Centering Up

Devotional Reflection Friday, February 17, 2023

The week of the sixth Sunday of Epiphany

The Rev. David W. Perkins, Th.D.

Key phrases for reflection from today’s Gospel reading:

28 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?’ 29Jesus answered, ‘The first is, “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; 30you 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.” 31The second is this, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” There is no other commandment greater than these.’\

(You will find the full text of today’s Gospel reading at the end of this reflection.)

Daily Office Lectionary readings (BCP, 948)

AM Psalm 102; PM Psalm 107:1-32

Isa. 65:17-25; 1 Tim. 5:17-22(23-25); Mark 12:28-34

Today we celebrate the Feast of Janani Luwum. (See below.)

David's Reflections

The pulpit in the seminary chapel where I studied and later taught New Testament and Greek has an exquisite piece of hand-carved woodwork on its front. The Ten Commandments are symbolized by two tablets with Roman numerals I-X down the two sides. And, inscribed on the tablets were these words of Jesus, "Love the Lord your God with your whole heart, mind, soul, and strength, and your neighbor as yourself."

Christian faith’s roots in Judaism are nowhere more evident than in this conversation recorded by Mark. (Matthew and Luke also contain the Great Commandment passage.) A scribe brought the acrimonious questioning of Jesus to an end with an honest inquiry about a debated point in Judaism, the one commandment that was greatest in the entire Scripture. Jesus answered with one of the most familiar passages of all, the beginnings of the Shema from Deuteronomy 6, part of the Jewish confession of faith (along with verses from Numbers 15:37-41) that every Jewish person recited morning and evening.

The greatest commandment? To understand that there is no other deity and to offer to God supreme devotion and commitment, to love God with one's whole being. The words "heart, soul, mind, and strength" do not so much refer to aspects of my being as they do to my entire self viewed from different angles.

What a litmus test for living one’s faith! Suppose I taped that on my bathroom mirror, "Love God with your whole being today." How would that affect my life? Suppose that I was able to ask of each decision, of each situation, of each purchase, of each impulse or desire, "How can I love God with my whole being here?". Jesus gives us a reference point for centering up our lives.

The second commandment arises from the first and can be found in Leviticus 19:18. If we love God with our whole being that will mean loving others as ourselves, or in the words of Dennis Nineham, "a tender regard for others and a promoting of their good, as active as our promotion of our own.”+ If I think of my life as a circle, these two commands provide the center. And, they inexorabily link our relationship with God to our relationships with others. The quality of each relationship depends on the quality of the other.

Our General Confession each Sunday has us saying of our sins, "We have not loved God with our whole heart. We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves." Our sinfulness thus gets linked ultimately to a violation of these two commandments. Jesus has given me a pack of litmus paper that I can dip into the swirling solution of every decision, every attachment, every loyalty, every relationship. How can my actions, feelings, and desires express love for God and for others in this particular moment?

Were someone to ask, “Why am I here? Why are we on this planet?,” today’s reading provides the answer. We are here to love God and others and to be loved. Thomas Merton put it well. "Love is not a problem, not an answer to a question. Love knows no question. It is the ground of all, and questions arise only insofar as we are divided, absent, estranged, alienated from that ground.”*

Centering up our lives—finding a reference point around which all else revolves. These two commands provide that center.

+Dennis E. Nineham, St. Mark: The Pelican Gospel Commentaries, (Baltimore: Penguin, 1963), p. 326.

*Thomas Merton, Love and Living, ed. Naiomi Burton Stone and Patrick Hart (New York: Bantam, 1980), p. 16, cited by Gerald G. May, The Awakened Heart: Living Beyond Addiction (New York: Harper, 1991), p. 80.

Collect of the Day, Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany

O God, the strength of all who put their trust in you: Mercifully accept our prayers; and because in our weakness we can do nothing good without you, give us the help of your grace, that in keeping your commandments we may please you both in will and deed; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP, 216)

Today we celebrate the Feast of Janani Luwum, archbishop and martyr (died 16 Feb 1977 CE).

http://www.satucket.com/lectionary/janani_luwum.htm

Collect of the Feast of Janani Luwum

O God, whose Son the Good Shepherd laid down his life for his sheep: We give you thanks for your faithful shepherd, Janani Luwum, who after his Savior’s example gave up his life for the sake of his flock. Grant us to be so inspired by his witness that we make no peace with oppression, but live as those who are sealed with the cross of Christ, who died and rose again, and now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

A Collect for Fridays

Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he was crucified: Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 97)

In the Order of Worship for Evening

Almighty, everlasting God, let our prayer in your sight be as incense, the lifting up of our hands as the evening sacrifice. Give us grace to behold you, present in your Word and Sacraments, and to recognize you in the lives of those around us. Stir up in us the flame of that love which burned in the heart of your Son as he bore his passion, and let it burn in us to eternal life and to the ages of ages. Amen. (BCP, 113)

A Collect for Mission

O God of unchangeable power and eternal light: Look favorably on your whole Church, that wonderful and sacred mystery; by the effectual working of your providence, carry out in tranquility the plan of salvation; let the whole world see and know that things which were cast down are being raised up, and things which had grown old are being made new, and that all things are being brought to their perfection by him through whom all things were made, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP, 280)

Daily Office Gospel, Mark 12:28-34

28 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?’ 29Jesus answered, ‘The first is, “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; 30you 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.” 31The second is this, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” There is no other commandment greater than these.’ 32Then the scribe said to him, ‘You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that “he is one, and besides him there is no other”; 33and “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.’ 34When 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.

Daily Prayer Offices in The Book of Common Prayer Morning Prayer, Rite 2, page 75, Book of Common Prayer Noonday Prayer, p. 103, Book of Common Prayer Order of Worship for Evening (Vespers), p. 109, Book of Common Prayer Evening Prayer, Rite 2, page 115, Book of Common Prayer Compline (Night Prayer), Page 127, Book of Common Prayer Daily Devotionals, page 136, Book of Common Prayer