Good evening.  It is good to be in Fresno.  It is an honor to be with you and to be able to participate tonight.  I must confess that when _____ called me to tell me that he was being ordained and asked if I would be able to participate tonight I was surprised by the call but not the occasion.  That _____ has come to be ordained is really not all that unexpected.

At various times and in various places we - all of us - have had the privilege of watching God at work in _____’s life - and in _____’s life.  What’s taking place tonight is one step on _____’s walk through life with God and a testimony of God’s unfolding work in and through _____ - and in _____.

Tonight we are in this very beautiful sanctuary - a place to focus on God and God at work in our lives - to praise and worship God - a very special place set aside for God. 

But out there is very different.  We live in the Central Valley.  A great place to live.  But there are issues.  Right?  High unemployment.  Foreclosures.  An uncertain economy.  Youth dropping out of school.  Gangs.  Drugs.  Crime.  Teenage pregnancy.  Immorality.  We could go on.  In a number of categories where we’d prefer not to even be on the list - the Central Valley way too often leads in those categories.

Beneath all the statistics are people.  Marriages - families in trouble.  Kids in trouble.  Hopelessness.  Despair.  Anger.  Emptiness. 

Which points to one bottom line reality.  Beneath all the hard issues is this bottom line:  America needs Jesus.  People are lost - destined for Hell - in serious eternal jeopardy.  Jesus is the only answer for our lives - today and forever.  Amen?

Our Armenian nation needs Jesus.  If it’s a problem in America - where we live - it’s a problem for us.  We’re not immune.  Our people - Armenians need Jesus.

Coming to _____ and each of us tonight - to be used by God in sharing Jesus in the places where we live and work and go to school - sharing Jesus in the places where we do life - all that is not a pastor and people thing - _____ the verabadveli and you all the congregation.

Being the church is an “us thing” that “we” need “to be” together as we follow God in doing what He has called us together in His Son to be doing.  All of us together - the Body of Christ - living and sharing the gospel.

How do we do that?  Together?

Matthew 22 - starting at verse 37 - is a familiar passage.  Its an oldie.  But its a goodie.  Well worth our being reminded of tonight.  Its the week leading up to the crucifixion.  Jesus is teaching in the Temple. 

A lawyer asks Jesus the question “Which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”  He’s not really interested in the answer so much as He’s interested in humiliating Jesus.  Hitting Jesus with a question that they all couldn’t agree on the answer to.  Familiar.  Yes?

Verse 37 is Jesus answer:  And He - Jesus - said to him - the lawyer - “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  This is the great and first commandment.  And a second is like it:  You shall love your neighbor as yourself.  On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

Jesus’ answer is a reminder of what God spoke through Moses - of what is foundational to everything associated with Old Testament - Mosaic Law - and what God’s prophets had been saying for centuries.  Keep these two commandments and everything else God requires will be taken care of.

As the church - living in the New Testament - these two commandments are at the bottom line core of what it means for “us” to follow Jesus and be used - together - by Him - living and sharing the gospel in the places where we do life.

Two commands.  Put simply.  Love God supremely.  Love others sacrificially.  Would you say those with me?  “Love God supremely.  Love others sacrificially.”

What does it mean to love God supremely?

God spoke through Moses - the Ten Commandments - the first four commandments focus on loving God supremely.

The first is what?  You shall have no other gods before me.

God is infinite and righteous and holy beyond anything that you and I can pretend to imagine.  God - the Almighty - self-existent - One - speaks and creation happens.  God breathes and dust becomes a living soul.  God who exists beyond the bounds of time and space - knows all things - upholds all things - works all things according to His will and purposes.

God is the One who knows our greatest struggles and deepest hurts.  The number of hairs on our head - or lack of - and the days of our lives - every breath - every heartbeat - every thought is known to Him.  God is the still small voice that speaks to us when we’re afraid and trying to make sense of our lives.  God is love and He loves us.

Which speaks to the place we need to give God in our lives.

God is like pizza.  We could talk about Laghmajoun.  But usually we don’t slice laghmajoun.  We make triangles out of it or roll it up with lemon juice or sumpoog.  Pizza gets sliced.

Rather than making lists - God 1st, wife 2nd, kids 3rd, me 4th, job 5th and on and on and have that list come out anything less than chaos in the real world - what makes a whole lot more sense is to think about God as pizza.  He’s the whole thing and all the slices - the parts of life fit into Him - cheese - pepperoni - anchovies - whatever.  God is the essential part of every piece and what holds the whole thing together.

Loving God supremely means that He is the essential core of every part of our lives.

Commandment number two is about making idols - images - and bowing down to them - serving them.

The greatest idol we struggle with is...?  Us.  Ourselves.  All the other idols we struggle with - that struggle - that idolatry is a result of giving greater place in our hearts to ourselves rather than God.

God’s point about idols is not to keep us from playing Tavlou - huge sigh of relief.  He’s not going to condemn us to eternal damnation for living in a house - or driving a nice car - or even having a plasma TV.  God is dealing with the significance these things hold in our lives.

