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This meeting between Jesus and the unnamed scribe recounted in the gospel lesson for today catches our attention because it is such a cordial encounter. We come across it in a section of Mark's gospel marked by controversy and the exchange of harsh words between Jesus and his opponents. Jesus has cleansed the temple and denounced the priests and scribes triggering murderous thoughts in their hearts. He further incites animosity with the parable of the wicked vinedressers. His authority is challenged and he is then baited with trick questions. It is just after Jesus blows his top at some Sadducees who had asked a coarse and mocking question that the unnamed scribe who had been listening to the argumentation comes forward with a serious and thoughtful question that goes right to the heart of matters. "Which commandment is first of all?"

This is an important question politely posed. Review the exchange. Jesus answers with the credo of Israel, "The first is this, 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one; 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.' The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." No teacher in Judaism had yet linked love of God and neighbor together in such a serious way. Love is the essence of religious living. The scribe agrees with Jesus, "You are right, Teacher; ... '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."

This was a new experience for Jesus, to receive a professional compliment. He judges the scribe's answer to be wise indeed. This scribe is an interesting fellow, a thinker. Jesus closes the interview with an enigmatic comment, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." Just what that means is far from certain. The word far can be interpreted literally or figuratively. It can mean that the scribe is not far in terms of his spiritual distance from God or it can mean he is standing right near the kingdom present in the words and actions of Jesus. Jesus just leaves the comment hanging in the air as if inviting or anticipating some future response.

Do you suppose the scribe ever became a disciple of Jesus at some future time? We are so used to thinking of the scribes as opponents of Jesus that we can tend to think of them as the bad guys. They were a mixed group of highly trained teachers who functioned as the custodians of the juridical and theological heritage of Israel. Most of them lived on subsidies from pupils or patrons just as Jesus was subsidized by the wealthy Joanna among others. Only the temple scribes were paid out of the temple treasury. Some were ambitious, some covetous, some inadequate, but the majority pursued their ministries faithfully. They were a mix just like the clergy in any age.

It just could be that this scribe was open to giving Jesus a fuller hearing. Something touched him in the conversation. We know that some later disciples came from the ranks of the pharisaic scribes. The Apostle Paul and his companion Barnabas, the Levite, are notable examples. The organization of Matthew's teaching and traveling pastors certainly resembles a school of scribal teachers.

Of course this scribe wasn't ready to make a big leap. Many of us have difficulties making a full leap of faith. We all have questions. Let our scribe be an example. Grab onto Jesus at whatever point you can and keep on working it out in your own mind. And keep on asking questions. This was not a trick question posed to Jesus. It was genuine and serious. The scribe was open to give a thoughtful ear to what Jesus had to say. Isn't this the basis of any sort of civil discourse, openness to dialogue in the midst of disagreement? Such openness is in danger of going into eclipse today. Too many adhere to fixed ideological positions. Extremists on all sides of some of the burning public issues shout at each other and hurl invectives. Trashing those who disagree substitutes for the thoughtful facing of real issues in much political discourse.

Jesus and the scribe could agree on the priority of loving God and neighbor. There was much more to discuss. What does it mean to love God and who is the neighbor? Why did Jesus just terminate the conversation with that enigmatic comment? "You are not far from the kingdom of God." One answer as good as any is to say that there are some things that cannot be fully explained by words alone. Someone once asked the noted ballerina, Pavlova, what she meant by a certain dance. She answered, "If I could explain it, I would not have to dance it." We know that Jesus had already decided that he would have to dance it out come what may. Remember that the rejection of Jesus was also a rejection of all those to whom he ministered. Through his own ministry he had redefined love as active caring and crashed through every ethnic, cultic and gender barrier that separated people. He knocked down all the litmus tests set down by piety to indicate who was in and who was out. The crucifixion was the human "No!" to the lived out answers of Jesus. The resurrection was the Divine "Yes!"

But we are not quite through with this interchange between Jesus and the scribe. Both Matthew and Luke record it, but Mark's version carries a subtle twist. Recall the scribe's response to the answer of Jesus. "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." Jesus accepted this as a wise answer. The words of the prophet Hosea ring in this answer. "For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings."

What do these words tell us? Simply this, living for God and neighbor in the world is more important than what we do inside the church building. Or phrase it another way, the work of the church is more important than church work. The great issues of love and justice take priority over ritual and housekeeping. The great flaw of the devout legalists in the time of Jesus was that they tended to major in minors. That became a problem in the early church also when some preachers wanted to reintroduce a host of cultic requirements into the Christian life. Perhaps Mark reported this conversation just the way he did to remind the members of his community of the great priorities.

Back in the decade of the '50s Gibson Winter wrote a book titled The Babylonian Captivity of the Church. He argued that Protestants tended to substitute chores inside the church building for the greater service to God in the world. That tendency still persists. During the '60s the great issues of social justice surfaced in our society with a corresponding rejection on the part of many of the institutional life of the church. Some proclaimed the demise of the local parish. Attendance at chapel services declined in many seminaries. Preaching went out of fashion for a while. The world not the church institution was where the action was. Then came the '70s and '80s and many turned inward and we Christians began to do our Jesus thing inside the church while outside the world went its wild way.

Anyway, here we are moving into the '90s. Yes, the prophets of the '60s were correct. The great issues of love and justice in the world have their unique priority. The great commandment is the most important, what goes on inside the church is less important. Jesus did not challenge the scribes on this. But mark this, being less important does not mean unimportant. If the Christian presence is to be visible and ongoing that requires institutionalization and that means chores and tasks that have to be done. As for "whole burnt offerings and sacrifices," ritual and worship in our lingo, they are not unimportant. John Calvin referred to the regular and disciplined worship services of the church as given by God "as aids to our infirmity."

Think of the making of a marriage. Love is the priority. But what renews love? Fidelity renews love. Countless little remembrances renew love. The celebration of special days like anniversaries renews love. These little rituals renew and sustain the larger relationship. So it is with ritual and worship in the church. These are not the ends of our obedience. Their important function is to nourish us for the ministry of love and justice in the world at large.