commandment - that holy calling.

I want to leave you with one last verse of this sweet song:

You’ll find many ways to say I love you

Many ways to understand what love is

Many ways, many ways, many ways to say

I love you.

Amen.

Scripture

OT: Psalm 146

Praise for God’s Help

1 Praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord, O my soul!

2 I will praise the Lord as long as I live;

    I will sing praises to my God all my life long.

3 Do not put your trust in princes,

    in mortals, in whom there is no help.

4 When their breath departs, they return to the earth;

    on that very day their plans perish.

5 Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob,

    whose hope is in the Lord their God,

6 who made heaven and earth,

    the sea, and all that is in them;

who keeps faith forever;

7     who executes justice for the oppressed;

    who gives food to the hungry.

The Lord sets the prisoners free;

8     the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.

The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;

    the Lord loves the righteous.

9 The Lord watches over the strangers;

    he upholds the orphan and the widow,

    but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.

10 The Lord will reign forever,

    your God, O Zion, for all generations.

Praise the Lord!

NT: Mark 12:28-34

28 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?” 29 Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; 30 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.’ 31 The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32 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’; 33 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.” 34 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.

Notes:

Psalm 146

• “Psalm 146 follows up on this thought with a list of commitments God has made to the world. Only God is totally committed to justice. Only God is truly righteous, Only God is fully on the side of the oppressed, the vulnerable, the defenseless. Only God can be counted on to deliver us from the clutches of evil in this world.” - LEONARD VANDER ZEE

• In the larger narrative in the book of Psalms, “Book V (Pss. 107-150) celebrates the community’s restoration to the land and the sovereignty of God over them.” - Women’s Bible Commentary, Nancy L. Declaissé-Walford

Mark 12:28-34

• Greek:

  • ἰσχύς (typically translated here to be “strength” but can also be translated as ability, power)

  • ἀγαπάω (typically translated as “love”) - a verb/action, to welcome/consider the welfare of a person/people

• Context: 

  • Women’s Bible Commentary, Elizabeth Struthers Malbon

    • “God’s realm is dramatically portrayed in Mark’s story as making health and wholeness available to all, but especially to those who have the least access to them under the Roman Empire ruling Jewish Palestine: women, children, the poor, the sick, Gentiles.” 

    • “The Greek behind the term “realm” is basileia, often translated ‘kingdom,’ but it does not have the spatial connotations given to ‘kingdom,’ and it does not have the male denotation of ‘king’ but refers to ‘rule’ or ‘ruling’ more generally.

  • Paul S. Berge (Professor Emeritus of New Testament, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minnesota)

    • “The question of the scribe concerning the first commandment leads Jesus’ reciting of the Shema (Hebrew: hear) which are the words that are still recited daily by persons of the Jewish faith. The text in Deuteronomy 6:4-5 is expanded by Jesus to include “with all your mind” (12:30). Jesus adds to his response by citing a second that is like this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” from Leviticus 19:18.”

  • Emerson Powery (Professor of Biblical Studies, Messiah College, Grantham, PA, USA)

    • “Our story falls within a series of conversations between Jesus and various sectarian leaders residing in Jerusalem, which began in Mark 11:27. This was the final discussion initiated by one of these leaders, since “no one dared to ask him any question” after this encounter (cf. Mark 12:34).”

    • “Debates about Torah flood the Gospel narratives. What the scribe requested was as common as attending synagogue on the Sabbath. In this customary, first century discussion, Jesus drew on scriptural traditions, citing Deuteronomy 6:4-5 — traditionally called the Shema, the standard daily prayer — and Leviticus 19:18. “Love for neighbor” provided Jesus’ theological understanding that love for the other elucidates most clearly one’s love for God. The scribe agreed!”

    • “this one, individual scribe decided to engage Jesus. Furthermore, the scribe took it one step further than Jesus, by adding that this kind of love was “more important than … sacrifices,” a conclusion, in this setting, that seemed to be an implicit temple critique (cf. Hosea 6:6).”

    • “This was a story about an agreement — between Jesus, Mark’s lead protagonist, and a scribe, a group member of Jesus’ leading archenemies. And, this moment of harmony should make any contemporary reader pause. Matthew’s ancient parallel refused to portray Mark’s story without adding in that this scribe arrived to “test” Jesus. Many interpreters read Mark’s account in the same manner. The scribe simply wasn’t really interested in arriving at common ground. But Mark’s account depicted this Jerusalemite as a sincere scribe. Jesus and this scribe agreed!”

    • “Stories like this one, rare as they are within the Christian canon, must drive us to become more willing to open up to the other, including the faithful people within our own religious tradition and those without. With Jesus, at the least, may we be able to admit that these people of faith are also “not far from the kingdom.” Can we go beyond Jesus and discover in our fellow companions of faith people who are “in” the “kingdom,” that is, they, too, have religious commitments that allow them to share in God’s love for the world. For many of us in the contemporary world, love for our neighbor coincides with a respect of our neighbor’s belief system or lack thereof. By this respect for our neighbor, we carry out the mission of human dignity, which, in turn, represents a love for the God of Jesus.”

• Tradition & New Interpretation

  • Micah D. Kiel (Associate Professor of Theology, St. Ambrose University, Davenport, Iowa)

    • “This dynamic: tradition vs. new interpretations is not one that the church shed after its early decades. It continues to be of central importance and crops up in congregations in any variety of ways: in aesthetics (worship styles, architecture); in theology (metaphors for God), and in ecclesiology (questions of ordination, ecumenism).”

