Sunday Stuff

Though I should be outside enjoying the beautiful weather, instead I'm going to enjoy the hockey game (go Pens!) and take a nap--my favorite spiritual discipline!

So here are the questions/answers and I've included the sermon from this morning as the "reflection" of the day.

Here's the question and answer from yesterday:
Sat, Mar 21: Romans 2:6 says God "will give to each person according to what he has done." What do you think this means?
Romans 2:7-8 7 To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. 8 But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.

And here's the question of the day:
Sun, Mar 22: Deuteronomy 15 describes something called the “Year of Jubilee.” What do you think of it? Why do you think God commanded it?

And instead of a reflection, here's Sunday's sermon.

PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION
Let us pray: Holy God, sometimes your Word is not one we want to hear because it challenges us—or makes us uncomfortable. Open our minds and our hearts to truly listen to your Word, to hear how you instruct us with great love. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

INTRO TO SCRIPTURE
The Bible is the story of God. And part of that story –the part the Year of the Bible folks have been reading in the Old Testament—is about God’s relationship to Israel, his chosen people. The Israelites were stuck in slavery in Egypt and God liberated them; God set them free. God set them free and helped to build them into their own nation, a nation set aside and made holy by God. He came down from the mountain and dwelled among them in the tabernacle, something no other god in any other religion ever did. God came down and lived among them.

And God went with them in the tabernacle, as they wandered for years and years and years on their way to the Promised Land that God had given to them. There were a few bumps in the road along the way—particularly an incident with some Moabite women that included some idolatry and adultery—but, in our Scripture reading this morning, the Israelites have finally made it to the Promised Land.

They are actually standing on the edge of it, looking down over it. Now it’s make it or break it time. This is what they’ve been preparing for for generations! Moses knows how important it is NOT to screw this up.

The Israelites need to be reminded of who they are and whose they are. They need to be reminded of why God called them to this place and what God expects of them in return.
So, with all that being said, our Scripture reading today is from Deuteronomy 4:1-9.

SCRIPTURE PASSAGE: Deuteronomy 4:1-9
1 Hear now, O Israel, the decrees and laws I am about to teach you. Follow them so that you may live and may go in and take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you.

2 Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the LORD your God that I give you.

3 You saw with your own eyes what the LORD did at Baal Peor. The LORD your God destroyed from among you everyone who followed the Baal of Peor, 4 but all of you who held fast to the LORD your God are still alive today.

5 See, I have taught you decrees and laws as the LORD my God commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land you are entering to take possession of it.

6 Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, "Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people."

7 What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the LORD our God is near us whenever we pray to him? 8 And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today?

9 Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live.

The grass withers and the flower fades but the Word of the Lord endures forever, Amen.


INTRODUCTION
Now, we all know people who love to argue. Perhaps they’re our friends, perhaps we’re related to them. We all know people who love to argue. They can argue about whether the Penguins or the Flyers will win this afternoon’s game; they can argue about whose March Madness bracket is the best; they’ll argue about Mac versus PC; gas stoves versus electric stoves; coke versus pepsi; mayonnaise versus miracle whip; about whether to stop for directions or not. We all know people who can argue about ANYTHING IN THE WHOLE WORLD, even things we never would have imagined were POSSIBLE to argue over. I suspect that maybe we even have a few “arguers” here amongst us this morning.

So, if you want to get these folks stirred up, try throwing out this question: “Should the 1o Commandments be removed from all courthouses across the country?” Ask that question, then stand back and watch the fireworks. The question of the 10 Commandments and whether they should or should not be displayed in the local courthouse is a topic that is sure to get even those of us who DON’T particularly care for arguing involved in the argument.

#1
So, it’s ironic really that the Bible itself does not have an opinion about whether or not the 10 Commandments should be hung in the courthouse or not. Our Scripture passage from Deuteronomy is just one of the examples where the Bible talks about the 10 Commandments—which Deuteronomy includes as part of the “decrees and laws”—but doesn’t mention anything about the physical placement of them.

The truth is, as much as we might like to argue about where they should go, God is not so much concerned about whether or not the 10 Commandments are being hung “out there” somewhere so much as He is concerned about whether all of his “decrees and laws” are “in here.”
That’s what’s at the heart of this passage: God is interested in making sure that his laws are “in here;” he wants to make sure that his laws are something that we will not forget; and that his laws are something that we will teach to our children and our children’s children.

The New Testament book of Hebrews tells us that God says, “I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people” (Hebrews 8:10). God has written his laws on our hearts—they are inside of us.

We all know what is right; we all know what is wrong. Call it your conscience, call it Jiminy Cricket sitting on your shoulder, call it whatever you want. I call it God’s laws and decrees, the 10 Commandments, which God has written “in here” on the tablet of your heart. That’s what God is concerned about.

#2
Let me clear something up: just because God wants us to follow his laws, it doesn’t mean that God is some Divine Police Man, sitting in a speed trap waiting to catch us breaking the law. God’s law is very different by the civil laws we live with each day.

God’s laws and decrees are not just a list of rules that God wants us to remember and follow and never break; by knowing God’s law “in here,” we know who God is and what God’s will is. He doesn’t want us to memorize a big list of rules—he wants us to remember the story of a God who saved his people from slavery, who was faithful to the people who did nothing but whine and complain in the wilderness, and was still faithful to his promise to bring them into the Promised Land.

This is what verse 9 is talking about when it says, “. . . do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live.”

God doesn’t want them to forget their story; he doesn’t want it to slip from their hearts. The Israelites have a great story, a story to tell the nations. Theirs is a story about God and his steadfast faithfulness . . . it is a story about a loving God who reveals himself piece by piece in his law . . . it is a story about a God who is merciful, slow to anger and quick to forgive. It is a story about a God who keeps his promises.

CONCLUSION
And the story of God continues. It continues through the whole Bible: it continues as Jesus approaches Jerusalem on his way to the cross. The story continues even as Jesus dies on the cross. But this story does not end in death, for we know that Jesus rose on the third day, and so the story continues. The story of God continues even today.

This is your story. These are your laws and your decrees; this is your God. God is calling you to be a part in this story just like the Israelites. This story will live on in you and as you pass the story on to others—your children and your children’s children.

Everything you need to know about God and God’s will is “in here”—he has written it all on your hearts. God simply asks for you to continue the story: to love God and to love your neighbors.
There’s a whole world full of people who have never heard God’s story and they need someone to tell it to them. And we’ve got a church full of kids that need to hear God’s story; they need to hear it over and over again, until they know that they are a part of that story. The only thing left to do, then, is to decide if you want to pass the story on or let it end with you.

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen.