Selected Sermons

The Answer that stopped the Questions
Based on Mark 12:28-34

Marilyn Zehr
April 6/03

In our study of Mark - this week we have moved on to the passion narrative in chapters 14, 15 and 16- Jesus' death and resurrection story - but I won't be preaching specifically from any of these texts this morning because Good Friday and Easter are coming and I'll let those texts speak more directly during that time. Instead I'd like to focus on the stories that precede the passion narrative - in particular those in Chapters 11 and 12.

I hope that during this study you have had time to read Mark from beginning to end. Because when we read Mark from beginning to end one of the things we might realize is what an incredibly gifted storyteller he was. As in any good story there are clearly discernable patterns and themes that build on one another from the beginning to end. The passages that I focus on today - parts of 10, and 11 and 12 are the part of the story that brings Jesus close to and have him dramatically enter Jerusalem. And the tension mounts as Mark records for us the challenging questions of the Pharisees and scribes and teachers. These challenging questions are often referred to by commentators as the controversy stories.

In these controversy stories it seems no one is left out. Everyone gets in on the action. During this highly charged section of the gospel Mark records that after Jesus entered the temple and drove out the buyers and the sellers, the chief priests and scribes began to look for an excuse to kill him. In chapter 11:18 - scripture tells us they were afraid of him, because the whole crowd was spellbound by his teaching.
After that while Jesus was in the temple as recorded in chapter 11:27, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders come to him and ask Him by what authority He acts. Jesus refuses to answer their question if they will not tell him by what authority John the Baptist preached and baptized.

Shortly later at the beginning of chapter 12 Jesus tells the parable about the owner and the tenants of a Vineyard. This is the parable where the tenants of the vineyard torture, drive out and/or kill anyone the owner sends to them including the owner's beloved son.
The chief priests and scribes perceive that he has told it against them. Again they want to arrest him but they are afraid of the crowd. V.12.
Immediately in v. 13 we see that they now send the Pharisees and Herodians to try to trap Jesus. The Pharisees and Herodians ask if it is lawful to pay taxes to Caesar. And Jesus responds to them by asking whose picture is on the imperial coin. It is the emperor's picture of course and then Jesus tells them to give to the emperor the things that are the emperors and to God the things that are God's.

The Sadducees have not joined into the fray yet. We see them arrive in verse 18. They address Jesus as teacher and ask him a long involved complicated question about the resurrection. A woman becomes a widow several times and marries the next brother in line each time with no children in any of these marital unions and so they ask "in the resurrection whose wife will she be?"

Jesus does not mince words here, in keeping with Mark's portrayal of Jesus throughout the gospel - He says, in v. 24 "Is not this the reason you are wrong, that you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God. - There is no marriage in the resurrection. For people will be like angels. He goes on to say in v. 27 that God is not the God of the Dead but of the living.

Finally at the end of this series of controversies we have the encounter that stops this barrage of questions.
This time it is a scribe who has been standing aloof from the proceedings to this point - watching and admiring Jesus.
Which commandment is the first of all? He asks.
Jesus responds, "Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is One; You shall love the Lord your God with all you heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbour as yourself.
The words are so familiar that it's easy not to pay attention to what they mean.

The first part of Jesus' response "Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is One - Known as the Shema was and still may be repeated by devout Jews every morning and every evening. The first and second commandment love of God and neighbour would also have been deeply familiar.

The scribe - apparently with some authority of his own - in v. 32 acknowledges that Jesus is right. For he says, "To say that God is one and besides him is no other, to love him with all your heart and with all understanding and with all strength, and to love one's neighbour as oneself is more important than the religious rituals of burnt offerings and sacrifices." In this encounter where apparently two wise men have met - Jesus and this scribe Jesus closes the conversation with,
"You are not far from the kingdom of God."
And after that no one dared to ask him any questions.

Why not?
What was it about this encounter that stopped the questions?
Was it the statement "you are not far from the Kingdom of God" or was it the directness and simplicity of the "Love of God and love of neighbour" response.

Maybe both.

At the beginning of this gospel Jesus made it clear that he came to proclaim the good news of the Kingdom. In one way or another his identity, his actions, his stories, his examples point to what God's reign looks like.And most Christians today believe that to a degree Jesus' life ministry death and resurrection brought that kingdom into our midst.

During the current battle of worldly kingdoms, where controversy stories are televised or broadcast daily on Parliament Hill or CBC or 680 news or CNN its often feels like we are a long, long way from the Kingdom of God. Expert panelists, military strategists and opposition leaders argue over who is right and who is wrong - What efforts, statements or policies should be supported and why?

Sometimes it gets really complicated. Saddam Hussein has done evil things. Disarmament of any and every nation may be a useful goal. What are the risks and benefits of long drawn out diplomacy? What are the risks and benefits of war? Is the goal of regime change in Iraq - purported to be necessary to protect some people in our world - worth the injuring and maiming and killing of others?

