THE GREAT COMMANDMENT AND THE GREAT CONFUSION”

MARK 12:28-34

28  One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, he asked him, "Which commandment is the first of all?"

29  Jesus answered, "The first is, 'Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one;

30  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.'

31  The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."

32  Then the scribe said to him, "You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that 'he is one, and besides him there is no other';

33  and 'to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength,' and 'to love one's neighbor as oneself,'--this is much more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices."

34  When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." After that no one dared to ask him any question.

I think Jesus would have liked the answer that a little girl gave to her teacher one day. It all started when the teacher saw the little girl sitting by herself. All the other children in the class were either painting or reading or playing with their friends.  The little girl though was off by herself playing with a doll.  So, the teacher went over and asked her a question. “Why don’t you come and play with the other children?” she asked. “Doesn’t it bother you to sit here all by yourself?”  The little girl shook her head.  “No,” she said. “It doesn’t bother me to sit her by myself. I like me.”

I like me. Some people actually find it hard to do that.

Believe it or not some find it hard to like themselves.

It’s true. It’s easy to spot those people. 

They tend to be critical of themselves.

They tend to be impatient with themselves. 

They always seem to feel guilty about something. When something goes wrong they’re always quick to feel guilty even when it’s not their fault.

Actually, I think we all do that from time to time.  That’s why I’ve never been a big fan of the finger pointing guilt producing school of theology.  Most people are already carrying more guilt than they can handle.  I like to call it the Charlie Brown syndrome.  You remember Charlie Brown, right? Poor Charlie Brown! One day while talking to Linus Charlie Brown lets out a sigh and bears his soul. Charlie Brown says, “You see, Linus, it goes all the way back to the beginning.  The moment I was born and set foot on the stage of life they took one look at me and said, ‘Not right for the part.’”

Are there times when you find it hard to like yourself? If the answer to that question is yes then you might want to take another look at the Great Commandment. One day a scribe asked Jesus which commandment was the greatest of all.  It didn’t take Jesus very long to answer the question.  Jesus said, “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.' (and) You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

That, my friends, is the Great Commandment. It sounds good.  What many people don’t realize though is that in order for the Great Commandment to make sense you have to read it backwards. You see the Great Commandment begins with the ability to love yourself.  Jesus said that you’re supposed to love your neighbor as yourself.  Well, if you can’t love yourself then you really can’t love your neighbor and if you can’t love your neighbor then you really can’t love God.

Loving God and your neighbor and yourself, it’s all connected. That’s why a pastor in Dallas was surprised when he saw two bumper stickers on a car some time ago.  He talked about those two bumper stickers on a web site that I go to from time to time.  The web site is place where ministers can share their thoughts and sermon ideas.  For some reason people always seem to laugh when I tell them that they can find the web site by going to www.desperatepreacher.com.  It’s actually a pretty good web site. Anyway, this pastor in Dallas said that he was walking through a parking lot one day when he saw a car with a bumper sticker on the left rear window. The bumper sticker said, “Don’t make me angry.  I’m running out of places to hide the bodies.” On the other side of the car there was another bumper sticker. This bumper sticker had the fish symbol on it with the letters J-E-S-U-S inside.

Now, those two bumper stickers don’t go together.  That’s because Jesus made it very clear.  If you can’t love yourself then you can’t love your neighbor and if you can’t love your neighbor then you really can’t love God.

Think about it and you’ll see that Jesus was right. 

If you’re impatient with yourself, you’re going to be impatient with your children.

If you’re critical of everything you do, you’re going to be critical of the people you see at work or at school or around town.

If you’re riddled with guilt, without even knowing it, you’re going to be very good at making sure that others are miserable too.

And, if you treat others that way it’s only going to lead you father away from God.

All of this is why I think it’s safe to say that the Pharisees really didn’t love themselves.

They wanted everyone to believe that they were holy.

They wanted everyone to believe that they were smart.

They wanted everyone to believe that they were important.

