Well done good and faithful servant--a memorial service for Gene Reeves

We gather this afternoon to worship God and celebrate the life of Gene Reeves

It’s hard to see him go, but he made this a very easy sermon to preach.  Today you get three messages.  I am the most recent pastor and will speak to what I know of Gene.  Jim knew Gene before any of us up here and I know there is no way that Duawn could have been untouched by this faithful servant of God.

They can tell the stories of mismatched boots and golf tournaments or snow angels or Gene Reeves stories that I have yet to hear.  I expect to learn something new about this wonderful man before we wrap up today.

I ask that everyone who can get their hands on a red hymnal, turn to page 657.  In a few moments, we are going to sing this.  You’re thinking, I thought the family got to pick the music.

Well, Gene picked this one.  When you see Sunday and Wednesday worship from my perspective, you see a lot of different faces during the singing of the hymns.

Some folks have a little smile.  Some look like they are back in high school algebra and the bell just won’t ring.  And then there was Gene.

I could always count on Gene to have a big smile when we sang this song.  He was singing.  He was smiling.  He was the epitome of making a joyful sound unto the Lord.

And then Gene couldn’t talk or sing and had to walk around with that towel in his mouth.  I’m sure he couldn’t stand it.  It hurt me to have to see him that way, but then we would sing this song and Gene couldn’t sing but I could see him clapping with the heels of his hands.

It was a clap you couldn’t hear, but it was heard in heaven.  Gene’s heart and his hands were singing, I will enter his gates with thanksgiving in my heart.  I will enter his courts with praise.

Let’s sing number 657 together.  If you don’t have a hymnal and don’t know the words, just clap the heels of your hands together and smile like your worship is pleasing to God.

I couldn’t stand to see Gene with that towel in his mouth.  I knew he loved to talk and he didn’t have that joy in his last days.  Sometimes, when he could still talk, he would stop by in the afternoon on his way to somewhere else or just to come see me.

Our conversation always started the same way:  Got coffee?

I would answer:  Yes, but it’s been on a while.

Gene would head down the hall and return with a little Styrofoam cup of coffee and a smile on his face ready to update me on anything of local or international importance.

I would offer that the coffee was at the point when it was probably a 30-weight consistency.

Gene would smile and take a big drink and commence whatever he had to talk about drinking that coffee like it was fresh brewed gourmet blend.

You also knew when Gene had been in the building.  There would be a trail of mud from the front door to my office and usually to the coffee machine and back.  At least, I think it was mud.  He had surely come from the pasture.  I don’t know that Gene ever had an office job in his life.  He was always coming from his barn or his pasture of some point in between.

I was sure that Gene was going to get me fired.  I was sure of it.  He wanted to do the children’s sermon.  He explained what he was going to talk about and after he explained it to me, I was positive I was getting fired that very Sunday.

What are you going to do?  It’s Gene Reeves and he wants to talk to the kids.

Sunday came and I still wasn’t sure what he talked about with the kids.  I was positive that it was going to be my last Sunday though.

After the service, I talked to some of the kids, and they gave me the most succinct thoughts on what they had learned that morning.  I don’t remember what Gene talked about.  I think it was Noah and combines and harvest and broken parts.  I’m not sure but the kids were telling me about how much God loved them.

And then there was Route 66.  Gene made the analogy because there are 66 books in the Bible.  I got that but he lost me with the rest of the analogy about how many books were in the Old and New Testaments and how somehow there was this comparison, but Gene was using a different road atlas than I had.

So here’s the deal on that.  Reeves kids and grandkids, somebody is going to have to find out the whole story and be able to retell it.  That’s on you.

I have grown accustomed to having Patsy fix my tie during First Light.  I don’t wear a robe or a sports jacket during that service, but I’m not fully dressed until Patsy fixes my tie.

The morning after an elder retreat a few years ago—and we started those when Duawn was here—that morning at First Light Patsy, didn’t grab my tie.  She grabbed me by the front of my shirt and got in may face and said:  The next time I am supposed to make something to eat, you tell me and not Gene.

Everyone always brought something to eat to the retreat but only Gene had kept that information secret until the morning of the event.

Gene was our session clerk forever.  He only relinquished that duty less than 2 years ago.  Gene used to give his written notes to Patsy to type until his last few years he would give them to Laci.

