Deuteronomy 6:1-9
Mark 12:28-34
Swimming in God
In our readings today, we hear the well-known verses on the two greatest commandments. The first, from Deuteronomy 6: Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. And to this, Christ adds: Love your neighbor as yourself.” This morning, I want to focus on the first commandment, originally found in Deuteronomy 6, and then later quoted by Christ in Mark 12.
The verse from Deuteronomy is important, both in Christianity and in Judaism. In the Jewish tradition, it’s the basis of a prayer called the Shema. The Shema is a foundational prayer, one of the most important prayers for Jews.

Shema, Yisrael. Adonai Elohenu, Adonai Ehad.
Hear, O Israel, The Lord our God, the Lord, is One.

This last word is what I want to focus on here. “Ehad.” Ehad means “is one.” God is One. Now, this is very important. There are a couple ways to think about this. It means, of course, “There is one God,” as opposed to many gods. Many non-Jewish religions of ancient times worshipped multiple gods. But, there is another aspect of this, another nuance of “God is One. The Lord is One.” And this is the idea that there is nothing outside of God. “God is One” is a statement of totality. The whole thing, the totality of everything, is God. There is nothing separate. There is nothing outside of this reality, the reality that is God. It is all One.
Usually, when we think of one, then that implies two. If we say there is one apple on the table, then that means that there could be two apples on the table. But this One is different. This One is just One. There is no Two.
So, God is One, and that means there is nothing outside of God and nothing bigger than God. God is here, and everywhere. And the important thing this means for us, then, is that we are not separate from God. In fact, it is impossible for us to be separated from God. When we realize this, we realize freedom. For example, we can be free from fear, because there is no possibility of being separate or alone or isolated. In God we live, and move, and have our being. Nothing is outside of this totality. Nothing is separate from this totality.
To illustrate this, think about fish. Fish are swimming around in water. A fish lives in water, swims in water, pulls water into its gills, water is flowing through it. A fish is never separated from water, (unless it gets caught! It’s not perfect metaphor. But no metaphor is perfect.) There is no easy way to explain this. In fact, trying to describe God in words is an old problem. Words are not adequate. Even the word “God” is a problem. It is overused and somehow cheapened. Just because we can easily say the word “God,” we think we understand what God is. In the Jewish tradition, the word is unpronounced, unspoken. But like fish in water, in the same way, we live in God, we are swimming around in God, and God is flowing through us, we are never separated from God.
Now, a person might feel separated. But this is simply a mistake. It’s a delusion. There are many things that can create this feeling of separation. Resentment, anger, envy, greed and desire, selfishness, hatred. These thoughts and feelings create a sense of isolation. A person might feel cut-off from God. But it’s not true. The person is not actually separate, not actually cut-off. The problem is that negative, afflictive emotions are like wearing a blindfold. The person cannot see. It’s like a fish who doesn’t know he is swimming in water.
At first, this might simply be an idea. Oh, yeah, that’s a nice idea. It’s all One. God is One. There is no separation. But the experience of this oneness is much more than an idea. It is the experience of coming home. Like the prodigal son, lost, starving, suffering, living on the scraps fed to pigs, so miserable, until one day, he woke up and realized, “I could just go home.”
We are already home. We are not separated from God. And so, this is the invitation. We are invited to consider this text: The Lord is One. Think about it this week. Contemplate these words “God is One” and see where it leads you. We are invited to experience this Oneness as a living reality, right here and now. Amen? Amen.