• The Litmus Test of Love, Mark 12:28-34
  by Rev. Frank Schaefer
   

• True Love, Selections from Ruth 1 and 4
  Rev. Randy Quinn

  When Love Becomes a Challenge, Mark 12:28-34
  by Rev. Frank Schaefer
   

• Bitterness &Faithfulness, Ruth 1:1-18, Rev. T. Hall

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The Litmus Test of Love
a sermon based on Mark 12:28-34
by Rev. Frank Schaefer

One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 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: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
“Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. 33 To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.

Once again Jesus was put to the test by a scribe, an expert in the law of Moses. Some scholars have suggested that it was a tricky, even dangerous question, given the predominance of the so-called purity code in first century Judea.

The purity code was a means by which the status quo of society was upheld in Jesus' days; it was the glue which kept the patriarchal, social and economic structures in place, including the role of women and children (mostly viewed as property of men) and slavery. The root problem was the political corruption and economic imperialism that left the vast majority of the people in Judea in a state of subsistent poverty and without social security.

The law of Moses and the elaborate codex of the purity law was used as a means to keep the poverty stricken masses at bay. It was used as a means to reinforce your place in society in order to prevent uprisings and revolutions. The message of many religious leaders of Jesus' time was: keep the law of God and God will care for you.

Now, we know that Jesus understood his mission as bringing good news to the poor, and his message was not just spiritual, it had political dimensions as well. Jesus advocated for a policy of justice that emphasized God's compassion and love over the purity laws. This surfaces especially when Jesus turned over the merchants' tables in the temple and when he said to the rich young ruler: give your riches to the poor. As a politician he would have gained those riches on the backs of the poor (while keeping all 10 commandments, mind you) so Jesus appealed to his compassion for the plight of those he ruled.

In other words, placing one of God's commandments above the others, at the expense of others, was a revolutionary idea that could be seen as challenging not only the religious traditions, but also the status quo. And that's exactly what Jesus did when he answered the scribe's question. When Jesus put one law (or actually two laws) above others he was treading on thin ice.

Not that this was a first. In fact, Jesus had openly broken the Sabbath law by healing the sick. When challenged about that he pointed to God's compassion and he also pointed out the hypocrisy of the lawyers: if our child (or even your donkey) falls into a pit on the Sabbath day, who of you wouldn't pull him/her out?  [continue]