Which national leader is more evil or cowardly or more courageous and heroic than the other? We are likely to have strong feelings and opinions about most of these questions because most of these questions and answers touch closely held faith convictions. And during the current media presentation of these controversy stories the answers to many of these questions depend on whom you ask.

As the kingdoms of the world clash,
I find myself wondering about the proximity of the Kingdom of God.

Jesus said to the scribe - "You are not far from the kingdom".
To whom could Jesus say that today?
I venture to suggest that the answer is more likely to be simple and straight forward than it is to be complicated - but also that it does not nicely line itself up on one side of a controversy or another.

In another scripture passage in Mark we read:
"Let the children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the Kingdom of God belongs. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it. And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them. (Mark 10:13-16)

An image came to mind as I read this. It was an image that I saw one evening on television near the start of the coverage of the war in Iraq. This event apparently occurred near the city of Basra before any Humanitarian aid in the way of food and water could be brought into the city. A group of about a dozen children approximately ages 7 to 12 were seen running up to a couple of soldiers beside a large military vehicle. These soldiers handed small bottles of water to the children- it looked like this water may have been from their own supply. Was this scene somehow staged for the cameras?
Maybe.

Or … could it have been a genuine encounter in the middle of the desert between hot and thirsty children and soldiers who may have been thinking about their own children at home?
Maybe.

If it was genuine than I'd like to point to this moment as a time when human beings were not far from the kingdom.
I read another story in the March 10th issue of the Canadian Mennonite.

The article entitled "Military Mom and Pacifist Prof find common ground" records an encounter between the mother of a soldier and a Goshen College professor of peace studies. Dana, the mother of a soldier named Nick wrote an impassioned letter to the editor of her local paper about her frustrations with what she called "local pacifist rhetoric"-
Following is a brief quote: "I would ask all of you to stop and consider what your harsh words in the paper mean to a soldier who is sitting in a remote location reading his hometown newspaper and seeing such a painful lack of support for our troops. While you enjoy your holiday season, please have some compassion for those of us who won't be together for the holidays. We would prefer your prayers rather than your criticism".

The professor, Carolyn Shrock-Shenk who teaches people in her peace courses to truly "listen to the Other" knew that in order to practice what she preached she needed to have a face to face conversation with this military mom. During that conversation over a cup of coffee they discovered many commonalities despite obvious differences. They are both mothers of sons, they share religious connections and both want peace for the world. Together they decided to write another letter to the editor of this newspaper.

Here's a quote from the second letter:
"What we both know, at a very deep level, is that we want Nick, and the others like him to come home safely… We believe that our God of love is present with each one, all the time, no matter where they are or which side of a war they are on…
"We will continue to respond to the current situation in ways that we feel called to respond, but we will do so with some differences since our meetings. It is our hope that by writing this letter, we can encourage others to see that it is possible to 'agree to disagree' without disrespect or malice…"
In the letter, Dana pledged to respect those who want to prevent this war. "I would ask them to remember our sons and daughters who are trying to do the right thing and who are risking their lives to do so. I believe our troops need to know that we love them and support them, whether or not we support the war in which they are fighting…"
Carolyn pledged to continue to oppose the impending war "with a new awareness of how much pain and fear and love military members and their families experience… I understand more deeply that, at bottom, we want so many of the same things: peace, security, a world of promise for our children."

In collaborating to write this letter these women exchanged loving understanding of one another. In this encounter where love was given and received I venture to say that these women were not far from the Kingdom of God.

Earlier I suggested that the answer is more likely simple than it is complicated. In our complex world that may be a dangerous concept to try to defend but it is based on Jesus' dangerous assertion that Love of God and love of Neighbour, the first and greatest commandment and the second that is like it, appears to have everything to do with everything.

As long drawn out complex televised controversies show us it seems that it is media's business as well as our nature to align ourselves on different sides, stand at opposite poles, when we feel threatened that another's point of view may be carrying the day. A third way exists in the spaces in between. When we begin to allow ourselves to listen to the undercurrents, see and understand the passion and compassion of people who care about our world and each other though they may have different ways of expressing it, It is possible to become aware of places where love could be given and received. Thankfully there are many people in our world who know of and try to practice this third way. The encounters between the soldiers and the children, the military mom and the pacifist professor show us glimpses of where the Kingdom simply and beautifully squeezes its way into our world.

One other brief example -
Glenn Edward Witmer writes in his latest Menno - letter about a group of Palestinians who are traveling to European Holocaust sites so they can better understand the loss and pain of the Jewish people. I believe that these people are not far from the Kingdom.
And it was Jesus who showed us how to find this third way of love - his encounters with the children; his brutal honesty and wisdom with those who question him; and his assertion that the greatest commandments are to love God and love our neighbour. These encounters are encounters in the Kingdom of God. They are places where human beings encounter one another in a spirit of giving and receiving love.

My prayer is that when the controversial issues of the day begin to feel overwhelming that we are given the grace to see and enter the places where the Kingdom of God wants to simply and beautifully squeeze into our midst.