Loving Person

Mark 12: 28-34

There's a story told of a newlywed couple taking a stroll, arm in arm, by the beach one evening. In a fit of poetic frenzy, the groom said "Roll on, thou deep, blue ocean, roll on!" His bride said "Oh John, you're wonderful-it's doing it!"

Love is a wonderful thing. It can captivate our senses and giving us a whole new outlook on life. The mix of wonderful new emotions can get us saying and doing things out of character for us. One poet expressed it this way:

Love is a funny thing It's just like a lizard It curls up round your heart And jumps in your gizzard

Those who have been in love know the power of affection. Hope runs high. The energy level peaks out. One's mind is preoccupied with thoughts of our loved one. We get along well with everyone. We're happy all the time. We aren't bothered by problems anymore. Other people start to notice- they ask us if we're feeling all right. We say we're feeling terrific and walk away in a daze, singing "L is for the way you look at me..."

Don't we like being in love? Isn't that why it's so much fun loving our neighbors as ourselves? Now that Jesus has given us the green light, we can fall in love with everyone. It can be hard taking care of our daily responsibilities when we're walking around in a trance because we're so in love with all our neighbors.

Such is what Jesus said when he had a conversation with an admiring scribe, who asked what the greatest commandment was. Jesus gives two answers, quoting Deut. 6 and Levit. 19 because they're too closely related to be separated: love God, and love your neighbor as yourself. When the scribe expresses appreciation for Jesus' answer, Jesus encourages the scribe, the only teacher of the Law to be stroked in this gospel: "You are not far from the Kingdom of God." Tantalizing response. Not far? But how close? Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. "You are not far from the Kingdom of God" hangs unresolved like a minor chord, a mystery novel with the last chapter missing. I like to think he made it all the way one day.

Jesus' answer to the scribe hangs together. It makes sense. Love God, and your neighbor as yourself. It's easy so long as we don't try too hard. That's when we find it's easier to quote it than put it into practice.

To love the whole world

For me is no chore

My only real problem's

My neighbor next door

 "Love your neighbor as yourself" doesn't mean "love your neighbor as much as you love yourself", it means "love your neighbor is the same way that you love yourself".

-Be tolerant of others as we are tolerant of ourselves.

-Take an interest in others as we take an interest in ourselves.

-Give the benefit of doubt to others as you give it to yourselves.

-Desire the welfare of others as we seek our own welfare.

The scriptures depict Jesus as a loving person, one who set an example of how to love a neighbor, and we'd probably agree with that. But, meditating on this wondrous emotion one day, I asked myself a question: how many times is Jesus remembered for giving anyone a hug? How about a kiss? Maybe talking affectionately on a one-on-one basis? I couldn't think of a single instance when Jesus is depicted as acting lovingly in the way we understand love, or expressing feelings of affection as we define affection.

We define love, in the movies, music or poetry, as how we feel about another person. But Jesus didn't define love that way when he said "love your neighbor as yourself". According to Jesus, love is not how we feel, but what we do. The good news is that we can be loving to our neighbors, regardless how we personally feel about them.

As we can see from Jesus perspective, it's pretty much irrelevant how we feel about our neighbors. Our love for them shows in what we do for them, as we do for ourselves.

An ancient rabbi once asked his pupils how they could tell when the night had ended and the day was on its way back.

"When you see an animal in the distance and can tell what kind of animal it is" answered one pupil.

"No" replied the rabbi.

"When you see a tree in the distance and can tell what kind of tree it is" replied another.

"No" answered the rabbi.

"Well then" his pupils asked "how can we tell when night has ended and day has arrived?"

"It is when you look into the face of another man or woman and see that he or she is your brother or sister. If you can't do this, no matter what time it is, it is still night."

If it is light enough for us to see a brother or sister in every neighbor we meet...one whom we care for in the same way we care for ourselves...it is also light enough to see that we are not far from the Kingdom of God

Haydn McLean