I have several questions for you today. The first ones are very easy. My first question is: What is the opposite of “hot?” Cold. And what is the opposite of “white?” Black. And finally, what is the opposite of “love?” Yes, the first word you probably thought of might be: “hate.” But consider for a moment, what is the relationship of “hot” and “cold?” If we think about it, logically, or if you will, scientifically, “cold” is the absence of heat, the absence of being “hot.” And, again, we know from high school science, or maybe now-a-days, elementary science, the color “white” actually consists of all the colors of the rainbow and “black” is the absence of all colors. So, what is the absence of “love?” And why is this question the most important of all the ones I’ve raised so far?
Of course, the answers go back some two thousand years ago, when a scribe, a scholar of the Jewish Law, an expert on Torah, the compilation of all the Laws given by God to Moses, asked a similar question. He asked Jesus: Of all the laws given by God to Moses, which is the most important? Which is the first of all the commandments?
And Jesus replied with the words spoken each morning by every believing Jew. The words we first heard in today’s reading from the Book of Deuteronomy. The words Moses, himself, spoke to the Israelites. “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone! Therefore, you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength.” And to these words from the Book of Deuteronomy, Jesus added words from the Book of Leviticus, the liturgical book of Torah. He said, “The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.”
And. so, I again ask: What is the absence of “love?” What must we understand about “love,” which Jesus said was the most important commandment of God. Part of our problem may be in our mis-use of the word “love.” There are times when we all have said some variation of the statement: “I just love ice cream! It’s my favorite dessert!” Or, speaking entirely for myself: “I love chocolate cookies.” And how many of you can relate to the statement: “I love the color red.” And what teenager has not said to someone else: “I love you.”
What is usually meant by these declarations of love? In each instance, it seems to me, the real meaning is: this food, this color, this person makes me feel good. These things give me pleasure. And if this is the meaning of love, if love is what brings me pleasure, how can I understand the instruction: “you must love your enemy.”
So, again, the question: what is the absence of love? For perhaps, if we can understand the absence of love, we might be able to understand what love really is. I would suggest the absence of love is: “rejection.” The absence of love is “alienation.” The absence of love is being cut off from another person. It is being alone. Entirely by yourself. Because with this definition, we can then conclude “true love” is “acceptance.” It is a desire for union, for oneness with another person. It is understanding the differences between us and, despite these differences, having a desire to go beyond these mis-understandings so that some positive relationship can occur, some degree of unity be achieved.
With this understanding and appreciation of “love,” it can become possible for me to love my enemy. To accept our differences and wish him well. To forgive the hurt he has caused me, even if I do not approve of the actions which led to the hurt. When I meet a stranger, I can either fear the encounter or accept the appearance of the stranger. When I encounter those who are not known to me, I can fear them, I can reject them, I might even hate them. Or I can accept them. I can, perhaps, even desire a unity with them so that they are no longer outside of me, but a part of my world.
I can acknowledge that hate is the total and complete absence of love, the complete rejection and alienation from another. I can acknowledge that love is the unconditional acceptance and desire for unity with another.
Again, in today’s gospel, the scribe, who is usually portrayed as the antagonist in every encounter with Jesus, upon hearing Jesus’ response proclaims: “Well said, teacher. You are right in saying ‘He is the One and there is no other than he.’ And ‘to love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself ‘ is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
But the dialogue between the scribe of the Law and his newly recognized teacher does not end here. Mark’s account goes on to state: “And when Jesus saw that [the scribe] answered with understanding, he said to him, ‘You are not far from the kingdom of God.’” Can Jesus say the same to each one of us when we understand that love means acceptance and a desire for unity with God, with our neighbor and within our own selves? Can Jesus say to each of us: “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”
Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time; November 5, 2006
Deut 6:2-6; Heb 7:23-28; Mk 12:28b-34