Loving God, you invite us to cast all our anxiety on you, remembering your love for us and for all people.  Draw us into your love today, and lead us into the peace that passes all understanding, through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

           One of the things that has been noticeable over the past week or two is that many people (myself included) have had multiple thoughts and concerns running through their heads all at the same time.  You’re in the shower and you suddenly can’t remember whether you used the shampoo yet or not.  You put something in the microwave and you can’t remember what power setting you just punched in.  You’re trying to concentrate on one thing, but other things keep creeping into your mind and interrupting you.  You try to listen deeply to a passage of Scripture, and your mind keeps wandering off to different topics.

         While some might say that this is just a sign of aging, it is also a symptom of being under stress.  And, as things have continued to evolve and change over the past week, the number of stressors in most people’s lives has also been on the rise.  However, in the midst of our struggles and fears, and in the midst of an unprecedented pandemic, God’s love for us in Christ and God’s sustaining presence have not changed.  And, as it turns out, today’s gospel is not unrelated to the things that are going on in the world around us.

         A good deal of what we heard today has to do with people who are referred to as “the scribes.”  Each of the religious parties at the time – like the Sadducees and the Pharisees – had their own scribes, although most of the scribes were Pharisees. The scribes were the scholars, and the teachers of the law, and the ones who copied the Torah onto scrolls.  They also tended to be rich, and are described in today’s gospel as looking for respect and also the best seats wherever they went.  They are kind of like the 1% or the 2% that many talk about today.

         One of the scribes in today’s gospel seems to have a sincere conversation with Jesus about the Law, and we will focus more on that conversation in a moment.  (Undoubtedly they were standing approximately two metres apart when they had this conversation.)  However, the other scribes are accused of devouring widows’ houses while at the same time making a great show of saying long prayers (Mk. 12:40).  It is easy to imagine that some of the rich people that Jesus watched putting their donations into the Temple treasury were also scribes.  And so, the contrast is between the rich scribes and the poor widow, who gives all that she has at the Temple.

         One of the discussions in the midst of Covid-19 has been about how to care for the people who are the most vulnerable.  Our food bank this past week had a difficult question to address.  How do you continue to provide relief to those who don’t have enough food while also protecting the volunteers who don’t want to get sick?  In the end, rather than just shutting down, they found a way to operate with less volunteers and handed out the food in a way that minimized any close contact.

         The reality is that the ones who have the least continue to be the most vulnerable.  Those who are homeless have little hope of sanitizing anything, and even those who have a home might not be able to afford the things that they need to stay healthy.  Those who live from pay-cheque to pay-cheque are also vulnerable if they get laid off or if they get sick and have to stay home.  And so, many continue to look for ways to address these needs, even in the midst of greed and panic.

         The initial conversation that Jesus had with one of the scribes points to loving God with our whole heart and soul and mind and loving our neighbours as ourselves as the most important things in the entire Law.  Jesus makes a point of connecting the two things, as any love that we have for God is expressed in how we show love for others and for ourselves.  How we do this right now is not necessarily an easy question to answer – and some things are easier to do than others!

         For example, we are showing love and thinking of others when we refrain from buying every single package of toilet paper in the store.  We are showing love when we offer to get groceries for somebody who needs them, even if that means leaving them just outside their door in order to avoid close contact.  Sometimes, we can show love by staying at home – particularly when we have good reason to be self-isolating.  Sometimes we can show love by posting things online that will cheer people up.  And sometimes we can show love simply by picking up the phone or being in touch electronically with those who may not have much support.

         For many of us, it is a bit of a balancing act these days.  It is kind of like the instructions you get on an airplane to put on your own oxygen mask before assisting others.  In the same way, any of us who make ourselves sick or who don’t heed the public health advice, will be unable to offer service to anybody else.  There is a reason that the command was not just to love your neighbour, but to love your neighbour as yourself.  Caring for ourselves so that we can also care for others continues to be important.

         And so, in the midst of taking steps in order to slow down the spread of Covid-19, we continue to look for ways in which we can share God’s love with all people.  We take practical steps rather than fearful steps, knowing that God continues to be in charge and walks with us – even when we end up in the valley of the shadow of death.  For, no matter where it is that we walk, Jesus has been there before.  Not only that, but he has brought us from death into life, from sickness into health, from darkness into light, and from self-centredness into love.  Thanks be to God!  Amen.

Lent 4 (NL 2)                                    Mark 12:28-44

March 22, 2020

St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church

Pastor Lynne Hutchison

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