The Most Important Commandment

There's a story that I've told in school assemblies more times than I can remember.

It's a story you probably have heard before, and it's this.

It's about a man who died, and after he died, he found himself walking along a corridor.

At the end of the corridor, there was two doors.

One said heaven, and the other said hell.

Well, he knew which one he wanted to enter, but he was curious as to know what was behind each of the two doors.

So he had a peek behind each door, heaven and then hell.

And before he went into heaven, he decided that he just wanted to know really kind of what the differences were.

And he was quite stunned by how similar in many ways they both seemed, visually at least.

Because behind both doors, there was an enormous crowd of people.

Behind each door, the crowds were gathered around a large table.

And both in heaven and in hell, the tables were covered with loads and loads of amazing looking food.

But on closer examination, he could tell that the atmosphere in heaven was so much better than it was in hell.

Everybody in heaven was eating the food, whereas everybody in hell was sat there staring, looking absolutely miserable.

So before he went into heaven once and for all, he decided just to go in and ask somebody in hell what was going on.

He said, I see that you look also miserable here.

And I also noticed that for all the food that is set out before you, nobody seems to be eating anything.

Is there something bad with the food?

He said, no, there's nothing wrong with the food.

He said, are you allowed to eat any of this food?

He said, yes.

He said, well, why aren't you eating any of the food?

And it was then that he noticed for the first time that everybody sat around the table was holding a very, very long spoon.

A couple of metres long.

And he was told that they were allowed to eat and enjoy as much of the food as they wanted, except there was one rule, that they had to use the long spoons.

And of course, nobody could actually reach their mouths with these spoons because they were so long.

They could pick up the food, but they couldn't feed themselves.

Well, he didn't want to stick around in hell that much longer.

So he left and went back into heaven and then realised what the difference was.

They still had the spoons.

They still had the food.

But they fed one another.

And every time I tell that story in a school and assembly, and I normally tell the story with the aid of a couple of spoons sellotaped to the end of bamboo sticks and a bowl of Smarties.

And no, we've never poked out any eyes.

But we never tell the story.

We end up with those words of Jesus.

Love your neighbour as yourself.

How different would the world be if everybody did that and lived not for ourselves, but for one another?

Never once has there ever been any sense of doubt in the room when, during that conclusion, that there's something wrong or peculiar or weird or strange or wacky about that set of ethics.

See, that story actually exists in different versions in many different world religions.

Nobody knows exactly where it originated from.

But nobody's going to argue with it.

You go into any culture, any religious tradition, any time, any place, pretty much anybody and everybody will agree that the concept of loving your neighbour as yourself serves as a pretty good foundation for any moral system.

No one's going to question it.

So it should come as no surprise when Jesus says that the most important commandment is to love your neighbour as yourself.

Except that's not what he says.

Now, Mark chapter 12 is a fascinating chapter because it's all about questions.

Mark 12 · chapter mention

And Jesus is being fired with questions.

In fact, up to this point, they're all trick questions.

As teachers of the law try to trick him, try to catch him out, asking him questions about a range of different subjects that they're spending all day talking about.

Tax, marriage and life after death.

Nothing's changed in 2,000 years.

But as they're absorbed in these themes and they're trying to catch Jesus out, there's an onlooker who's unnamed but is another teacher of the law.

Who comes at Jesus not with a trick question but with a genuine one right from the heart.

And it's this.

Having been listening to all of the conversation that's been going on.

Says, Jesus, what's the most important command?

You know, the 613 different Hebrew laws.

He's saying, what does it all boil down to?

Is there one most important thing?

What is it?

What matters most?

Now, Jesus does go on to say, love your neighbour as yourself.

But it's not where he starts.

His response is to quote what is known in Hebrew thought as the Shema.

Where he quotes from the Hebrew scriptures and says,

Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart.

And with all your soul.

And with all your mind.

And with all your strength.

And only when he has said that first, as the primary thing, does he then go on to say,

Love your neighbour as yourself.

If we're to understand what it means to love your neighbour as yourself,

it won't do to just drop the first bit.

And yet, and yet, it doesn't stretch the imagination too much to be able to just hear the atheist say,

But do we need the first bit?

Surely it will suffice just to say,

We'll love your neighbour.

You don't need God to be able to do that.

Now, at face value, that's a very rational sounding point.

But I want to say three things in response to the hypothetical atheist response that I might have just cited.

And the first would be this.

And it's not necessarily to do with this particular subject, but atheism in general.

Is that whenever I get into a conversation with somebody that says,

Well, there is no God.

I don't believe in God.

I try to say pretty early on,

Well, tell me about the God that you don't believe in.

Because I can almost guarantee that the God that you don't believe in is the God that I don't believe in either.

As a Christian.

And I say that because it's so important for us to understand that God is continually rejected because of a false understanding of who God is.

Jesus' mission was to show us who God really is.

