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December 29, 2012 St. Paul Lutheran Church Denver, CO Pastor Dena Williams Jordan Alexander Pagels and Wendy Lovett Williams Deuteronomy 6:49 Psalm 19:110 I Peter 5:611 Mark 12:2834 We stand to welcome the Gospel The Holy Gospel according to the community of St. Mark in the 12th Chapter Glory to you, O Lord One of the scribes came near and heard the crowd disputing with one another, and seeing that Jesus answered them well, the scribe asked him, Which commandment is the first of all? Jesus answered, The first commandment of all is, Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second commandment of all is this, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these. Then the scribe said to him, You are right, Teacher;

you have truly said that he is one, and besides him there is no other; and to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength, and to love ones neighbor as oneself, this is much more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. When Jesus saw that the scribe answered wisely, he said to him, You are not far from the kingdom of God. After that no one dared to ask him any question. The Gospel of the Lord Praise to you, O Christ Heart, Soul, and Strength Maybe you know already our Jordan likes old things; he calls them vintage. He likes old books, old movies, old cars, old clothes . . . Maybe you also know already our Wendy likes newish things, bright, pretty, not all brand new necessarily, but, in general, she is not fond of old, worn, tattered. With one exception, Wendy loves old, vintage love stories. She can walk you all the way through the English monarchy! She knows who married whom, who was crowned, who was banished, who beheaded whom. There it is, Jordan and Wendy and vintage love stories. I want to tell another love story today. a vintage love story, an old, old story.

The story begins 4000 years ago as Moses leads the children of Israel out of Egypt into the wilderness. And it is in the wilderness that God calls him to the mountain to give him the 10 commandments. Moses comes down the mountain and speaks the commandments to the people, reads from the stone tablets upon which they are engraved. Then, about 40 years or so later, as Moses prepares the people to enter the promised land, God speaks again to Moses and Moses speaks again to the people: Now, Moses says, This is the commandment the commandment that the LORD your God charges me to teach you to observe in the promised land: Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe this commandment diligently. How? How Moses will we remember this commandment? How? You will need to keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. You will recite them to your children, talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. You will bind these words as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. That is how you will remember them. You will keep them and teach them and recite them and talk about them and write them and post them! This is how you will remember them. So Moses spoke the commandment to the children of Israel:

You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Moses spoke these words and the people remembered. They remembered so well, that many centuries later the priests and prophets wrote down the words. Deuteronomy wrote down the commandment. And then the commandment was carried from place to place, not forgotten, not lost, but written on parchment, rolled into tiny scrolls, placed carefully in small wooden boxes, carried everywhere the children of Israel wandered. Then Solomons temple was built and the words came to rest at last. Finally the words of the commandment were written on a scroll and kept in Solomons temple. Then and there, however, the words were very nearly lost and forgotten. The people did not, for awhile, remember the words. They forgot to keep them and teach them recite them and talk about them write them and post them. Then that which was very nearly lost was found. It was during King Josiahs reign, 600 years before our common era, these very words stashed away in the temple were found again. The high priest found the book of the law

and these words were proclaimed again to the people: You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. There was a great revival among the people as they remembered and recited the words once again. But then, the temple was destroyed, and there was no place for the people to gather, but the people did not forget the words. The very words on the scrolls became the gathering place. The scrolls were kept in the synagogues, the houses of worship in the communities. Without the scrolls, the words, the commandment there could be no synagogue. For it was the very presence of these very words that made a place holy, that made a place a synagogue, that made a place a house of worship. The presence of these very words: You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. So God gave the words to Moses. Moses spoke the words. The people remembered and recited the words. Deuteronomy wrote them down and the people carried the words into their holy places. Then one day, a young Israelite comes to the synagogue, gathers there with his community of faith. It is his turn today to read the word from the scrolls. He opens the scroll of the Torah and he reads the word for the people: You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul,

and with all your might. The boy Jesus reads from the scroll and the word is made flesh and dwells among us. Some 70 years after the boy was born, long after he read the commandment in the synagogue, the people were still telling the story. They kept the story in their hearts, taught the story to their children, recited the story in community, shared the story with one another. Then, finally someone again wrote down the story. The writer wrote the story in the Gospel of Mark. The writer wrote down the commandment. These are the words that the Gospel writer wrote: One of the scribes came near and heard the crowd disputing with one another, and seeing that the young man Jesus answered them well, the scribe asked him, "Which commandment is the first of all?" Jesus answered, "The first is, you shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart, and with your whole soul, and with your whole understanding, and with your whole strength.' The second commandment is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." God spoke, Moses said, the people remembered, Deuteronomy wrote, the people remembered, the boy Jesus read, the people remembered, the young man Jesus spoke, the Gospel writer wrote. The commandment became two commandments

from the young mans mouth a first commandment and a second commandment a first commandment remembered, a second commandment laid over the first. The short story called Mark was kept in the community, it was taught to the children and recited in worship. It was shared and copied, remembered and read. The story was passed to other communities, the first and second commandments linked tightly together as one commandment, the commandment. Now 4000 years after the giving of the commandment, a community comes together in this holy space. They hear the story of how God spoke, and Moses said, and the people remembered, They hear how Deuteronomy wrote, and the people remembered, how the boy Jesus read, and the people remembered, how the young man Jesus spoke, and the Gospel writers wrote. They hear the story and they keep the story, they teach the story to their children, recite the story in worship. The story is shared and studied, remembered, and read. PAUSE . . .

Today they hear the old, old love story to celebrate Jordan and Wendys love story, also a vintage love story. They met when they were 8 years old . . . at the museum! Do you believe it?! They danced together at Wendy and Sarahs Debutante Ball surrounded by old buildings on the campus of the University of Denver, theres a photo . . . They were engaged on the roof of the museum! and today we will celebrate their marriage together . . . in this vintage house of worship, St Paul, and, yes . . . at the museum . . . in Pompeii! Wendy and Jordan, live out the story of the one commandment, together, the story of the one commandment, that became two commandments, that are somehow still only one. Live out the story of love of God and love of neighbor and love of self. Believe that everything you do in your relationships is connected to the story, to the love of the story, to the word. Seek to live out the story of love in your relationship with one another, in relationship with your family, with Lyric Alice and all children, and neighbors, and in relationship with your very selves. Live out the story of love in worship where the word is kept and told and recited and taught and preached, through songs and hymns and liturgy, through prayers and confession and creed, through offering and praise and thanksgiving,

Remember the story of the commandment the commandment to love God and to love one another as well as self. God spoke, and Moses said, and the people remembered. Deuteronomy wrote, and the people remembered. The boy Jesus read, and the word became flesh, and the people remembered. The young man Jesus spoke, and the Gospel writers wrote. Remember and recite and write and teach the love story, united in love. Remember together in word and sacrament. Remember in word and water and wheat and wine, remember as this day, the two become one. Amen