Grace, love, and peace are yours through the Lord your God and his only Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Lord God, give us the strength to avoid every form of idolatry. Lead us to worship you alone and, with our whole hearts and entire lives, to give you glory. Amen.

A few years ago, a radio station ran a contest. Disc jockeys invited their listeners "When you wake up to the sound of FM-106, call and tell us the first words you spoke when you rolled out of bed. If you’re the third caller, you’ll win $106."

It didn’t take long for the contest to grow in enthusiasm. The first morning, the disc jockey said, "Caller number three, what did you say when you rolled out of bed this morning?" A groggy voice said, "Do I smell coffee burning?" Another day, a sleepy worker said, "Oh no, I’m late for work." Somebody else said her first words were, "Honey, did I put out the dog last night?" A muffled curse was immediately heard in the background, and then a man was heard to say, "No, you didn’t." It was a funny contest and drew a considerable audience.

One morning, however, the third caller said something unusual. The station phone rang. "Good morning, this is FM-106. You’re on the air. What did you say when you rolled out of bed this morning?" A voice with a Bronx accent replied, "I said, ‘Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might.’" There was a moment of embarrassed silence. Then the radio announcer said, "Sorry, wrong number," and cut to a commercial.

The primary obligation for every good Jew has always been to love God completely. As Christians, we are given the same responsibility as that man on FM-106: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart."

Jesus was once asked, "Which is the greatest commandment?" It was intended to be a trick question. If Jesus picked only one out of the Pharisees hundreds of commandments, he left himself open for criticism from those who favored another commandment. Yet the Pharisees immediately backed off when Jesus answered, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart."

Today we are going to focus on making God your only God. Jesus tells us the second greatest commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself. We aren’t going to spend a lot of time talking about loving your neighbor because if you are able to keep that first and greatest commandment of loving God above all else, then you will keep the other commandments as well. If you love God, you love worshiping God at home and in church, honoring your parents, and you won’t hate or gossip or covet or commit adultery. The problem is that we haven’t always made God our only God.

God says in his first commandment, "You shall have no other gods." That means "We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things." Martin Luther said, "To whatever we look for any good thing and for refuge in every need, that is what is meant by ‘god.’"

We break the first commandment by putting something else in the place of God. Big screen TVs and SUVs, cruises and 401Ks, sleep, work, money, alcohol, golf, shopping, children are the things that are enticing in this life. They have become our "gods." Anything that crowds God out of our life has become our god. Our sin against the first commandment comes down to trying out other gods. Friends, have you ever wanted to try other gods?

All of us have to admit that we have tried other gods. We have allowed other things to take priority in our lives and they have become our god. But this isn’t new. Adam and Eve did it. They decided: "You know, it really would be best for us, just this one time if we disobeyed God, and then we can become like him." That didn’t work out so well for them or for humanity. All because they wanted to be like God. (Genesis 3)

Moses tried another god – himself. While the Israelites were wandering in the wilderness, God told Moses, "Take your staff and speak to the rock and it will pour out water for everyone to drink. The people will see how I care for them." So Moses gathered the people together, but then he struck the rock with his staff and said in anger, "Listen you rebels, must we bring water out of this rock?" Moses stole the show from the Lord. So the Lord said to him, "Because you did not honor me, because you took the credit that belongs to me, you won’t enter the Promised Land." (Numbers 20)

Have you ever been tempted to give yourself credit for something God has done? We may stop short of taking credit for providing good weather, but we find a way to take credit for almost everything else – smart kids, a comfortable salary, good health, even a church we love. The credit belongs to God, though, not to us. When you take honor and praise away from God, you are breaking his first commandment.

King Saul is another example. The Lord told him to completely destroy an enemy who wanted to wipe out God’s people – to totally destroy all the people and their animals. Saul and his army won the battle, but disobeyed God by keeping some of the goods. They destroyed the weak but spared the king’s life as well as the best of the sheep and cattle. Saul argued with the Lord, "I did what I was told. We only kept some of the goods. Besides, we wanted to keep them to use in sacrifices. We were going to offer them to you anyway, Lord. What’s the big deal?" What was God’s answer? He said, "Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice." (1 Samuel 15) Saul thought that he had a better way than what God had said, so he did what he wanted. He broke the first commandment.

