Revelation 4:1-11
In college, probably at the beginning of my radicalized black consciousness phase, I read the Autobiography of Malcolm X. Unlike many of my peers, however, I read it as a practicing Christian, and found most arresting Malcolm's description of his conversion. I was especially moved by his description of the first time he knelt in prayer. He said, "The hardest test I ever faced in my life was praying." Then he continued, "I had to force myself to bend my knees. And waves of shame and embarrassment would force me back up. For evil to bend its knees, admitting its guilt, to implore the forgiveness of God is the hardest thing in the world. It's easy for me to see and to say that now. But then, when I was the personification of evil, I was going through it. Again, and again I would force myself back down in the praying-to-Allah posture. When I was finally able to make myself stay down - I didn't know what to say to Allah."
Actually, it's not enough for me to say that I found Malcolm X's testimony about his conversion to Islam moving or even compelling, I found it convicting. The change he experienced made me question my commitment and then recommit to the discipline of my own faith in Jesus Christ. His testimony also made me more conscious of my need to bow down.
Little about the book of Revelation is straightforward or easily accessible, but all of its images are evocative. Everything it shows us makes us think. Note the transition in today's lesson, marked by the opening of heaven's door. The earlier chapters have been discussing the current activities of the seven churches, but beginning with chapter four we glimpse the activity taking place in a realm beyond our natural sight. This spirit realm is a place of brilliance and majesty, with thrones and gems and angelic hosts, with thunder, lightning, and flashing torches. There is One great Being who sits on the throne. There are 24 elders who wear crowns but in the presence of the One who sits on the throne, they cast their crowns down. Not just their crowns, though. They cast themselves down too, and fall down before God's majesty.
I needed the reminder when I was in college, and I am thankful for the reminder today to bow down. While I know that prayer is not simply about posture, I also know that where we put our bodies and how we configure them indicates and shapes what's going on in our minds and spirits.
Holy, holy, holy the Lord God Almighty who was and is and is to come.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Signs that Point to the Unexpected
Matt. 24:32-44 (NRSV)
32 'From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. 33So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates 34Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. 35Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. 36'But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father 37For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, 39and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so too will be the coming of the Son of Man. 40Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. 41Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and one will be left. 42Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming 43But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. 44Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.
For me, a central element in the commemoration of the Advent season is learning to expect the arrival of the thing I cannot imagine at the time when I cannot imagine it. After all, we are talking about the coming of the Lord here. And God is nothing if not unpredictable. If our eyes could see, ears hear, or hearts imagine what God is up to, then we... well, we'd be God.
Listen to the competing images in the section of scripture for today's reading. The lesson of the fig tree is that there are signs that point to the change that's coming. The lesson of the thief is that some events are by their very nature unexpected. So, in Advent, I guess what we are looking for are the signs that God is up to something. And since we know that because what God does always disrupts the normal and mundane (cooking, eating, working, sleeping), we might as well get prepared for the shock of it. Everything will be normal until it isn't.
Be ye also ready.
32 'From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. 33So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates 34Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. 35Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. 36'But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father 37For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, 39and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so too will be the coming of the Son of Man. 40Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. 41Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and one will be left. 42Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming 43But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. 44Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.
For me, a central element in the commemoration of the Advent season is learning to expect the arrival of the thing I cannot imagine at the time when I cannot imagine it. After all, we are talking about the coming of the Lord here. And God is nothing if not unpredictable. If our eyes could see, ears hear, or hearts imagine what God is up to, then we... well, we'd be God.
Listen to the competing images in the section of scripture for today's reading. The lesson of the fig tree is that there are signs that point to the change that's coming. The lesson of the thief is that some events are by their very nature unexpected. So, in Advent, I guess what we are looking for are the signs that God is up to something. And since we know that because what God does always disrupts the normal and mundane (cooking, eating, working, sleeping), we might as well get prepared for the shock of it. Everything will be normal until it isn't.
Be ye also ready.
