Sermon Tone Analysis

*The Greatest Commandment*

Shaun LePage, October 16, 2005

 

I.

Introduction

A.   “A couple I heard about in Atlanta read that My Fair Lady was still playing on Broadway in New York City.

They wanted to go so badly, so they bought their tickets months ahead of time and planned their vacation.

The long-awaited day came and they flew to New York City.

They presented their tickets, walked in, and sat down in wonderful seats, seven rows from the front, near the orchestra.

To the man’s amazement, the entire place filled up except the seat right next to him.

He was curious about that.

At the intermission, he leaned over in conversation with the lady in the second seat away from him and commented how they had to wait so many months to get tickets to a performance.

When there was such a demand for seats, why would someone not come.

Did she have any idea?

She said, ‘Yes, as a matter of fact, these two seats are mine.

This one and that one.’

She explained further, ‘You see, that seat belonged to my husband, and he died.’

The man said, ‘I’m…I’m terribly sorry.

But couldn’t you have invited a friend to come with you?’ Her answer was classic.

She said, ‘No, they’re all at the funeral home right now’” (The Tale of the Tardy Oxcart, p.468).

B.   Some people just don’t have their priorities straight.

And, I’m no expert on the church in America, but it seems to me that we—both as individual believers and as churches—tend to get our priorities out of whack very easily.

C.   I heard about a small church in West Virginia that had some divisiveness and eventually split.

So some men showed up one night with chain saws and literally cut the church building in half and took one half away.

Seems to me that church had its priorities messed up.

D.   If someone asked you to choose a verse or two from the Bible that gets to the heart of our priorities—a verse or two that summarizes what God most wants from us—what verse or two would you choose?

E.    For several weeks, we are looking at our shared core values.

You and I barely know each other, but what has brought us together at this time in our lives is what we value.

1.

We value the Scriptures—study and application of God’s Word.

2.     We value community—true Christian fellowship.

3.     We value prayer—consistent communication with God.

4.     We value worship—daily bringing glory to God.

5.     We value outreach—building bridges to non-Christians in the Lawrence area.

6.

We value world missions—supporting those who are reaching other cultures for Christ.

7.     We value the priesthood of believers—every member of our church is a minister.

8.     We value innovation—working hard at being relevant to our culture.

F.    As we explore these values, I’m asking you to think in terms of three relationships: Your relationship with God.

Your relationship with unbelievers.

And, your relationship with believers.

This morning, I want you to again—as last week—consider your relationship to God.

This brings me back to my question: If someone asked you to choose a verse or two from the Bible that gets to the heart of our priorities—a verse or two that summarizes what God most wants from us—what verse or two would you choose?

G.

In the time between Moses and Jesus—when God gave the Law to Moses on Mt.

Sinai to the time of Jesus—Jewish scholars had identified 613 specific commandments in Scripture (the Old Testament).

There were 365 negative commands—“Thou shalt nots—and the rest were positive—“Thou shalts”.

They debated among themselves about what commandments were most important.

H.

The thing that always scares me when I read about the Pharisees and Sadducees and all those Jewish leaders is that in many ways, they looked like you and me.

1.     Like us, they knew the Bible.

They studied the Bible.

The Bible was one of their core values.

2.     Like us, they were constantly participating in some sort of religious activity.

3.     Like us, they prayed, they tried to live by the rules and they gave offerings to God.

4.     In fact, they were probably more faithful in all these things: They studied their Bibles far more diligently than I do.

They participated in religious activity on a daily basis.

They prayed multiple times per day and diligently lived by the letter of the law.

Their giving would probably put most of us to shame.

5.     What scares me is that Jesus wasn’t impressed with these people who look a lot like me.

He said, *“This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far away from Me.

But in vain do they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men’”* (Matthew 15:8,9).

6.

What was missing?

What was wrong?

Why was their “worship…in vain”?

Do you realize that all this could be a big waste of time?

Do you understand that our Bible studies, our prayers, our giving, our worship—could be “in vain”?

All of our religious activity has the potential of being far from pleasing God.

It can look great to us, but be a fowl stench in the nostrils of God.

7.     Hear me out, this morning.

I want to ask you to look at a familiar passage in a fresh way.

My hope is that as a result, we will learn or be reminded of what God wants from us—the kind of relationship God wants.

The kind of relationship that will please Him.

Turn with me to Mark 12.

II.

Body: Mark 12:28-34.

A.   The Context: These verses contain one question from a scribe and one answer from Jesus.

But, they are part of a larger context.

Jesus was being grilled by His enemies.

These religious leaders were taking this uneducated Galilean troublemaker to task.

“He’s impressing the ignorant masses—the hoi poloi—but let’s see how He handles Himself with us”—this was their attitude.

“Let’s see how He stands up under our scrutiny.”

So they ganged up on Him.

They couldn’t stand each other, but their hatred for Jesus brought them together in an all-out attack.

But each time they asked Jesus a question—tried to trick Him, get Him flustered—He, of course, embarrassed and frustrated them.

Mark 12:28-34 tells us the last question anyone dared to ask Jesus.

His answer silenced them for good.

*B.   *The Text: *28**One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, “What commandment is the foremost of all?” 29Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD; 30AND 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.’

31”The second is this, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’

There is no other commandment greater than these.”

32The scribe said to Him, “Right, Teacher; You have truly stated that HE IS ONE, AND THERE IS NO ONE ELSE BESIDES HIM; 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 HIMSELF, is much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

34When Jesus saw that he had answered intelligently, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”

After that, no one would venture to ask Him any more questions.

*

C.   Observations

1.     *Scribe.

*In Jesus’ day, the scribes were the big shots.

These were the theologians.

The scribes were men of the text.

They studied it.

They copied it.

They memorized it.

They agonized long and hard over its meaning.

These men were the interpreters.