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Sermon Briefs: Mark 12:28-34

Everett Kennedy Brown in his sermon Love Your Neighbor As Yourself begins by defining love.¹ He reports that someone has said that love covers everything from Hollywood to Heaven. He goes on to say that love is best defined by 1 Corinthians 13 but it "...defies definition because there is no higher principle by which to compare it."² He then goes on to contrast healthy self-love and unhealthy self-love. Brown says, "The person who has a healthy self-love is capable of loving God and neighbor because he [or she] has a surplus of mental energy available for giving. The person who has an unhealthy self-love is unable to love God and neighbor, except superficially, because his [or her] mental energy is consumed in dealing with his [or her] own conflicts."³

Peter J. Groves in Thinking Hearts and Loving Minds uses both Mark 12:28-34 and Romans 12:1-21 as his scripture lessons.⁴ He speaks of the ideal of wholeness that brings the heart and mind together. He says, "there is room in the mind for passion, but there is room in the heart for perseverance as well." He points to Jesus Christ as "the one in whom the thinking heart and the loving mind are found in their most profound human form."⁵

In Stewardship Preaching, Mark Gravoch unites Mark 12:28-34 with Deuteronomy 6:1-9.⁶ He says that Mark gives us here a statement on the essence of stewardship. He goes on to tell us that stewardship must encompass everything. "All that we have and all that we are is God's and our neighbor's."⁷

Harold G. Newsham in his sermon, The Man Who Wanted a Key, reminds us of the frustration of listening to a person who overwhelms us with irrelevant details.⁸ He points out that there is much wisdom to be able to get to the heart of the matter. The scribe who came to Jesus with the question, "Which commandment is the first of all?" was such a person--one who wanted to get to the main point. Newsham goes on to say that today many of us feel overwhelmed by all the knowledge thrown at us. However, when we reckon with Christ all other categories and concepts fade into the background. We must decide if we are for or against Christ. That is still the most important issue for our time.

In Saving the Saved, we are told that the lesson is an example of necessary repetition for the "saved" Christian.⁹ Even though we have heard the story of the two commandments many times, each time we hear it we have a chance to expand our faith. These words are both for those who have never accepted Christ and those who have decided to go his way, but need a little shove once in a while.

John A. Redhead in Pathways to God says that Jesus in Mark 12:30 outlines several pathways to God.¹⁰ The first is through the heart and is for the person who feels his or her religion. The second is the pathway used by the person who responds to God chiefly by thinking. The third pathway is through our soul and strength. Soul here means our will and strength deals with physical energy. "In short, to love God with soul and strength is to put emphasis on the doing of the will of God."¹¹ This pathway is for those who are practical. Redhead says it's difficult to think or feel ourself into being a Christian, but we can live our way into that life.

Valerie Russell in her Thanksgiving sermon, Giving Thanks or Making Do, ties Mark 12:28-34 with Genesis 32:22-31.¹² She says we are often filled with "making do" theology which is "...hardly the response of loving or praising with our whole minds, or our whole strength." ¹³ She continues, "Perhaps to love our neighbors as ourselves means simply to use what we've got [her emphasis] as a way of sharing the reality of our oneness. But if we are not going to be caught by the power syndrome in our sharing [the have vs. the have-nots], we have to move back to one thankful affirmation that we, all of us, have been loved by God.¹⁴

Albert Schweitzer in Reverence for Life says the question of the basic ethical attitude is uppermost in our minds nowadays.¹⁵ But we must admit the Christian ethic has never been a power in the world. If we want that to change, we must work "...to spell out the great commandment which is: Reverence for Life. Existence depends more on reverence for life than the law and the prophets. Reverence for life comprises the whole ethic of love in its deepest and highest sense. It is the source of constant renewal for the individual and for [humanity."¹⁶

C. Wylie Smith Raleigh, N.C.

1. Everett K. Brown, "Love Your Neighbor as Yourself," sermon in Antithetical Preaching (Goldsboro, N.C. Privately Published, 1969), no page numbers listed. 2. Ibid., p. 2 of sermon. 3. Ibid., p. 3 of sermon. 4. Peter J. Groves, "Thinking Hearts and Loving Minds," sermon in The Twentieth Century Pulpit, Vol. II (Nashville, Abingdon, 1981), pp. 85-93. 5. Ibid., p. 92. 6. Mark Gravoch, Stewardship Preaching Series B (Minneapolis: Augsburg Press, 1984), pp. 52-53.7. Ibid., p. 53. 8. Harold G. Newsham, "The Man Who Wanted a Key," sermon in The Man Who Feared a Bargain (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1959), pp. 72-79. 9. "Saving the Saved," sermon in Ashes for the Cathedral: Liturgical Reflections for the Lenten Weekdays (New York: Alba House, 1974), pp. 42-43. 10. John A. Redheard, "Pathways to God," sermon in Getting To Know God and Other Sermons (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1954), pp. 37-44. 11. Ibid., p. 41. 12. Valerie Russell "Giving Thanks," sermon in Women and the Word-Sermons (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1978), pp. 35-41. 13. Ibid., p. 37. 14. Ibid., p. 40. 15. Albert Schweitzer, Reverence for Life (New York: Harper and Row, 1969), translated by Reginald Fuller, pp. 108-117. 16. Ibid., p.117.

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