Sometimes, nobody could figure out what he wrote.  His penmanship was pretty good but sometimes the sentences just didn’t make sense.

One time we were trying to make out one of those sentences.  It appeared that the session had voted to purchase a space shuttle with a manual transmission and park it on the 3 acres to our east.  That wasn’t exactly it, but close enough.  Eventually, we figured out that the session had voted to buy a fire extinguisher for the van.

Here’s the thing.  We had two or three sentences to figure out each year when the minutes were typed but what was amazing was that the session would have a 15-20-minute discussion about something we had to wrestle with and Gene would manage to record the essence of this conversation into one very succinct sentence.  It was utter brilliance.

One time, Gene couldn’t be there for the session meeting so I took the notes and after the meeting I typed them into a document and attached it to an email to Patsy.  Gene got the copy of the notes and handwrote them on his yellow legal pad so we still had to decipher them at the end of the year.

Some of you might be thinking, shouldn’t the preacher throw in a Bible verse or two?  I can’t settle on just one or two. 

Gene ran the good race, the fought the good fight, he kept the faith.  Now there is in store for him a crown of righteousness.

OBTW—there’s one waiting on you as well, if you have professed Jesus as Lord and faithfully run you race.

I can’t leave you with just Paul’s letter to Timothy, I need to give you some of the Master’s words as we celebrate Gene’s life.

The tenth verse of the tenth chapter of John’s gospel gives us these words.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

I think Gene heard this verse long ago—the Lord Jesus Christ talking about abundant life—and I think Gene said, “I’ll take me some of that!”  I don’t think he ever looked back from that point forward.

Gene knew that abundant life was watching kids and grandkids and great grandkids doing all manner of things, telling stories, and even trying to repair some machine that should have been retired a decade or two ago.  Abundant life was preparing for the Sunday school lesson.  Abundant life was dumping gutted material from this old building into a ditch and coming back for another load.

But when I think of Gene Reeves, I think of the Parable of the Talents.  If you are here on a regular basis, then you hear this parable at least twice a year.  I love this parable.

A certain man had three servants and was about to go on a long journey.  He trusted the first servant with 5 talents of money, the second with two, and the third with one.  He had given to each servant in accordance with their abilities.  Then he left for a long time.

The first servant put his talents to work immediately and made 5 more.

The second servant likewise put his talents to work right away and made 2 more. 

The third servant was afraid and hid his talent in the ground.

When the master returned, the first servant gave his account.  You gave me 5 and see I have gained you 5 more.

The second servant had a similar report.  You gave me two and see I have earned you two more.

The third servant came with his report as well, leading with his excuses for having buried his talent in the ground.  I know that you were a hard man and harvested when you didn’t even plant, and I was afraid.

The master said, “Oh you poor thing.  I’m sorry I put this burden of trust on you.”  NOT!

He said you wicked lazy servant.  All you had to do was put the money in the bank and at least you would have a little interest to show for this minimal effort.

Take the talent from him and give it to the one with the ten talents.  When Jesus told this parable, I’m sure the people remembered the proverb.  The wealth of the wicked is stored up for the righteous.

Now back to the first two servants.  You heard their reports.  Now hear their master’s reply.

Well done, good and faithful servant.  You have done well with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things.  Now, come and share your master’s happiness.

Of all the people whom I know that are trying to live out their salvation and their faith with fear and trembling—as the most important thing that you do, Gene had to be at the top of that list.

He had heeded the counsel of the psalmist and learned to number his days, know that tomorrow is not promised.  Eternity is our promise but tomorrow in these bodies on this earth is not.

Gene’s tomorrows stopped coming last Saturday, but I know with certainty, he has heard these words.

Well done, good and faithful servant.

I’m sure he has been put in charge of many things just like in the parable, but I think the words that Gene is enjoying the most are Come and share your Master’s happiness.

Come and share your Master’s happiness.

As you think of Gene today and in the coming days and weeks, think of the words of our Master.

Come and share your Master’s happiness.

And keep these words on your lips.

I will rejoice for he has made me glad.

Amen.

The Way, the Truth, and the Life

Read John 14

Every Christian seems to love this sixth verse.

Jesus answered, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

We usually take it out of context and apply it to unbelievers, but before we begin, I hope you can see that this answer that Jesus gave to Thomas and to us is to believers, and perhaps to those truly seeking the truth.

