This one-liner is a crucial message for the church today even though on the surface it may seem superfluous to us. Sure the Greek churches had to worry about this with all those pagan gods and goddesses around, but not us. Monotheism has stood its ground for a fairly long time. And on the other hand, why would we need to be so bigoted as to proclaim one God and one Lord in a religiously tolerant society where the words "God" and "Lord" themselves carry a patriarchal tone. Why would this ancient creed be at all important to us today?

Well, the truth is it will only become important if we find a passion in our hearts for the mission Jesus Christ sent us on more than 2000 years ago. It only makes sense if we believe that there is a power higher than ourselves, and that power desires for us lives that are filled with an abundance of joy and a hunger for justice. It only matters if we possess the world view that all things, all people, all existence depends on God if there is to be any hope for the future.

That's where the earliest Christians firmly planted themselves. They needed a belief structure that they could carry in their hearts. They needed a firm understanding that they were sharing God's grace with a world desperate to hear that message. But then again, they had no choice. If there had been no passion for that early ministry, it couldn't have been spread even as far as Corinth and Rome. It would have never made it to Ghana, Korea, and the United States. Paul had to stir in those early believers a fire that would set their spirits ablaze because every step they made to tell someone else this good news could cost them their lives. Therefore, their faith could not be a Sunday morning choice or an education that was completed upon receipt of their Confirmation certificate. Every morning, they had to wake up with their morning coffee conscious of their decision to serve Jesus Christ and believing that they owed a man that most of them had never met in their lives.

Compared to that, most of us are "playing church." Even if we come every Sunday and have served in every capacity that the church has to offer - few of us live as though we believe in one God, from whom are all things and for whom we exist and in Jesus Christ, our Lord, through whom are all things and through whom we exist. Most of us live our lives as if we existed on our own and that things belong to us if we earn them. Sunday morning is a distraction, a little lesson to give us some lift for the rest of the week. The problem is that it isn't enough. It isn't enough to take a few sips at the well of life and go parched for days. We need to drink deeply. We need to drink often. We need to start each day with the living water of God's love and be sure to drink enough to keep us fully saturated.

I believe it may come soon that we find ourselves in the same situation as those early believers for whom the Christian way was a risky choice. Being part of a church may still be easy, a few commitments here and there and say the words and no one questions your loyalties. But to really live as Jesus lived, to have the fire, the passion, the knowledge that you exist only because he exists, now, that's a risk. In our own application of what constitutes "normal" kinds of Christians, it's easy to put "those kind of people" on the lunatic fringe. We call them fanatics, or perhaps admire them as saints, but those who make that choice will be seen as way different as time goes forward. Churches that make the commitment to put Jesus first, to boldly go into the future claiming it as though God alone caused it to be and called it into existence, those churches will certainly be seen as aberrations by their denominations. And for those who go there first, there will be anger and hatred and fear all thrown their way. The life on the edge will be full of pain and joy all mingling together.

But the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, they say. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. Exactly. When we become more anxious about fulfilling God's plan than our own plans, when we become more concerned about others knowing the grace of God than we are for our own self-preservation and perpetuation of our favored traditions, that's when the concert starts, that's when the true joy spills out into every corner of our lives. Until then, it's a matter of going through the motions, playing the notes without feeling the music if you will.

Tell me, do you know why we worship God? Do you have an answer? Could you explain to an inquiring mind the purpose of the things we do in worship? Every one who has been sitting here on a fairly regular basis for even a few months should be able to do that - but some can't, and many would be so embarrassed to try that anyone who asked would either be sent to my office or Donna's. Worship in its truest sense should be an open book, a real slice of the community's life, its shared triumphs and its mutual defeats. Sometimes it ought to look like a celebration, or a confession, or a thanksgiving meal, a welcome party for those just joining the community. But more often than not, worship has become the theater of the professional, clergy who pontificate, musicians who entertain, readings that take on little meaning, and at the end of worship, the candles get snuffed out along with our interest in knowing God or deepening our relationship with the Lord of our lives.

