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Written by Pastor Darrell Cooper
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Friday, 06 March 2009 10:17 |
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Deuteronomy 6:1-12
February 22, 2009 - Lindsborg Cov.
“The Hanger”
(Loving [Obeying] God)
Sermon
If you have been here the last few weeks you know that we have been on a journey, a journey through the Bible. We are challenging everyone to read through the Bible in the calendar year 2009 and we are also preaching through it on Sunday mornings.
So, I am curious, by a show of hands, how many of you are reading through the Bible this year? (Pause for response) Good. Now, tell me something, and be honest, is it getting boring? (Pause for response) I think it is. Is that OK to say? There really are some dry and dusty parts in the Old Testament, particularly in the second half of what we call the Pentateuch or the Torah, the five books of Moses. I mean, all the detailed descriptions of the tabernacle and the laws surrounding the sacrificial system. What is amazing to me is that someone can write a book with such long stretches of boring material and still have it be a number one runaway bestseller year after year, decade after decade.
But this is, after all, the Bible we are talking about. It is the very Word of God Himself, even the boring parts. So, I want to encourage you not to skip these chapters, because they are in there for a reason. Even the boring parts are the Word of God. Don’t give up and don’t quit. It will get better.
The only time I encourage you to skip is if you get really far behind. We have said this before, but just a reminder, if you fall woefully behind please don’t try to catch up. We would much rather have you stay with us on the journey and miss out on part of the path than to get so bogged down that you give up and miss out on the rest of the journey. OK?
Now, let me get us all caught up on where we are right now. God chose Abraham and his descendants to be a people of His very own. They are known by various names, such as the Hebrews or Israel.
God’s people became slaves in a foreign land. They were in bondage in Egypt for 430 years. But God heard their cries for mercy and sent a deliverer named Moses and busted them out of prison, so to speak. God took them by the hand and led them out into the wilderness where He established His covenant with His people and gave them the law they were to live by. Just when He was about to usher them into the land of promise, the land He had promised to their forefathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the words of Pastor Jeff, they chickened out. They lacked the faith to take the land, so God had to wait for another 40 years until that entire generation died off and He had to start all over again with a new generation.
That brings us to where we are today. God is again about to offer His people the opportunity to go into the land of promise and take their inheritance. Now, keep in mind, that this is not the generation of the exodus. This generation did not personally witness the power of God demonstrated by the ten plagues. They were either too young to remember that or they had not been born. This generation did not personally hear God speak the law to them from the mountain. So, God had to give them the law a second time. That, by the way, is what the word Deuteronomy means - “2nd Law”.
Today, we pick up the story in Deuteronomy chapter six. This chapter is VERY significant because contained in this chapter is the very heart of God’s law. In fact, this chapter is the very heart of the entire Bible. God’s entire message to us can be boiled down to two verses in this chapter. But we will get to that in a moment.
As I said, this chapter is rich, and there is so much we could study here, but I will mention only two. God wants to say two things to His people.
The first thing God says to His people is, “I want you to love Me. I am Your God and you are My people. I love you, and I want you to love Me.” He says this in verses four and five in what has come to be known as the Shema. It is printed in your bulletin and we read it in unison a few moments ago. Let’s do it again now. “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”
Very good! These two verses are the beginning of the central creed of the Jewish faith, and, by adoption, ours as well. Every observant Jew, from the time of Jesus right on down to today would recite these verses, in fact, most of this whole chapter, twice a day: at dawn and at dusk. So Jesus, being a good Jewish boy, would have grown up reciting the Shema at least two times every day. It is called the Shema because shema is Hebrew for “hear”, the first word in the ancient creed.
Let’s say it together again now. “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” My goal, by the way, is for us to have this memorized by the time this service is over.
Notice there are three parts to loving God: our heart, our soul, and our strength. I don’t think this is simply poetic language or mere metaphor. I believe we are tri-part beings. Each of us consists of a spirit, soul, and body. Your spirit is the core essence of who you are. It is the center of your being. Your soul is made up of your mind, your will, and your emotions. And then, of course, there is your body. All of these make up part of who you are. In the Shema, these three parts are mentioned: your heart (your spirit), your soul, and your strength (your body). In other words, God is saying, “I want you to love Me with everything you have, with everything you are, with your entire being. I want you to love and worship Me with your heart, soul, and strength. Let’s say it together again. “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”
Good. Now, the gospels tell the story of a time when someone approached Jesus and asked Him, “Rabbi, which is the greatest of all the commandments?” Jesus responded by reciting the Shema. But He also added something as well, which would have been an extremely unusual and unexpected thing to do. He added another command from Leviticus 19. He modified the ancient Jewish creed to create what Scot McKnight calls the Jesus Creed. He wrote a book by that title and if you get a chance to read it I highly recommend it.