Monday, December 14, 2009
I See You
Revelation 3:7-13
When I was a child there was a television show for preschoolers called Romper Room. I remember almost nothing about the show. I do not remember any of the stories or skits. I don’t even know whether it, like Electric Company and Sesame Street, had an educational theme. What I remember is that at the end of the show, the host would take a mirror in her hand and the mirror was magic. As she looked into it, she would say, “I see ....” and then begin randomly to call out children’s names. I was not young enough to believe that she could actually see me in her mirror through the television, but I still loved to hear my name called, especially since my name is not Jennifer or Mary. “I see Leslie.”
Although I know that the Philadelphia of the text is not the Philadelphia where I make my home, there is something about having our name called as the name of one of the seven churches. There is something greater still about knowing that the same God who knew that Philadelphia church's works also knows ours. Now it is not lost on me that the fact that God knows our works can sometimes be disturbing and frightening, since not all of our works are good. Still, I am rejoicing that God really does see us. More than simply seeing us, though, God makes promises to us - an open door, a vindication of our cause, a conquering life, a new name. Hold fast, Philadelphia church, so that no one takes your crown.
Let anyone who has ears hear.
When I was a child there was a television show for preschoolers called Romper Room. I remember almost nothing about the show. I do not remember any of the stories or skits. I don’t even know whether it, like Electric Company and Sesame Street, had an educational theme. What I remember is that at the end of the show, the host would take a mirror in her hand and the mirror was magic. As she looked into it, she would say, “I see ....” and then begin randomly to call out children’s names. I was not young enough to believe that she could actually see me in her mirror through the television, but I still loved to hear my name called, especially since my name is not Jennifer or Mary. “I see Leslie.”
Although I know that the Philadelphia of the text is not the Philadelphia where I make my home, there is something about having our name called as the name of one of the seven churches. There is something greater still about knowing that the same God who knew that Philadelphia church's works also knows ours. Now it is not lost on me that the fact that God knows our works can sometimes be disturbing and frightening, since not all of our works are good. Still, I am rejoicing that God really does see us. More than simply seeing us, though, God makes promises to us - an open door, a vindication of our cause, a conquering life, a new name. Hold fast, Philadelphia church, so that no one takes your crown.
Let anyone who has ears hear.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Rejoice Again
Rejoice Again
Zephaniah 3:14-20 (with Philippians 4:1-7)
Again I say, Rejoice!
All around us there are announcements of joy. The most striking came to me in my inbox of a few days ago, presented as an equation: $30 off plus free shipping equals joy. I'm not going to tell you the name of the store because our thinking has become so commercialized, so commodified, so distorted that if I name the store you might actually get distracted with your lists of shopping duties. Joy, rejoicing, cheer. ‘Tis the season to be jolly Fa la la la la. Have yourself a merry little Christmas.
Don’t think I have to tell you but that’s not joy.
Anything I can buy on the internet, wrap in a package, tie up in a bow, or try on in a dressing room is NOT joy.
And to the extent that our rejoicing in this season or in any season is rooted in or predicated on or even facilitated by a credit card our joy will of necessity will be short-lived and tied to interest rates, credit limits, and late fees.
If you have to wash it, fold it, dry clean it, paint it, then it's not joy.
Told Bible study group that I have long since given up on Christmas and traded it in for Advent, in part because I’m tired of FAKE JOY. The season of Advent does not offer us fake joy, no chestnuts roasting, no mistletoe, no reindeer, no revelry that we do not mean and can ill afford.
Does not ask us to pretend that everything is already all right.
Does not ask us to spend more than we can pay for.
Does not ask us to compete with our relatives for who can buy or get the best gift.
And even when it asks us, commands us, dares us to rejoice it does so against the backdrop of the truth of our lives (that all is not well, that every part of us is not yet saved), the truth of our families (that they are all in their own way dysfunctional), and even the truth of our churches (that Eudoia and Syntyche, those precious and useful sisters in the ministry, need to learn how to get along - to be of the same mind in the Lord). Again, I say anyway, St. Paul’s REJOICE.