Let’s jump backwards to chapter 8.  It begins with Jesus in the Temple Courts and the teachers of the law and the Pharisees bring a woman caught in adultery to him.  They want to see if he will comply with the Law of Moses and order her to be stoned. 

The law is the law, right?  What other choice did he have?

He could have dismissed the charge noting it takes two to tango and you brought only one.  The scripture says that she had been caught.  Her neighbors didn’t accuse her.  She was caught and that means there should have been a second party.

But Jesus does not take the legalistic and confrontational approach.  Instead he writes in the sand and says, “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.”

You know the story.  Oldest to youngest, rocks start hitting the ground and Jesus asks the woman who is left to condemn her.  She says, “No one sir.”

Jesus sends her on her ways saying, “Neither do I.  Go and sin no more.”

It’s a powerful story not only about the mercy of God but about those entrenched in the letter of the law who had totally forsaken the Spirit of God.  This ploy didn’t work, but the religious hierarchy still wanted to get Jesus, so they launched another verbal attack upon his authority.

Who is this guy who testifies about himself?  He can’t do that.  It’s not valid!

Jesus continued that he knew exactly what he was testifying to and who sent him.  This time Jesus threw the law back at the law keepers, noting that the testimony of two is valid.  Jesus said that he was one and his Father makes two.

This led to the question, “Just where is your father?”

Jesus answered, “You don’t know me and you don’t know my Father.  Where I am going you can’t go.”

The Pharisees surely wanted to seize him, but his time had not come.  This was a very public place and if you didn’t have your ducks in order, your passion to kill this man wouldn’t be enough at least for now.

Jesus confronted these Jews with the truth that they just would not see.  Unless they believe Jesus is who he says he is, they will die in their sins. Ouch!

The discussion continued and the Pharisees claimed righteousness in being Abraham’s children but Jesus reminded them that if they were Abraham’s children, they would not being determined to kill a man who told them the truth.

Let’s jump back to our scripture from John 14.  We will skip healing the blind man in chapter 9, and the Good Shepherd in 10, and Lazarus being raised from the dead in 11.

Ok, we won’t skip everything in that chapter.  I just can’t skip over verse 25 and 26.

Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?

The intervening chapters get us to this very intimate time that Jesus spent with his followers before he went to the cross.

We have arrived back where we started.

Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.  My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

We could take a rabbit trail down how this resembles a marriage proposal from ancient times, but that is for another day.  Today, let’s focus on the sentence that follows.

You know the way to the place where I am going.

Thomas answered, “We don’t know where you are going.”

Let’s think about this question and answer for just a moment.  Did Jesus say that you know where I am going?  No.  He did not.

He described his Father’s house and that he would prepare a place and come back and get these men when the time was right.  They couldn’t come now.

Thomas wanted the GPS coordinates, but Jesus told his followers that you know the way.

Jesus answered, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Jesus alone is the way to the Father.  Now understand that Jesus is talking to his own disciples.  He is talking to those who should have known.

These words that follow should be a little familiar.

If you really know me, you will know my Father as well.

Are these not the words that Jesus confronted the Pharisees and teachers with?  But, he is talking to his believers.  The one who would betray him has already departed to do his work.  He is talking to 11 men who followed him all over Judea, and Galilee, and even Samaria.  These were his disciples.

Listen to what he told them next.

From now on, you do know him and have seen him.

This is where Phillip jumped in.

Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.

I might paraphrase a bit here. 

Philip, where have you been the last three years.  Did you think that my teaching was something different that what the Father has to say?  Can you not see the Father living in me?

If you are that blind, at least consider the miracles that you have witnessed.  Those had to come from the Father.

I am in the Father and the Father is in me.  You have seen the Father!

Jesus continued telling Phillip and the others that they would do greater things than they had already witnessed if they kept their faith in him, if they continued in his way.  That should take us back to chapter 8 again.

To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

If you keep reading in John, you find the promise of the Holy Spirit and directions to continue following what Jesus taught and commanded.  Among the things he commanded, remember this one without fail.

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.

Understand that when Jesus said he was the way, the truth, and the life, he was speaking to his followers.  Those same words should speak to us now.

We don’t always seem to know the way.  Some days, things just seem really, really hard.  Sometimes we feel lost, not salvation lost, but navigating this world, lost.

The truth seems elusive.  Once upon a time there were two sides to every story.  Now, there are twenty-two sides to every story.  This truth that sets us free doesn’t seem to be out there, mainly because it’s not out there.

Sometimes, we even question this life.  Why am I alive?  Why am I here?  What’s up with this thing called life?  I have read The Purpose Driven Life and some other really cool books but life still has me befuddled.

We who have professed Jesus as Lord have a very direct answer.  Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.  Jesus is how we know the Father.  Jesus will come and collect us when the time is right, and we have a place prepared especially for us.

These words are for believers.  If you have to beat someone over the head with a Bible verse about Jesus being the only way to salvation, use Acts 4:12.

But understand that Jesus being the way, the truth, and the life are words given to those who already believe.  If you keep reading in John, Jesus prayed to his Father and noted that these followers have already been cleaned by the word the Father gave Jesus.

Why is this important?  We need to use these words not as a sword but as a mirror or sometimes as an invitation to the one who is truly seeking meaning in his or her life.  But they are not a sword for us to swing.  We ask ourselves. 

Am I seeking the way?

Am I seeking the truth?

Am I seeking real life from the One who is the resurrection and the life?

Am I seeking the Kingdom of God and his righteousness before everything else?

Am I seeking the guidance of the Spirit of the Living God that is so readily available?  Do I try to navigate this world on my own?

Am I seeking the full biblical witness that has been given to me or do I compartmentalize and seek only the parts that don’t disrupt my comfort zone?

Am I inviting or discouraging others with these words.

Jesus said, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

He is talking to those who already believe.  He is talking to us.

Everything we need starts and ends with Jesus.  Through Jesus we know the Father.  Through Jesus, we receive the Holy Spirit.  Through Jesus God’s word speaks to us like never before.  When we are at a loss as to what to do or where to turn or if something seems too tough to handle, turn to Jesus.

The author of Hebrews put it this way.

Keep you eyes fixed on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of your faith.

We have been talking about truth for some time now, but understand that we will not know truth apart from Jesus.  He is the only way to the Father.

He is the way, the truth, and the life.

Throw these words at an unbeliever and they are poorly translated subtitles on a foreign film.  These words are for us and for those hungry for the truth, and I remind us of that today because sometimes we lose track of that simple statement and insert our own ways, and our version of the truth, and our definition of life.

We end up entrenched in the own understanding part of Proverbs 3:5-6.

Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.  He is the only way we truly come to the Father.  We can look at creation and know there is a Creator.  We can read God’s word and follow his directions and do as well as the Pharisees.  

We try can.  No one has ever fully accomplished living by the law  except the One who came to fulfill the law.

But Jesus is the only way to God the Father.  Let’s not be distracted.  Let’s not get cut off in our race.  Let’s press on towards the goal knowing this simple statement.

Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life!

Sometimes the answers are just that simple.

Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life!

Amen!

Speaking the Truth in Love

Read Ephesians 4

It’s October.  Traditionally, that’s the start of the Federal Governments Fiscal Year.  Of course, funding an entire year at a time seems to be ancient history.  It is the beginning of our local church’s fiscal year.  Several years ago, we decided that we didn’t like budgeting at Christmas time and moved our budging process up to August with an effective date of 1 October.  It seems to be working.

The first Monday in October is still when the Supreme Court of the United States convenes.  That hasn’t changed.

October is sports month.  Baseball, basketball, football, hockey, golf, and others are all underway.  If you are a sports junkie, October is your best fix of the year.

October in Oklahoma is a month when not all of the days feel like summer.

October is also when we realize, man has this year flown by.

In the last several weeks of this fleeting year, we have been on this topical trek of truth and today’s alliteration comes at no extra charge.  We turn to Paul’s words to continue this journey.  We look at words used frequently with good intentions but often out of context.  What words?

Speaking the truth in love.

These words and this thought are good thoughts and perhaps should be applied beyond its original context, but let’s understand this context first.

Paul writes to the church in Ephesus.  He was not liked much in the community as his teaching cut into the business and profits of the makers of idols.  Ephesus had a fantastic temple to the goddess Diana or as she was known in Greek, Artemis.

Paul’s preaching here on his second and third missionary journeys accomplished much for the Lord but stirred up those who did not believe and were losing business when their false gods were labeled as false gods.