So, Jesus was asked to identify what is the single most important command in all of Scripture. Jesus replied, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:37-40
Jesus said ALL of the law and the prophets, which was the entire Bible at that time, HANGS on these two commandments. I have here a hanger with a bunch of neckties. Think of this hanger as the Shema and the ties as the law and the prophets. Let’s review them together (take one tie off for each law or prophet you mention)
(1) You shall have no other gods before Me.
(2) You shall not make for yourself an idol.
(3) You shall not misuse the Name of the Lord your God.
(4) Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
(5) Honor your father and mother.
(6) You shall not murder.
(7) You shall not commit adultery.
(8) You shall not steal.
(9) You shall not give false testimony.
(10) You shall not covet.
You see? All of God’s commandments can be simply summed up in these two single commands: Love God and love people. But it is not just the law. It is the prophets too. Say them with me, if you can. Let’s start with the major prophets.
(1) Isaiah
(2) Jeremiah
Let’s skip Lamentations, because he is not really a person.
(3) Ezekial
(4) Daniel
Then the minor prophets.
(5) Hosea
(6) Joel
(7) Amos
(8) Obadiah
(9) Jonah
(10) Micah
(11) Nahum
(12) Habakkuk
(13) Zephaniah
(14) Haggai
(15) Zacharaiah
(16) Malachi
Everything the prophets ever said can be boiled down to these two commands, to love God and to love people.
St. Augustine emphasized the significance of this commandment by saying, “Love God and do what you want.” Love God and do whatever you want? That sounds strange, doesn’t it? That sounds almost heretical. Shouldn’t he have said, “Love God and do what He wants.”?
Well, no actually. If you think about it for very long I think you will agree that it is not necessary to say, “Love God and do what He wants.” In fact that is quite redundant. If we love God we WILL do what He wants because that is what it means to love God. If we love God our hearts will be re-ordered to conform to His heart, His character, and His will. His desires will become our desires and obedience to Him will flow naturally out of our hearts. In fact, that is what love for God means - obedience.
So, when you hear the phrase “Love God”, you should immediately and almost automatically translate that in your mind to, “Obey God,” because that is what love is. Obedience to the commands of God IS love for God. The Bible teaches us this in both the Old and the New Testaments.
Now, at this point you may be pushing back. Some people will say,
“Well, that sounds awful! The Bible is just a rule book, a long list of laws we have to follow? That is dreadful! That is so restrictive it will simply ruin all our fun!”
It doesn’t work that way. Actually, it is the other way around. Obedience does not restrict freedom and rob our joy, it grants freedom and infuses our lives with joy. It is almost as if God anticipates this objection, because in this passage He cites three positive consequences of obeying Him. In verses two and three He says that if the people obey Him they will enjoy long life, things will go well for them, and they will increase greatly in the land flowing with milk and honey.
It may seem counter-intuitive, but it is true. As long as we stay inside the boundaries God has established, we are free. We are free to run and play inside the fence God has built. Inside the fence we are safe and we are blessed. It is only when we jump the fence, when we violate the boundaries God has established, when we disobey His commands that we get hurt and hurt others as well. Inside the fence we can experience freedom and joy and life abundant the way God intended it to be for us in the first place.
So, the first thing God tells His people is He wants them to love Him. Translation? (Wait for response) “Obey Him”. And what is the first and greatest command He wants us to obey? Let’s say it together again. “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”
The second thing God wants to tell His people is to teach their children to love Him. Translation? (Pause for response?) Obey Him. Good! This is not to be just a one-generation covenant. This is to be a lasting covenant for them and for their children and for their children’s children forever. So, it is absolutely critical that Israel teach their children.
Now, there is a parenting philosophy common in our culture which may be growing in popularity. Have you ever heard someone say something like this? “I personally believe in God and I am a religious person. But, I don’t want to force my beliefs on my children! I want them to be exposed to all the great world religions and belief systems and then when they get old enough, to decide for themselves what they will believe.”
Doesn’t that sound good? Doesn’t that sound nice? It sounds so mature, so educated, so sophisticated, even noble. Well, I think it is just stupid. That’s right, it is just plain crazy. That is irresponsible parenting. It is neglect bordering on child abuse.