Zephaniah’s prophecy is grounded in a real time and place - lengthy superscription at the beginning of the book of the prophet - the son of the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, during the reign of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah. Real prophets speak to real times and real places and real issues and real hurts and real violations and real dangers. Yes, real prophets and poets speak to their own REAL times.
Yet when we read the words of chapter 3, they sound like they could be any time and any place.
Yes its words of disaster/condemnation could have been written at any time to any soiled, defiled, or oppressive city.
Not all officials are roaring lions all of the time, but at any given time in any city you'll find some who are.
Not all judges are evening wolves that leave nothing until the morning, but at any time in any city you'll find some who are.
In any time and in any city, you can find prophets who are reckless, faithless persons.
And although there are some who honor the holiness of God and the wholeness of the people, in any given city you can find some priests who have profaned what is sacred and done violence to the law.
But the LORD within it is always righteous; God does no wrong. Every morning the Lord renders judgment, each dawn without fail; but the unjust knows no shame.
What I love about Advent, about the Scripture, about God, about Jesus and his story is that the REJOICING that elicits, commands, and dares is the joy that can speak the truth to us and about us.
In Jesus' story a YOUNG WOMAN has a pregnancy miraculous and inconvenient
In Jesus' story YOUNG MAN doing the right thing still ends up perplexed
THE BABY Jesus is watched over both by angels and by mooing cows
THE Christ CHILD is identified by the traveling star and visited by foreign princes bearing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh
But he also lies swaddled but in a manger with hay among animals and all they come with them
He was our hope, our peace, our strength, our salvation, our JOY AND we didn’t know who he was.
I'm saying that the Joy of the Bible is always complicated.
In Zephaniah the Lord speaks to the soiled, defiled, oppressive city and declares that there is coming a time of judgment. Advent is about judgment. We believe that nations, individuals, and congregations will assemble and will have to give an account. Advent is our opportunity to get ready for that day!
And just when you think that everything is only what we thought it was/saw it was then v. 14 speaks to us.
Sing aloud, O daughter Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem. The Lord has taken away the judgments against you, has turned away your enemies.
The king of Israel, the LORD is in your midst; you shall fear disaster no more.
That is the reality that we celebrate on this morning.
I say rejoice! Again rejoice
In the midst of the worst that we are - THE LORD IS
In the midst of the worst that we do - THE LORD IS
In the midst of the worst that is done to us - THE LORD IS
Even in the midst of the travesty and the agony that was/is the cross - THE LORD IS
The Lord was in the midst of the city of Jerusalem when they took Mary’s sweet baby and right before her eyes mocked him and spat on him and flogged him and lied on him and executed him. God was also in the midst of the tomb raising Jesus from the dead. And the Lord is in the midst of us.
Again, I say, Rejoice.
Some years ago during a time when our church was singing the chorus "This is the day that the Lord has made" one of the toddlers did what children do and mis-heard what we were saying. He began singing, "This is the day that the Lord has Me; I will rejoice and be glad in it." And then he sang, "This is the day that the Lord has mommy," and so on, adding all the people he loved to the song he sang about God's love. And although he was not singing the words to Psalm 118:24 correctly, he was singing the truth. The reason we rejoice is not because of what we have but because we know that God has us. This is the day that the Lord has me; I will rejoice and be glad in it. This is the day that the Lord has us; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
And again I say, Rejoice!
Zephaniah 3:14-20 (with Philippians 4:1-7)
Again I say, Rejoice!
All around us there are announcements of joy. The most striking came to me in my inbox of a few days ago, presented as an equation: $30 off plus free shipping equals joy. I'm not going to tell you the name of the store because our thinking has become so commercialized, so commodified, so distorted that if I name the store you might actually get distracted with your lists of shopping duties. Joy, rejoicing, cheer. ‘Tis the season to be jolly Fa la la la la. Have yourself a merry little Christmas.
Don’t think I have to tell you but that’s not joy.
Anything I can buy on the internet, wrap in a package, tie up in a bow, or try on in a dressing room is NOT joy.