Are we together?  The question is where’s our heart focused?  If we’re going to play Tavlou - or knit sweaters - or whatever -  then do it because we’re 100% sold out to God .  He’s directed us - called us - led us - to do those things.  The house isn’t for us.  It’s for serving God.  The car is all about God.

Loving God supremely is how we live each day - from the depths of our heart - honoring God with singular devotion - with all that we have - do - and are.

Command number three is about using the name of our God in vain.

How many of you remember Rodney Dangerfield?  Do you remember his catch phrase?  “I don’t get no respect.”  If you can picture Rodney Dangerfield as God then you’ve got handle on the third commandment.

God’s name represents Who He is.  His name describes the very nature and essence of God.  Disrespect the name of God and we disrespect God.

We all struggle with this.  If we say we respect God on Sunday - Who God is - acting all holy and righteous - and then disrespect Him on Monday - by the things we say - the vocabulary we use - the things we involve ourselves with - then we’re taking God’s name in vain - proving that God really doesn’t have the place in our lives that we’d like people to think that He does.

Loving God supremely means respecting God - 24/7/365.

Commandment number four is about observing the Sabbath.

In the Old Testament the Sabbath was tied into the religious and ceremonial calendar of God’s people.  It was crucial to their relationship with God.  In the New Testament the celebration of Sabbath finds its fulfillment in our celebration of Jesus our Savior.  (Colossians 2:14-19; Hebrews 4:1-5)

To love God supremely means to stop - purposefully - deliberately - regularly - and lay ourselves before God - to celebrate the one God who alone is able to transform us and renew us and refresh us and free us and heal us and empower us to live life as He intends for His people.

How do we love God supremely?  Make God the essential core of every part of our life.  Live each day honoring God.  Respect who God is.  Celebrate Jesus who saves us. 

Jesus’ second great commandment is what?  Love others sacrificially.  How do we do that? 

Ten Commandments numbers 5 to 10 - focus on our relationships with others - what God says loving others sacrificially looks like. 

Number 5 is about honoring our parents - honor extended between generations.     

That choice to honor - made easy by our parents or made hard - will mean sacrificing ourselves - our prerogatives - our time - our resources - doing whatever it takes - in order to honor them - to forgive - to love - to care for them with the kind of honoring that God calls us to.

The sixth commandment “You shall not murder” teaches us the value of life.  We need to see God in the life of others.  To realize that the planned taking of that life - or negligence that results in death - murder is a rejection of God and the value He places on human life.

We sacrifice for ourselves.  Right?  Commandment #6 - means we need to sacrifice for others - to value the lives of others as we value our own life.

Number 7:  “You shall not commit adultery.”

Adultery focuses on us - self-gratification - getting my needs met - always at the expense of someone else.  Any married person knows from experience that marriage requires sacrifice.  Giving up of our selves in order to love as God has loved us.

The eighth commandment - “You shall not steal” - ultimately isn’t about stuff.  Its about respect.  Respect others by respecting what they possess.  Respect their dignity.  Their livelihood.  Their hopes.  Their dreams.  Who they are.

Sometimes that puts us at a disadvantage - not playing the world’s version of winner take all.  It may mean looking out for the other guy.  Putting others ahead of us in line.  Honesty and integrity in our dealings with others - in business - with our taxes - in the way we conduct ourselves with our neighbors. 

Number 9 - “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” - is about sanctifying truth in all our relationships.  Speaking for what is right - defending the defenseless - loving others by telling them about Jesus - even if it means being misunderstood - ridiculed - rejected.  Even if it means seemingly lost opportunities and the appearance of lost advantage.

Number 10 is about coveting - desiring for ourselves what God has blessed others with.

When we covet we can’t rejoice when God blesses others.  We’re in competition with them.  We desire what others have.  We become bitter  and angry and jealous.  We miss the joy of seeing God at work in others.

Covet the right thing.  Desire what God desires for others.  That means sacrificing my wants for other’s needs. 

Hear this:  Loving others sacrificially ultimately is about setting aside our self-focused prerogatives for what benefits others - even when we get nothing out of it.

Coming back to _____ - and _____ - and us.

Way too often we ordain or install pastors with a whole lot of ceremony and expectation.  We talk about the roles that we all have.  What we’re all suppose to be doing together.

Then some place down the line the honeymoon ends.  Pastors disappoint.  Congregations push back.  Hey.  We’re all people.  Have you notice that?  Its hard to get past ourselves.

Things get said - behind the scenes - then openly.  People get hurt.  Our witness is damaged - sometimes destroyed - not only in the community,  but in our homes - our children hear what we say.  Meanwhile - while we’re in here self-destructing over our version of church - meanwhile people out there are still in serious trouble - desperately needing Jesus.

When we choose to love God supremely - choose to love others sacrificially - it is amazing - maybe miraculous - how God seems to take care of all the other things that we once thought were so important.

Loving God supremely - loving others sacrificially - pulls us back to the reality that life is about God - not us.  Church - ministry - is a about God - not us.  God has created us and redeemed us.  When we love God supremely and choose to love others sacrificially we begin to live by faith - trusting God - following God into His promises - into the unimaginable opportunities that He lays before us.

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