So Paul is writing to a church that he knows well from whatever abode he has as a prisoner in Rome.  Paul begins encouraging this church by reminding them how blessed they are in Christ.

In Christ we have been given every spiritual blessing.

We are chosen to be holy and blameless.

In Christ we are God’s adopted children.

In his blood we have redemption and the forgiveness of sins.

Our hope is in him.

We are sealed by him in the Holy Spirit.  We are his.

We are made alive in Christ.

We are raised up with Christ into the heavenly realm.

In Christ, we are God’s handiwork—his workmanship—prepared in advance to do good things.

We are joined together in Christ.

In him, Jew and Gentile alike become one body and share his promises.

In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.

We are called to be strong in him and in his mighty power.

Paul is writing to a church that he knows well.  He knows their struggles and the ungodly surroundings in which he planted this church.  So he does his best to remind them of the blessings that they have received in Christ Jesus.

But, he can’t leave them there.  There is counsel to follow on how to live being so blessed in an environment that opposes you.  So before the counsel begins, Paul includes a prayer.

 For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name.  I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,  so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,  and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,  to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Paul precedes his counsel with prayer, but here comes the counsel. The first challenge is very general.  Live a life worthy of the calling that you have received.

Then he adds some specifics.  Be humble, gentle, patient, and bear with one another.  Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit.

We are people of one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father who is all, and through all, and in all.

Don’t you get it?  We are one family—God’s family—in Christ.  We have different Gifts but we are one.  Elsewhere Paul discussed  gifts in the body and how one part of the body can’t say it’s better than another or that another is not needed.

But as he writes to the Ephesians, unity in the body is central to his message.  And so we come to this very familiar passage.

Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.  Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.  From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

Speaking the truth in love is about our own growth.  We talked before about speaking the truth to each other.  That is essential to the Christian life.  It is essential to following Jesus, but Jesus said that we who follow him will be known by our love.

So we who have professed Jesus as Lord must speak the truth in a spirit of love.  We don’t sugar coat anything but we are not motivated by anything but love.

Hey, Tom, you’ve been picking your clothes out by yourself lately haven’t you?

I guess that was in a spirit of love, or not.

We must speak the truth to each other and do it in a spirit of love.  What this means is that we can speak truthfully to each other even with subjects that are difficult to talk about.  We can do this because we are becoming mature in Christ.

It’s easy to say, you had better quit smoking.  Those things will kill you.  That’s a true statement but there’s not much love attached.  Perhaps we first address how important the person is to us and that we don’t want to lose them.

I am sometimes referred to as the mean guy when a family with four unemployed adults in the household comes to see me about helping with the water bill.  Sometimes we help and sometimes we don’t but once I say that somebody in the house needs to get a job, then I get labeled the mean guy.

Sometimes, I tell people that they don’t need the most modern smartphone when they can’t pay their electric bill or make their $700 a month car payment.  Maybe, you should trade down until you get an income that will support these things.

People start looking for the exit from my office and the church building quickly when I bring up the word budget.  But how can we truly practice love if we won’t address the obvious in people’s situations?

Among Christians, we must not permit an Elephant in the Room.  We can’t say we are going to help and ignore the problems.  Speaking the truth in love is about our maturity.  We can talk about real things openly and truthfully in a spirit of love.

When we can speak the truth with a spirit of love, we know that we are growing in his grace.  When we speak the truth without the spirit of love, we are often condescending or mean.

Too often we back off from the truth because we do not want to be accused of being judgmental; but we must understand that the judgment with which we are counseled to abstain is a condemning judgment.  We are being equipped to jump into the middle of difficult issues and problems.  We can really sort things out instead of dancing around issues out of fear.  Fear gets no purchase when we speak the truth in love.

Speaking the truth in love is a measure of how far we have come.

Paul continues the chapter with not living in our old ways, taking off the old self, and putting on the new self.  It’s all good counsel for all of us, but it’s hard to follow.  One indicator of whether we are living as this new creation is whether we can speak the truth in love.

If we haven’t gotten there already, let’s work on speaking the truth in love.  It’s about our growth and maturity in the body of Christ.

