Mark 12:28-34
When I was a kid we used to take long car trips to my
grandparents’ place several times a year. While it was only about an hour and a
half drive, to my sisters and me it was an eternity. I remember my youngest
sister was the most impatient and just about every time we got in the car she
had the same exchange with mom. “Are we there yet?” she’d ask. “Almost there,”
said mom. “But I wanna be there,” my
sister would whine.
Almost there. When I got a little older and started to
understand the concept of time and distance a little better, I used to chuckle
because mom’s “almost there” could mean anything from 5 minutes way to an hour
and 5 minutes. “Almost there” was always relative.
Today’s Gospel lesson is really an “almost there” story. A
scribe has been listening to his peers grilling Jesus there in the temple on
everything from paying taxes to Caesar to who will be married at the
resurrection. Jesus answers all these questions, which were designed to trap
him, with skill and grace. This scribe is impressed with Jesus and his answers,
and thus comes with not a hypothetical question but a sincere one: “Which
commandment is the first of all?” Which one is the most important. Jesus gives
him what we know now as the Great Commandment—a quote from the Shema in
Deuteronomy 6 – “Hear O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one: 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” and then from Numbers, “and love
your neighbor as yourself.”
Yes, says the scribe, you’re right, Teacher. That is the
most important thing—more important that all the burnt offerings and sacrifices
offered up here at the temple. Good answer, we think, and so does Jesus. But
then Jesus says something we don’t expect, and I’m guessing that neither did
the scribe: “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.” You’re almost there, but
not quite yet.
Why would Jesus say that? I mean, the scribe got the answer
right, and isn’t faith about getting the answers right?
Well, almost.
The scribe is one of many people in the Gospels who seem to
be convinced that Jesus is the real deal—that he is the messiah, the Son of the
living God. But while many people were convinced
in their beliefs about Jesus, far fewer were committed to following him. The Gospels make it clear that the
convinced far outstripped the committed.
Look back at Mark 10 starting at verse 17. A rich man comes
to Jesus, much like the scribe does, with a question: “What must I do to
inherit eternal life?” He is convinced that Jesus knows the way to eternal
life. In response to his question, Jesus lists some of the commandments—don’t
murder, don’t commit adultery or steal or lie or cheat anyone. Honor your
parents. The rich man says, “Yes, I’ve been following these commandments since
I was a boy.” But Jesus, with love, looks at the rich man and says, “Great.
You’re almost there. Sell everything you have and give the money to the poor.
Then you can come and follow me.” Jesus attempted to move the man from being
convinced to being committed, but Mark says that the man went away “grieving,
for he had many possessions” (v. 22).
In Luke 9, beginning at verse 57 there is a list of people
who are convinced that Jesus is the Messiah, and they say to Jesus, “I will
follow you wherever you go.” They are convinced. But when Jesus says to one
that following him will make him homeless, he balks. Another wants to take care
of his family’s affairs before he can follow, and another wants to go home and
say goodbye first. But Jesus isn’t waiting for the convinced. He is on his way
to Jerusalem and the cross. If you want to follow him, you have to be more than
convinced. You have to be committed. “No one who put a hand to the plow and
looks back is fit for the Kingdom of God” (v. 62). They were convinced but not
committed.
In John 6:66 we learn that there were others in the crowd
beyond the twelve who considered themselves to be disciples of Jesus. But when
Jesus’ teaching got difficult, these would-be disciples turned back. “Because
of this [teaching], many of his disciples turned back and no longer went with
him.” They were convinced but not committed.
You can find a lot of people in this world who are convinced
in their belief about Jesus. Our churches are full of them. In fact, many
people think that all it takes to be a Christian is to be convinced in your
mind that Jesus is your “personal Savior.” You pray a prayer, say the right
words, confess the right doctrines and you’re a follower of Jesus. You just
need to be convinced.
But here’s the thing—even the devil is convinced about Jesus. “You believe that God is one; you do well,”
says James 2:19. “[But] even the demons believe and–shudder.” John Wesley once
wrote that the demons can affirm everything in our creeds and everything
written in the Old and New Testaments. “And yet for all this faith,” Wesley
wrote, “they be but devils.” The devil is convinced, but not committed.
Convinced but not committed. John Wesley would have called
the person who had this kind of faith in Jesus an “almost Christian.” Indeed,
that’s the title of the second sermon in Wesley’s 52 standard sermons, right
after salvation by faith. For Wesley, true faith was not only about being
convinced of our salvation by faith in Christ,
but also being committed to walking with Christ daily on the road to the cross.
