God is Like a Caddy

‘God Is Like a Caddy’

Bible Stories You Should Know: 1. The Great Commandment

The Church of the Wayfarer

Norm Mowery, Pastor

March 16, 2014

Deuteronomy 6:4-6; Mark 12:29-31

            I had one of the most wonderful experiences of my life a week ago Friday.

          This experience was right up there with

                   my wedding day,

                   the days we adopted our children

                   and the day I was ordained.

          A week ago Friday I played golf at Pebble Beach thanks to the generosity of a couple that I married the next day.

          I never thought that I would ever play on this world famous course and it turned out to be a highlight of my life.

          I played a pretty good game—for me.

          I only hit three balls into the ocean. That was kinda fun, actually!

          I did not want the round to end.

          I told Linda later that if I died now it would be okay because I got to play Pebble.

(Pictures of Pebble Beach Golf Course)

          One of the reasons why I had as good a game as I did was because I had a caddy. His name was Gene and he was a delight.

          Gene knows that course like the back of his hand.

          Gene told me about the slope of the greens.

          Gene offered encouragement when I did poorly.

          Gene never got upset with my game—at least he didn’t show it. (He was probably laughing inside!)

          I tried to do what Gene told me to do even though it didn’t seem right. Sometimes I failed and the ball did not go where I wanted it to.

          One time I hit a wonderful drive into some very deep rough. There was no way that I could hit my ball out of that. I turned to Gene and asked, “What would a professional golfer do now? Would they hit the ball from here?”

          Gene replied, “Norm, a professional golfer would never be here!”

          O…kay!

          I picked up my ball and dropped it.

          My next shot was a great drive straight into the ocean! It felt so good!

          When I came back to my office to work on this sermon I said to myself, “You know what, Norm, God is like a Caddy.”

          God knows the course of life.

          God knows the lie of the greens.

          God knows where I should not drive my life.

          God tells me where to hit the ball—I just need to do it.

          God tells me where the sand traps are—I just need to stay out of them.

          God tells me which clubs I should use—I just have to use them properly.

          And that is why we have the Bible.

          Our Caddy, God, tells us how to play the game of life in our rule book.  In order to get our Caddy’s direction we need to read God’s book. There are certain Bible Stories we should know.

          This is the first of six messages I have titled:

                   Bible Stories You Should Know.

          Today’s Bible Story (you should know) is: The Great Commandment.

          What is the Great Commandment?

          It is---

                   “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart,

                             With all your being,

                             With all your mind,

                   And with all your strength…..

                   AND….

                   You will love your neighbor as yourself.”

          Jesus quoted this from the Torah—the Hebrew Scriptures.

          Jesus knew the scriptures.

          And, we need to know them, too.

          This is the Shema—the heart of the Hebrew Law.

          Training in godliness involves the 4-step fitness program outlined in the Shema:

Heart, Mind, Soul, Strength.

          No element of human existence is excluded from this training in faith.

          The exercises of the Shema allow no parts of our being to remain unattended.
          -- Does love of God permeate your heart, making every heartbeat keep pace with God's love for you?
          -- Does love of God inform your mind, making love the mainspring of all your thoughts?
          -- Does love of God fill your soul, making your every prayer an offering formed by love?
          -- Does love of God flow through the strength of your body, making your every step a step toward love in action?

          Wouldn't it be great if we were to love the Lord our God

                   with our heart (all our emotions),

                   our soul (all our spirit),

                   our mind (all our reason),

                   and our strength (all our body)?

          Wouldn't it be great if we could love God with all FOUR of these?

          God’s story of salvation is a big story, full of twists and turns, major players and minor characters.

          We are part of God’s salvation story, learning and applying the wisdom found in the Old and New Testaments, as well as understanding the grand themes of the Bible.

          Christians have long believed that God was at work before the coming of Christ and that what has gone before is important for what has been revealed. That is why we find the Greatest Commandment in both the New and Old Teataments.

          The Bible is a tremendous book, filled with commandments that tell us what to do and what not to do.

          It tells us how God, our Caddy, wants us to play the game of life. It’s simple:

          Love God.

          Love people.

          These are simple words that are challenging to apply yet are nevertheless an excellent guide.

          New Testament scholar Scot McKnight has gone so far as to label the Greatest Commandment the “Jesus Creed,” pointing out that Christians would benefit greatly by daily praying and reciting these word of Jesus.