And to the extent that our rejoicing in this season or in any season is rooted in or predicated on or even facilitated by a credit card our joy will of necessity will be short-lived and tied to interest rates, credit limits, and late fees.
If you have to wash it, fold it, dry clean it, paint it, then it's not joy.
Told Bible study group that I have long since given up on Christmas and traded it in for Advent, in part because I’m tired of FAKE JOY. The season of Advent does not offer us fake joy, no chestnuts roasting, no mistletoe, no reindeer, no revelry that we do not mean and can ill afford.
Does not ask us to pretend that everything is already all right.
Does not ask us to spend more than we can pay for.
Does not ask us to compete with our relatives for who can buy or get the best gift.
And even when it asks us, commands us, dares us to rejoice it does so against the backdrop of the truth of our lives (that all is not well, that every part of us is not yet saved), the truth of our families (that they are all in their own way dysfunctional), and even the truth of our churches (that Eudoia and Syntyche, those precious and useful sisters in the ministry, need to learn how to get along - to be of the same mind in the Lord). Again, I say anyway, St. Paul’s REJOICE.
Zephaniah’s prophecy is grounded in a real time and place - lengthy superscription at the beginning of the book of the prophet - the son of the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, during the reign of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah. Real prophets speak to real times and real places and real issues and real hurts and real violations and real dangers. Yes, real prophets and poets speak to their own REAL times.
Yet when we read the words of chapter 3, they sound like they could be any time and any place.
Yes its words of disaster/condemnation could have been written at any time to any soiled, defiled, or oppressive city.
Not all officials are roaring lions all of the time, but at any given time in any city you'll find some who are.
Not all judges are evening wolves that leave nothing until the morning, but at any time in any city you'll find some who are.
In any time and in any city, you can find prophets who are reckless, faithless persons.
And although there are some who honor the holiness of God and the wholeness of the people, in any given city you can find some priests who have profaned what is sacred and done violence to the law.
But the LORD within it is always righteous; God does no wrong. Every morning the Lord renders judgment, each dawn without fail; but the unjust knows no shame.
What I love about Advent, about the Scripture, about God, about Jesus and his story is that the REJOICING that elicits, commands, and dares is the joy that can speak the truth to us and about us.
In Jesus' story a YOUNG WOMAN has a pregnancy miraculous and inconvenient
In Jesus' story YOUNG MAN doing the right thing still ends up perplexed
THE BABY Jesus is watched over both by angels and by mooing cows
THE Christ CHILD is identified by the traveling star and visited by foreign princes bearing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh
But he also lies swaddled but in a manger with hay among animals and all they come with them
He was our hope, our peace, our strength, our salvation, our JOY AND we didn’t know who he was.
I'm saying that the Joy of the Bible is always complicated.
In Zephaniah the Lord speaks to the soiled, defiled, oppressive city and declares that there is coming a time of judgment. Advent is about judgment. We believe that nations, individuals, and congregations will assemble and will have to give an account. Advent is our opportunity to get ready for that day!
And just when you think that everything is only what we thought it was/saw it was then v. 14 speaks to us.
Sing aloud, O daughter Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem. The Lord has taken away the judgments against you, has turned away your enemies.
The king of Israel, the LORD is in your midst; you shall fear disaster no more.
That is the reality that we celebrate on this morning.
I say rejoice! Again rejoice
In the midst of the worst that we are - THE LORD IS
In the midst of the worst that we do - THE LORD IS
In the midst of the worst that is done to us - THE LORD IS
Even in the midst of the travesty and the agony that was/is the cross - THE LORD IS
The Lord was in the midst of the city of Jerusalem when they took Mary’s sweet baby and right before her eyes mocked him and spat on him and flogged him and lied on him and executed him. God was also in the midst of the tomb raising Jesus from the dead. And the Lord is in the midst of us.
Again, I say, Rejoice.
