Getting It All Together

Mark 12:28-34

One of the mistakes some people make when they read the Bible is to assume they are reading a book only about religion. What they are also reading is a book about life and how to live it with joy, strength, love , and power. A venerable archbishop of Canterbury, William Temple, said, "It is a mistake to suppose that God is only, or even chiefly, concerned with religion." In the parables, Jesus uses examples of life to make his point, not examples of religious activities in the synagogue. And in our scripture lesson this marring, a lawyer stands before Jesus and asks him, "What is the first commandment?" Now that's not just a question about religion; that's a question about life. What the lawyer is really asking is "How can I get it all together?"

And what is Jesus' answer? He quotes the Bible--the book of Life. He reaches back into the Old Testament, not to give the lawyer a religious answer, but to give him an answer about the living of daily life fully. He digs back into the book of Deuteronomy, to the law that Moses set before the people of Israel, and he quotes: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength." Then he gives him a bonus. The lawyer had asked only "What is the first commandment?" But Jesus says, in effect, "I'll give you another one; the second commandment is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'" That answer is the greatest formula for the living of life that ever came from the lips of man. And there are plenty of us who say those words came out of the mind of God. It is an answer that I should not be preaching just from this pulpit for this is thought of as a religious place; the place where you come to hear about that religious book, the Bible; a place where you come to hear religious songs, and religious anthems, and prayers which are certainly thought to be religious. A Church is a "religious" place. I should be preaching this message out in Lafayette Park or at the corner of 7th and Olive Streets downtown. I should be preaching it at the crossroads of life. This is a message for the market place, because I believe all thinking people are asking the lawyer's question, "How can I yet it all together?"

Just how important is the question? Ask the young person trying to find a first job in a very tight economic market how important the question is to him. I think of the young man seeking career advice. He managed to get an interview with a great business tycoon. He asked him, "Sir, what can I do to succeed in business?" The tycoon said, "Two words." The young man whipped out his notebook and with pencil poised asked, "What are those two words?" The tycoon said, "Right decisions." The young man's next question was obvious, "How do I learn how to make right decisions?" The tycoon said, "One word." The young man said eagerly, "And what is that one word?" The tycoon said, "Experience." The young man asked the next obvious question, "But how do I get experience?" me tycoon said, "Two words." "And what are those two words?" The tycoon said, "Wrong decisions."

How important is the question, "How can I get it all together?" Ask the young woman who has her first job and wonders if she can make all the right moves to be accepted in her new position. Ask the woman who has just lost her husband how important the question is, as she struggles to pick up the pieces of a shattered life. Ask the man and woman who are bewildered at the emptiness of their marriage. Ask them if the question is important. Ask the successful business person who would seem indeed to have it all together, but must spend more and more time under the pressures of protecting his wealth rather than enjoying his family. Ask he about the importance of that question. Getting it all together for him may mean his transformation into a totally different way of life to restore his creativity. My point is that I think this sanctuary has many people in it this morning for whom this question is indeed vitally important. Are you asking yourself "How can I get it all together?"

Not long ago a book by Robert J. Ringer entitled Looking Out for Number One made something of a splash on the best seller lists. Mr. Ringer believes that you get it all together--you find the happy, fulfilled life--by thinking only of yourself. The pious Christian reaction to this is "How awful." Mr. Ringer is undermining the basic attitudes of sacrifice, of giving of yourself to others, of going the second mile, of turning the other cheek. Such selfishness is an abomination to the true Christian. After all, we should all be motivated by the life of Christ to serve others. And I can hear some preachers I know nailing Mr. Ringer to the wall for writing such an unchristian book. But you know, Mr. Ringer may have done us a favor. He tells us it's OK to look out for Number One. And I add to this sentiment that looking out for number one is an excellent way to be of help in the world. And perhaps that is, indeed, getting it all together. Let's look at some of Mr. Ringer's ideas.

On happiness, he says, "I'm often asked if one has to 'win' to be happy. The answer is 'yes.'" I have no argument with that, provided we understand what we mean by "win." It's nice to win at sports and games, at the bridge table, in the market place; it's nice to win recognition; but these are all superficial victories cam pared to the winning stance toward life.

I have a lifelong friend who lives in Indianapolis. He runs a small business that is constantly on the brink of failure, according to the world's standards. He has a Welcome Wagon kind of business that has never really gotten off the ground. He sends me his annual reports, and they are always full of optimism about next year. Every negative statement is followed by a positive hope: "We lost our best salesman this last year, but we have interviewed a young woman who I am sure will more than fill this gap." Year after year he reports how things have generally fallen apart, but don't worry, EGBOK--everything's going to be OK. We say you can't run a business with that kind of false optimism. And, according to his annual reports, he should have been out of business long ago. But he struggles on. He's an evangelical Christian who believes first that getting it all together means living by Jesus' answer to the lawyer. Truly, his guiding principle of life is to love the Lord with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength--not a religious mandate, but a life mandate. He's not a pious type who wears it an his sleeve, but I know that with him, it's true. And I don't say that attitude keeps his business alive. He keeps it alive by pure grit. But even if finally he had to file for bankruptcy, he would bring his winning stance to something else. He's a winner, and he's a happy man. He's got it all together. He is undismayed by the impending defeat that stalks us all.

