Polarization, Fair and Balanced

Rabbi Jesus, when asked which was the greatest commandment, quoted the Torah, from Deuteronomy. “Love the Lord, thy God, with all thy heart, soul and strength.” Then he balanced the equation with the second, “Love thy neighbor as thyself”. The translated connector in Matthew’s account is that the second is “like unto it”, which I believe means that the two are linked. What is the consequence of un-linking them?

Our life in America projects an imbalance, associated with the failure to recognize and worship God. Without His presence and authority, people fall back on themselves as they assume the mantle of lawgiver and arbiter of all things, with predictable consequences. You can’t build a republic or a life on “it’s all about me”. Or, alternatively, to avoid the raging tyranny of the ego, some may exalt their neighbor in whatever form is most appealing to them (child, woman, man, the poor, the sick, the imprisoned). Here, again, God’s will is not sought as framed by the “greatest” commandment. They either serve themselves or others of their choosing, not with reference to God. A final group of the lost, are those who aspire to serve God only, avoiding contact or communion with God’s creation. They are mystics, who, in their hunger for God, may exhibit dry asceticism, divorced from creation, selfish and ego centered. In all these cases, the equation which Jesus expounded is out of balance.

We can see this in both secular and religious society today. In the secular it is expressed daily in the wrangle that politics has become. One party declares ardently that the overriding value is to care for the poor and their needs, (damn it!). The other party declares a stronger adherence to the structure than to the people, making the “rights” of each neighbor sacrosanct, (damn it!). At issue is the worldliness of both formulations. One to the individual without reference to God and the other to the power relations without reference to God. Without grounding in and focus on God, as expressed in the greatest commandment, we are at sea, rudderless. Lost. This is the blessing of our founding principles and their declaration. Placing the country and is principles under God is key. Remove that foundation block and the system breaks down.

In the religious realm imbalance is also indemic: legalists devote themselves to the structure of the law while sentimentalists devote themselves to the “needs” of their brothers and sisters. One is rigid, linear and logical, even left-brained. The other is affective and heartfelt, even right-brained. The church that attends closely to the balance is pleasing to God.

Repentance (not confession, but turning to God) is the prophetic plea for the ages. Even though personality preferences may attract people to one congregation or another, God-centered care for the poor in God’s way works.

In Jesus’ formula, balancing out the self and its insatiable needs is achieved by subordinating the self, at first principle, to God. Repent! is a command. Then, in the equality of God’s created order, under which all things are subordinated, neighbor love and self love may be in balance. All needs are sacred in God’s sight, not just those of yours or of selected and favored groups. The structure of power relationships becomes clearer, also.

You’ve heard it before. Time to hear it again. Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand.