“The Word is Near You”
Deuteronomy 30:11-14
Let’s do a quick bible study; chapter 30, Deuteronomy, well
to be honest, we have to start in chapter 29. This is Moses’ fourth sermon and
last sermon just before the transfer of leadership from Moses to Joshua in
chapter 31. While reading chapters 29 and 30 what came to the forefront for me
is Moses was not just a leader, he was also a prophet! What is a prophet?
Throughout the Bible prophets are described by what they do,
Prophecy is a calling, it is a ministry. And you can’t be a prophet with having
a people! In other words, God sends prophets to communities. A broad non-biblical
description for a prophet is a person who speaks the words their lord or king
gives them. If we apply this broad statement to the Bible, the gift of prophecy
enables human beings to speak the very words of God. Note in the Old Testament
a prophecy is usually preceded by the words, “thus says the Lord”. Another
description for a prophet is a person who holds a mirror up to their communities
so those communities can see who they are as God sees them, both the ugliness
and the beauty. Moses fulfills both of these descriptions.
Back to Moses’ last sermon to his people; the thrust of his
sermon was God’s covenant. Moses was speaking prophetically when he reminded
his people that God was present with them and that God promises blessings and
curses, curses if God’s people do not follow God’s ordinances, the “Law” and
blessings if they do follow the Law. Now here’s where today’s reading comes in,
Moses is telling his people that what God is asking of them is not too hard for
them. God’s word is near them. Another way to say this is God is right there
with them, God’s wisdom, compassion, righteousness and strength are there for
God’s people to use all they have to do is embrace God’s Word. Understand,
there is no separation between God and God’s Word, where one is so is the
other.
The last verse reads, “These words are very near you.
They’re in your mouth and in your heart so that you will obey them.” God is in
your mouth (makes you think twice about what you say) and in your heart (in the
Old Testament, heart is another way to say, the person who you are.) So your
very being is formed and described by God. Remember, God gave the people God’s
ordinances, the LAW”. God also gave his people himself as “the WORD”, so that
following God’s Law would not be too difficult. We humans tend to focus too
much on the LAW and nowhere near enough on GOD, who’s love make’s following
God’s Law within our reach.
Romans 10:5-15
Paul takes
a well-known scripture reading (well known to the Israelites) and adapts it to
his use to describe a right relationship with God through faith in Jesus, the
Anointed. Some may think that Moses was talking about the Law but as I pointed out
earlier, when God’s Word in our mouth and in our hearts, God is also in our
mouths and in our hearts.
I want to
take a moment to talk about God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit;
We usually describe each person of the blessed Trinity by
their job; God the Father, creator, Jesus the only begotten Son of God, our
savior and their Holy Spirit the counselor and guide. But this way of
referencing to the Trinity can be misleading. You see, what one person of the
Trinity does, the other two also do. Jesus is in the Father as the Father is in
Jesus and the Holy Spirit is in both as they are in the Holy Spirit.
So when God is in our hearts, our very being is formed and
described by God, so it is also Jesus who is in our hearts, our very being is
also formed and described by Jesus. And so it is with The Holy Spirit. What one
person of the Trinity does so do the other two persons of the Holy Trinity.
Paul desired that all believers will be conformed to the
likeness of Christ, the Anointed. Paul says you are a believer;
If you believe that God raised Jesus from the dead
If you voice, to the world, your allegiance to Jesus, our
Lord and Savior
If your belief begins in your heart, God is as near to you
as you are to yourself
If your actions reflect your right living with God
If you confess your inability to live rightly without God /
Jesus
If you trust in God / Jesus
And then Paul makes it clear; there is a Gracious God, and
his name is Jesus. And Jesus makes no distinction between people. Jesus is Lord
over all people and all things, Jesus is sovereign, and when we call on the
name of Jesus we will be saved!
But this is
not Paul’s final point. Paul wants all believers to live and voice the saving
grace of God. Listen to this again; “How can people invoke His name (Jesus) when
they do not believe? How can they believe in Him (Jesus) when they have not
heard? How can they hear if there is no one proclaiming Him (Jesus)?”
The ways to proclaim Jesus are as varied as the individuals
who believe in Jesus. God’s Holy Spirit gifts each one of us for living and
proclaiming the “Good News”. Some God calls to the front line, like pastors,
missionaries, some are called to lead by example, some are called to support
and exhort. Some are called to remind us of the big over-arching picture and
some to keep the small personal and intimate picture of God’s life for us in
front of us all the time. We all are called to think big and to act in small
ways. For every unique person there is a gift, a blessing, grace over-flowing
so we all may play a part in God’s great plan.
But to act
in concert with God’s plan we must mature spiritually. God’s work is not for
infants we must start eating solid food not continue to suckle on milk, listen
to Hebrews 5, verse 14 “But solid food is for the mature, for those whose
faculties have been trained by practice to distinguish good from evil.” How do
we wean ourselves from infant pabulum? We read the bible, God’s Word, for
ourselves. We must struggle with the Word; we must wrestle with God’s Word like
Jacob wrestled with the angel. As we wrestle with God’s Word, we talk about
what God is saying to us and listen to our fellow Disciples of Christ. We pray,
this is important, no prayer, no Bible reading, prayer and God’s Word are
inseparable. We pray for illumination, we pray for others, we beg, plead,
demand that God listen to us and then when God comes in the silence, between
one breath and the next we must do the listening. So pray constantly.
God gave us our community of faith for our benefit. We must
allow ourselves to be trained by practice so that we can distinguish good from
evil. We must be trained by practice to see the world in color and in all its
shading; this world is not black or white! And this training and practice
happens in community. God supports, empowers and encourages us through our
communal and personal relationship with our Lord. It is within our communal and
personal relationship with Jesus we learn and practice patience, kindness,
generosity, peace and the greatest of all, love. It is in community where we
share our pain and suffering.
It is in community where we learn and practice endurance, it
is in community we grow character and it is in community we learn how to
embrace hope. We have hope because God’s love has been poured into our hearts
by God’s Holy Spirit through Christ’s obedience. God’s hope does not disappoint
us. As mature Disciples of Christ we set examples for those less mature but
more importantly we actively participate in God’s plan for this creation. We,
God’s people are a holy nation, a priestly nation, a nation who begs God for
God’s continual mercy as mediators for creation. We do NOT call for God’s
curses for we are NOT God’s judges but only servants who wash feet as Jesus
washed feet. Cry with those in pain; rejoice with those who are at peace.
Celebrate when each of us accept God’s call to service.
St. Francis
of Assisi said;
All the Franciscan Friars … should preach by their deeds. We Christians should
also preach with our deeds. God has called us to proclaim the “Good News” of
victory, peace and liberation because of the saving work of our Lord Jesus, the
Christ. GOD’S WORD IS NEAR TO YOU IT IS IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEARTS. HALLELUIAH,
AMEN
