I want to read an illustration I came across. “a coin dealer, John Feigenbaum, who purchased a rare 1894 dime for 1.9 million dollars in 2007. In transporting it by plane cross-country from Oakland to New York City, he carried the rare coin in his pants pocket. After he wondered if the dime might fall out of his pocket, he stuck it in his briefcase. Repeatedly through the flight, he checked the briefcase to ensure that the coin had not vanished.” This little vignette reminds me of the JRR Tolkien series of the LOTR and Hobbit. The Dark Lord Sauron created one ring to rule other rings of power. One character who came to possess this ring, Gollum, grows especially fond and attached to the ring and calls it “my precious.” Other characters in the series do the same. And when they fear they have misplaced or lost the ring they freak out, searching for it frantically, high and low to find it again. Such highly valued is the ring. I wonder if we value any possessions in such a way? I wonder if we could value holiness in that way? Do we prize our call to holiness in this way? Do we recognize that He who calls us to holiness is Holy Holy Holy? Maybe this morning we can come to appreciate and value the extraordinary call to holy obedience.