Sermon: “Certainty in the Midst of Confusion”
The Right Reverend Charles G. vonRosenberg
Third Bishop of East Tennessee

[This sermon by Bishop vonRosenberg was delivered using the following notes.]

I am delighted to be here at St. Luke's this morning … to worship with a congregation that obviously is doing well and is relatively happy. That is not always the case around the church these days - but I do give thanks that our own diocese is basically doing well. In any event, it is a pleasure to be here today - especially as we remember your patronal saint, blessed Luke.

As I travel about, I spend a lot of time on interstate highways. But I also find myself on the back roads of East Tennessee from time to time. And, I have discovered that the speed limit on such roads often is unclear. Thus, I might be traveling ten or fifteen miles an hour over the speed limit and not even realize it. Or, equally annoying, I could be driving that much under the limit, completely unaware of that circumstance. At such moments and with certain frustration, I have thought to myself, "What in the world is the speed limit here - and when did it change?"

A lawyer - one of the Pharisees - approached Jesus with a question one day: "Which commandment in the law is the greatest?" And, like my question on the highway, a certain frustration may lie beneath that inquiry.

You see, there were hundreds of laws in biblical times - 613, by one count. And they dealt with every conceivable aspect of living. Sometimes the laws tended to contradict each other - or, at least, not to be consistent - so that following the letter of all the law was impossible.

Now, the Pharisees protected these accumulated laws as their personal property. Indeed, the Pharisees were the educated people of the day. For instance, they could read - and not many others could. They could understand the many, many rules and regulations that controlled life in the first century. Further, as the ones who applied the laws, the Pharisees held a great deal of power. That, by the way, was a primary reason for all the disputes they had with Jesus - and he, with them … power and its use or abuse.

In fact, it is highly unlikely that the question in today's Gospel was asked in a sincere way by a Pharisee. Rather, as often was the case, that Pharisee probably attempted to trick Jesus into making a public mistake.

Nevertheless, the question must have presented a very real dilemma indeed for other members of the community. "Which commandment in the law is the greatest?" While the Pharisee probably was trying to trick Jesus, many other people most likely would have liked to know the answer. They may have thought, "If the laws are so numerous that I cannot know them all and if the codes overlap so that I cannot follow one without disobeying another, then at least tell me which law is most important. Perhaps I can concentrate on that one and get most of the others right, too."

Jesus responds as though the question was sincere - for he knew the problem was a real one for many people. He quotes the primary faith affirmation for the Jewish community of which he was a part, an affirmation found in the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy: "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" (6:4-5). Then Jesus added something. He quoted a second commandment, this one found in Leviticus: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (19:18b). Therefore, in his response, Jesus ties these two commandments together in a new way - for the first time - and he does so for all time.

Please keep in mind here an essential characteristic of the love of which Jesus speaks. This is very important, my friends. Love is an appropriate object of command, for love - as presented in the Bible - is an action of the will. That is, we will to love someone. On the other hand, to like someone is a matter of emotion, not will. Thus, we cannot will to like anyone - and therefore, liking is not an appropriate object of command. But loving is. And Jesus commands his followers to love God and to love neighbors as self.

William Temple, the great Archbishop of Canterbury early last century, wrote profoundly on this subject. With apologies for his non-inclusive language, I want to quote him. "It is the festival of Christian love, that love which flows forth from those who have the Spirit of Christ both towards God and towards men. And we can hardly remind ourselves too often that our love for men is the surer test of our Christian discipleship. For if we are devoted to God, without finding ourselves equally devoted to men, that is sure proof that our devotion to God rests upon a misconception of His nature. If God is the Father of Jesus Christ and has revealed Himself in His Son, then true love of God must manifest itself in the love of men" (from Repton School Sermons).

Stephen Vincent Benet offers us another perspective. In his work, John Brown's Body, the poet presents a character of paradox. The captain of a slave ship is faithful in saying his prayers, but he is blind to the evil of his own task - the transporting of people for sale as slaves. Thus, the captain's prayers and, indeed, his entire spiritual life are suspect. His love of God does not seem to focus also on the people around him, and thus, his own life denies the love that he professes.

Archbishop Temple and Stephen Vincent Benet both knew of a passage in the First Letter of John. Their own writings draw heavily on these words: "Those who say, 'I love God,' and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also" (4:20-21). And, of course, our brothers and sisters include all those who claim Jesus Christ as brother and, even more inclusive, all those for whom God is Father.

How are we like the captain in John Brown's Body? Who are we not able to love while professing our love for God? What reaction of ours to some unlovable person or group of people blocks the effectiveness of our attempt to follow the Great Commandment of Jesus Christ?

My friends, this reading today - and its familiar wording - presents us with a perspective on which our spiritual lives stand or fall. In fact, the familiarity of the words may tempt us to undervalue their significance. However, Jesus is quite clear. This is the Great Commandment, along with its mirror image. Among the 613 possibilities, Jesus calls this one the most significant of all: "'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 first commandment. And a second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." Amen.

Copyright © 2005 The Episcopal Diocese of East Tennessee