Brief synopsis of the readings: Near the beginning of the book of Deuteronomy we hear Moses speaking to the people. He instructed them to obey the Lord “with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength.” In Mark’s Gospel a scribe asked Jesus which was the most important of all the commandments. Repeating the passage from our first reading Jesus told him to love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. Jesus said the second commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself. The scribe complimented Jesus and said these commands are worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices. Jesus returned the compliment: “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” After this nobody dared ask any more questions.

Fun fact: here in the United States we are represented by the 188th Congress (it began on January 3, 2023 and will end on January 3, 2025). So far in this session over 15,000 bills have been introduced, and at a time when many Americans complain that government is too intrusive in our lives. Much as we may complain we seem fascinated with laws; indeed politicians running for reelection will often brag about how many bills they introduced.

To be fair there is a certain comfort in laws. They set up clear lines about what we must or cannot do and they are supposed to apply to everyone regardless of wealth or position. Ideally they meet a current need and can be removed when the need is no longer there. But there’s also an insidious nature to laws. They are, frankly, much easier to enact than they are to remove. They can be misused to discriminate or even to persecute.

Simple obedience to laws also misses the point of discipleship to Jesus. We all agree that we need to obey the law but we don’t all agree on their place in our lives. They are, to use a common image, guardrails to prevent us from veering off the road. The laws of Moses were intended to draw a distinction between the Jews and the pagans who worshiped many gods and their idols. If you were a Jew under Roman occupation you could avoid most persecution by paying your taxes which paid for the Roman idols. But simple obedience doesn’t mean we are living a fully moral life, nor does it mean we are living the life Jesus wants for us.

If the rules can become idols then slavish obedience can become a sort of idol worship. Pagans have often created multiple idols so as not to offend a god they’re not aware of. When Paul went to Athens in the hopes of converting the Greeks he came across an altar “To a God Unknown.” They attempted to cover all their bases so as not to inadvertently forget anyone. Unfortunately Paul tried to convince the Greeks that the God he preached was indeed that God and it didn’t go well for him.

But I believe the Gospel reading goes well for us. When the scribe asks Jesus about the first of all commandments Jesus gave him Moses’ answer. But Jesus didn’t stop there. He said the second is to love our neighbor as ourselves. Now today “love of self” is a more complicated concept. We regularly discuss self esteem and fill shelves on bookstore that we call “self help.” We worry a great deal about mental and emotional help; that’s important but we need to understand that it wasn’t something they thought about in the time of Jesus. Love of self was understood and the stretch was to love others as much as we loved ourselves.

When we’re driving, the speed limit requires us to drive at a reasonable speed. But the law won’t require us to allow someone to merge ahead of us. If we love our neighbor as ourselves we will naturally do that. We abound in opportunities for simple courtesies: holding a door open for someone laden with packages, leaving a slightly generous tip at a restaurant or complimenting a stranger. These are not intellectual pursuits and they won’t get us anything tangible. But each time we do it we benefit from living in a world that is a little bit kinder.

This is also a discipline because it calls us to see the world through renewed eyes. It asks us to look behind us when we’re going through an open door to see if someone is behind us. It asks us to decide that a few dollars more in our restaurant tip may make a difference in the life of our server. It asks us to notice a complete stranger and point out their smile (or their need to experience our smile).

I recognize that I make this sound easy but I’m aware that we live in a world where we’re regularly told to avoid being taken advantage of. It’s an unfortunate truth that sometimes someone will play on our desire to be nice only to steal our life’s savings. But that doesn’t make us suckers or losers if we let someone merge in ahead of us. We sometimes hear the phrase “When you have more than you need, build a longer table, not a higher fence.” We shouldn’t fail to build a longer table out of fear that our generosity will be turned on us. And we shouldn’t build a higher fence in the false belief that it will protect us.

And finally, if we love our neighbor as ourselves, we will naturally follow the rules. Our concern for the children in our neighborhood will inevitably cause us to drive within the speed limit. Our love of neighbor will ensure that we will not do anything that will cause them harm. It’s not that we stop caring about the rules, it’s that we focus so much on loving those around us that breaking the rules just don’t make any sense.

I’m not sure how many bills should be introduced in the current Congress. I recognize that 0 is too few but maybe we can all agree that 15,000 is too many.