“What goes in your bucket first?”

Sermon-6 Easter B-May 13, 2012 “What goes in your bucket first?”

1 John 5: 1-6
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the parent loves the child. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For the love of God is this, that we obey his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome, for whatever is born of God conquers the world. And this is the victory that conquers the world, our faith. Who is it that conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

This is the one who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ, not with the water only but with the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one that testifies, for the Spirit is the truth.

John 15:9-17

[Jesus said:] "As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.

"This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another."

The Cloud of Unknowing, "O God, our great companion, lead us ever more deeply into the mystery of your life and ours, that we may be faithful interpreters of Life to each other, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen."

There is a story told about Steve Covey, the fellow who wrote the book, 7 Habits of Highly Successful People. And this is what he did.

Rocks-is the jar full?

Sand-is the jar full?

Water

Covey uses this example all the time at his seminars, and at the end he asks,

“What lesson can we learn from all of this?” Put the big rocks in first.

If you don’t put the big rocks in first, you’ll never get them in-all the little stuff, the sand, the water will make it impossible to put the rocks in. Our life is the jar. The challenge is putting the big stuff in first. Covey calls this, “keeping the main thing, the main thing,”

This gospel is a follow up to last week’s. It’s the last supper and Jesus is giving his final teaching to his friends. One of them is about the betray him, one will deny him, all will abandon him. And you know what he s teaching them? That God loves them. God loves each of them. Even knowing that they will be weak, and disappointing, and fragile. And if God can love each of them, knowing all this, Jesus wants them to love each other. "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” G.K. Chesterton, the great Catholic writer, once said, "Jesus told us to love our neighbors. In another place, he told us to love our enemies. This is because, generally speaking, they are the same people."

Love is not easy. Love, especially Christian love, is terrible. Christian love is about sacrifice and putting others first, and willing what is best for someone we may not even like. The first time I heard it put this way when I was 19, I knew I was hearing the truth. I thought it was wonderful. The problem was, I liked the words without knowing what they meant.

Jesus died the day after giving this teaching. He died because the people who were closest to him, didn’t know how to love. I don’t know if any of us ever do. But I know when I hear these words, at 19 or at 61, I know they are true, and I know that they are the big rocks that I have to put in my bucket first.

“There is an ancient legend about the last days of John the Evangelist, the gospel writer. He lived to a great age and became so feeble that he had to be carried to meetings of the faithful. There, because of his weakness, he was unable to give a long sermon, so at each gathering he simply repeated the words, “Little children, love one another.” The disciples, weary of hearing the same words over and over, asked him why he never said anything else. And to them John gave this answer, “Do this alone and it is enough.”

"This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” When you hear this does it sound like a rock that you want to put in your bucket? Amen