October 26, 2008

Dear friends, how do you know when you have done a good job?  How do you know when you have mastered the requirements?  How do you know when you have met the expectations?  How do you know when you have done a good job? 

If you are a student, you receive frequent clues.  You take home “progress reports.”  You get back papers marked A, B+, C-, See me!!!  If you are on a team, you can review your stats, so many goals made, so many defended, so many times at bat, so many runners batted in.  If you are employed and, at the end of the year, you receive a bonus or a promotion or, in lean years, you get to keep your job, then you have tangible evidence that you are indeed succeeding in your endeavor. 

If on the second Sunday of June you get a call, “Hello Dad, did you get my card?  Do you like the tie,” then you have a clear indication that you’ve been a good father.  In all important arenas of our lives, we want to know how we are progressing.  We want to know where we are doing well and where we are missing the mark.  We want feedback, assessment, gold stars, check marks and comments noting improvement. We need critique so we can rest easy or redouble our efforts.

In our work, in our recreation and in our relationships, we receive consistent indicators about our progress.  We generally understand how well we’re doing.  In our spiritual life there is much more doubt.  How do we know when we are succeeding there?  When can we rest in confidence knowing that we have pleased God?  How can we be sure we have met the basic criteria for faithful living?  The stakes are high.  Access to serenity and confidence in this life and eternal bliss in the next life are on the line.  We do not want to miscalculate.  Are we doing all we need to satisfy our heavenly father?  Do we have the basics down and our bases covered?  This concern is age-old and persistent.

The Pharisees, the keepers of Jewish liturgy and life, focus their work on this issue.  They believed they were called and anointed by God to look after his chosen people, to keep them secure in his heart by their faithful obedience.  These scholars and leaders study the 613 laws handed down by Moses.  They pour over the “mitzvoth,” the code of Israel.  They debate and argue, pray and decide.  Six hundred and thirteen laws of faith are a lot to manage, so many opportunities to misstep, so many potential infractions.  The Pharisees are deliberate and diligent.  They long to keep their people safe.  They are people of the law and they are threatened by Jesus.  They want to know his intent and so they test his knowledge and his conscience.  In the code, which law is most important to God, they ask.  What is the statute that Yahweh holds inviolate, sacrosanct, sacred above all others?  In their minds, they believe they are posing a conundrum because all laws are necessary for salvation, so how can one be raised above the others?  But, Jesus understands the heart of the code.  He understands the central gift God gave Moses in the commandments.  Jesus reminds the Pharisees what Moses said to his people when he sent them across the Jordan without him.  As Moses summarized the law, he was clear.  “Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.  You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your might.  Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart.  Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise.  Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” 

This law is known as the “shema” and, to this day, in Jewish households you will find small gold boxes nailed to the front door with these words written on paper inside.  The first four of the Ten Commandments center on this law.  Loving God with our whole heart, soul and mind means serving no other gods but the one God.  It means creating and worshipping no thing, no entity, no ideal besides the one God.  It means always showing respect to the name and power of God.  Loving God with one’s heart, soul and mind requires time put aside to prayer, study and rest in his presence, finding space in our lives to keep Sabbath.

To the Shema, Jesus adds the second central concern God has for his people.  As you love me, as you honor me, as your creating father, I demand that you love and honor your brothers and sisters.  I insist you treat each member of the human family, my family with care and respect.  The last six of the Ten Commandments give general direction on how this love can be realized.  First, understand the nature of families.  Respect those bonds, responsibilities and obligations.  Do not take the life of a brother or sister.  Do not corrupt a covenant or betray a pledge you’ve made to a partner.  Do not steal from one another.  Do not lie or mislead your brother and sister.  Do not harbor envy or jealousy towards anyone in our extended, extended family.

The point Jesus makes to the Pharisees is clear and succinct.  If one masters loving God first, foremost, always, if one masters loving all humans, not just the lovable, familiar ones, then all other laws, statutes, codes and requirements are satisfied.

Love God.  Love humanity.  Love God.  Love God’s people.  That’s it.  That’s the criteria.  Those are the only two requirements for abundant life on earth and eternal life in heaven.  Everything Moses handed down, every pronouncement by every prophet comes down to four words.  Getting oneself right with God is not a complicated process.  Learn four words.  Simple.  Easily done.  Getting the concept is a snap, it’s the execution that proves troubling.  Remembering God first, last, and throughout the day requires intent and practice.  Caring for aggravating people calls for patience and forbearance.  Loving God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind is simple, but demanding, constant work.  Loving our “neighbors” as graciously and kindly as we treat ourselves is often counter-intuitive and sometimes, a downright burden.

Knowing these requirements, accepting these challenges, how do we know how well we are progressing?  How do we know we are on tract?  Are there signs or indications that we’re pleasing God?  The stakes are high.  We want assurances!

My sense is that all of us believe we could do better.  We see room for improvement.  If we took some Sabbath time and made an inventory, we would find places in every day where God was far from our thoughts.  Somewhere on the list, we’d notice that concerns about earthly values edged out our “resting in the Lord.”  Most of us would say, some mornings do slip past without me praying, “Dear Lord, let this be the day I stay singularly focused on you.  May my every action, thought and word out of my mouth be a reflection of my devotion to you.”  I imagine there are many evenings for many of us when we forget to ask around the dinner table, where did you encounter God today?  Where did you see the face of Jesus in another?  What was your moment closest to Christ?  Maybe some nights slip by without us thanking God for all the blessings he passed out during the day – good health, good work, loving families, caring friends, a beautiful environment, a safe home – an endless list of good gifts. 

If our slights to God are so numerous, do we fair better in our treatment of one another?  I’m not confident.  Every day, I suspect we manage to dismiss or ignore some need for some one of our fellow human beings.  Every day, we probably fail to live up to our obligation to love and care for one another.  Yes, most assuredly, we have room for improvement in the two simple, central requirements for faithful living.  We can and we should do better.

But, dear ones, I also want to say, to the extent that I know you, I commend you.  Now you may kick your dog at home and I don’t know about that, but you know and your dog knows, and God certainly knows.  What I  do know about you suggests you are committed to living as Jesus instructs.  I see you dedicated to the pursuit of faith, to the practice of loving God and neighbor.  Of course, there is room for growth, but some success should be acknowledged.  Accomplishment and persistence needs to be recognized and celebrated. 

So, for all of you, man, woman, teen and child who choose church over waffles every Sunday morning, blessings on your soul!  For each of you who arrive early on a Saturday morning and bag meals for the hungry, rest in the Lord tonight!  For every family who gave up money for pizza night and pledged to the programs and mission of the church, God keep you.  For those who teach God’s word, for those who hear and follow, taking lessons out into the world, even one day of the week, be glad and rejoice.  God smiles upon you this day.

Love God.  Love neighbor.  Write these words on your doorposts, on your gates and in your hearts.  Continue in your pursuit for improvement and may God bless you, keep you, hold you and make his face smile upon you, today and forever more.

Amen.