The Great Commandments by Rev. Dr. Jay Marshall Groat – November 3, 2024, at Mount Vernon, Ohio, based on Mark 12: 28-34

There was a theologian in the 20^th century named Karl Barth. He was very well known. You don’t hear much about him anymore. I am of a generation where at my seminary we read a lot of Barth, and Barth was the one who said it was part of the Christian calling to read the Bible with one hand and the newspaper in the other. This was Barth’s way of saying a great part of our calling is to be aware every day and discern where the teachings of the Bible are, or are not, intersecting with the ways of the world. Now of course nobody knows what a newspaper is, so today I suppose Barth would say something like read the Bible in one hand and the news from your laptop on the other, your phone.

Something is happening Tuesday, and it’s on my mind. It’s on my heart. And I think I have a responsibility as a preacher to acknowledge that. And I think that we have a responsibility as a faith community to acknowledge that, to get that out there. I’m worried, and I don’t want to be worried. I need to hear a voice of hope, this morning, in this worship service. Am I the only one? And by the way, let’s not miss the fact that we just heard the still, small voice of God. This is the highlight of this worship service for me. Everything else is secondary. This is primary. Two beautiful children, backed up by other older people. It’s the great prophet Elijah who heard the still, small voice of God. I know I’m not alone. I need to hear the still, small voice of God bringing some sense of hope.

There’s this incredible, ancient Greek myth known as the Sword of Damocles. Remember the Sword of Damocles? I’m going to read just a few lines here. “According to the story, Damocles was flattering his king, Dionysius, exclaiming that Dionysius was truly fortunate as a great man of power and authority without peer, surrounded by magnificence. In response, Dionysius offered to switch places with Damocles for one day so that Damocles could taste that fortune firsthand.” What is it like to be king? That must be great. “Damocles eagerly accepted the king’s proposal. Damocles sat on the king’s throne amid embroidered rugs, fragrant perfumes, and the service of beautiful attendants. But Dionysius, who had made many enemies during his reign, arranged that a sword should hang above the throne, held only by a single hair of a horse’s tail to evoke the sense of what it was like to be king.”

I woke up this morning, and I could see the Sword of Damocles, hanging by a single horse’s hair, hanging over our nation. I want to find a way, through the grace of God, to reach up, avoid the sharpness of the sword, and take it down. I don’t want to be afraid anymore. I want to hear a voice of hope.

Robin has read for us one of today’s lectionary readings, The Great Commandment. You will notice that the title of this message is Great Commandments, plural. This is not a typo. I’m going to put forth the possibility that there are many great commandments that we have the opportunity to follow this week. Some of them are biblical, some of them are extra-biblical. “One of the scribes came here and heard them disputing with one another.” Uh-oh. A scribe. Now up to this point in Mark the scribes have been Jesus’ enemy. And as we heard, at the end of this passage this morning, this scribe ends up not being an enemy. In fact, he ends up being praised by Christ. Thanks a lot, Jesus. Messing with my neat boundaries again. A scribe comes forth, he likes what he’s hearing, he wants to hear more. And he took the introduction to comparative religions course with me when we went to college. This is clear to me, he was in my class, because what we learned in that introductory level to comparative religions, in my college-level class, as an 18-year-old, when I was 18, what I learned was the purpose of religion was to give us ways of meaning, purpose and direction.

That’s what we’re looking for – meaning, purpose and direction. This scribe comes forth and he likes what he’s hearing and he wants to hear more, he wants to learn more, so he says essentially to Jesus, “There are a lot of commandments. What’s the greatest one?” I have this notion, I have this sense from this passage that Jesus is sort of like, OK, listen up. He doesn’t say it but then He does it. He quotes scripture. Jesus quotes scripture. Jesus knew his Bible, the Hebrew scriptures. He says to the scribe, essentially what He’s saying is, “Remember Deuteronomy 6? We call it the shomea, because that’s the Hebrew verb for hear, and Deuteronomy 6 says, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul.’” That’s Deuteronomy 6, He quotes scripture. And the speaker smiles at him – Oh, the greatest commandment, there it is. And then Jesus goes on, He quotes scripture again, Leviticus 19:18. Jesus did not invent this notion. Jesus knew His scripture, and He quotes it to the scribe, and He says, “In addition to Deuteronomy 6 remember Leviticus 19:18, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” That’s in Leviticus.

I’ve shared it with you before, I can’t resist the temptation, I want to share it with you again. For many years I was the pastor at the First Congregational Church of Akron, Ohio. My best clergy friend in town was Rabbi David Lipper who was the rabbi in the reformed congregation in Akron, and they have a beautiful worship synagogue. As you drive by you see etched in stone in the synagogue, it says, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Almost every time I saw him, I said, “David, I think it’s great, it’s amazing that the Temple Israel quotes Jesus, and writes it in stone.” And he would get so mad at me. We were golfing partners, I would usually wait until he was on the tee, I’d bring this up. He’d say, that’s Leviticus. I said, I know.

