Sermon: The Secret of Life

 Matthew 22:34-40
The Secret of Life
James Sledge                                                                            October 29, 2023 

Imagine for a moment that you knew absolutely nothing about tennis, had never once seen a match played on television or at a local court. But for some reason you decide that you want to take up this sport. You mention this to a friend who does play tennis and so she gives you and old racket and a can of tennis balls, points you toward a court, and says, “Go play.”

You walk over to the completely empty court and stair at the net and the lines painted on the ground and wonder to yourself, “Now what am I supposed to do?” You go back to your friend and complain, “You need to give me a bit more help. How do you play this game and what are all those lines on the court for?”

It turns out that you can’t learn to play tennis, or play tennis at all, if you don’t know something about the rules. I suppose you and a friend could go to the court and hit the ball around, but you couldn’t play a game if you didn’t know how to score points, how many you needed to win, and so on. In other words, without the rules there is no game.

Many of us tend to view rules in a negative light, constraints that make life more difficult. That’s why politicians sometimes run for office with a promise to reduce regulations and red tape as one element of their campaign.

We live in a litigious society, and both individuals and corporations are forever creating new ways to pull a fast one so most of us view rules as a necessary evil. But when Jesus is asked which commandment is the greatest, I don’t think he has that sort of view at all.

Psalm 19 says, The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the decrees of the Lord are sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is clear, enlightening the eyes. Hardly sounds like a necessary evil.

I think Jesus views the commandments more is this light than many of us view the rules. That might explain why, when a rich man once came to Jesus asking what he must do for eternal life, Jesus answered, “If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” That’s the big secret to life, says Jesus.

Many of us here have likely had the opportunity to attend a graduation and hear a commencement speaker. As a part of this ritual the speaker is expected to offer some profound pearls of wisdom for those about to go out to make their way in the world. Graduates will be told to follow their dreams, to listen to their hearts, create a better world, and so on.

But suppose the speaker instead something along the lines of, “If you want to live fully, follow the rules,” then sat down. I’m pretty sure that would never make the commencement speaker highlight reels that are sometimes shown on the TV news, and if it went viral it would be for its oddity rather for how impressive it was.

But that is essentially what Jesus says to the rich man who comes to him for the secret of life. Follow the rules. Of course the rules Jesus has in mind are the law of Moses. That starts with the Ten Commandments telling you to have no other God than Yahweh, to keep sabbath, to honor mother and father, don’t murder, steal, or lie, and such.

The Jewish law is a lot more than the Ten Commandments, however. Read the book of Leviticus, along with parts of Exodus and Deuteronomy. There are a lot of rules. When Jesus says, “Follow the rules,” that’s a pretty tall order.

That naturally leads to questions about whether some commandments are more important than others. Does “Follow the rules” mean every one, or are there some that take precedence? That’s the sort of question Jesus gets asked in our reading for this morning, although the questioners have ill intent. They seem to hope that Jesus might paint himself into some sort of corner by choosing this one and not that one. If he says “Don’t murder” is the top commandment, then they will ask he didn’t say to have no other gods besides Yahweh? Isn’t that one important?

Jesus manages to avoid this trap however, although he doesn’t employ any sort of trickery or verbal sleight of hand as he so often does. He answers their question directly, or at least he does if you’re willing to let him take liberties with grammar and say there are two greatest commandments.

But Jesus doesn’t go to the Ten Commandments at all. He grabs one commandment from Deuteronomy 6:5. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” And he grabs a second commandment from Leviticus 19:18. “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Then Jesus ties it all up in a bow by adding, “On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” Keep these two and you will cover all the rest, says Jesus. If you want to know what it means to follow the rules, here you go.

If you want to live a life that is true, that has meaning, that is about something more than having the latest iPhone or car or some other grownup toy, love God and love neighbor. And by that Jesus doesn’t mean have warm feelings for God and neighbor, although that would be fine. Jesus is talking about living our lives in ways that serve God and neighbor, and that sort of living makes a visceral claim on our schedules and our bank accounts.

Jesus’ two greatest commandments depict a life that goes out from self, that is focused on God and others. Jesus says that the secret of life is to live toward God and toward neighbor, to go from an inwardly focused mindset that clutches onto all it can to an expansive pose that flows out from oneself, and that means I can’t hoard my time or my money just for me and mine.

That is why throughout my career as a pastor, I have tried to decouple stewardship from fundraising that seeks to keep the doors open and the place running and instead make it about faith. There is no clearer marker of a person’s spiritual health than how they utilize their time and their money, and stewardship is about precisely that.

Jesus, what is the secret to life? “Follow the rules,” he says. And what does that look like Jesus? “Love God with all your being, and love your neighbor as yourself.” Do that, he says, and pretty much everything else will fall into place.

Love God. Love neighbor. What does that look like for you?