"Living Our Love"
Mark 12:28-34
I read a story by Agnes Norfleet last week about a man named Carlos that made me think of the Interfaith Hospitality Network. Carlos lives in
On this particular night Carlos volunteered to give the blessing. Inspired by God, it became a very long prayer. Carlos thanked God for the weather and for the early signs of spring. He thanked God for the city park where he spent the day. He thanked God for the jobs that some of his homeless friends had secured. He thanked God for the church, for the shelter and all of the volunteers. He prayed for the sick and the dying who live on the streets. He prayed for peace. He prayed on and on while the meatloaf and potatoes and peas were getting colder. Finally, he prayed for those who were thinking that his prayer was too long. When he finally blessed the food a loud "Amen" erupted from all those assembled.
At this point Agnes met Carlos at the coffee pot. Chiding him a little for his long prayer she said, "You really love God, don't you, Carlos?" To which he responded, "My love for the Lord is all I've got."
Isn't that what Jesus is saying in the reading from Mark for today, that all any of us have is our love for the Lord? And Jesus is saying this is nothing new. It goes all the way back to the Shema, one of the earliest creeds in Israel: "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one, and 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." How do we express that love of God, by the way we love our neighbor.
I think the challenge for us is to define what that means in our own lives. In other words, how do I love God at home, at school, at church, at the work place, out in the community. What does it mean for me to love God with all my heart and soul and mind and strength when I am relating to my spouse or children or teaching a Sunday School class or doing a performance review with an employee?
For example, a young man is on a date with a young woman. How does he show his love for God. By not trying to take advantage of this young woman, by seeing her as a child of God and by not doing anything that would hurt this child of God.
In political campaigns we have watched people of both parties say things that were demeaning to their opponent. A person who loves God would first ask, "What is more important, demonstrating my love for God or winning the election?"
In the work place or at school would I do something to hurt someone else so that I can get ahead.
Many of us would be uncomfortable coming across as a religious fanatic. This is not about going door to door or preaching to our kids all of the time. It is about the way that we carry ourselves every day, about demonstrating our love for God by the way that we treat members of our family and co-workers and strangers.
Somehow we have to get to the point that we recognize it is not about me, it is about God. It is easy to say love God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind and all your strength. It is more difficult to try to put it into practice. As Carlos said, "My love for the Lord is all I've got."
That is why the Hebrew people diligently taught these words to their children. They knew how important they were so they talked about them at home, they wrote them on their doorposts and on their gates. Even Jesus recognized that there are no more important words than these, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might." If we don't teach our children anything else, we need to teach them this.
But it is not just about memorizing the words. Remember the last words of Jesus in the passage, "You are not far from the