Listen for the Word of the Lord from Mark 12:28 – 34…

²⁸ One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another…

Now before we go any further, we need to pause and ask who is the “them” the scribe heard arguing. You see, after Jesus healed Blind Bartimaeus in Jericho last week, the whole group set out on the long journey. They trudged the hot 18-mile road up the mountains to Jerusalem. We find Jesus in the Temple area at the start of the Passover celebrations. As soon as he arrives, the entrenched religious and political establishment begin to argue with him.

First, the scribe heard the Pharisees and the Herodians trying to trip up Jesus about paying taxes to Rome. A second group called the Sadducees began nit-noiding Jesus on issues of the resurrection. They do not believe in life after death. The crowds are all pushing and shoving to see the upstart Rabbi take on the religious and cultural elite. The crowds were impressed by Jesus’ teachings and healings; Jerusalem had a carnival atmosphere about it. This is where we meet our scribe. A scribe is a Jewish theologian and teacher of the Jewish Law. He approaches Jesus and asks a penetrating question. Unlike the other absurd questions the other groups asked, the scribe approaches Jesus with a question of honest substance. Jesus responds by quoting Hebrew scripture the Scribe would know all too well.^[1] Let us continue with the scripture reading.

Mark 12:28-34

²⁸ One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, he asked him, “Which commandment is the first of all?” ²⁹ Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; ³⁰ 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.” ³² Then the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that ‘he is one, and besides him there is no other’; ³³ and ‘to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength,’ and ‘to love one’s neighbor as oneself,’—this is much more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” ³⁴ When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” After that no one dared to ask him any question.^[2]

In 1986, pop icon Tina Turner released a hit called, “What’s Love Got to Do with It?” Do you remember the refrain? “What’s love got to do, got to do with it? What’s love but a second-hand emotion? What’s love got to do, got to do with it? Who needs a heart when a heart can be broken?”^[3] Well, Tina, I’ve got to disagree with you on three fronts.

First, love is not a second-hand emotion. Our scripture reminds us that it is top tier! Second, love is more than an emotion. Yes, it describes how we feel, but it is best understood as a verb^[4].  In both our Hebrew and Greek texts this morning, love is a verb, not a noun! And finally, love does indeed break hearts and it is the broken heart that is the engine propelling love outward. I want to spend the rest of our time looking at the fact that love is a verb and that our breaking hearts are the engines moving the feeling of love into action.

Love is a verb. Love as a concept is noun. As a concept, as a noun, love is most pleasant to think about. It is lovely to read and write about it. Yet, love as a concept is impotent if it does not do something. Love moves from a noun, a concept, when love is doing something as a verb.

For example, I can tell you, “I love you” but it is only when I show you in physical ways that I love you does love become real and true.

I can say, “I love my neighbor” but it is only when I prove that love does it become tangible and real.

We can say, “We love the least of these who are in prison and love those who are hungry” but it’s only when we go and minister to those behind prison bars and their families, it’s only when we attempt to curb food waste and seek out ways and means to to address the issues of systemic food insecurity does our love move from a nice spiritual construct and notion to action. It moves from being talked about to done about.

Years ago, I heard the story of a little girl who was beginning to sleep in her very own bed in her bedroom. Mom and dad said prayers with her, kissed her goodnight, put on a small light, and went to bed. A little while later, the father heard muffled crying from his daughter’s bedroom. He went to see what the matter was. “Sweetheart, daddy’s here. What’s wrong?”

“Daddy, I got scared.”

“Well Little Bit, you know mom and I are right next to your room and God is with you and watching over you. You’re never alone.” The little girl looked up at her daddy with her arms stretched out saying, “I know daddy, but I needed to feel the love of someone with skin on.” 

The little girl is correct. Love must be enfleshed.

The Greek word for love that we know so well, agape, is not just a feeling in your heart. It goes beyond mere emotions toward another person. Agape is an active, demonstrable, inconvenient, sacrificial, and willful expression of care for others. This is the word both Jesus and the scribe are using in today’s Story.

Christ-like love is a verb and is physically and emotionally demonstrated to others. But what is it that gives power to love? It is a broken heart.

Friends, a broken heart is the engine and motivation that puts love in action. Earlier in Mark’s gospel, Jesus crosses the Galilee with his disciples and lands on the other shore. While he was disembarking, people were swarming to him in droves and the text says, “When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.”^[5] A literal reading of that would be that when Jesus saw the large crowd, he felt for them so much his stomach hurt. The ancients believed emotions like love, compassion, and pity originated in a person’s gut. They thought these feelings were found in their bowels. Love arises out of a physical, visceral action that occurs in our body. When Tina Turner sang, “Who needs a heart because a heart can be broken,” she failed to realize she was hitting the nail on the head! Broken hearts move people to action.

When you and I pass a homeless woman sleeping in her car with her child, our hearts should break. This should prompt us to do something about homeless families.

When we see the news about how Palestinian families are being starved to death because of the IDF’s refusal to allow aide to flow into Gaza, our hearts should break and prompt us into some type of action.

When we see the ugly, outward signs of bigotry towards immigrants who are fleeing for a safer, better life like our own ancestors did, when we see the outward signs of bigotry towards people of a different sexual orientation, skin color, or religious heritage, our hearts should break inspiring us to work for justice and reconciliation.

Beloved, what do we think God sees and feels looking at our world? God peers down and sees a civilized democracy whose politicians spew lies, hate speech, and anarchy. God see countries committing genocide. The Lord sees the death of innocents because of a world leader’s lust for power. God watches as her beautiful creation is being abused and exploited. God’s heart breaks and that broken heart moved God into action by becoming one of us, a human, Jesus, whose heart broke as well. God knew that we needed to be loved on by someone with skin on, too! You see, a broken heart is the catalyst for transforming love as a concept into an active, engaging, inconvenient, self-sacrificing verb.

The Table before us is the greatest reminder of how God’s broken heart becomes the motivator for showing us love. Jesus lived, sacrificed, died, and rose again proving God’s infinite love for you and me. I pray the Holy Spirit haunt each of us as we reflect upon what breaks our heart and whether that broken heart is energizing us to put skin on that love and do something. So, let it be.

© 2024 Patrick H. Wrisley, Pastor, First Presbyterian Church, 8 West Notre Dame Street, Glens Falls, NY 12801. Sermon manuscripts are available for the edification of members and friends of First Presbyterian Church, Glens Falls, New York. They are not to be altered, re-purposed, published, or preached without permission. All rights reserved.

^[1] See Deuteronomy 6:4-9, Leviticus 19:18, 34.

^[2] New Revised Standard Version (NRSV). New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

^[3]Accessed on 10/30/2021 at  https://g.co/kgs/fRqvRo.

⁴ See https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h157/kjv/wlc/0-1/.

^[5] Mark 6:34.