How can we apply this notion of loving God and neighbor to what’s going to be going on this week in our country? My job in this message is to ask that question. How can we apply that to what’s going on? I shared with you a minute ago and I’m making the case that there are many great commandments. I’m going to share with you in a moment and then I’ll be done and we can get on with it, on with the singing, on with this amazing, mysterious meal. There are commandments that are biblical, there are commandments that I call extra-biblical. Through my own experience, mostly through the blessings of my mentors, there are a few commandments that I am going to try to follow this week, and I’m saving my favorite one for the last. One of the commandments that I’m going to try to follow and I’m inviting you to join me in this, we printed it on the top of the bulletin for you this morning so you can take it home with you. It’s Mother Teresa – “I’m a little pencil in the hand of a writing God, who is sending a love letter to the world.” I like that. That’s doable. I like the notion of being a little pencil writing a love letter.

I voted early. Who voted early this year? (Most of the congregation raise their hands.) I hope you voted for the right people. I know I did. I voted at the Franklin County Board of Elections, I don’t know, early in October. The volunteer came up to me and said what volunteers say, and I said, “Oh, by the way, you know what? Here’s what I’m thinking about as I vote. I’m a little pencil in the hand of a writing God, who is sending a love letter to the world.” I said it to her. No, I didn’t. They handed me a little … what do you call those things? I forget.

Another commandment that I’m going to try to follow this week is from one of my mentors, the late, great Rev. Dr. Roger Kunkel, who used to say to us when I was his associate pastor, at least once a month he’d say, “Color outside the lines.” How can we do that this week? Following the commandment of loving God and loving neighbor, how do we color outside the lines?

Two more, my favorite last. I was in my doctoral program for preaching, and across the street from the campus was a Chinese restaurant. Every day for lunch they had a buffet, it was ridiculously inexpensive, it was like $5 for lunch, all you can eat. My friends and I went there a lot. I was in this program to try to learn how to preach, right? The using of words, the using of your body, your energy. As part of the deal for your $5 you got a fortune cookie. Here I am in this preaching program and I’ll never forget it, and I kept it. I have it at home in a sacred place, and that was a hundred years ago. I still have it. I opened up this fortune cookie and it said this, I have it memorized, two sentences – “Keep it simple. The more you say, the less they remember.” How can we do that this week, instead of saying and showing it?

I’ll leave you with this. This is a commandment that is original with me, it’s an extra-biblical commandment that’s original with me. Other people a lot smarter than me, millions of them, they thought this before I was even born, but this one came up, it bubbled up in me. It’s part of my benediction that I say every Sunday that I preach, and it’s a benediction that I wrote thirty-some years ago. It was Christmas Eve in Akron, and that sanctuary holds a lot of people because it’s a downtown cathedral church, and back in the ‘40s they would have 500 people come to church. Five hundred people did not come to church when I was the pastor of that church, but on Christmas Eve we got about 700 people. It’s a great service. We came to the end, and it was time for me to do the benediction, and I came down here where I always do the benediction, and I did my benediction. Go forth now and receive the new life of Christ. Go forth remembering that you are free to choose any road, and any road you choose Christ will walk with you. And go forth always remembering, follow your dreams, not your fears. And then I quote the trinity. Usually, I do it with my eyes closed, but then I opened my eyes and that’s when I saw him. I saw him way in the back. I had never seen him before, he was a person new to the congregation, new to the service. Way in the back, it was Christmas Eve, and he had his Bible. He was carrying it like a football. And he looked mad, and I saw him. As soon as the service was over, he came down the aisle, and he was mad, and he came at me. When somebody’s coming at you with a Bible and they’re angry …. So, I stood down here, and he came forward, and he was really mad. And he said, “Did you just say that any road I choose Christ will walk with me?” Now when I wrote this benediction, I put some thought into it. And I said, “Yeah, that’s what I said.” He said, “Are you telling me that if I choose to live a life with prostitutes ….” My brain immediately went to, “I wonder why you started with prostitutes,” but I kept that to myself. “Are you telling me if I choose to live a life with prostitutes, if I choose to live a life as a drug dealer, that Christ will walk with me?” And I wanted to take some time to explain to him that I actually thought this through. What I wanted to say was, “Well, yes, but. If you make those bad choices, I believe Christ will be with you, I believe that Christ will be doing everything that the spirit of Christ can do to save you. These are bad choices. Stop it.” But I didn’t. I said yes. And he left. I knew we’d never see him again and we never did. It’s OK, God bless him. 

So, most of us have voted. This week I’m going to encourage myself and I’m encouraging you that whatever happens, remember, no matter what road we choose, Christ will be there. Christ will walk with us. Amen?