On the subject of morality, Mr. Ringer says, "In deciding whether it's right to look out for Number One, I suggest that the first thing you do is eliminate from consideration all unsolicited moral opinions of others…No other living person has the right to decide what is moral, what is right or wrong, for you." That's excellent advice. About 80% of the world's trouble stems from people deciding for others what they should do. But the greater truth is that the highest morality is always taught by example. You say "What about the Ten Commandments?" I say the Ten Commandments cannot be violated without consequences. No one violates any of the Ten Commandments without negative results. You may not get caught, but there are always consequences. But people cramming the morality of the commandments down other people's throats can result in as much damage as the violation of the commandments themselves. On moral issues, no one has said to anyone else, "You should do this, or you should do that" without eroding the friendship or straining the relationship, however willingly or graciously the listener appears to accept the advice.

Bringing up children is the greatest challenge in the world because we are forced to talk to them about the shoulds and the oughts, but at the same time maintaining their respect and love, not engendering their fear. It's a terribly delicate task, and I repeat that it is our example that teaches far more effectively than our moral declarations. It is our example that enables our young people to "get it all together," to live by that first commandment. In my rather simple theology, the loving of people, the loving in families, the loving of kids, is somehow very closely connected with loving the Lord your God with all your heart and soul, mind and strength.

On the subject of sacrifice, Mr. Ringer says, "You may mean well, but don't try so hard to sacrifice for others...If instead you spend your time looking out for Number One, those people for wham you care most will benefit by your actions. It's only when you try to pervert the laws of nature and make the other person's happiness your first responsibility, relegating yourself to the Number Two position, that you run into trouble. It has never worked, and it will not work for you." I'm pleased to note that Mr. Ringer implies that one can look out for one's self and still be a caring person. If you take care of yourself first, you will be better able to care for those around you.

I'm not sure true caring has ever worked well through personal sacrifice. In Evanston I knew a woman who had the sole care of her indigent mother. No one else in the family would help out. No good came from her sacrifice. Her inner resentment was very high. On the other hand, there are those whose greatest satisfaction and fulfillment games from their sacrificial care of others. But if they find joy and fulfillment in it, it ceases to be sacrifice.

I have never enjoyed sacrificing anything. I don't think the Christian faith was ever intended as a sacrificial exercise. There was only one great sacrifice that really did the job and that was Christ on the cross. If I have ever given up something for someone else, it has not been a sacrifices it has been a joyful experience. As soon as I feel I have sacrificed something, a tiny seed of self-righteousness is born that can easily grow into resentment if the "sacrifice" is not well-appreciated. So the motto is: give joyously, not sacrificially. The giving of one's time, of one's treasure, becomes a grand mess if it is performed in the spirit of sackcloth and ashes. It becomes a joy if it springs out of genuine caring. And it is indeed the caring that gets it all together. It is the caring that is indeed the fulfillment of the First Commandment--to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.

Just this morning I caught a few minutes of a television documentary on the crisis of our homeless. It is appalling to learn that there are more people living on our urban streets than ever before and that more of our homeless die an the streets of Los Angeles than in New York. One would think that the freezing temperatures of Manhattan would take a far greater toll than the warmer weather of Southern California. But there are far more numbers of homeless here than in New York and they simply are not prepared to accept overnight temperatures of 35 or 40 degrees on our streets.

We are not powerless on this sad subject--at least we can contribute. We all get those mailed solicitations from the Los Angeles Mission, the Union Rescue Mission, Chrysalis, etc. I usually send in something, but now I know I must send in more. And I would hope that our Missionary Benevolences Committee could increase its support of this most dire need. And our gifts on the Benevolence side of our pledge envelopes could be more generous for our church's outreach.

Of course there is a selfish quality in the act of caring. You may have heard me say before that when I give a gift to my wife, it is not to show her how much I love her, it is to show me how much I love her. My pledge to this wonderful old Church is not to show the Church how much I love it, but to show me how much I love it--all of which helps me to get it all together.

Obviously, I'm using Mr. Ringer's book to point out that getting it all together is not a matter of erasing all selfishness. There are many sides to selfishness, and the bright sides are healthy. Perhaps selfishness is better referred to as self-esteem. All of this says to me that we may allow our natural instincts far selfishness to be used creatively as a means far getting it all together. And loving the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength can evolve into a very productive way of life in which looking out far Number One is an inspiration for others to find their own fulfillment.

You are someone well worth looking out for, and if you begin caring for yourself with the First Commandment as your guide, it will be amazing the number of people you will help. The caring for yourself is the first step in caring for others. After all, God made you in His image, and that's an image well worth taking care of. It is an image to be loved with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. It's the first step in loving your neighbor as yourself--and getting it all together.

Donald B. Ward