Is Loving God Enough?

~~~ Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time ~~~

 

~~~ Deuteronomy 6:2-6 ~~~ Psalm 18 ~~~ Hebrews 7: 32-28 ~~~ Mark 12: 28b-34 ~~~

 

 "...love the LORD, your God,
with all your heart,
and with all your soul,
and with all your strength."

 

The Old Testament speaks of loving God alone

with all that you are and all that you have...

mind, body and soul.

Those who lived during that time were not encouraged to love

their neighbors or themselves.

 

They only had part of the great equation of love.

The commandment of love is more meaningful when you include

your neighbors and also yourself.

 

In a way loving God alone is a cop out.

If all you had to do was love God

you would not have to consider your actions toward others.

If you only had to love God

and not yourself you could miss the blessing of who

you were made to become.

 

Jesus came to complete the Old Testament laws...

loving God is essential but it is not all there is to loving.

 

Jesus modeled through out his public ministry

what it means to love your neighbor.

In his mission to server others he expressed his love for them.

Every miracle he performed was an extension of his love and compassion.

 

 

 "...to love him with all your heart,
with all your understanding,
with all your strength,
and to love your neighbor as yourself'
is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices."

 

The foundational building block of the commandment of love

is loving yourself.

There are so many people who do not love themselves.

There are many people who were never taught

 or encouraged to love themselves.

If we are created in the image and likeness of God

how can we love him if we do not love ourselves.

 

If we do not value ourselves how can we begin to love those around us?

How can we love those who irritate us by their actions or beliefs?

 

Loving ourselves makes it more likely that we can move to the next level

of loving our neighbors...all of our neighbors.

This is so often the area of love where we impose boundaries.

Jesus did not say only love those who are just like yourself.

Jesus did not qualify who you should or should not love.

You never hear Jesus tell you not to love anyone.

 

The love Jesus spoke of was all inclusive.

It is the total package of love.

 

Loving God and loving our neighbor as ourselves may sound easy,

 but most of us are never able to completely accomplish such love.

 

Perhaps our inability to love as Jesus wants us to love is why

we hear about love so often in the scriptures.

The more we hear about how to love the more

we will be able to put it into practice.

 

Where do you need more love in your life?

Is it in loving yourself?

Is it in loving your neighbor?

Is it in loving God?

 

These three are not optional...

they are requirements....commandments.

Seen or Unseen?

~~~ Ez 24:15-24 ~~~ Psalm (Dt 32) ~~~ Matthew 19:16-22 ~~~

A young man approaches Jesus hoping to learn what he

must do to gain eternal life.

Jesus gives the logical answer...

"If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments."

Of course keeping the commandments is a good place

to begin if you are serious about securing eternal life.

Notice the words Jesus uses here...

If you wish to enter into life.....life.

Jesus does not use the word 'eternal'

in his response to the young man.

Jesus simply states 'life'...

for Jesus life is eternal.

They are one in the same...eternal and life.

Jesus offers us eternal life.

You can only give that which you already possess.

Yes, Jesus may grant you any sort of life you want.

There are many adjectives we could use to describe the kind of

or quality of life we desire.

But there can only be one eternal life and it comes

directly from the source of life itself.

If we want to live with Jesus, then the 'life' will be eternal.

The life we live now is the preparation for our eternal life with God.

If today you are not living and looking forward to this

eternal life then what is the point?

What is the point of keeping the commandments if you

are not fixated on this promise of eternal life?

This young man asks a valid question.

He was trying to live a good life.

He was keeping the commandments...

including loving his neighbor as himself.

Perhaps there was a voice inside of him that thought;

should I be doing more?

The young man said to him,
"All of these I have observed. What do I still lack?"

There is so much we as humans lack when it comes to

eternal life. This young man exhibits maturity beyond his years

that he can ask such a question. 

So many times a young person thinks they have already

discovered all the answers.

I remember those days well when I would come home

from college for a visit

thinking I was filled with so much knowledge.

I laugh now at how naive I was back then.

As so often happens with Jesus encounters;

he pushes the envelope with his answer to this young man.

Jesus says great you are keeping the commandments and

you want more?

Jesus said to him, "If you wish to be perfect, go,
sell what you have and give to the poor,
and you will have treasure in heaven.
Then come, follow me."

Now Jesus adds a new dimension to this concept

of eternal life...being perfect.

Apparently just keeping the commandments

alone does not make one perfect.

Must one be perfect to have eternal life with Jesus?

The young man is not prepared to follow Jesus;

he cannot give up all of his earthly possessions.

He is young living in the first half of his life, proud

of the material things he has been able to accumulate for himself.

The treasure waiting for us in heaven is far beyond what we can fathom.

We are so restricted by our material things that we cannot

imagine happiness without them.

It is so difficult to see that God alone is enough.

Let's face it we are attached to our worldly things.

We like our cars, homes, phones, computers etc. the list is endless.

Jesus is suggesting to the young man here that just maybe

the things he has are his greatest hindrance to gaining eternal life.

All of our possessions keep us grounded here in the world.

Our real life is outside of these material possessions.

Our real life only exists with God.

Henri Nouwen wrote in Bread for the Journey...

'The poor have a treasure to offer because they cannot return our favors.'

Our reward comes in heaven.

Lord, help me to see beyond my possessions in order to

live my life with eyes fixed on

eternal life with you.

Trusting: The Master Gardener Prunes

~~~ Acts 9: 26-31 ~~~ Psalm 22 ~~~ 1John 3:18-24 ~~~ John 15: 1-8 ~~~

"...with the consolation  of the Holy Spirit it (the church) grew in numbers."

The Holy Spirit has been, is, and will continue to breathe life

into the community of believers.

We too are members of this community of believers.

John's letter encourages to show our love through what we do...basically to live a life that reflects the love of God to the best of our ability. If our heart is filled with love we cannot go wrong. If our heart is filled with love

"we have confidence in God and receive from him whatever we ask..."

If our heart is filled with love we want to keep his commandments; it is no longer a chore but rather a delight.

"...the way we know that he remains in us is from the Spirit he gave us."

The Gospel today is a classic, well known passage; the Vine and the Branches.

Jesus was a wonderful teacher. He knew how to take something familiar to his audience and turn it into a spiritual teaching.  

Since this is a well known reading I only want to highlight one point.

"He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit."

Thinking about God as the Master Gardener; having to prune branches from my life causes some anxiety. God sees what is no longer needed in our life when we cannot.

We often find it difficult to let go of those branches that are not bearing fruit.

How long do you wait? The corpse flower does not bloom for years at a time.

It takes a tremendous amount of trust to allow God to prune away the branches that only he knows will not be able to bear fruit.

In order to bear fruit we must remain in him so that he can remain in us through the grace and presence of the Holy Spirit.

Allow the Master Gardener to gently and patiently

prepare you to be bear more fruit in your life.