Jesus’ Priority: What Matters Most?

This week we continue our new sermon series on “How to Be a Christian in 7 Easy Steps.” Over the course of these several weeks, we will explore the core of our faith in what I hope will be an empowering, uplifting, and inclusive way of looking at our Christian theology. As a congregation that is both theologically and socially progressive, this will be an exploration that seeks to broaden our understanding of God’s unending love rather than restricting our ideology to a select few.

When I used to work in the corporate world, we would sometimes – perhaps often – get together for trainings on organization and prioritization. Chiefly, our inspiration or guide was author and speaker Stephen R. Covey. Perhaps you too have seen the video where Covey has a large glass jar representing the finite amount of time we each have. He then fills it with sand, some small rocks, and then some large rocks. Of course, it all won’t fit.

But when he shifts the order, the result is different. He starts with the larger rocks (representing our biggest priorities), followed by the smaller rocks (representing those things that are less urgent and still important), and finally the sand (representing the smallest things and sometimes even distractions). Everything fits!

This Sunday, we will explore what is most important about or faith as Christians.

Mark 12:28-34
²⁸One of the legal experts heard their dispute and saw how well Jesus answered them. He came over and asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?”

²⁹Jesus replied, “The most important one is Israel, listen! Our God is the one Lord, ³⁰and you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being, with all your mind, and with all your strength. ³¹The second is this, You will love your neighbor as yourself. No other commandment is greater than these.”

³²The legal expert said to him, “Well said, Teacher. You have truthfully said that God is one and there is no other besides him. ³³And to love God with all of the heart, a full understanding, and all of one’s strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself is much more important than all kinds of entirely burned offerings and sacrifices.”

³⁴When Jesus saw that he had answered with wisdom, he said to him, “You aren’t far from God’s kingdom.” After that, no one dared to ask him any more questions.

Consider these questions:

• When it comes to our faith, what’s most important? What are our faith priorities?
• Does our current culture reflect these priorities?
• What might change if our culture did reflect these priorities?