I know that's what none of us really wants. I certainly don't, and I feel in my heart that you are right there with me in desiring an authentic experience of the one true God. I know that if all people glean from my preaching is a cute story to share over lunch that I haven't done my job. Arlene and Jim and the choirs here know that the music they perform does have a deeper role than simple entertainment. The music they play must become for us the nurture of our souls. Scripture is not the Word of God until it becomes the living Word in our own lives. The songs we sing, the prayers we pray, the creeds we read together are nothing unless… Unless, we trust that there is one God, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

It seems like an arrogant statement to make, to boast of One God and One Lord and seem to have intimate knowledge of their presence. It can become that. But Paul reminds us that when we boast, when we assert full pride, it should be in Christ alone and not in anything else that the world values as accomplishment.

Therefore, turning this church, and turning God's church in a new direction will require a lot of work, a new way of thinking, and it will also require our humility. We need humble hearts that are able to get out of the way. You know the biggest stumbling block to really knowing God and accomplishing tremendous ministry through God's grace? It's that we don't get out of God's way often enough. We stand right in the way of God meeting peoples' deepest needs. We block up ministry by beating good ideas to death in committees. We say it's not Presbyterian, or not in the right order. We shut out people whose tastes, or economic brackets, or education levels are not the same as ours. We recognize the need to exercise our bodies and minds, but poorly neglect the exercise of our spirits that might bring fresh revelation. We so frequently find ourselves bowing at the altars of other gods and other lords instead of humbling ourselves before the One God, and the One Lord.

As we proceed in learning more about each other and shaping our goals for ministry together, egos can't get in the way. Being faithful requires the knowledge that none of us knows everything. Paul hit the nail on the head there! "Anyone who claims to know something does not yet have the necessary knowledge;" BUT, and here's the gospel truth folks, BUT "Anyone who loves God is known by God." Being known by God is the greatest thing we can possibly imagine. We all have knowledge, and gifts, and talents - and here there is an absolute abundance of those things. Those qualities we possess are important - but they are nothing without God, without love. Knowledge only gives the appearance of puffed up bigness; love builds, love grows, love cannot be contained, and just when we thought love has reached it's limit, it doubles in size.

We have an enormous task before us, to digest this notion that all things are because God is, and we exist because of Christ. It isn't an overnight transformation (except perhaps for Paul himself). It takes time, patience, discipline, learning, and growing in faith. But as we put more and more of our trust in God, God will multiply our blessings. Worship will become even more deeply embedded as the cornerstone of our community life. Christian Education will be more than just an hour of class time after worship. We will begin to trust that all of life is sacred time and space. Music will dance in our souls and pour from our hearts - even for those of us, like me, who can't carry a tune in a bucket. Instead it will be God's rhythm beating in our hearts.

This is not a rational proposition that involves better programming and bureaucratic restructuring. It's totally irrational in that it says that if we buy into the creeds that we say, our lives will become shockingly different. It will set us off-balance from other Presbyterians, and it will be unlike anything we've experienced in church before. Time has worn heavy on the Protestant church. In the beginning, the reformers were on fire to exorcise any remnants of idolatry from the church, and yet we have built our own idols of control, and our own hierarchies of complacency. You have every right and responsibility for being ministers of God's grace that I have, and church structures have made sure that you as the people in the pews need to be spoon-fed by ordained professional clergy what it is to be Christian. In fact, it's been our job protection as church professionals to keep you hungering for what we ministers have to say! No more. In today's world, that won't fly. People are too hungry for the grace and love of Jesus Christ, and they need you and you and you to not only tell them about it, but to help them live in it. I'm ready to throw my life in that direction and hold on for the ride, but only because I trust in the One God, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and in one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

Lest I sound arrogant myself, know that I preach this in full awareness that I'm far from reaching where my own spiritual sights are set, and when I get there, I'll have to refocus further ahead again. I am tempted frequently to bow at the altar of personal ego and to tithe my best gifts to consumer culture instead of giving my all to God. But the reason I'm convinced that God is leading us into a future where there is hope and renewal for people of faith is that we go on this journey together. You support and encourage me; I support and encourage you. You tell me when I've gone off track; and I tell you when we've missed the mark. With love, with humble hearts, we can link our journey with Christ's journey and be astonished by God's power and goodness along the way. Amen.