Love! Kingdom’s Key – Sermon 4 November, 2012

LOVE! KINGDOM’S KEY

Mark 12:28-24

I have titled today’s message as “Love! Kingdom’s Key”. Instead of “Key” I could have said “Access Card”. The common aspect behind the Key and the Card is that they give us access to certain rooms or to the premises we have the right to be in. If we walk in the city or catch public transport during business hours, we see many people with cards pinned to their dress or hung from their neck. The card allows them to have access to their work place.

As we think about Eternal Life or the Kingdom of God and how to get in, we think of having the appropriate means to have that access.

In today’s reading we hear that Jesus by answering to the question of the Scribe, demonstrated that to get into the Kingdom we need to have the right means, which in this case is the Love. We could be very near to the Kingdom, but to get in we need the right pass.

In our scripture we can see that Jesus is once again being questioned as the religious leaders of the Jews are trying to discredit him before the people. These leaders were determined to destroy Christ and they were persistent in their pursuit of Jesus, using every occasion to try to force him to commit a crime punishable by death.

First, it was the Chief Priests, Scribes and the Elders who came to Jesus to challenge him.

Then the Pharisees and the Herodians came to catch Jesus if he was to make any mistake or say anything that would condemn him according to the Jewish Law and they came up with the perfect question.

Then the Sadducees tried to catch Jesus in a mistake that would cost him his life.

Jesus had quickly and skilfully stopped every attempt, but there was one more attempt yet to come. This time it would come in a different manner. This time it would be from a Scribe who seemed to agree with Jesus and yet was trying to trap him in a different manner.

This Scribe had been standing at the side listening to all of these arguments and attempts to trap the Lord so he asked a question concerning the Commandments as though he was really desiring to learn something. He almost seemed to be on Jesus’ side, but Jesus knew his heart.

He was closer to the Kingdom of God because he understood what Jesus meant by loving God and loving your neighbour as yourself.

Those who truly Love God with all their heart will keep God in their heart and there will be no room for hatred or attacks against anyone else.

Those who truly Love God with all their soul will be ever thankful that their soul is destined to spend eternity in Heaven.

Those who love God with all their mind will have no time to fill their minds with thoughts of getting even or hurting anyone else.

Those who love God with all their strength won’t have energy to spare to use in attacking another man. Their whole purpose will be in serving the Lord, every minute of every day.

That’s the result of the first commandment – to Love the Lord Jesus Christ with everything that is within you.

If we obey the first commandment, the second commandment, concerning the love for our neighbour, will happen automatically. How can we love God, serve God, and live for God and be hateful to people at the same time? It just doesn’t work that way.

When Jesus told the Scribe that he was very close to the Kingdom of God! What did He mean?

It meant that he was close to understanding what the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ was all about.

The Kingdom of God is all about loving one another. It is all about the Love of God that sent his only begotten Son to die on a cross for you and me.

So the question is. How close are we to the Kingdom of God? Have we come to realize that it is not the law that saves our souls and draws us to the Lord? It is not when we please men but when we please the Lord that will make people who obey the Lord.

Are we past the attitudes of the Scribes, the Pharisees, or the Sadducees? Have we reached the place in our walk with the Lord that we are more concerned about the condition of the heart and soul of a man than whether he does what we think is right?

We can either be condemning and judgmental or we can show forth the Love of God but we can’t do both. It’s time we draw near to the Kingdom of God and begin to show the Love of God through our love for God and for our fellowman.

How close are we to the Kingdom of God? Are we as close as the scribe? Let’s get closer than that by allowing the Love of God to rule in our lives. Let’s love God above all and love our neighbour as much as we love ourselves. Doing that, we will have the key to the Kingdom in our hands.

If we want to be in the Kingdom, then we need to have the right means; we need to have the Key to get in. The key is to love God and to love our neighbour. These are the greatest of the commandments.

Krikor Youmshajekian