Some years ago during a time when our church was singing the chorus "This is the day that the Lord has made" one of the toddlers did what children do and mis-heard what we were saying. He began singing, "This is the day that the Lord has Me; I will rejoice and be glad in it." And then he sang, "This is the day that the Lord has mommy," and so on, adding all the people he loved to the song he sang about God's love. And although he was not singing the words to Psalm 118:24 correctly, he was singing the truth. The reason we rejoice is not because of what we have but because we know that God has us. This is the day that the Lord has me; I will rejoice and be glad in it. This is the day that the Lord has us; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
And again I say, Rejoice!
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Who(m) Have I Hindered?
Matthew 23:13-26
What I love about the season of Advent is that it challenges us to examine ourselves and recognize the need we have for the coming of Christ. It pushes us beyond the trite and traditional -way beyond the commercial - emphases of the world around us. Occasionally, it asks us questions that stun us, such as the one the arises from the reading of our text today: Who have I hindered? (My cousin reminded me that grammatically this should read "whom" but that is not what I would say if I were talking to myself.)
Jesus in this passage offers the most strident condemnation of the religious leaders in his community, charging them with locking others out of the kingdom of heaven even as they themselves refuse to enter. It's not surprising that he accuses them of stubbornly refusing to live in the reality of God 's reign. After all, they have consistently rejected Jesus and his teaching. What is stunning is Jesus' statement that they "lock people out of the kingdom of heaven." Because they are leaders and teachers, when they refuse to enter the kingdom, they also keep others out. Their wrong has communal, not just personal implications and consequences. Jesus continues that their unbelief is virulent as they make converts of their way, actually converting others to the hell they are destined for.
Especially around the Martin Luther King holiday many soloists will strike up one of Dr. King's favorite hymns "If I Can Help Somebody." That hymn reminds us of our responsibility to assist others in finding the right way. Today, the scripture calls us to examine whether we have made converts in the other direction. When and where have our personal failings had communal consequences? Where has our hypocrisy, inconsistency, stubbornness, and wrongheadedness caused someone else to fall? Yes, I want to know whom I have helped, but I'm afraid to ask whom I have hindered. Lord, have mercy.
What I love about the season of Advent is that it challenges us to examine ourselves and recognize the need we have for the coming of Christ. It pushes us beyond the trite and traditional -way beyond the commercial - emphases of the world around us. Occasionally, it asks us questions that stun us, such as the one the arises from the reading of our text today: Who have I hindered? (My cousin reminded me that grammatically this should read "whom" but that is not what I would say if I were talking to myself.)
Jesus in this passage offers the most strident condemnation of the religious leaders in his community, charging them with locking others out of the kingdom of heaven even as they themselves refuse to enter. It's not surprising that he accuses them of stubbornly refusing to live in the reality of God 's reign. After all, they have consistently rejected Jesus and his teaching. What is stunning is Jesus' statement that they "lock people out of the kingdom of heaven." Because they are leaders and teachers, when they refuse to enter the kingdom, they also keep others out. Their wrong has communal, not just personal implications and consequences. Jesus continues that their unbelief is virulent as they make converts of their way, actually converting others to the hell they are destined for.
Especially around the Martin Luther King holiday many soloists will strike up one of Dr. King's favorite hymns "If I Can Help Somebody." That hymn reminds us of our responsibility to assist others in finding the right way. Today, the scripture calls us to examine whether we have made converts in the other direction. When and where have our personal failings had communal consequences? Where has our hypocrisy, inconsistency, stubbornness, and wrongheadedness caused someone else to fall? Yes, I want to know whom I have helped, but I'm afraid to ask whom I have hindered. Lord, have mercy.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Practice and Teaching
Matthew 23:1-12
I decided that in advance of my "big" birthday, I would get a personal trainer. She has been torturing me.... I mean, we have been working out together for a few weeks now. There is much to like about my trainer but two things stand out. First, when I look at her I can tell she practices what she teaches. Although she is old enough to be my mother, the shape she's in makes me want to be just like her when I grow up. Second, she demonstrates every move she wants me to do. Not only does this reinforce proper form, helping me to imagine what the exercise should look like, it also reinforces the sense that if I want to be like her then these are the very practices I should engage in.