Let me explain with an illustration. Let’s take another great truth, like the law of gravity. You have probably never heard any parent say, “You know, I personally believe in gravity and I follow its laws religiously. But I don’t want to impose my faith on my children. I don’t want to restrict their freedom to believe what they want to about gravity. In fact, I want them to be exposed to all viewpoints about gravity. So, I am going to let my children play on the roof of the house and I will encourage them to jump out of trees and down elevator shafts. This way they can get a lot of first-hand personal experience with gravity and then, when my kids get old enough, they can make up their own minds whether they believe in and follow the law of gravity or not.”
I’ll bet you have never heard any parent say that and you have never said it either. That would be irresponsible parenting. That would be neglect bordering on abuse.
Or, take another example. Let’s consider electricity. You have never heard someone say, “I personally believe in the power of electricity, and I respect its power and follow its rules. But I also know not everybody does. Some Amish communities, for example, shun electricity as an evil innovation and refuse to use it in any manner. There are entire native cultures in isolated locations who have never even heard of it, and if you even tried to describe it to them they would likely reject it as some kind of black magic. So, not everyone knows about electricity, not everyone believes it is real, and not everyone who believes it is real think it is good. There are all kinds of legitimate views about electricity, and I don’t want to unduly influence my children in this matter. I want them to be exposed to all beliefs and perspectives.
And, I think experience can be the best teacher and I don’t want to curtail their freedom to explore the world of electricity. So I will turn off the lights in their room in the summer time and shut off the heat to their room in the winter time so they can experience the contrast between those who have power and those who don’t. And when they are really little, I will provide my toddlers with paperclips and butter knives and other sharp metal objects so they can experiment with outlets around the house. This way they can learn about electricity by direct observation and experimentation and when they get old enough they can make up their own minds what they believe about electricity and whether they want to use it or not.”
(This is, of course, assuming that these children ever get old enough to make such an
informed decision on their own.)
We laugh at these stories because they are so ridiculous. We don’t do this kind of thing. We believe in the power of electricity and we believe in and obey the law of gravity. We don’t hesitate to teach our children all about these things and to set clear boundaries for them. When they are too young to teach yet, we simply protect them from the danger of these things. We put baby gates at the top of stairwells. We put child-safety plugs in wall outlets. We don’t wait until our children are old enough to decide for themselves what they believe about these things. We know it is true. We know if they are ignorant of these things or ignore their reality, they will get hurt, so we strive to protect them. We don’t “expose them to all the options and perspectives”, we simply tell them the plain truth about these things when they are old enough to understand, and protect them from these things when they are not.
So, why is it that we tend to put our Christian faith in a category all its own? If the Bible is true, if Jesus really is who He claims to be, if following Jesus is the one and only path back to the Father, then why would we hide this from our children? Why would we confuse them with competing truth claims, or encourage them to experiment with worshiping other gods?
If we did that with the truth of gravity or electricity we would be accused of neglecting and abusing of our children, and it would be a legitimate charge. But if we do that with the truth of Jesus, we are praised for being enlightened and progressive parents who love our children enough to smile benignly as they go straight to Hell!
No! If we believe Jesus really is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and if we really love our children, then we will start teaching them from the day they are born that the God revealed in Jesus Christ is the only Name, given to men, by which we must be saved. That is what today’s passage is telling us. We don’t need to shy away from boldly and consistently telling our children the stories which have brought us the truth of God and His Kingdom. We don’t need to apologize for telling our children the truth or for protecting them from wicked lies and deceptive philosophies and competing truth claims. THAT, I submit to you would be irresponsible parenting. THAT, I assert, would be neglect bordering on child abuse.
So, let us reject the pluralistic voices of our culture and instead listen very carefully to the voice of our God. He told us to teach our children the truth He has taught us. So, let’s teach our children!
God says that we are to teach our children to love God. Translation? (Wait for response) Obey His commands. Then, He gives us a little workshop on how to do this. He says, “Impress these commands on our children. Talk about them when you sit at home. Talk about them when you walk along the road. Talk about them when you lie down at night. Talk about them when you get up in the morning.” Essentially, carry on one long continuous conversation with your children about who God is and how to love Him.
So what do we tell them? Tell them the stories. Tell them God’s story. Tell them the stories of the people of God, the stories of the people of Israel which have now become our stories as well. Describe to them the heart of God. Display to them the character of God. Teach them to obey everything He has commanded us to do.
And what has He commanded us to do? Let’s say it together. “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”
In this passage we see that God wants to say two things to us. He says, “I want you to love Me.” Translation? (Wait for response) Obey Me. And He says, “I want you to teach your children to love Me.” Translation? (Wait for response) Obey Me.
Let’s say it together one more time. “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” Amen.
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Last Updated on Friday, 06 March 2009 10:24 |
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