Now, you won’t find this in this letter, or maybe anywhere else, but consider this provocation.  If we speak the truth to one another as we are counseled to do and if we speak the truth in love, then we had better be prepared to hear the truth.  We don’t speak the truth in condemnation but in love, but we must be ready to hear the truth and let the Spirit and God’s holy word work on us after we have listened to those speaking to us in love.

Remember all of the blessings that we discussed earlier.  Rejoice in them.  Celebrate them and then ask, now what?  What do I do knowing I am so blessed?  How do I respond to all of these blessings?

Among other things, learn to speak the truth in love.  We are people of the truth.

Speak the truth in love.

Amen.

Day One or One Day?

Joshua 24:1-15

Joshua has led God’s Chosen People into the Promised Land.  It was victory after victory and God was making it easier than it should have been.  We are told God sent the hornet before them.  I don’t know if these were literally hornets preceding the infantry attack or just an overwhelming spirit of fear, but these were good days to be God’s people.

Some of you know what it’s like when you win a football game and you just own the other team.  Multiply that by a thousand and know what it’s like to overwhelm an enemy and stand victorious.

Joshua felt it important to remind God’s people of their history.  He takes them all the way back to Abraham and his father, Terah, who was an Armenian and worshiped other gods.  But God called them out of that land.

Then we see the lineage of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and Esau.  Esau’s people lived in the hill country.  Jacob’s line went to Egypt as his son, Joseph, rose to power and saved much of the world from famine.

Then there came a king in Egypt who did not remember Joseph and what he had done for the Egyptian people and God’s Chosen People were turned into slaves for over 400 years.

God heard their cries and sent Moses and Aaron to bring them out of captivity.  It wasn’t an easy job because the Egyptians insisted on doing everything the hard way.  Read Exodus for more on the plagues.  

But they came out with great possessions but hardly ready to receive what God had in store for them so they wandered 40 years in the wilderness.

But then the day came, when they would enter the Promised Land.  Joshua would lead them.  Tribes and nations would fold before them.  The wall of Jericho came tumbling down but the fear of God’s people had already infected anyone who thought they might fight to hold on to this land.

And so we come to this point in the story and Joshua has gathered all of the leaders of the people at Shechem.  He reviewed this history lesson with them.  It is still fresh on the minds of these people everything that God has done for them.  They have seen first hand the land promised to them long ago delivered.  It was theirs.

So Joshua issued a challenge.  He challenges us today as well.

Choose this day whom you will serve.

If you don’t think it should be the one true God, then choose a fake god.  You have seen the power of almighty God, but if that doesn’t suit your fancy, go with one of the fake ones.   It’s sort of like you have seen all of the evidence of what the Lord God Almighty can do but if you want to go make a god out of stone or wood, then nobody can say it better than Forrest Gump—Mamma always said, stupid is as stupid does.

But Joshua unequivocally states, as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.  As for me and my house we will serve the Lord.

Say that a few times.  As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

That should take care of us all, right?

Here is the deal.  We are creatures of habit.  If we do something 3 or 4 times, we start forming habits.  Do it 25 times and it’s a habit.  Let’s say 100 times, well, that’s a hard habit to break.

Some of you are being brought up with good habits.  The Proverb (22:6) says bring up a child in the way he or she should go and later on they will not depart from it.  It doesn’t mean that there won’t be some struggles sticking with the good habits but eventually, they will return and stay the course.

So, some of you are being brought up in the way you should go and some of you think all of this is a foreign language.  Man, I just don’t get all of this.

God’s Spirit is working on you and you know you need him, but you were not brought up this way.

For others, they have been learning worship and giving and love for each other for years.  Some of it seems new to you.  Much of it is not practiced in your household.

What do you do?

Choose this day whom you will serve, as for me and my house we serve the Lord.

Start saying, as for me and my house we serve the Lord.

You might be thinking, I don’ get to decide what the rest of my family does.  How can I say this?

Understand that as for me is a decision for you to live out today.

And my house is a commitment for your future.  One day it will be your responsibility to bring up your children in the way they should go.

Have you seen the little slogan that shows up on a lot of memes?  I love it.  

It says Day One or One Day?

Day one?

One day?

Commitment or procrastination?

I challenge you to make this Day One and commit yourselves to the Lord, but to remember that one day you will know the fullness of this commitment that you have made for yourself today.

Let’s use these words to help.

As for me and my house, we serve the Lord.

Amen!