The text for today concerns teachers who did not practice. The Pharisees were fond of holding the position of teacher and dressing the part, sitting in the seat of the professor and wearing the gown, but they were completely inept and out of practice when it came to living the principles they taught. And because they never actually had to shoulder the weights they piled on their students, they could be increasingly strict about what they said, even as they were increasingly lax about what they did.
Jesus as teacher couldn't have been more different from the Pharisees. He did not simply sit in Moses' seat, he lived out and fulfilled the law, demonstrating to his disciples and to us the proper form. He didn't add weight to his disciples' load while he gave himself a pass. He shouldered the full weight of the cross before he gave the assignment to others.
There is one more thing I like about my personal trainer and this training: I am beginning to see some results. As I follow her and do what she shows me, I am making progress. My prayer is that in Advent, I too will see some changes, not on the outside but on the inside.
I decided that in advance of my "big" birthday, I would get a personal trainer. She has been torturing me.... I mean, we have been working out together for a few weeks now. There is much to like about my trainer but two things stand out. First, when I look at her I can tell she practices what she teaches. Although she is old enough to be my mother, the shape she's in makes me want to be just like her when I grow up. Second, she demonstrates every move she wants me to do. Not only does this reinforce proper form, helping me to imagine what the exercise should look like, it also reinforces the sense that if I want to be like her then these are the very practices I should engage in.
The text for today concerns teachers who did not practice. The Pharisees were fond of holding the position of teacher and dressing the part, sitting in the seat of the professor and wearing the gown, but they were completely inept and out of practice when it came to living the principles they taught. And because they never actually had to shoulder the weights they piled on their students, they could be increasingly strict about what they said, even as they were increasingly lax about what they did.
Jesus as teacher couldn't have been more different from the Pharisees. He did not simply sit in Moses' seat, he lived out and fulfilled the law, demonstrating to his disciples and to us the proper form. He didn't add weight to his disciples' load while he gave himself a pass. He shouldered the full weight of the cross before he gave the assignment to others.
There is one more thing I like about my personal trainer and this training: I am beginning to see some results. As I follow her and do what she shows me, I am making progress. My prayer is that in Advent, I too will see some changes, not on the outside but on the inside.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
That's It
Matthew 22:34-40
I have always loved words. I like to read, to talk, to write, to do word puzzles. I enjoy beautiful turns of phrase. I love sentences. And I especially appreciate the gift that some people have of summing things up, getting to the point. Give it to me straight; don't beat around the bush.
The teachers of the law who Jesus encountered in our text were known for their love of the sound of their own voices. They loved their own words far more than they loved the word of God, which is why when the Living Word was in their midst they hated him. By the time our reading begins in v. 34, Jesus has already silenced the questions of the Sadducees and the Pharisees are taking their turn in trying to stump Jesus. "Rank the laws," they challenge him, expecting him to begin rambling as they would have done. Jesus bests them by answering the question they didn't ask: How do all the individual laws work towards a larger purpose? Love the Lord with everything. That's first. Love your neighbor as yourself. That's second. That's it!
I have always loved words. I like to read, to talk, to write, to do word puzzles. I enjoy beautiful turns of phrase. I love sentences. And I especially appreciate the gift that some people have of summing things up, getting to the point. Give it to me straight; don't beat around the bush.
The teachers of the law who Jesus encountered in our text were known for their love of the sound of their own voices. They loved their own words far more than they loved the word of God, which is why when the Living Word was in their midst they hated him. By the time our reading begins in v. 34, Jesus has already silenced the questions of the Sadducees and the Pharisees are taking their turn in trying to stump Jesus. "Rank the laws," they challenge him, expecting him to begin rambling as they would have done. Jesus bests them by answering the question they didn't ask: How do all the individual laws work towards a larger purpose? Love the Lord with everything. That's first. Love your neighbor as yourself. That's second. That's it!
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