That's the first thing.

The second thing I would want to say, and this is more specific to the issue of this greatest commandment,

putting God first before love of neighbour,

or rather establishing the inseparability of the two,

is I'd want to say that, well, if there is no God,

and if there is no absolute truth,

no ultimate truth,

because we're here by accident,

by random chance,

then on what basis

can you believe that it is right

to love our neighbours as ourselves?

If we're not here by design,

by purpose,

but by random chance,

why is it

that as human beings

we have

this inner moral compass?

This thing on which we can agree,

why is it

that we find that people will say,

yeah,

that makes sense.

If only we all loved one another

as we love ourselves.

And why is it then

that if we are here

just as the result

of random chance,

why would we appeal

to the use of rational logic

to make that point?

But the third thing,

and I think this is where

we find the teachings of Jesus

going right to the core,

right to the heart of the matter,

is this.

Jesus does not actually say

that the most important commandment

is to believe in God.

Jesus does not say

that the most important commandment

is to believe in God.

Jesus does say

that the most important commandment

is to love

the Lord your God.

And the word agape

is used to describe that love

right here in this passage.

So not just believe in God,

but to love the Lord your God.

And not just to love

the Lord your God,

but to love the Lord your God

with all your soul,

with all your heart,

with all your mind,

with all your strength.

How can love be a commandment?

Well, it seems here

that Jesus is talking

to something that lies

at the very heart of the matter.

That deeper truth

underlying that very question,

what's the most important thing?

It's this.

We all have a God.

Or if you like,

we all have a faith.

It's a nonsense

to talk of people

of all faiths and none

as though it's possible

to go through life

without having a faith.

Of course,

you might say that,

well, I don't believe in God.

That itself is a faith.

But behind every human life

that has ever been lived,

there is always the pursuit

of a set of values

of that which is important.

There will always be something

that we engage in

with all our heart,

with all our soul,

with all our mind,

and with all our strength.

Whether we call that God

or whether we call it

something else,

it's in our humanity

to pursue that which is ultimate.

that sense of restlessness

within us.

You take that away

and we cease to be human.

It may be a moral code.

It might be the things

that we go after,

whether we call that

security,

whether it's the pursuit

of our career,

whether it's the pursuit

of financial well-being,

the pursuit of an identity,

just being accepted

by others.

Maybe it's multiple things,

but the fact is,

is that it is part

of our human nature

to pursue

with all our heart,

soul, mind,

and strength.

And if it's not God,

it will be something else.

If God doesn't own you,

something else will.

Well, let me put that

in a different way.

If you don't choose

to allow God

to own you,

you will be unwittingly

allowing something else

to own you.

The point here,

I think,

that Jesus is exposing

so powerfully

and so clearly

is this question.

What is it

that you're pursuing

with all your heart,

your soul,

your mind,

and your strength?

Or to put it

even more bluntly,

what's your God?

You see,

when we look deep

into our hearts,

into the patterns

of our lives,

as we look back

over the years,

as we look at our lives

right now,

the decisions that we make,

the things that drive us,

the things that make us

get out of bed

in the morning,

it's those things

that Jesus is saying.

Take a look at those things.

What are they?

What's your God?

And as much as we can all agree

that relationships

are vital

to life,

of course they are.

They're inseparable

from all of this,

and that's Jesus' point.

You take God

out of the equation,

and what are we left with?

In the 2010 movie

called Up in the Air,

there's a scene

where a young man

is having second thoughts

about getting married.

The wedding ceremony

is about to begin,

but he's got a serious case

of cold feet.

He's not sure

he can go through

with the wedding.

Then a family member

who's played by George Clooney

is sent to talk to him.

The young man says,

I don't think

I'd be able to do this.

George Clooney's character

asks,

why would you say that today?

The frightened young man

says this,

well last night,

I was kind of like

laying in bed,

and I couldn't get to sleep.

So I started thinking

about the wedding

and the ceremony,

and about our buying a house,

and moving in together,

and having a kid,

and then having another kid,

and then Christmas,

and Thanksgiving,

and spring break,

and going to football games,

and then all of a sudden,

they're graduated,

and getting jobs,

and getting married,

and you know I'm a grandparent,

and then I'm retired,

and I'm losing my hair,

and I'm getting fat,

and the next thing I know,

I'm dead.

And it's like,

I can't stop from thinking,

what's the point?

I mean,

what is the point?

That very anxiety

lies at the very heart

of human fear.

What's the point?

Why are we here?

Yeah, relationships,

we see the meaning of them,

the most important thing in life,

of course they are,

but even there,

what's the point?

Jesus says,

here's the point.

God.

He's at the source

of every relationship.

God's at the source

of every love,

every craving,

everything that is good,

and right.

And only when we get

that basic,

fundamental,

simple truth

into our lives,

and we understand

that God loves us,

and God loves us unconditionally,

and that we've nothing

to prove to him,

and that we are accepted

and loved unconditionally

at that which is the most

important relationship of all,

then we are able

to love ourselves,

and we are able

to love others.

That's the point.

One last thing.

We're going to pray

in a moment.

Verse 32.

This teacher of the law

who comes to Jesus

with the question,

what's the most

important command,

and listens to Jesus'

response.

He summarizes back

what Jesus has said.

He says to him

in verse 32,

Well said, teacher,

the man replied.

You are right in saying

that God is one

and there is no other

but him,

to love him

with all your heart

and with all your understanding

and with all your strength

and to love your neighbour

as yourself.

And then,

he goes on to say

something that Jesus

hasn't actually said.

And this is really important

and really telling.

Because he says this,

this is more important

than all burnt offerings

and sacrifices.

Now, the preceding chapter

of Mark's Gospel

tells us

that this whole scene

is played out

in the temple courtyard.

Burnt offerings

and sacrifices

are taking place

left, right, and centre.

That's what it's there for,

the temple.

And there is this

teacher of the law

surrounded by other

teachers of the law

in the midst

of burnt offerings

and sacrifices

being offered

every day

in order to make

things right with God.

Before Jesus,

the Son of God,

God in human form,

this man says,

Jesus,

what you've just said

is more important

than any of this

going on around us.

Jesus' response,

you are not far

from the kingdom of God.

See, that word

that far,

you're not far

from the kingdom of God,

it's exactly the same word

that we find

in Luke chapter 15

Luke 15 · chapter mention

when Jesus tells

the story of the

prodigal son

and describes

how the son

who has rebelled

against his father

comes back

with his rehearsed speech

and while he's still

far off,

there's the word,

the father sees him coming.

That's the image.

Now here Jesus says,

you are not far

from the kingdom.

the fact that you see

that love of God

underpinning love

in all relationships

is so much more important

than any amount

of religious human effort.

You're getting it.

You are not far

from the kingdom.

And so as we come

to pray now,

I'm going to invite us

just to spend

a few moments

in stillness

as we ask

God's Holy Spirit

to renew us

in that knowledge

and in that confidence

that love of God

is all we need.

and when we know

that we are loved

and loved unconditionally

by him,

then we are given

that strength

to love

those people

who

in human terms

we might call

quite unlovable.

Because let's be

quite clear,

these words of Jesus

about the greatest

commandment

are disarmingly

simple.

but simple

does not mean easy.

And that call,

that challenge

to love your neighbour

is not something

that comes easily

at all times.

But knowing

the love of God

that is there

unconditionally

for us

is the very thing

that can set us free

to love one another.

So let's join together

now in prayer.

Let's just take a few moments

just to be still

and in the quiet

of this moment

to hear those words

of Jesus

once more.

Those words

that say

that the most important thing

is to love God

with all your heart,

with all your soul,

with all your mind

and with all your strength.

Lord God,

thank you

for the power

of that most important

command

to know your love

and to love you.

Lord,

you know our lives

inside out

and back to front.

You know our lives

better than we know ourselves.

And you know those things

that we can easily place

as gods within us.

Those things

that we pursue

with all our heart,

soul,

mind and strength.

Lord,

forgive us

for when

we put other things

other than you

in place.

Lord,

right now

in this moment

we ask

that you would renew us

by your Holy Spirit.

Renew us

in that sense

of love

for you

before anyone

or anything else.

Holy Spirit,

remind us

of your

unconditional love,

we pray.

And as we just wait

upon God's Holy Spirit

now,

I invite you

just to take

a few moments

to reflect

on his

unconditional,

unending love

for you.

Lord,

renew us

in that sense

of knowing

you as

our loving

Father.

God's

love

for you.

And as we

wait upon

your Holy Spirit

to move

among us

now,

so we bring

into your

presence

our relationships,

particularly

any areas

where we may

find it

difficult

to love

others.

maybe that

colleague

or boss

or maybe

a former

colleague

or boss,

a family

member,

a neighbour.

other.

And I invite you

before God

to hold

that tension

and that

difficulty

before him.

Lord,

help us

to remember

that when we

draw near to

you,

we are not

far from the

kingdom.

Lord,

help us

as we

bring these

relationships

within which

we may struggle

before you.

Help us

throughout this

week in

any

conversations

that we

may have to

face,

any difficult

interactions

that we may

have to

engage in.

And Lord,

where there

may have been

a relationship

or relationships

that have

broken down

altogether,

give us

that courage

and that

confidence

to do

everything

we can

to make

peace.

Lord,

give us

the courage

and the

confidence

that we

may need

to initiate

a phone

call

or a

conversation.

Lord,

we pray

for healing,

we pray

for reconciliation.

Lord,

renew us

in that

love of

you and

that love

for others

and sustain

us in that

way that

only you

can.

We ask

this in

Jesus'

name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.