Rules for the Journey

This morning, we skipped ahead of Palm Sunday and Jesus’ triumphal entry, Jesus has already driven out the money changers in the Temple.  And, now the authorities are questioning.  The crowds are listening.  The Herodians, the Sadducees, and the Pharisees are all asking him questions to try to catch him in his words.

But one Pharisee hears his answers, and they are good answers.  And he asks, “If you had to sum it all up – if you had to take all the commandments and choose only one – what would it be?”

This was not a new question.  The Pharisees were rule makers.  All together there were 613 Old Testament commands.  So, there had been efforts to summarize them.  And so, this Pharisee, impressed, asks Jesus, “What one commandment is central?  Can you summarize the law?”

To which Jesus answers, as they would expect, with what we know as the Shema.  In Deuteronomy as Moses finishes giving them the 10 Commandments, he summarizes.  Obey these commands so that it may go well with you.  “Hear, O Israel,” The Lord our God, the Lord is one.  Love the Lord you God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”  Every day these words were the prayer they recited as they got up in the morning and as they laid down at night.  These words were the first Scripture taught to children.  With these words they affirmed that they were monotheistic.  All the other religions worshipped multiple gods, but they worshipped the one true God.

But then, Jesus pairs this law with a law that is found in Leviticus 19, known as the “Silver Rule.”  According to the Babylonian Talmud, a Gentile approached Rabbi Hillel and proposed to become a proselyte on the condition that Hillel could teach him the whole Torah while he stood on one foot.  Hillel answered, “What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor; that is the whole Torah, while the rest is commentary; go and learn it.”

The Shema and the Silver Rule were known, but Jesus combined them love God AND love your neighbor as yourself.         The Pharisee who had questioned Jesus is impressed.  “You are right,” he says, “loving God and your neighbor is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

And Jesus responds, “You are not far off from the kingdom of God.”  You are starting to get it.  You are understanding.  This is not a kingdom of power and politics; this is a kingdom that you get to in a way that is countercultural.  It is not a winners and losers, get ahead at all costs, look out for number one journey.

And as he taught, Jesus points out the Temple authorities, in their flowing robes, greeted like celebrities in the marketplace, when they visit the village synagogues it is like royalty has come to town, they take the honored seat at the banquet.  They aren’t shy about eating at a widow’s house the last meal she has to offer.  They get up in front of everyone and flaunt their piety with a big show of their long, flowing, poetic prayers.

Jesus says, people who take advantage like that, who are supposed to be the most holy and who take advantage of their position, will be punished most severely.  And then he sits down and quietly watches as the crowd puts their money into the Temple treasury, and he waits and watches.  Rich people come and drop their tithe in.  And then, a poor widow comes and drops in her two coins, their total worth wasn’t as much as a penny.

She is the foil – Jesus contrasts the Temple authorities and the poor widow.  Who is faithful?  Who is committed?  She is.  She doesn’t hold anything back.  She is “all in.”  She loves God with all her heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Blogger and runner Logan Marshall tells about his experience with being “all in” as he raced.  The deafening roar of the crowd grew steadily louder as I erupted from the woods in third place, two runners fast on my heels. My heart pounded in my ears as I tore up the hill, my legs heavy from exertion. Rounding the crest, my coach shouted above the roar, ‘400 meters left! GO NOW!’”  He says, “As the pace started to increase for one final sprint to the finish, old mental patterns set in. I began to fade, giving my competitors a five meter lead.  The colorful flags of the finish line waved in the distance as I gritted my teeth against the pain. Then something amazing happened.  Why are you holding back? I asked myself. What is stopping you from beating those guys?  In an act of unrestrained effort I hurtled past my competitors and sprinted for the finish line.  Running on the edge of collapse, giving every last drop of energy I had,….Laying in the damp grass, my chest rising and falling erratically in an effort to catch my breath, sweat soaking through my jersey, I smiled…for I knew there was nothing more I could have done.  When I think of the happiest moments in my life, the moments I am most proud of, that high school cross country meet immediately surfaces. Not because it was my fastest race, not because I won, but because I didn’t hold anything back.”

Here’s the thing, Jesus didn’t point out the poor widow to teach about money.  This is a teaching about the journey of faithful discipleship, from the mountain to the cross.  I came across a new term this week as I prepared for this sermon, “cosmetic Christians.”  Rev. Bill Hybels, the founder of mega-church Willow Creek outside of Chicago, describes “cosmetic Christians” as people who “go to church once in a while, say a few prayers when they feel the urge, give five bucks when they have it to spare, and nothing substantial changes in their inner person. Their relationships don’t change much. Their ethics stay the same. Their ambitions and affections are what they always used to be. But as long as they can flash a little “spirituality” on the exterior, everything is all right. I mean, God is willing to settle for a skin-deep faith, isn’t He? It’s better than no faith at all.”

