Love Requires Freedom
Dear Parish Family,
Last week, Gracie and I enjoyed the fall foliage, hiking and family time at Clear Creek State Park. It is way up past Punxsutawney Phil’s hometown. No cell service, no screens, simple living, beautiful weather and God’s canvas everywhere we looked. And since I had the dog-friendly cabin, I inherited custody of Sean’s labrador Luna for the week as well. So, it was me and two dogs with more than a dozen family members in neighboring cabins!
At one moment with the family gathered around the campfire, both dogs wound their leashes around me and the chair legs, making quite a shambles! Some choice words sprang from my mouth as I tried to unscramble the mess in a huff. As I gathered myself, I noticed that a bunch of youngins had taken in the whole scene - truck driver words and all! Not my best moment. All the while I was preparing for this series - Confessions of a Control Freak - I immediately thought to myself: “Boy, sometimes I cannot even control myself!”
With the little ones and the dogs, I took in another lesson. Children are often being told what to do, receiving instructions and commands, being controlled by their elders. All of a sudden the kindergarteners have another creature lower on the totem pole to instruct. They test their power, barking commands: sit, stay, come! “Now I get to be in charge!” Quite humorous to see it in action, and frustrating for them, since often their attempts to control the dogs are in vain. Gracie just licks them in the face!
Control has many facets: self-control, control of others, and last week, we explored our desire to control what others think of us! (If you missed last week’s message, it is not too late to get caught up. Just follow the link here!) This week, we focus on what I noticed in the children, the human desire to control others.
The Gospel (Mark 12:28-34) is part of a longer series of dialogues between Jesus and different Jewish contingents: first the Herodians and Pharisees, then the Sadducees, and now some of the Scribes. The Jews were not a monolithic block, just like Americans today. Each group or party had strongly held beliefs about who God is, our place in the world, and how one should live out the faith. And each party also had serious concerns about Jesus’ fresh perspective and the authority He was gaining with the crowds. And in this series of dialogues, each group is seeking to control or to trap Jesus in His words.
In answer to the scribes, Jesus brings together old and new. First, He quotes (Dt 6:4-5); everyone present would have known these words by heart. They are written on tiny scrolls and inserted into the Mezuzah that would be nailed to the doorpost. But then Jesus combines those well-worn words with something quite new, love your neighbor as yourself (Lv 19:18). And Jesus evades the attempts to trap Him. The Gospel ends, “And no one dared to ask Him any more questions.”
This new teaching, the combination of two commandments from the Torah, centers on love. Love requires freedom. Love is a choice that cannot be forced. In a way, Jesus is reminding those seeking to trap Him in speech that they are not being loving. They have failed to keep the greatest commandment in their efforts to ensnare Him. Hopefully, some of them began to understand in this moment what Jesus was truly about, seeking to invite people in freedom to love and follow Him.
Our God is love. As such, He does not use coercion or force. He does not manipulate for His own advantage or seek to curry favor and support. These descriptions we use of human behavior are not the best of us since they do not reflect the image of the One in whom we are created. One of the lines about love I find quite striking comes from Paul “Love is patient, love is kind… love does not insist on its own way.” (1 Cor 13:4ff) If we do find ourselves insisting on our own way, pushing our own perspective, then we are really not loving our neighbor. Instead, it is a sign of some control freakiness and not quite aligned with the One who is Love.
Peace and Good Will!
Fr. Joel
