12 Feb SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2023
The deal Moses laid out was this: Here are your choices. Life and prosperity or death and adversity. If you obey God’s commandments, that is, love the Lord, walk in his ways, and observe every command, decree, and ordinance, then you shall live. You shall become numerous and blessed in the land.
But, if your heart turns away, you won’t listen and are led astray to bow down and serve other gods; you shall not live long, but perish. Heaven and earth are called as witnesses to the fact that people are given choices: life or death, blessings or curses. Before they enter new territory or trod on fresh ground, understand what must be done. Obey every command, decree, and ordinance and you shall live. If not, you shall perish. The way Moses presented the choices made it seem as though people could obey or not by choice.
What Jesus makes perfectly clear is something you hear each and every Sunday, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” During confession, many people, including me, have used obeying the ten commandments as a gauge of sin. Have I murdered anyone? No. But Jesus asks, “Have you been angry or made insulting remarks toward a brother or sister of yours, perhaps name calling under your breath or behind their back? If so, then you’re not off the hook. Start confessing your sins; I’m listening.”
Many good folks, including those who attend church, are holding onto grievances. They have never been able to let go of how someone made them feel, did them wrong, or treated them to their dissatisfaction. I myself am holding onto a few. Getting rid of them is as hard as picking cat fur or dog hairs off a sweater or fleece jacket in the wintertime. What you try to remove wants to cling. Something like static electricity makes it nearly impossible to separate hard or hurt feelings from our memories. Jesus says, “Quickly come to terms. Whether you or someone else is accused, reconcile with your brother or sister. Don’t wait until you both face the judge. By that time, somebody’s going to jail, and it could be you.
Before you drop an envelope, check, or cash in the offering plate, think about how it equals you making a gift right before the altar. Before the ushers pair up and prepare to walk back down the center aisle, forgive someone towards whom you hold a grudge. You may be grudging towards a brother or sister here at church, a brother or sister in your family, or even someone whose name you don’t know that you may have called a name while driving.
Both Moses and Jesus give their followers plenty of heads-up: information that lets them know what’s expected, how a situation’s going or a plan is unfolding. The breaking of more laws is equated to what most people call lesser offenses.
For your information Jesus, “I’ve never committed adultery or sinned with any member of my body… unless you count the time I looked at someone else and wondered, “What would it be like to be their partner, to eat dinner across from them, sit beside them at the movies, sleep or live with them instead of who I’m with?” Oh, hell, Jesus. That’s exactly what you mean, isn’t it?”
And then Jesus speaks of divorce, what in ancient times was a way for men to dismiss one wife and take another out of preference or convenience. There are many grounds for divorce these days. Jesus’ point was, you can’t legitimate anything done to suit just yourself. There will be collateral damage to others involved. There are lines of accountability and whoever drastically alters an agreement without consideration for all parties is negligent, regardless if a piece of paper says you did the right thing.
The whole point of Jesus’ going on and on about the law is that people cannot choose to follow or obey it exactly. Moses oversimplified the deal. No matter if we swear or make vows we cannot uphold them without struggle and a need for help. That’s why the response of every candidate for installation or ordination to the charge put before them is, “I will and I ask God to help me.”
Heaven is the throne of God, earth God’s footstool and Jerusalem, the capital of the great King. We can no more keep every command, decree, and ordinance than we can change the color of our skin, let’s say, since Jesus didn’t count on people being able to change their hair from white to black or black to white the way it’s possible now.
Finally Jesus says, “Keep it simple. Let your word count. Make it a Yes or No. Don’t elaborate or go into detail when you don’t know what you’re talking about or even what is possible. Extra words and thoughts that don’t benefit anyone but you aim toward evil. Not often spoken of, the evil one waits for an opportunity to turn such things into sin.
A nervous parent stands in the driveway about to hand over a set of keys to an excited newly-licensed teenage driver. That parent was Moses right before he delivered his speech to Israelites on the precipice of entering the promised land. As God does, he started by dangling the keys of life and prosperity right before their eyes in an attempt to get and hold people’s attention.
As Jesus often does, while he talks he mentions hot topics and lists what people find desirable. He conjures up dreams high in people’s hopes and minds. He helps them envision things they long for. He connects strongly with the heart of his listeners because he is very familiar with the road they’re about to travel and knows he’ll be traveling with them. We think in linear terms, cause and effect. We think that God gives commandments, makes threats or promises blessings to give us reasons or motives for paying attention and heading his word. We are stuck in parent-child mode and forget to realize the larger system in place.
If we confess our sins, God who is faithful and just will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
That’s why every week, you are reminded that, “If we confess our sins, God who is faithful and just will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” We will be cleansed of extra words and thoughts that lead to opportunity for the evil one. Both good and bad outcomes, past, present, and future are already factored into God’s system of confession and forgiveness. We cannot choose what is best, what represents life and blessing, all the time. Sometimes, we’ll err and make choices that lead to harm or destruction.
If we own what the psalmist says, we must admit that we’ll never be blameless, though we follow the Lord’s teaching. But we will be happy if we observe the decrees and seek the Lord with all our hearts. We will do wrong and not always walk in his ways. God laid down commandments that we should fully keep them, but we can’t.
That’s why the psalmist said, Oh, that my ways were your ways. As it is, all we can do is thank God with our hearts and vow to learn righteousness. We can practice not fearing God’s judgment but relying on his mercy.
We can know that we will never be forsaken because God never stops giving every generation a proverbial heads-up, the information they need to know what’s expected, what direction a situation is heading, or how God wishes his plan to unfold within the life plan people have for themselves.
This week, I was especially miffed at a piece of mail showing my previous name with current address through a window in a #10 envelope. The return address read, “Records Division.” In bold red underlined caps, it said, “SECOND NOTICE: TIME SENSITIVE.
After tearing open the envelope the heading inside read like an official form. It said, “ T-2” in bold at the upper left hand corner. The year 2023 in the upper right hand corner used the same font and style as the IRS. I was angry because I know I’m not the only one who fears receiving legitimate mail that looks like this.
“As a resident of Pennsylvania you are entitled to more benefits not provided by government funds.” That told me the sender was “not affiliated or endorsed by any government agency” even before I read the disclaimer down below in fine print.
The beautiful thing about Christianity is that God doesn’t use underhanded practices or try to trick people into opening mail bearing their name. Scripture doesn’t appear like a handwritten greeting card or official legal document to raise hope or instill fear. It only counts on knowing what comes naturally, that is, what are our human tendencies. Its purpose is to grab or keep our attention long enough to reveal what’s false or true.
Neither Moses nor Jesus wanted their followers to be deceived or misled. They wanted what was best for them. They wanted their lives to be full of good blessings and longevity. Let us pray.
Dear Lord, you are just and merciful, loving, kind and full of good teaching. Give us grace to know what’s right and true. Guide us into new territory using your eyes, your heart and wisdom. May we seek to follow you out of a passionate desire. Thanks for being near to us and with those we love, forever and ever. Amen.