We make choices all the time. They range from the trivial (what shall I have for breakfast) to the profound (will I marry this person). Some are so easy to make we don’t even notice ourselves doing it, some we agonize over for days or months.
How do we make that choice, how we reach the decision that we come to? Are we free to make the choice based on our own desires or feelings, or is it being imposed on us by external forces or other people? Countless novels have been written, taking just one example, about that question in relation to the decision to get married. At the another extreme, every time we drive along the highway we decide how fast to go, and do we always obey the speed limit?
Psychologists tell us some people are naturally rule followers, the idea of breaking a rule makes them feel uncomfortable. Others are the opposite – not necessarily seeking to break the law, but always pushing the boundaries of what is acceptable or the limitations of what is feasible in some way. These people may be characterized as rule breakers.
What about the scribe in today’s Gospel story? The scribes and the Pharisees were pretty much obsessed with following the rules. Much of their effort went into defining and refining the rules in ever more detail so they could be sure the were following them – because these rules, these laws, were an expression of what God expects of us, how he wants us to behave. If we really figure that out, what more do we need to know. We have the way to make our choices.
Somehow in practice it was never quite that easy. There were always circumstances that didn’t quite fit, new considerations that had to be taken into account. Jewish rabbis were entrusted to guide people through all this complexity.
Many of the accounts we hear of Jesus reproaching the scribes and Pharisees are cases of them trying to get Jesus tangled up in that process. But today’s story is different (Mk 12:28b-34). This scribe is somehow on the same wavelength as Jesus. Despite his initial question, which seems at first like one of those nitpicking arguments that so frustrated Jesus, he is looking for something deeper.
His question goes back to the exact dichotomy set up Deuteronomy when Moses says: here are the rules, and love God with all your heart (Dt 6:2-6). These instructions are not necessarily in conflict – but which is really driving us, our choices and our decisions. The inclination of the scribes and Pharisees was to say follow the rules and the rest will take care of itself. Many Christians have been tempted to say the same, certainly those in positions of authority. But Jesus tells us that love comes first. Somehow the scribe in the story had come to the same conclusion.
I’m sure the scribe didn’t go around breaking all the rules, but he understood that keeping the rules wasn’t the answer to living a good life. When we decide what to do, however trivial or important it may be, the foundation for our decision must be love. God asks us to follow our heart, to choose based on what is inside us, not what is imposed from outside. When we achieve true holiness those will become the same thing. Then we will have understood what God is asking of us. In the meantime we have to struggle with the choices, but we should start with love.