Today we call what Saul did "situation ethics." It means that we obey or disobey God’s commandments depending on the circumstances. It goes something like this: In certain circumstances, where I could be ridiculed for my faith, it’s best to keep my mouth shut about Jesus. In certain circumstances, telling a lie is probably the best thing to do if it will improve my business. In certain circumstances, because it’s cheaper and we want to try each other out, it’s okay to live together and be sexually active before marriage. In certain circumstances, when I’m really tired or need the extra money, it’s okay to skip church. God understands.

We can even apply this to our life in the church. When money is tight in the church, the first reaction by most members is "What can we cut from the church budget?’ That’s wrong. The first reaction should be, "What can I cut from my budget?" We want to give more to our God. Besides, he deserves it. He can certainly use the money better than we can.

You and I sure like "certain circumstances." It comes down to the fact that we are going to do what we want to do. We think it will be easier and we will get farther ahead if we act like Adam and Eve or Moses or King Saul. We look for other gods when the Lord isn’t quite what we want. He isn’t quite enough for us.

The problem is that God is not at the center of our lives. He isn’t our first priority. We aren’t praising and glorifying him above everything else. We don’t stand up for what we believe in. We aren’t willing to face ridicule and shame and even death for our faith. We allow ourselves to be comfortable and complacent with our sin. Fellow sinners, we need to take responsibility for our actions and also our inactivity. We haven’t put God first in our lives or the lives of our children. We have not loved and trusted God above all things. We have chased after other gods. That is why we are so messed up.

Before God gave the commandments he reminded: "I am the Lord your God." In a two-way contract, if one party breaks the terms the deal is off. If you buy a house, the banker may tell you after you sign the last form, "If you don’t pay; you don’t stay." Friends, we have all broken the agreement with God. Not one of us has lived by God’s commandments. I know we all say, "Well, at least I try." But that logic doesn’t work with the bank and it doesn’t work with God, either. The bank doesn’t say, "Well, you’re $50,000 behind on your payments on your house, but don’t worry about it. At least you’re trying to make the payments." Why would we ever think that this would work with God? We have broken the contract with God and that is why he sent his Son to suffer the penalty for us. On the cross, Jesus cried out, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" He suffered what we deserve for going after other gods. He paid the ultimate price – his life – because we are not willing to put God first in our life. But because Jesus died for us and he obeyed the commandments for us, God still says to us: "I am the Lord your God. I will forgive you and care for you."

There’s more. God also says, "I know you haven’t been faithful in loving me before, but you can love me." God creates in our hearts the kind of relationship that makes us want to love him, not because we have to, but because we want to. God’s love for us gives us the desire to love him in return. "This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." (1 John 4:9-10)

Our Old Testament lesson for today said, "Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy." (Leviticus 19:2) It has been made abundantly clear this morning that we aren’t holy. We can’t even keep the first commandment. If we can’t keep that one, then we certainly can’t keep any of the others.

So what’s to keep God from taking one look at us, at how we’ve broken his commands and gone after other gods, and just walking away from us? Simply this: God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. God doesn’t force us to love him. He invites us to love him by showing his love to us first through his Son. God’s love, shown on Jesus’ cross, makes it possible for him to come to us in our needs and temptations. He leans over and says, "I’m here. I love you. You are mine. Now let’s start getting better." His love makes it possible for us to obey him. Jesus has saved us from not loving the only God.

Thank God that Jesus came to live among us. He was holy for us. He was perfect in our place. He loved us despite the fact that we were sinners. He perfectly fulfilled his Father's will and because of it, God looked at Jesus' perfection and accepted it in place of our sorry imperfection. He transferred the perfection to us, the sinners whom Jesus loved.

Legend has it that a wealthy merchant traveling through the Mediterranean world looking for Paul, encountered Timothy, who arranged a visit. Paul was, at the time, a prisoner in Rome. Stepping inside the cell, the merchant was surprised to find a rather old man, physically frail, but whose serenity and magnetism challenged the visitor. They talked for hours. Finally the merchant left with Paul’s blessing. Outside the prison, the concerned man inquired, "What is the secret of this man’s power? I have never seen anything like it before."

"Did you not guess?" replied Timothy. "Paul is in love." The merchant looked bewildered. "In love?" "Yes," Timothy answered, "Paul is in love with Jesus Christ." The merchant looked even more bewildered. "Is that all?" Smiling, Timothy replied, "Sir, that is everything."

Jesus said, "If you love me, you will obey my commandments." Here’s the first one: "You shall have no other gods. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind." God loves us and he wants us to love him. We are in love. And really, that is everything, isn’t it? Amen.

"This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." (1 John 4:10)