This morning I listened to an excellent sermon.

The pastor had a great pastor voice–warm, sincere, sonorant.

The text was a biggie–Abraham and Isaac and the God who provides.

The sermon points were worth writing down, like a good recipe.

But.

But if my calculations are correct the sermon was delivered when the pastor was sliding down a hill of temptation, sin, and loss that he would not survive.

Good sermon. Worth playing at a funeral.

The truth of the sermon does not change if the speaker is not following the recipe.

But his willful hypocrisy will make the valley harder for his community, his family, his children.

By contrast Jesus preached a sermon and then exceeded the scope of that sermon by miles, years, eternity, and hell.

That is right: Jesus was damned for us.

We will be judged by the measure of our lives or his, our words or his.

I choose the God of life because he walks a path of sacrifice and love and then looks over his shoulder and says,

c’mon, follow me.

Follow Him, walk the hard road all the way to life…everlasting.