    • “What Mark models here is a Jesus who is firmly planted in a tradition, but yet one who authoritatively engages and interprets that tradition in light of new circumstances. In this particular instance, the watershed is a crucified messiah who ushers in a Kingdom about to deluge humanity. Mark’s Jesus reads the tradition and prioritizes it all according to two simple, yet impossible principles: God and neighbor. Perhaps this is a lens through which the tradition should still be read today.” 

• Sarah Hinlicky Wilson (Pastor, Tokyo Lutheran Church, Tokyo, Japan)

  • “When the scribe — an expert in the written texts of Israel’s faith — tries to sort out the “most important” commandment from all the others, Jesus doesn’t turn to the prophets for an answer. The answer about the commandments lies right in the midst of all the detailed statutes concerning Israel’s common life.”

• “In calling these two commandments one “commandment,” he implies that we need to live in harmony with God, our neighbour and ourselves. Refusing to see these as in competition would have far-reaching consequences for our interpretation of Scripture and the way we live in this world.” - South Asia Bible Commentary

• John Wesley 

  • provided a wonderful description of how one might obey these great commandments: ‘Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can’.

• Sacred Space (a ministry of the Irish Jesuits)

  • “As we struggle with so many commitments and responsibilities, we too ask the same question as the scribe, ‘Which of the commandments is the first of all?’ What should be first in my list of priorities, what is my most important duty? Jesus’ reply is disarming in its simplicity, no wonder they did not dare ask him any further. I let his reply echo in my heart, asking for the grace to understand what it means to put love as my highest priority.”

• Amanda Brobst-Renaud (Assistant Professor of Theology, Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, Ind.)

  • “To follow only the “love God” commands is to only half-follow the Ten Commandments. In order to love God properly, one must properly love their neighbors, even the neighbors with whom one disagrees.”

  • “The scribe extends the meaning of loving God with one’s mind to loving God with what one’s mind does. How and what do we think of our neighbors? How and what do we think of our neighbors who disagree with us? Just as loving our neighbors is part of loving God, I would argue that how—and what—we think about our neighbors shapes our relationship with God as well. Conforming our thoughts to the love of God and neighbor, in turn, shapes how we live as followers of Jesus.”

• “Jesus was not simply selecting a commandment that was somewhat high on the list. Instead, he selected a commandment that in one fell swoop encompassed the entire list because it undergirds the entire list.” - SCOTT HOEZEE

• “The Old Testament gives 613 commands in all, the Rabbis counted them. That’s a lot. So, one of the questions that occupied the teachers of the law was how to rank them. The purpose was not to rank them in importance so that some could be obeyed and others ignored. The idea was that isolating the first, the most important commandment would help them interpret all the others.” - LEONARD VANDER ZEE

  • “The commandment to love our neighbor as ourselves is especially challenging in this time of deep social division and tribalism. As soon as we hear the words, “and your neighbor as yourself” we are likely to think of the neighbor as other people, plural, the masses, humanity in general.  In fact, the word is pointedly singular.  The love command does not call us to a sentimental humanitarianism.  It calls us to a concrete love of the particular neighbor who happens to wander through our life that very moment.That may be wife or husband, children, friends, colleagues. It may also be the person who personifies everything that I despise, the very opposite of what my tribe believes and stands for. If I love God, I must also love the ones he loves, and that’s pretty much everyone. It’s crucial to keep this commandment in the forefront to prevent us from sliding into cynicism or anger, and to refuse the tit for tat of mocking epithets and that are so easy as we bang out our Tweets and Facebook posts.”

• “The Gospel of Mark starts with action. Mark shows Jesus doing things rather than simply saying things. It’s Jesus’ actions and not just his words which will lead to his ruin...The beginning of the ‘good news’ is his actions, not his words. The most significant passage is not the ritual of baptism, but the narrative of the temptations. Jesus is a man who seems to be making his own way alone, struggling with dark temptations...Whatever the point of this inner struggle, that isolation and crisis which precedes his public ministry or the kind of voluntary work he felt he needed to do to honour his own identity, was tied to a call from God in his society.” - Queer Bible Commentary, Marcella Althaus-Reid

All Saints

• Jim Genesse (Senior Pastor at Madison United Methodist Church in Madison, MS)

  • “A sermon for All Saints Day can remind us that we share a holy community. Holiness is not simply a personal attribute. We are individually called to live holy lives, but we are given the opportunity to do that in the context of a family of faith. Throughout the New Testament holiness is attributed to the collected people of God. The concept of social holiness often attributed to John Wesley is not really about societal activism. It has to do with how we worship, and grow, and serve together as the Body of Christ. It is this aspect of living together in holiness which really serves us well when it comes to a day like All Saints Day. In remembering those who have gone on to glory we call to mind their faithful witness to a God who transformed their lives. We shared those lives, we know their stories and we have seen the Holy Spirit at work in and through them. It is that group testimony which is particularly strong in this context.”

  • “As Christians we are united with all the saints of the Church: those who are scattered around the world and those who are around the corner; those who lived two thousand years ago and those yet to come; and those who are in our midst and those who have gone on to glory. We are all bound together through the same Lord and Savior. We are a holy and catholic church. A community set apart for God, which transcends space, time, and even death itself.”