It was just an act though and Jesus knew it. That’s why they were always quick to criticize and condemn the people around them. It’s also the reason why they were always trying to get him into trouble. In order to feel good about themselves, the Pharisees had to make Jesus and everyone else look bad. That’s why Jesus called them white washed tombs. (Matthew 23:27) On the outside they looked good but inside they didn’t really love themselves or the people around them or God for that matter.

Jesus knew that the Great Commandment really begins with the ability to love yourself. So, how do you do that? How do you love yourself?  Well, we need to be clear about one thing right away. Jesus wasn’t advocating a narcissistic kind of self love. Loving yourself doesn’t mean always doing what you want to do and giving yourself the best of everything. 

That kind of self love can be seen in a conversation that a doctor had with a woman one day.  The doctor asked to speak to the woman after examining her sick husband.  While they were alone in his office the doctor said to the woman, “You husband is suffering from a very rare form of anemia and could be dead in a few weeks.  The good news is his disease can be treated, but you’re going to have to do your part.  It means you’re going to have to get up early every morning and fix him a nutritious breakfast.  Now, he needs all the vitamins and calories he can get.  So don’t be afraid to overdo it. Fix him things like pancakes, bacon and eggs.  Then do the same thing when it comes to the rest of his meals. You also might want to do some baking every day so there’s plenty of homemade cake and other goodies around the house. Because of his disease his immune system is also very weak.  So, you’ll need to keep the house spotless. Make sure you vacuum and dust and change the sheets on your bed every day. You’ll also need to make sure he doesn’t over exert himself. So, you’ll need to do the things he usually does like take the rubbish out and do all the other heavy lifting around the house.”  The doctor then paused and asked the woman if she understood all of his instructions.  The woman nodded her head and then went back to the waiting room.  When the husband saw her he could see the troubled look on her face.  “It’s bad, isn’t it?” he said. “What did the doctor say?”  The wife took a deep breath, The put her arms around her husband and sobbed, “The doctor says you’re gonna die!”

That’s not the way to love yourself.  Loving yourself doesn’t mean always doing what you want to do and always giving yourself the best of everything.  A big house and a fancy car and expensive jewelry isn’t what loving yourself is all about.  Now there’s nothing wrong with having a big house, a fancy car and expensive jewelry. If your sense of self worth though is wrapped up in all those twinkling trinkets and glitzy gadgets then I guarantee you that after everything is said and done you’re still going to feel empty and miserable.

The self love that Jesus was talking about doesn’t come from the things you own. It comes from the God who created you! It comes from the God who created you in His own image! St. Augustine once said that he was amazed at how, “People travel to wonder at the height of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars, and they pass by themselves without wondering.”

The self love that Jesus was talking about comes from knowing that you were created in God’s own image.  It comes from knowing that you are loved so much that this God who created you came to be with us in Jesus Christ the man of Nazareth who is our crucified and risen Lord. It comes from knowing that on the Cross that the God who made you basically said no matter what you do, no matter where you go, no matter how many times you turn your back on me I will always love you.  There isn’t anything you can do that will make me stop loving you!”

It’s the same kind of love that made it possible for Greg Louganis to succeed as an Olympic diver.  Greg Louganis was once asked how he coped with the stress of competitive diving.  His answer was simple.  He said that just be for before each dive he always did the same thing.  He always took a deep breath and said to himself, “Even if I blow this dive, my mother still loves me.”

That’s the love that will always be waiting for you when you turn to God. When you know that you’re loved by God that’s when you’re going to be able to love yourself, and when you’re able to love yourself that’s when you’re going to be able to love your neighbor and when you’re able to love your neighbor as yourself that’s when you’re going to be able to love God, and when you’re able to love God that’s when the circle of love will be complete.  That’s also when you’ll hear the same words that that Jesus spoke that day to the scribe who asked him which of the commandments is the greatest of all.  That’s when you’ll hear Jesus say to you, “My son, my daughter, my child you are not far from the kingdom of God.”  Amen.

Rev. Dr. Richard A. Hughes

November 5, 2006

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