JESUS’ FINAL EXAM
A sermon by the Rev. Dr. James G. Kirk
Harundale Presbyterian Church
Text: “A lawyer asked him a question to test him.” Matthew 22:35
First Lesson: Deuteronomy 34:1-12
Second Lesson: 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8
Tom Long refers to this passage of scripture as Jesus “final exam.” The Pharisees, we’re told, sent a “lawyer” to ask Jesus which is the “greatest commandment.” Actually, he’s not so much a lawyer in today’s sense of the term as he is a Bible professor. For example he would know that there are 613 separate commandments. This Bible professor is asking Jesus to pick one of them, which undoubtedly would leave Jesus open to criticism why he didn’t pick one of the remaining 612. So, Tom Long is right in his calling this Jesus’ final exam.
Actually Jesus has done his homework well and doesn’t give the lawyer much chance to take a breath when he responds: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” That’s the greatest commandment and could have been recited by any one of the Pharisees gathered in the crowd around Jesus. After all, they probably recited the verse many times during the day, since it came from the Shema in Deuteronomy 6:5 and formed the heart of the Jewish treasury of devotional prayers.
Then before
the so-called Bible professor could come back with a response Jesus went right
on to quote Leviticus 19:18 with the second, “You shall love your neighbor as
yourself.” So simple yet so
comprehensive. So easy yet so difficult
to accomplish. So self-evident yet who
among us could have responded as well.
Tom Long reminds us that it’s a lot like the great theologian Karl
Barth’s often quoted response to the question, What is the most important truth
you have learned in your theological study?
Barth is reported to have answered, “Jesus loves me, this I know, for
the Bible tells me so.” Who can argue with
that? Even the smallest child would
recognize and praise the integrity of that answer. (Thomas G. Long, Matthew,
Today is the Sunday when we honor those saints who’ve entered into their eternal rest during the past year. As we remember each of them we celebrate how each in their own way sought to live according to the two great commandments Jesus highlighted for the Bible professor. They sought to love God with their whole heart, soul and mind and to love their neighbors as themselves. Some of them were paragons of faith even in the midst of great personal suffering.
A visit to Don Young in the hospital was always an epiphany of unswerving delight in the Lord and confidence that he would ultimately triumph over the cancer that kept violating his body. Up to almost his last breath he entertained the doctors, nurses, family and friends alike with his infectious humor. It was as though he laughed at his pain and suffering and, thereby, made everyone feel at home with his faith.
The same was true with Ford Watson, but for an entirely different reason. Those who knew Ford knew how quiet and private he was. Yet, what brought a smile to his face and conversation you would think unlikely was food. He loved to eat and toward his final days looked forward to the sacrament, not only as a communion with the body and blood of our Lord, but also a time to visit and share the news of the day.
Myra Irwin was a beacon of faith despite her years of pain. While she was quite candid about her disabilities she would never dwell on her symptoms. They were a fact of life she chose rather to work around, and in doing so taught others at the Paschal Center how they could work with their hands. She was another one of those people who ministered to the pastor more than the pastor ever ministered to her.
There are two we remember today who served their country in ways that exemplified their commitment to peace. Also, neither of their wives knew a thing about what they did until much later in life. Bill Strickler served in some secret capacity during the Second World War and he never told his wife Hazel until after they were married for fifty years. Doyl Moore won the Silver Star and four Bronze Stars for his heroism on the battlefield and Azalea never knew about it until she read it many years later in the newspaper.
How people die reveals a lot about how they lived. I have been blessed these past fourteen years of ministry with you to be at the bedside when people took their last breath. When Leona Booze was dying, each time a member of the family came to pay their last respects, Leona would awaken from her sleep, smile that wonderful smile of hers and greet each of them by name. It was not until she was satisfied that the family had said their “good byes” that she closed her eyes for the last time.
Virginia Loeffler was dying. All the family was there when I walked into the room. Mary told her mother that I was there whereupon she opened her eyes and I bent my head over hers to tell her that I was thinking about her and she would be in my prayers. In a quite audible and strong voice she then asked me how many had been in worship the preceding Sunday. It was as though she knew that she was about to meet God and Jesus might just be there to ask how well the church was doing. She wanted to be prepared with the answer!
There are also those whose lives teach us a lot about how we are to live our lives. Catherine Newsome was a very well read person and loved to engage people in lively discussion of current events and issues. You always felt that your opinion mattered when you talked with her. Bob Hild was a Mason for over fifty years and loved the Masonic Catechism. As he was a Christian, so also he was a Mason; he lived what he’d learned about the lessons of each. And Reed Baumgardner taught us how to love one another in that very innocent way that God’s angels have about them, that is, spontaneously, joyfully and always without judgment.
You see, each person we remember today lived in their own way Christ’s greatest commandments. To live otherwise would have been to concern themselves with the other 612 commandments that Jesus didn’t mention and that wasn’t Jesus’ intent. It’s enough to love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and to love your neighbor as yourself. However you choose to do that will be to God’s honor and glory and that’s sufficient unto itself!
Thanks be to God,
Amen