1 What Matters Most?

Sermon Title: What Matters Most? Scripture: Mark 12:28-34

We all struggle with certain questions. Some of these are a part of our current series: God Questions: ’ Answers To Six Big Questions… One of the biggest questions that we struggle with is today’s sermon title: What Matters Most???

So, what does matter most in life? There are many, many really important things in life… but, which one of these things matters the most? How are we to know what should matter most in life? What helps us decide this? What or who helps us figure out what should matter most?

If we look back over our lives, I think we’ll find our age or our particular season of our life influences the way we answer this question. When I was 5, the most important thing was whether or not I was going to get candy or a toy when we went to the store. At 12, the most important thing was having the right clothes and shoes weighed heaviest on my heart. At 18, it was getting into the right college At 25, it was getting married, although it still took a few more years… If we look back over the particular seasons of our lives, I’m sure you could make your own list of things…

We all answer this question very differently, and even through the answer to what matters most varies with our particular season of life, there are some very common answers among Americans. For many folks, having a good job that pays well and brings them satisfaction matters the most. 2 What Matters Most?

Others indicated that financial security matters most, while others noted things like having good health, or our loved ones matter most in our lives.

With all these various answers, and it seemingly shifting over time and as we grow older, we are left with a very tough question to answer: What Matters Most? Here’s the thing about all the things on the list above, a good job, financial security, good health, loved ones, and a plethora of other things… Here’s the thing about those… They are all tentative, temporary, and easily lost.

As Christians, we have a way to find the answer to this question.

The first place Christians have to look when trying to answer What Matters Most, is the life and teachings of Jesus. We have to search the scripture to see what mattered most to Jesus. We have to look at the life of , we have to read what He said and see how He lived.

In today’s scripture, and in the verses before it, some people, some very smart and well-studied people called scribes, who were experts in the biblical laws and commandments, they were asking Jesus many questions, and then one gets brave enough to ask Him this question. I imagine the scribe asked him something like this: “Alright smart guy, out of all of the 613 laws that God has given us… Which one is the most important? Which one, which commandment matters the most?”

The legal experts were trying to trip Jesus up. They wanted Him to say something wrong, to say something blasphemous so they could have Him arrested… But Jesus answered with something that many of probably know quite well, and the legal experts certainly knew it well because they said it everyday… 3 What Matters Most?

Jesus replied to them: (Show Greatest Commandment Slide) “The most important one is Israel, listen! Our God is the one Lord,​ ​and you ​ must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being, with all your mind, and with all your strength.”

This would have been enough to shut the mouths of these questioning scribes. This was part of the Shema​ and every faithful Jewish person ​ would have said it multiple times throughout the day. But, Jesus didn’t stop there, He also adds an important second part: (Show Second Part Slide) The second is this, You will love your neighbor as yourself​. No other ​ ​ commandment is greater than these.”

To love God and to love Neighbor.

Did you notice what Jesus didn’t say… He didn’t say all the things that we as 21st century Americans usually say are most important. He said nothing about career success, wealth, a big house, fame, power, patriotism, or anything like these…

When we look to Jesus to help us answer today’s question, What Matters Most?, He gives us a pretty clear answer: (Show What Matters Most Slide) What Matters Most According to Jesus: “To Love God with everything that we are and then to love our neighbor”

On the surface, it seems like a pretty easy thing to do… but, when we begin to really think about, we realize just how complicated love really is…

So, how do we know how to do this? How do we know how to love God with all our heart, all our being, all our mind, and all our strength, and then, 4 What Matters Most? to love our neighbors as ourselves, which is another way of saying, love other people as God loves us.

Again, we have to look at the life of Jesus… He didn’t just say these words, He lived by what He said.

We have to ask ourselves, “What does it mean to live in a way that says and shows we love God?”

Jesus shows us how to love God by who He welcomes and accepts, those who the fine and upstanding religious folks rejected and despised… He shows us how to love God by caring for those in need without expecting anything in return and without any strings attached…, such as expecting them to attend your or making them listen to a sermon or some other type of proselytization.

The most important thing in Jesus’ life, His love for God is seen in the way we interacted with others. He loved God with everything that he was, and showed the world just how much he loved God by the way he loved others.

A friend of mine once talked about an observation he made while visiting some of his church members at the nursing home. He asked a group of people how many boxes it would take for them to pack up all the things they owned… He gave them a few moments to try to take a mental count…

And then he said, of all the folks I’ve visited in the nursing home, I’m pretty sure that everything they owned, everything they had with them could fit into one box. They had a few photos of their family, pictures drawn by the grandkids or great-grandkids, their favorite book, their , a few other small things… The most important things that they possess...

5 What Matters Most?

He then said, “It’s funny, we spend most of our time filling our lives with all kinds of things, some good, some bad, some helpful, some harmful, some that reflect our love of God, and some that are just the opposite... But you know what… There will come a time when we have to decide what is more important… There will come a time when God is going to ask us to take an inventory of what we are putting in our box and ask us, “Is this what Jesus taught? Is this how Jesus lived?”

Right now, God is asking us to take an inventory of what we have made the priorities of our life… If it’s not matching the life and teachings of Jesus, God is asking us to take it out of the box and replace it.

That’s a pretty tough request because the things we put in that box are special and dear to us… Church, there is a reason I am a Methodist. As Methodists, we don’t believe God asks us to do the tough things of and then just leaves us to struggle to do it on our own… No, we believe that the Holy Spirit, is constantly helping us with it. We believe that God is constantly helping us to grow to become more like Jesus, and we believe that God is constantly helping us grow in our relationship with Jesus.

The good news is this, even though Jesus gave us some lofty goals to strive for and to accomplish, He didn’t leave us to do it on our own.

Right here, right now, the Holy Spirit is with you and in you. God will help you fill your box with what matters most.