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CHILDREN'S EDUCATION |
SERMONS The
Twenty-Third Sunday after Pentecost By David Christian As a priest, I talk a lot about religion. That's not surprising. Religion is a very important thing, and people like to talk about it. Because of the peculiar way that I dress, it is not unusual for someone to come up to me and ask me a question or start a conversation about faith or God or something religious. Of course, this is not something that only professional religious people experience. Religion is a popular topic for conversation and discussion everywhere. We talk about what we believe, about what other people believe. We talk about how different traditions and different faiths are alike and how they disagree. We argue about matters of doctrine and about our understanding of the faith. So it has always been. In today's gospel, a group of Pharisees decide to test Jesus. They decide to throw a question out to him and see how he will respond. They hope, of course, to trip him up; to draw an answer that will give them something to use against him. "Teacher," one of them asks, "which commandment in the law is the greatest?" Jesus answers immediately, "You shall love the lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment." This is a good, solid answer. It is the Shema, the summary of the law that every devout Jew is to repeat daily. He has lifted it straight from the book of Deuteronomy. Then Jesus goes on, "and a second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.' " Again, straight from scripture, this time from Leviticus. There is nothing in this answer that anyone can argue with. These two commandments encapsulate all that the law and the prophets teach. But now it is Jesus' turn. "I have a question for you," he says. "What do you think of the Messiah? Whose son is he?" They answer him from the tradition. "He is the son of David." And Jesus responds, "How is it then that David calls him Lord? If David calls him Lord, how can he be his son?" And the Pharisees are silent. In their answer they had been looking backward. They looked back to the glory days of Israel. They looked back to the great leader of the past. But Jesus says to them that looking back is not enough. That the Messiah they are looking for will not return them to the great days of an earlier time. The Messiah is the Lord. The Messiah is someone greater than even the greatest figure of Israel's past. And there is even more to this answer than that. A Lord is not a concept to be discussed. It is not an idea to be talked about and argued about. A Lord is a person to be followed. In his answer Jesus pushes those who are listening beyond interesting intellectual questions. He pushes us beyond discussion and argument over ideas. The heart of our faith as Christians is not a collection of ideas. It is not a way of thinking. It is not about having the right understanding of a series of odd questions. At the heart of our faith as Christians is a person, Jesus, the Lord. He does not say to us, "Believe this." He says to us, "Follow me." This is not to say that what we believe is not important, it is. Knowing what we believe can keep us oriented. It can keep us pointed in the right direction, toward the Lord. But it is not ultimately important. It is important to know the greatest commandment. But that is not enough. What is more important is to follow it. What is ultimately important for us is the relationship. What is ultimately important is the following. What is ultimately important is a life transformed by the Lord of life who will lead us to life. What do you think of the Messiah? What are you going to do about it? David
Christian Proper
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