Deuteronomy 11:18-21, 26-28
Psalm 31
Romans 3:21-25a, 28
Matthew 7:21-27

You shall put these words of mine in your heart and soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and fix them as an emblem on your forehead. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land that the LORD swore to your ancestors to give them, as long as the heavens are above the earth.

See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse: the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God that I am commanding you today; and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn from the way that I am commanding you today, to follow other gods that you have not known.

A Reading from the book of Romans 3:21-25a, 28

But now, apart from law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed, and is attested by the law and the prophets, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith. He did this to show his righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over the sins previously committed; For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law.

‘Not everyone who says to me, "Lord, Lord," will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. On that day many will say to me, "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?" Then I will declare to them, "I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers." ‘Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its fall!’

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I want to tell you a story, a little piece of College Park history, that I was reminded of when I read our readings from Deuteronomy ("You shall put these words of mine in your heart and soul, and you shall . . . fix them as an emblem on your forehead. Teach them to your children. Talk about them wherever you are."), and Romans ("They are now justified by his grace as a gift"), and Matthew ("Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my father. . . . Everyone who hears these words and acts on them will be like a man who built his house on a rock.")

Once upon a time, quite a while ago, a stranger moved to College Park. Then, and now, College Park had all the characteristics of most small towns, and so, of course, the arrival of a stranger was news. Not big, exciting, sit-up-and-pay-attention news, but rocking chair news. Just something to talk about. "You hear there’s a new guy moved into the neighborhood?" "Yep. Don’t know much about him, though." "Me neither." Rock . . . . . . . . rock . . . . . . . . rock.

But there was something about this stranger that made people sit up soon enough. He opened a locket store on Main Street. Remodeled one of the storefronts and hung out a sign: "Lockets." The sign went up before the remodeling was complete, while the windows were still covered with brown paper so as not to ruin the grand opening surprise.

Now that sign really got people to talking. The rocking chairs, which had barely been moving when folks were just saying a stranger was moving in, now were creaking back and forth as folks said, "Lockets? Just lockets? That’s not gonna work." The other rocking chair said, "Nope. Sure ain’t. I can’t see how he thinks he’s going to make any money just selling lockets." The first chair said, "I wonder just who he thinks he is?" "I wonder just where he thinks he is," the second chair replied. Rock . . . . rock . . . . rock. Then the chairs slowed down. "We sure need some rain." "Yep, sure do." Rock . . . . . . . . rock.

When the day for the grand opening came, lots of folks dropped by. The Stranger was serving refreshments and cookies, and he had beautiful music playing in the background. Looking through the large window before going in, everyone agreed that the store looked very classy, but, of course, everyone thought it was doomed to failure. After all, no one can make a living selling just lockets in a small town. But curiosity and a desire to be supportive even of a foolish venture drew them in. In small towns, people appreciate the effort, even if they question the wisdom. So they went inside.

What they found made rocking chairs all over College Park "walk" across porch floors for months to come. When they went inside, their suspicions about the Stranger’s business sense, or rather his lack of it, was immediately confirmed when they saw a large sign over the counter that read: "I set before you today a blessing and a curse. The blessing is more than you can imagine, if only you obey. The curse is your life on the front porch, not knowing what you have missed." Rock . . . rock . . . rock.

Then they looked in the attractive display cases. Every locket was exactly the same. Each had a small, folded piece of paper (like a Lilliputian book) tied to the chain by a thin string threaded through a hole neatly punched in the corner of the book. There was no glass in the display cases, none of the security you typically see in jewelry stores. You could just reach in and pick up anything you wanted. So they picked them up, and opened the little book, and read what was inside. Here is what it said:

Wear this locket at all times and places.
It is a gift to all people and all races.
Wear it at home and when you are away.
Wear it at work and when you are at play.
Of the words inside, your children you shall teach.
With the words inside, new people you shall reach.
Let the words in this locket be in your heart and soul.
Let the words in this locket be your life’s goal.

Rock . . rock . . rock. Then they looked on the back of the little book. There was a price tag. "Absolutely Free," it said. Rock . rock . rock . rock.

Finally, they opened the locket. Inside, printed in very nice calligraphy, it read: "Here is the rock upon which you shall build your life: God loves you perfectly, as if you are perfectly lovable. This is God’s gift to you. Live up to it, and build your life on it."

Rock, rock, rock, rock. For a long time, on porches all over College Park (and even beyond, because this kind of news gets out), people rocked fast with the news.

And, of course, on that day, the day of the grand opening, people responded in different ways. Many of them were immediately insulted. "What’s wrong with my life on my porch, I’d like to know?" they said as they swept out the door. Others were frightened. Most of them just said, "This guy’s a lunatic; he’ll never fit in around here," and they left, trying to forget about it. Still others, business people mostly, said, "These things can’t be worth much if he’s giving them away. Must be just trinkets, junk." Still others, business people mostly, said, "There has to be a catch. He says, ‘Free,’ but if you take one you’ll be on the hook for something. If nothing else, he’ll have everybody in town owing him a favor. No, sir, I’m not playing that game." And all those folks, the insulted ones, and the frightened ones, and the ones who were sure that nothing free could be valuable, and the ones who were sure there was some catch, they all left without taking a locket. And the Stranger just looked sad, but said nothing.

But some folks took lockets. Some folks took them, and wore them for a few days, then forgot to put them on, and then those lockets ended up in a drawer, or on top of a dresser, or in a jewelry box. Some folks took lockets and wore them all the time. Some of these folks even made a big show of wearing the lockets. But they didn’t live the way the little book told them to live. They always wore the locket on the outside, but they never let it’s words get inside.

For the people who took lockets but didn’t wear them, and for those who wore them only on the outside, life changed very little, and they continued to be happy enough with their life on their porch.

But there were some people, just a few, who took the lockets and wore them all the time, and let the words in the locket and in the little book become part of their lives. And what they found was that the more they let those words become part of their lives, the more grateful they were, the more they believed the words in the locket, the more they wanted to live their lives in response to those words.

The people rocking on the porches didn’t understand. "The locket has not made your life easier," they said. "In fact, it has made it harder." Those who wore the locket on the outside and the inside couldn’t really explain. All they knew was that their lives seemed much deeper, richer, more grateful, more connected, more meaningful. And they could never consider going back to a life being rocked away on the porch.

That’s the end of the story. And I know that you know that I made this story up. But you also know I didn’t really. You know that this isn’t really College Park history. But you also know that it is. You know the locket is imaginary, not real. But you also know that this very morning, you wear it around your neck. Really.

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