The Litmus Test of Love
a sermon based on Mark 12:28-34
by Rev. Frank Schaefer

One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
“Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. 33 To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.

Once again Jesus was put to the test by a scribe, an expert in the law of Moses. Some scholars have suggested that it was a tricky, even dangerous question, given the predominance of the so-called purity code in first century Judea.

The purity code was a means by which the status quo of society was upheld in Jesus' days; it was the glue which kept the patriarchal, social and economic structures in place, including the role of women and children (mostly viewed as property of men) and slavery. The root problem was the political corruption and economic imperialism that left the vast majority of the people in Judea in a state of subsistent poverty and without social security.

The law of Moses and the elaborate codex of the purity law was used as a means to keep the poverty stricken masses at bay. It was used as a means to reinforce your place in society in order to prevent uprisings and revolutions. The message of many religious leaders of Jesus' time was: keep the law of God and God will care for you.

Now, we know that Jesus understood his mission as bringing good news to the poor, and his message was not just spiritual, it had political dimensions as well. Jesus advocated for a policy of justice that emphasized God's compassion and love over the purity laws. This surfaces especially when Jesus turned over the merchants' tables in the temple and when he said to the rich young ruler: give your riches to the poor. As a politician he would have gained those riches on the backs of the poor (while keeping all 10 commandments, mind you) so Jesus appealed to his compassion for the plight of those he ruled.

In other words, placing one of God's commandments above the others, at the expense of others, was a revolutionary idea that could be seen as challenging not only the religious traditions, but also the status quo. And that's exactly what Jesus did when he answered the scribe's question. When Jesus put one law (or actually two laws) above others he was treading on thin ice.

Not that this was a first. In fact, Jesus had openly broken the Sabbath law by healing the sick. When challenged about that he pointed to God's compassion and he also pointed out the hypocrisy of the lawyers: if our child (or even your donkey) falls into a pit on the Sabbath day, who of you wouldn't pull him/her out?

By saying: “There is no commandment greater than these.” (V31) Jesus was also challenging the entire system of Scriptural interpretation of his day. With the elevation of the principle of love for God/love for neighbor above all other laws, Jesus was giving us a system of “Hermeneutics” as seminary professors call it. Hermeneutics is derived from the Greek word hermeneuo which means to “interpret.” The idea behind the discipline of Hermeneutics is to have a guiding principle or rules that being about a consistent interpretation of the Scriptures. I am convinced that Jesus gave us a lens of interpretation.

That Jesus was talking about the Scriptures in this way becomes even more obvious when we look at the parallel passage in Matthew 22:44 where Jesus says: “All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

“All the Law and the Prophets” is a clear reference to the Hebrew bible, the Old Testament, which was actually Jesus' bible (since the New Testament was yet to be written).

According to Jesus' lens of interpretation, whatever theological statements we derive from the bible should be on par with the Love-for-God/Love-for-neighbor rule. In other words, If our interpretation of any scripture does not come out on the side of love for God and love for neighbor, it cannot be right, especially if that interpretation discriminates against God or any of God's creatures.

This calls into serious question the interpretations of conservatives who argue for a biblical basis for denying ordination rights to women or “practicing” homosexuals.

But there is more. With these two guiding principles of Love for God and Love for Neighbor, Jesus gave us a litmus test for all our actions and decisions.
Sometimes it helps us to get a better understanding of the scope of a rule when we phrase it differently. “Does this action express love for my neighbor” could also be asked in terms of “does this action harm my neighbor?” Incidentally, this is exactly what the founder of Methodism, John Wesley, did when he gave his followers three simple rules to live by: “Do no harm, do good, and stay in love with God.”

Say, for instance, I wanted to cut my grass on Sunday afternoon, perhaps because I had a really busy week and just didn't get around to it. So let's apply Jesus' litmus test to this situation:

Cutting my grass on a Sunday - is it motivated by love toward God and neighbor? Does it harm anybody? I don't know about you, but I am a very annoyed if my neighbor cuts the grass while I'm sitting on my patio on a Sunday afternoon, trying to enjoy nature and a good conversation with family or friends. It's very noisy and disturbs the peaceful setting. I feel like it's impolite and, frankly, it makes me angry. It robs me of my joy and well-deserved relaxation. I'd say it is a harmful action.

In conclusion, God expects us to live according to God's laws and justice, but our God is at the very core a God of love, compassion and grace. God is our loving Parent who put laws and spiritual principles in place for our own good; we are invited to interpret the Scriptures and extract from them the timeless rules and spiritual principles that we can safely live by. Rules and principles that are beneficial, prevent pitfalls, and give us guidance.
Let us live in light of God's litmus test questions of love for God and love for neighbor. In all we do and decide is our motivation love? Are we taking care not to harm anybody?

How different this world could be if we all lived by these golden rules? How different Christianity could be if we interpreted the Scriptures accordingly. I am hopeful that one day we will get this right. Let's do our part in getting there. Amen.