August 30, 2009

Deuteronomy 4:1-2

Living the Commandment of God.

 Thou shalt brush your teeth every morning and night.

Thou shalt make your bed.

Thou shalt eat a good breakfast.

Thou shalt exercise, preferably in a way that elevates your heart rate for a sustained period of time.

Thou shalt wear your seat belt.

Thou shalt wash your face before going to bed.

Thou shalt say nothing at all if thou hast nothing nice to say.

These were seven commandments that I either grew up with, or hear frequently enough to impress upon my mind now.

What commands do you live by?

 Where did they come from?

Thou shalt attend church every Sunday.

Thou shalt not stray from the seat one sits in every Sunday.

Thou shalt not  fall asleep during the sermon.

 Thou shalt read the Bible every day (but you don’t have to be a slave to it).  That’s what my mom said – I think in an effort to actually minimize guilt.

 Which of these are the commands of God?

 If they are not God’s command – then whose are they?

 And why do you obey them?

 This is the question at the heart of today’s readings: What are God’s commands?  It is important to follow God’s command. It is startling how easily one can replace God’s command with those of another person or group. The Pharisees specialized in knowing, keeping, and enforcing God’s command.  They were the ones who would call people out and correct them when they strayed from God’s command. But what we see in the gospel is Jesus calling them out.  Jesus was suggesting that they had messed up God’s real command, and in it’s place put commands that they (or the Pharisees who had gone before them) had developed.  Institutionalized. This is slippery territory Jesus is stepping into. To tell teachers of the law that they were teaching their own law and not God’s......  how could someone say that?  How could their teaching be questioned?  It was right there, written in Scripture!    How could it not be God’s word?  Because God’s word wasn’t in the parchments. God’s word was standing right before them.  They were in the presence of God’s living word. And God’s living Word trumps anything they could point to on parchment. God’s living Word suggest that the commandment of God is not written in a particular verse of scripture --  but rather, in the heart.

         Isaiah – This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; 

 If we read deeply into Scripture – beyond individual verses – we hear the living word.  The living Word of Jesus emphasizes particular things:  Living a growing relationship with God;  increasingly trusting God;; having compassion on those in need; forgiving and being forgiven; welcoming the ones we feel are unwelcomable;  trusting God enough to sacrifice our selves/agenda/plans; trusting God enough to be open to a new future. This obviously is an incomplete but I believe it is accurate.  I believe it communicates God’s priorities. Be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. I think this means – be engaged with the word.  Don’t just read it, or hear it, and walk away.  Engage it.  Listen deeply.  Pray.  Listen to others....Be doers of the Word.  Live God’s living Word.  Live in/through Jesus.

Amen