"Getting It Right" - Mark 12:28-34 - November 5, 2000

Recently one of my students was telling me about her experience as a waitress. It seems that every Tuesday a group of church folks come in to her restaurant for a brunch. She says they are rude, obnoxious and an unfriendly. And what’s worse, they are bad tippers.

My student sensed a contradiction. The folks at the restaurant, although professing to be "faithful" did not live out that faith with love toward others. Its the most basic fundamental principle of our faith but these folks don’t seem to get it. And unfortunately as representatives of the church they are modeling a behavior that is incongruent with what they profess to believe.

When Jesus was asked by a scribe which commandment was the greatest he responded with two; "Love of God and love of neighbor." And the scribe agreed, that these two commandments are the most important. In other words, love of God and one’s neighbor means that the two go hand in hand. One cannot show love to God without showing love to others.

I’m sure any of us can find someone who professes to be Christian but are sometimes hypocritical. No one is perfect and there are times when all of us miss the mark and are unloving toward our neighbors. So why is this encounter with the scribe such a big deal?

Its a critical conversation because of how the scribe actually responds. He gets it right, he knows the answer and can recite the two commandments. But, he leaves out an crucial word. Jesus says "to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength." The scribe says that we are "to love God with all our heart, mind (understanding) and strength." The word he leaves out is "soul."

To love God with our souls calls for a higher degree of commitment. It means to love God and others passionately. It means to love without any expectation of reciprocity.

During the course of earning her master's degree, a woman found it necessary to commute several times a week from Victory, Vermont, to the state university in Burlington, a good hundred miles away. Coming home late at night, she would see an old man sitting by the side of her road. He was always there, in subzero temperatures, in stormy weather, no matter how late she returned. He made no acknowledgment of her passing. The snow settled on his cap and shoulders as if he were merely another gnarled old tree.

She often wondered what brought him to that same spot every evening - what stubborn habit, private grief or mental disorder he may have had. I wonder if she didn't sometimes begin to doubt her senses, or believe in ghosts. Finally, she asked a neighbor of hers, "Have you ever seen an old man who sits by the road late at night?" "Oh, yes," said her neighbor, "many times." "Is he ... a little touched upstairs? Does he ever go home?"

"He's no more touched than you or me," her neighbor laughed. "And he goes home right after you do. You see, he doesn't like the idea of you driving by yourself out late all alone on these back roads, so every night he walks out to wait for you. When he sees your taillights disappear around the bend, and he knows you're okay, he goes home to bed." Garret Keizer, "Watchers in the night," Christian Century, April 5, 2000, 381. Homiletics, December, 2000

This is the kind of love Jesus expects of us. It means we don’t give of ourselves expecting anything in return. We are loving because we are called to be loving. And when we love others it is the same as loving God.

Every Sunday for nearly three years Walter had a routine. Just before 10:00 a.m. he would open the doors to Epworth and prepare the church for worship. If the weather was cold, he would build a fire in the old wood stove. If it was hot, he would open all the windows and distribute the hand fans with a picture of Jesus on one side and an ad for a local funeral home on the other.

Next, Walter would open the Bible located on top of the wooden pulpit and read the selected Scripture for that week. Then it would be time for prayer. Often there were folks in the community included on Walter's list. The latest national and world news would be mentioned. But always, Walter ended every prayer with a plea for God to remember and bless his beloved church. Every Sunday, Walter had a routine, but what makes this story so unique is that with very few exceptions, Walter began and ended the Sunday morning worship service ... alone. Alone? Why?

Many years ago, Epworth church was built on land donated by a neighboring farmer, but if for any reason they stopped meeting regularly, if Walter stopped opening the church doors every Sunday, the property would revert to the original owners ... Epworth church would cease to exist. So what is the big deal? If Walter is the only one bothering to attend, let him go somewhere else or stay at home. Why not face the inevitable and allow Epworth to quietly disappear? What harm would it do? For Walter, it was a big deal. God had a divine purpose for his life and for the church he loved. But for now, Walter must be patient, be faithful ... and wait. Wait for what?

One Sunday morning a young family, new to the area, visited Epworth and after meeting Walter joined him in worship. They found something unique about this little church nestled among the trees and the old man who faithfully opened her doors. On the following Sunday they came back and within a few weeks the children were bringing friends. At year's end a minister was hired. Today, Epworth is a small family church situated between several farms and hidden among the trees. Every summer they offer Vacation Bible School for the neighborhood and each Christmas is celebrated with a pageant performed by the children. Many of the original family have died and some of the children have moved away, but the miracle of Epworth has never been forgotten.

On the first Sunday of August, people come from across the United States to visit the church of their youth and relive the miracle of the old man who refused to let his beloved church die. The worship service is followed by a picnic on the church grounds. While the children are playing and the adults are eating, you may notice a family wandering over to the nearby cemetery. If you listen carefully, you'll hear a parent telling her child, "Let me tell you a story about Walter." -Larry Davies, "Turning Points: A Church, the Messiah... Wait! Why?" Sowseeds@hovac.com, December 15 & December 22, 1999. Homiletics, December, 2000

What Walter had was passion. He loved his God, his church and the people of his community. To love passionately is to love with soul, giving God the best that we have, never giving up, being 100% committed to our faith.

The scribe, Jesus said, "was not far from the kingdom of God." He would have been closer still had he been able to love God and neighbor with his soul. When this happens the kingdom of God is realized a this very moment and unlike our Christian friends in the restaurant, we are getting it right.

Dr. Keith Wagner, St. Paul’s United Church of Christ, Sidney, Ohio