Wesley defined the “almost Christian” as one who has a “form
of godliness” or “the outside of a real Christian.” The almost Christian is one
who may be a regular churchgoer; someone who does good and keeps the
commandments, just like the scribe and the rich man. The almost Christian may
even have a regular routine of prayer and Bible study. They are “not far from
the kingdom of God.” But even though they may be convinced, they are not yet committed.
One of the things that really strikes me about this sermon
of Wesley’s is that it offers a testimony of his own life. For the first 35
years of his life, you would look at Wesley and think, here is someone who
appears to be an uber Christian. Indeed, he appears to have been one who was
actually committed before he was convinced.
But deep down
Wesley knew that all his pious living and right belief wasn’t enough. He
believed that he himself was an “almost Christian.” He went through a deep
crisis of faith brought on by series of failures in his life. He hit bottom,
which is most often the place where we find ourselves before hear God’s voice
most clearly!
On May 24, 1738,
Wesley went “very unwillingly” to a prayer meeting on Aldersgate Street in
London. When you are questioning your faith, after all, the last place you want
to be is church. But he went anyway (a lesson for us all). Broken and dejected,
questioning his faith, Wesley heard someone read from Martin Luther’s preface
to his commentary on Paul’s letter to the Romans. Wesley describes it this way
in his journal:
“About a
quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the
heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did
trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation; and an assurance was given me
that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and
death.”
The next morning,
Wesley wrote in his journal that because he was now convinced of Christ’s
salvation, he would recommit himself to following Christ in a new way. The moment I awakened, “Jesus,
Master,” was in my heart and in my mouth; and I found all my strength lay in
keeping my eye fixed upon Him and my soul waiting on Him continually.”
Wesley
preached this sermon “The Almost Christian” in 1741, just three years after this
Aldersgate experience. By then he had come to realize what an “altogether”
Christian looked like: one who was both convinced and committed. What’s the
mark of such a Christian?
Well,
like Jesus said to the scribe, it is the mark of love: love for God and love
for neighbor.
The
altogether Christian loves God with a laser-focused devotion. It is a love that
“engrosses the whole heart,” soul, strength and mind. It is love that seeks to
please God every moment of every day—love that delights in God more than the
things of the world.
Because
the altogether Christian loves God, then he reflects that love to his neighbor This
isn’t the sappy and sentimental definition of love as a “good feeling” or
positive regard toward another person, but real, sacrificial love. It is love
that is equally offered to one’s enemies as it is to one’s friends. It is love
that is willing to give away everything one has for someone else if necessary.
In short, it is the love of Christ, who loved the world so much that he offered
himself and walked the road to the cross. It is love that requires us not only
to believe, but a love that compels us to act on that belief.
One of
the reasons the world finds Christianity irrelevant and repugnant is because
there are so many almost Christians who are convinced but not committed. They
are very willing to talk about the tenets of their faith with a stranger but
much less likely to help that stranger when he or she has a need. They preach
love but practice the opposite. They believe in Christ but they don’t behave
like him. They admire Jesus but they don’t follow him. As Wesley put it, “It is diligently to be noted, the faith which
bringeth not forth repentance, and love, and all good works, is not that right
living faith, but a dead and devilish one.”
Most of
us here today are convinced. The surveys we took in August reveal that. But you
know, when we started to put those surveys and cards together I knew we needed
to change some of the wording. Look at the commitment card you have in your
hand today. Now, the original wording on the card asked if you accepted Christ
as you savior. That was a question about being convinced—an intellectual
acceptance of the tenets and teachings about Christ. Acceptance is rather
passive. I changed the words, however, to ask about commitment. Are you
committed to Christ? Does your commitment to Christ affect how you live your
life every day, at work, at home, at school? Asking you if you are a Christian
is one thing, but what if we asked your coworkers, your classmates, your
family, that broken person you pass by in the hallway, that person with whom
you have a disagreement—what would they say if we asked them if you are a
Christian? Would they say that you were just convinced, or that you are both
convinced and committed?
Like the scribe,
many of us are “not far from the kingdom.” Almost there. Some may be a little
closer than others. Some merely want to be
there! But becoming a convinced and committed disciple of Jesus requires
participation and patience for the journey. Over the next six weeks, we’re
going to be teaching you some practices that will help you grow deeper in your
love and commitment to Christ: practices like prayer and Bible reading, worship
and witnessing to others, financial giving and service. None of these are the
goals of the Christian life, but they are some of the means and markers that
indicate our commitment to love God and our neighbors. I want to encourage you
to be here for the next six weeks as we invite you into commitment. I also want
to encourage you to join one of our new Blueprint for Discipleship classes,
which are designed to help you grow deeper in your commitment.
