One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, he asked him, “Which commandment is the first of all?” Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” Then the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that ‘he is one, and besides him there is no other;’ and ‘to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength,’ and ‘to love one’s neighbor as oneself,’—this is much more important than all whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices.” When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” After that no one dared to ask him any question. (Mark 12:28–34 NRSVA)
If you have sat in the room at a Bonfire or Blue Ocean gathering, brought our Missional Initiatives Team to your church for Discovery, or been part of any of our other excellent missional training opportunities in recent years, you have certainly heard someone from the Missional Initiatives Team offer rich teaching on this and the other passages pointing the people of God back to the Shema.
Hear O Israel, the LORD is our God, the LORD is one. And as for you, you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength (Deuteronomy 6:4–5).
It’s borderline laughable to think of church leaders in the very presence of Jesus arguing about what commandment is greatest and then having the arrogance to quiz Jesus. These church leaders were blinded to what was right in front of them. They were walking around in a fog of their own self-righteousness, clinging to the power and positions their religious culture provided, and scared to death someone might actually upstage them by bringing real authority and unconditional love. Amidst their deep desire to be god of their own small worlds, they missed Jesus. They missed all the fullness of God in Christ right in front of them.
But even before they missed Jesus, they missed the gift of loving God with everything they have.
They missed the joy of submitting their hearts, souls, and strength to the oneness of God.
They missed the divine gift of holding company and space with the triune God.
And yet they had prayed this prayer all of their lives: “The LORD our God, the LORD is one. [. . .] Love the LORD your God with all your heart. [. . .]”
The mere repetition of the truth all their lives was not enough to ensure they caught the way, the truth, and the life when it was right before them.
And I miss it all the time, too. Maybe you do as well.
In the pause provided to you as you read this, may you hear the words of Jesus say to you what he said to those church leaders in Mark 12, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.”
Stu Streeter serves as the VP of Church Multiplication and Ministry Advancement for the North American Baptist Conference.
