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The
Most Important Thing
Fr.
George Smiga
November
5, 2006
Mark
12:38-44
What
is more important than anything else? What would we value
above every other thing? The Greek philosopher Plato thought
that this was the most crucial question that anyone could
ask. In fact, he set up an exercise to determine it. He asked
his students to picture their life as a big triangle and to
place at the base of the triangle everything they valued,
everything that they thought was important or noteworthy.
Once that was done, Plato encouraged his students to raise
those things that they valued to the apex of the triangle.
Now of course as they pushed things up, there was less and
less space. And so things that were less important had to
be left aside. Finally when they reached the very top of the
triangle, there was room for only one thing. That thing, Plato
said, was the one most important thing.
Now
I am quite sure that Jesus never knew of Plato's exercise.
And it might seem that if he engaged in it, he would be unable
to determine only one thing that is most important. Because
when the scribe in today's gospel asks him to pick one commandment,
the most important one, the one that would sit at the top
of the triangle, Jesus gives two commandments: that we should
love God with all our heart, that we should love our neighbor
as ourselves. So it seems that Jesus cannot narrow it down
to one. But I would suggest to you that this would be an inaccurate
understanding of Jesus' teaching. The two commandments that
are given are actually two components of one great commandment.
Neither of those two commandments can function independently.
Both are necessary. Each is one side of the same coin, together
forming the one great commandment that is most important of
all.
Since
this is Jesus' central teaching, it would serve us well to
reflect why we need both of these commandments, why neither
can stand on its own. Or to put this in other terms, why we
cannot love our neighbor without loving God, and why we cannot
love God without loving our neighbor.
Let
us take the easier question first. Why is it impossible to
love God without loving our neighbor? The answer is simple.
Unless we are willing to love our neighbor, unless we're willing
to give ourselves in service to those in need, unless we're
willing to reach out in generosity and sacrifice, our love
of God is hypocrisy. If we are unable to love those around
us, our prayer to God and our love of God is empty. If we
are unwilling to give of ourselves to others, then our love
of God is merely a matter of words or pious practices. It
might make us feel good, but it has no substance. It is not
based in reality.
The
first letter of John tells us that those who say they love
God but hate their brothers and sisters are liars. Because
how could they say that they love God who they cannot see
and at the same time refuse to love their brothers and sisters
who they do see? Love of God without love of neighbor is empty.
It is hypocrisy.
How
about the other way around? Why is love of neighbor without
love of God deficient? Why do we need to love God if we are
truly going to love our neighbor? This is a more difficult
question, isn't it? But the answer is this: love of God gives
us the freedom to love others even when it is difficult, even
when it is not all that practical. It is easy to love those
who love us in return, but how can we love those who hurt
us? How can we love our enemies? We cannot love them for their
sake, but we can love them for God's sake. We can love them
because we love God. Why would you go to visit your grandmother
with Alzheimers? She does not even know who you are. You do
not go to visit her for her sake; you visit her for God's
sake. It is your love of God that motivates you to visit even
when she cannot realize you are there. Why might you choose
to recycle or conserve energy? It does not make that much
difference. For the little bit that you are able to save or
conserve, thousands are constantly upping their consumption.
Yet you can choose this action of conserving, not for the
earth's sake, but for God's sake, because it is the right
thing to do.
The
love of God gives us the ability to love others and to love
the earth, even when that love is not reciprocated, even when
it produces few results. Our Jewish brother and sisters call
this kind of loving a “mitzvah.” It means “it is commanded.”
We do it because God expects it of us, and we love the God
who loves us. This kind of loving is free. It is free from
the limitations of strategies, the limitations of success.
We love because God asks us to love, and that love is without
any strings attached.
Jesus
gives us a great commandment, but that great commandment has
two essential parts: love of God and love of neighbor. Both
are required. Love of God without love of neighbor is empty.
Love of neighbor without love of God is limited to only love
which is convenient and practical. But these two loves together
form one great commandment. They sit at the very pinnacle
of the triangle of life. They are the most important thing.
They are our entry into the kingdom of God.
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