Reverend Ray Osborne, Senior Minister
Please Note That Most Messages Follow
The Revised Common Lectionary

I remember as a young boy picking daisies. I’d think of the most beautiful girl I knew, and I’d begin plucking the petals off very methodically and very purposefully. "She loves me; she loves me not. She loves me; she loves me not." I would continue this process down to the very last petal. Hopefully it ended with "She LOVES ME!"

According to our Gospel lesson this morning - Jesus doesn’t need a daisy in order to determine our love for Him. Jesus has even a stranger way of knowing our love for Him.

Read it with me:

"Those who love me will become a member of my Church." Is THAT what He says?

"Those who love me will be Baptized from head to toe." Is THAT what He says?

"Those who love me will serve me by holding a position of leadership in a local Church." I don’t believe that’s what He says either.

Nor does Jesus tell us that we prove we love Him by how many things we do in the name of Christianity, nor how many acts of kindness we perform.

Jesus leaves no room for theological debate here. He leaves no room for the argumentation over boundaries. There are no gray areas. Plainly, simply, and most directly Jesus boldly says:

"If you love me you Will - Keep - My - Word."

The story is told of an aged man who was dying and wanted to see a minister. Having not been a "regular attendee" in any church, the daughter called the local minister and explained her father’s certain fate.

In about thirty minutes the minister arrived at the man’s home. Customarily the minister would read a passage of Scripture with those who were close to death but realized he had left his Bible at the Church.

The minister turned to the daughter, "I seem to have left my Bible back at the Church do you have one I can borrow?"

"I think mine is out in my car Reverend. I’ll go get it while you visit with Dad a while."

The minister walked into the dark room and saw the mere skeleton of a man lying in one of those hospice beds in the middle of the living room.

Slowly he walked up to the bed, placed his hands on the rail and leaned over to speak in the man’s ear.

"Mr. Atkins? I am Reverend Jones from First Church. Your daughter called me and informed me that you wanted to see a minister. What is it that I can do for you?"

In a voice that was failing and weak, Mr. Atkins spoke:

"Reverend, I ain’t never been much of a church going man. I went ever once and a while. Lots of what the preachers said made me angry and so I decided it was more Christian of me to stay home than to go and get mad."

Mr. Atkins daughter returned with her "Bible" and handed it to Reverend Jones. It appeared to have been used so much most of it had fallen out and missing.

Handing it back to the daughter, Reverend Jones whispered: "That’s okay I’ll make due." Reverend Jones knew a lot of Scripture from memory and was fairly confident he could at least make it through the 23rd Psalm.

"Mr. Atkins would you like for me to share some Scripture with you? I seem to have forgotten my Bible but I know a lot of verses by heart."

"Yes Preacher. That would be plum nice of ya. My Bible’s over there on the mantle. Honey get the Preacher my Bible."

As the daughter handed Reverend Jones her Father’s Bible, he noticed it was a lot like the daughter’s. It appeared like Mr. Atkins had used his Bible a lot too.

"Boy, Mr. Atkins you must read your Bible a lot! It’s so used the pages have fallen out. I think you’ve taught your daughter well too! Her Bible is just like yours."

"Well Preacher I am proud of my daughter. She has turned out fine - just fine!"

"Mr. Atkins why didn’t you buy a new Bible or at least save the pages from this one?"

"Truth is Preacher, I tore out the parts I couldn’t agree with and this is what’s left."

Do you notice in that story first the smallness of Mr. Atkins Bible? Do you also notice that his daughter turned out just like he did?

Jesus said: "I will know that you love me when you keep my word." But how much of it are we too keep? All of it!

In the first pastoral letter of John we find even more support for this idea of being obedient to the Word of God and Jesus.

"My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

Now by this we may be sure that we know him, if we obey his commandments. Whoever says, "I have come to know him, " but does not obey his commandments, is a liar, and in such a person the truth does not exist; but whoever obeys his word, truly in this person the love of God has reached perfection. By this we may be sure that we are in him:"

Discipleship, true Discipleship cannot exist outside the realm of obedience. If we are going to be Disciples of Jesus then we MUST be obedient to HIS Word.

Think about all the busyness of our lives for a minute. Actually more appropriately asked, think about the content of our lives. With all of the "stuff" in our lives, how much of that "stuff" is "stuff" relating to Jesus?

I venture to say that when we unpack all our baggage, we will soon discover how little we actually have in our lives that pertains to God and His Son, Jesus. Take away Sunday morning worship and many will find that there IS nothing else in their life that has to do with God and with Jesus.

Whenever I call a motel to make a reservation I have three very specific needs that must be met if I am to actually make that reservation. The room MUST be a "Non-Smoking" room. There MUST be a coffee maker in the room, and I MUST have a newspaper delivered to my room. When I travel THOSE amenities make my life on the road a lot more tolerable.

Jesus asks us this question this morning - "What is your treasure?" When we unpack the busyness of our lives, I think we might be shocked to actually see what those treasures are.

For some it’s wealth. For others it’s prestige. For others - being seen. For others - feeling good. For others - sports. For others - music. For others - family. For others - academics. For others - reading, golfing, eating, and the list goes perpituitously. Remember Jesus says to us "Where your treasure is your heart will be also." We would probably want to sound righteous and holy this morning and say "My treasure is none of those things. My treasure is God, or Jesus." But is that really a truthful answer?

Our actions tell the world what our treasure is. Our actions tell Jesus what our treasure is. Wouldn’t it be nice if it really was our relationship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit?

Jesus says to you "Do you love me?" "If you truly do you will keep my Word."

As we pray this morning, perhaps we ought not pray for easy lives; but pray to be stronger people. Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers; pray for powers equal to your tasks. Then the doing of your work and the obedience of His Word shall be no miracle, but you shall become a miracle. Every day you shall wonder at the richness of life which has come to you by the grace of God.

Amen.

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