And here, Jesus says, it is just the opposite.  It would be better for you to have no faith at all than to be a “cosmetic Christian.”  And the central component for going beyond skin-deep faith is love.  Love.  “All in” love.  Love that puts God first.  That is the rule for the journey from the mountaintop to the cross.

This journey from the mountaintop to the cross is a journey of learning to love, of choosing to love.  This love Jesus calls us to is deep love, self-sacrificing love.  It is not neat and easy to love, it is an “all in” commitment.

I see this commitment in the stories of Room in the Inn Memphis.  Rev. Lisa Anderson and her small Cumberland Presbyterian congregation founded Room in the Inn Memphis a couple of years ago to house homeless in Memphis during the winter months.  And, I am amazed at her stories of people showing love to one another.

Thursday night this week she told another one of these stories.  The temperature at 6 o’clock was 28, and overnight it was expected to drop into the single digits.  Vans from two local churches were at Manna House, a daytime hospitality house for homeless people in Memphis, ready to pick up homeless people and give them a warm place to sleep.  Each church agreed to take one extra.  13 people would eat and sleep comfortably at each church.  Then came a lady who had come to Room in the Inn a few other nights.  Lisa’s heart sank because she knew they were already over-loaded.  As she got closer, Lisa saw that she had a man with her.  She had just met him.  She saw him when he got stranded because of road conditions.  See, he was taking a bus from Texas to Birmingham, but the bus stopped in Memphis and made everyone get off.  And he didn’t have anywhere to go.  So, she told him that she would help him.  She brought him to Manna House…she didn’t give him directions…she brought him.  And when she got there, she came inside and asked for fresh socks because on her walk over, her shoes were so bad that the plastic bags she had under them to protect her socks had worn through and now her socks were wet.  That’s all in love!  She didn’t know this man.  She could have gone home and gotten warm.  She could have kept her feet dry.  But, she showed love to her neighbor in need.  Love.  All in love.  Love that cares for strangers.  That is the rule for the journey from the mountaintop to the cross.

The writer and surgeon Bernie Siegel tells another story of love.  It is the story of Wild Bill, an inmate of a concentration camp, who after six years of serving the enemy as an interpreter, was still full of energy and physical health and a gentle positive spirit. To the other prisoners, he was a beacon of hope, an agent of reconciliation, one who was constantly urging them to forgive each other and the enemy. This man’s positive spirit was all the more amazing because of the horror which he himself had experienced at the beginning of the war — watching his own family: his wife, his two daughters, his three little boys, shot before his very eyes by Nazi soldiers in Warsaw.

When asked to explain his lack of bitterness, Wild Bill responded, “I had to decide right then whether to let myself hate the soldiers who had done this. It was an easy decision, really. I was a lawyer. In my practice I had seen too often what hate could do to people’s minds and bodies. Hate had just killed the six people who matter most to me in the world. I decided then that I would spend the rest of my life — whether it was a few days or many years — loving every person I came in contact with.”  Love.  All in love.  Love that cares for enemies.  That is the rule for the journey from the mountaintop to the cross.

Unfortunately, sometimes it seems easier to love strangers or enemies than it does to love people we know.  A Presbyterian pastor tells about when she and her co-pastor husband were called to their church in New Jersey.  The Pastor Nominating Committee was split on whether to call them 7 for and 4 against.  And, they were concerned about accepting the call.  Except that everyone who knew the church, and the church members themselves, said that there were divides so deep in the church that 7 to 4 was as good as any candidate would get.  The congregation voted to extend a call, and the couple moved to their new home and their new church.  Weeks past, and it was apparent that Pearl was still adamantly opposed to the new pastors.  Pearl was one of the elders on the nominating committee against, and she also happened to be an active elder on session, and she also happened to be clerk, and she also happened to believe that women should not be ministers.  And, a few weeks in, the clergy couple were feeling like they made a mistake accepting the call to this church.  Until the doorbell rang that Saturday.  It was Pearl.  She stood there with a broom, a loaf of bread, and a shaker of salt.  The wife of the clergy couple took a deep breath and went and opened the door.  Pearl smiled and said, “I come from German stock, and there is an old tradition in our family. Whenever someone moves into a new home they are given three gifts: a broom to sweep away the evil spirits, a loaf of bread to make their house into a home, and a pinch of salt to bring good luck. I want to welcome you to your new home — and to welcome you as my new pastor.”  Love.  “All in” Love.  Love that cares for one another.  That is the rule for the journey from the mountaintop to the cross.

Why are you holding back?  What is stopping you from offering yourself to God?  Love God.  “All in.”  Love strangers.  “All in.”  Love enemies.  “All in.”  Love one another.  “All in.”  This is the journey from the mountaintop to the cross.  You are not far from the Kingdom of God.  Thanks be to God!  Amen.