Mark 12:28-34 -
"What do you Say When You Get Out Of Bed.

²⁸One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?"  ²⁹"The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. ³⁰Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' ³¹The second is this: 'Love your neighbour as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these." ³²"Well said, teacher," the man replied. "You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. ³³To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbour as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices." ³⁴When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions

Anyone who doubts that the Lord has a sense of humour should be 'a fly on the wall' in my bedroom during the week when my alarm goes off at 5.00.

I am not by nature an early bird - I come to life at the other end of the day.

I found morning life at Bible College quite tough as we were expected to get up during the week at 7am and start 30 mins of 'work period' around the college at 7.25 before breakfast, devotions and lectures.

I came into College from Summer Season. In fact I had finished my job in a theatre just days before the new term had started and found it quite difficult adjusting to the early start.

I quite understood why the work period was part of college life. Students were going to be leaving college and would be going into ministry, mission and evangelism and needed to be disciplined in all areas of their lives.

However, I'm sure that dear Pastor Phillip Hidderley who was responsible for this part of college life would afford himself a smile were he to hear that I start a radio show each weekday at 6am and at 7am on a Sunday.

During my wonderful years at the Elim Bible College Phillip would often come looking for me at 7.45 and would still be looking for me at the other end of the day when our room lights were the last to go out and stereos were the last to be switched off.

How he would love to see my stumbling around the bedroom at bathroom at 5am mumbling to myself about how early it is.

A few years ago, an American radio station ran a contest. Disc jockeys at a New York radio station invited their listeners to tune in their clock radios. "Just for fun," they said, "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, a buoyant 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 clerical worker said, "Oh no, I'm late for work." Somebody else said her first words were, "Honey, did I put out the cat 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, "You want to know my first words in the morning?"

The bubbly DJ said, "Yes, sir! Tell us what you said."

The Bronx voice responded, "Shema, Israel ... 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.

Try to remember. What did you say when you got out of bed today? Chances are, those words set the tone for the rest of the day.

For the faithful Jew the first words of each morning are always the same, and they were the words spoken that morning on FM-106

 They were first spoken by Moses, who said, "Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Teach them to your children and talk about them when you lie down and when you rise" (Deuteronomy 6:6-7).

Today I want to spend some time unpacking what it means for us to love God. We know something about loving our neighbours. We have developed the notion of loving ourselves into a fine art. But loving God comes first, as our greatest obligation and our primary goal. What does it mean?

In the passage we heard a few minutes ago, some scribe asked Jesus, "Which commandment comes first?"

 It was probably intended as a trick question. If Jesus picked only one of the 613 commandments, he left himself open for a barrage of criticism from those who favoured another commandment.

In the Gospel of Mark, there are over a dozen occasions when the scribes oppose Jesus.

They mock him, dispute him, and conspire against him. Certainly they will pounce on whatever answer he offers. Yet the scribe immediately backs off when Jesus answers, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart."

It is no wonder. The primary obligation for every good Jew has always been to love God with the heart, with the centre of all passion and trust. That is the primary purpose of human life. When we were baptized in the name of the Jewish Jesus and adopted into the promises of Israel, we were given the same script to follow.

 These words name our primary allegiance and bind us to our greatest responsibility: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart."

The law teaches us, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your soul." In Hebrew thought, the soul is the breath of life, the part of  us that is the breathing part.

One day, goes the story in Genesis, God scooped up some mud by the river bank, formed it into a human figure, and breathed into its nostrils. The statue became a being. The elements became a person. The breath of God blew alive a human soul.

To love God with the soul, therefore, is to love God with every breath. We affirm that the source of every breath is the God who gives it. We breathe because God has breathed life into us. We have the capacity to love God because God first loved us. By commanding us to love him with our soul and breath, God commands us to do what only God has made possible for us to do.

Back in the fourth century, some Christian monks visualized this insight in a memorable way.

They talked about prayer as a breathing exercise. "As you inhale," they taught, "thank God for the gifts which are given you for today. As you exhale, tell God how you are going to use those gifts."

For example, breathe in and say, "I thank you, God, for daily bread." Breathe out and say, "God, let me find strength in daily bread to do the work you have given me."

 Breathe in and pray, "I thank you, Lord, for the forgiveness of my sins." Breathe out and pray, "I ask you, Lord, to make me a forgiving person." Breathe in, breathe out.

The early monks said, "Let every breath be a prayer."

Our breath is always the power behind every word and song.  There was a student on our floor at Bible College who we all loved deeply deeply, but he had annoying habit. From the moment he opens his eyes in the morning he would sing hymns at the top of his lungs. 
 
It has been said of some singers that what they may lack in tone quality, they compensate in volume. 
 

He was asked why do you sing so loudly  so early in the morning Why do you belt out a hymn when you wake up?" And he replied,

"Haven't you heard it said, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your soul?'"