          The setting here is that the experts of the Law were trying to trick Jesus. There was no love lost between this expert and the other scholars. The expert asked, “Jesus, what is the first commandment of all?”

          He knew and Jesus knew that this was a question that was long debated in rabbinic schools.

          For the answer Jesus took two great commandments and put them together.     The so called expert willingly accepted this, and went on to say that such a love was better than all sacrifices.

          There must have been a look of love in Jesus’ eyes and a look of appeal for the man to follow this law.

          It was like Gene, my Caddy, telling me what to do on the golf course and then waiting to see if I followed through and did it.

          Jesus must have felt like Michael Phelps’ trainer.       

          The swimmer Michael Phelps is the most decorated Olympian of all time. He's won 22 medals of which 18 were gold medals.

          Phelps says that his ability to perform under pressure is one of the key factors behind his success.

          From the age of eight, his coach, Bob Bowman, trained him to have a gold medal attitude, whatever the circumstances.

          Bowman would intentionally make life difficult for Phelps by,

                   rearranging training times at the last minute,

                   cancelling the transport which took him home,

                   hiding his water bottle so that he would have to swim thirsty and

                   treading on Phelps' swimming goggles before a race

                             so that he would have to swim without them.

          Bowman introduced Phelps to the formula:

E + R = O

(Event + Response = Outcome)

          No matter what happens in your life (E), you can change your response (R) to that event until you get the outcome (O) you want.

          Bowman wanted to see what impact these events (E) had on Phelps attitude by monitoring his response (R).

          Initially, the young Phelps would get frustrated, angry and feel like giving up, but when anything negative happened Bowman would get Phelps to ask himself the W.I.N. question, which is:

What's Important Now?

          Just after he had dived into the water, in the final of the 200 meters butterfly at the 2008 Olympic Games, Phelps' goggles began to leak, which meant that his vision was completely blurred.

          At this moment, Phelps asked himself the W.I.N. question—

                   What’s Important Now?

          He realized that the only thing he could control now was his reaction. Although the turns at the end of each length became a bit tricky, Phelps won the race in a world record time.

          After the race, Phelps was asked how the water in his goggles had hindered him. Phelps replied, "The fact that I couldn't see allowed me to focus even more on my stroke, rather than on what the other swimmers were doing."

          In the words of Bob Bowman, Phelps trainer, "Your attitude will determine your altitude and how high you will fly in life."

          The Great Commandment is our attitude check.

          The Great Commandment comes to us from our Caddy—our trainer—God.

          The Great Commandment is a Bible story we should know because it is the foundation of the Christian faith.

          The Bible is full of God’s love for us.

          The Bible is like a road map.

          Does the Great Commandment mean that we are to follow God’s word only on Sunday morning at church?  NO!

          Does the commandment mean that we are to love God only when we feel like it?  NO!

         

          Let’s look at this through a fun little rhyme.  Repeat each phrase after me….

                   Early one morning, late one night

                   God said “love” at first sight

                   Hear the Lord call your name

                   Because God loves you, have no shame

                   Love the Lord with all your heart

                   Be strong in your love; you’ll be so smart

                   Talk about God wherever you go

                   Praise the Lord with all your soul

                   Write God’s word upon your heart

                   He is love from the start

                   The Great Commandment I share today

                   Is love the Lord all your days!

                   Sound off

                   One, two; three, four!

                   Great job, everybody!

Prayer

          How grateful we are for this house of worship and this place of prayer.

          Some of us came to church dragging our feet ... and some of us arrived skipping.

          Some of us came joyfully singing ... and some of us cannot even hear the music.

          Some of us came with hearts so heavy we can barely breathe ... and some of us are so exhilarated we can hardly catch our breath.

          However we came, O God ... here we are.

          Help us to be truly present during this time of worship –– to you and to each other.

          Forgive us for the times when our thoughts go round and round and we fail to hear what is being said.

          Grant us the grace to listen with open hearts and open minds and give us the courage

          to be brave...

          to reach out with one hand to you and, with the other, to reach out to those who need a helping hand ...

          a calming touch ...

          a quiet voice ...

          a listening ear.

          And may we depart as a people renewed in our faith and filled with hope, because all things are possible through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, who taught us to say when we pray ...