Not far from the Kingdom of God

 

THIRTY-FIRST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

November 3, 2024 – St. Mary in Dell Rapids

Dt 6:2-6

Heb 7:23-28

Mk 12:28b-34

Praised be Jesus Christ!

       I think we could rightly spend time this Sunday answering the question of how we should go about loving God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and our neighbor as ourselves.

The two great commandments of love of God and neighbor come up all through the Bible. In the New Testament they complement what the people of the Old Testament understood by their obligation to obey God’s commands. In the world today people often balk at the idea that we show our love through obedience, but that failure or doubt is a contemporary thing, unknown in times past. The children of Israel and the Church across the centuries understood very clearly that obedience is the true test for love, love of God and love of our parents.

Deuteronomy quotes Moses as saying, “Fear the Lord, your God, and keep throughout the days of your lives, all his statutes and commandments which I enjoin on you, and thus have a long life.” It makes perfect sense that that is how we show our love for God. St. Paul tells the Ephesians 6:1-3, honoring our parents is the one of the commandments which carries with it a promise or a reward. “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother”—this is the first commandment with a promise: “so that it may be well with you, and you may live long on the earth.”

       In the New Testament we build on what was established in the law of Moses and reaffirm that by saying that love of God is truly a matter of obeying His will. This is the teaching of Christ transmitted to us by His Church. Jesus’ love of the Father was expressed in His obedience to the Father’s will for the salvation of the world. It required of Him the supreme sacrifice of His life by His great suffering and death upon the Cross.

One of the greatest lessons we learn in life is that love is not and cannot be just a matter of hugs and kisses. In the course of growing up we learn that sweettalking to our parents is no sure sign of our love for them. Knowing mom and dad’s will and promptly obeying them is a much better, more honest, and really the only convincing sign of our love for them, for our gratitude for all they have done for us.  

       “Fear the Lord, your God, and keep throughout the days of your lives, all his statutes and commandments which I enjoin on you, and thus have a long life.” This passage from Deuteronomy not only states clearly what we owe to God for all He has done for us. Certainly, first and foremost it is a declaration about who God is for us and for the sake of the world.

       Understanding love of God as bound to obedience, we can understand Jesus’ reply to one of the scribes in today’s Gospel. To answer the man, Jesus quoted the text of the two greatest commandments, love of God and love of neighbor. The Lord said, “There is no other commandment greater than these.” The man responded by showing he understood Jesus’ teaching: “Well said, teacher. You are right in saying, ‘He is One and there is no other than he.’ And ‘to love him with all you heart, with all your understanding, with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself’ is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” Jesus congratulated the scribe for his words and said, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”

       The question then is, where am I, where are you, where are we in terms of the kingdom of God? Not far from it? Far away? Close? Are we all in when it comes to God’s kingdom or are we distant, kind of standoffish, rather noncommittal? Jesus did not declare the scribe saved, but rather not far from being so. It is here that we can understand the close bond between love and obedience. Besides outright disobeying, some children lie to subtract themselves from the will of others. By doing so they withdraw from the possibility of loving or being loved. It is impossible to claim you love, if you lie or disobey.

       I would just like you to think about that on your day of rest, the Lord’s Day. Our refusal to respond to those who are set over us or to whom at some point we have committed ourselves in life, especially those of our family circle, spouse, children, parents, is or must be seen as a failure to love. Don’t let this Sunday get away from you without examining just how far you are from the kingdom of God because you don’t really love as you ought.

PROPERANTES ADVENTUM DIEI DEI