“… put these words of mine in your heart and soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and fix them as an emblem on your forehead. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates…”
“Be my strong rock, a castle to keep me safe, for you are my crag and my stronghold; for the sake of your Name, lead me and guide me.”
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell-- and great was its fall!”
Our lessons for today are ripe with metaphors for instruction in the Kingdom life. The Word is to be written in hearts. It is to be tied to foreheads and hands. It is to be inscribed on the doorposts of our homes. God is our strong rock. He is our castle. He is the place of security from which our guidance comes. The Words of Jesus are a solid foundation upon which we are to build our lives. It is a rich set of images that coupled with our collect are aimed to teach us to seek out that which is “profitable for us” and to run away from “hurtful things.”
As you no doubt know by now the deal was that after seminary Cassie would finally be able to get the dog she’s wanted since she left home for college. Before we had even closed on our house plans were in the works to have a fence built for the dog that we did not yet own. A year later, we really wish we had thought a little more about that fence. There is one section that we’d really like to move, but moving it won’t be easy. Each of the 3 main support posts on that section is set in the ground encapsulated by a goodly amount of Portland cement, and as you probably know, cement isn’t easy to move around. Well at least in its current form it won’t be easy to move.
I tell you this because I think that perhaps all of the metaphors in todays lessons for the Kingdom lifestyle can be summed up in cement. If you go to the hardware store and buy a bag of cement, what you get is a bag of sand-like powder. It doesn't look very strong and by itself it wouldn't hold up much. A child could kick the stuff around and scatter the grains to the wind. But add the right amount of water to that sandy stuff and you get a substance that will soon set up as hard as a rock. A child could not kick it around anymore--in fact, I could dig around the cement that holds our fence in place, occasionally striking it with the shovel and the only thing hurt would be my back.
The Word that Moses is talking about in Deuteronomy, and the closing words of Jesus' sermon on the mount are each in some ways like that bag of cement: they are all the ingredients needed for a solid foundation in life. Mixing those words into your daily life is what adds the water that finally sets up the cement. There's just something about taking these words and then really living them that makes the difference between mere sandy powder and durable cement.[Center for Excellence in Preaching]
This is what Moses seems to be getting at as he finishes his sermon on the law of God in Deuteronomy 11. Just as the water must mix throughout the sandy cement mix, so too must the tenants of God permeate all of us. Moses is trying to help the people of God create a good foundation. It has three parts.
First, he says, “…put these words of mine in your heart and soul…” As 21st century Christians this is the easiest call to obedience for us to understand. The Word of God should be so a part of our lives as to live inside of us; as if it were written upon our very soul. Prior to Gutenberg’s inventing the printing press this was a difficult task indeed. Written texts were very expensive and most Church communities had only one Bible. In 2008, however, the story is very different. I’m willing to bet that every one of us has at least one Bible at home. If you are like me, you’ve got upwards of a dozen in various translations. Websites like biblegateway.com are out there with fully searchable Bible texts in dozens of different languages. Putting the words of God on our hearts and souls is not difficult. We can read the Bible in bed. We can listen to it on our ipods. It is available for our perusal on our smartphones. Just about every hotel room in the country has a copy waiting to be picked up. The problem isn’t ease of access, but setting aside the time to read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest. How many of us are really immersed in the Word? How many of us take time each day to let the Bible speak to us? Is God’s law in our heart and soul or has it been replaced by worries of recession, inflation, election results, and daily schedules? The call to obedience in heart and soul is easy to understand but difficult to live out, but being immersed in the Word is the first ingredient in a foundation of Kingdom Living.
Secondly, Moses tells the people, “…you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and fix them as an emblem on your forehead…” Here it gets a little difficult to comprehend. Carrying the Word in our hands and upon our foreheads isn’t the way things work anymore. I have a bad habit of forgetting things. So I developed a rule that I do not delete an email asking me to do something until I complete the activity or have placed it on my calendar. If it doesn’t go through my inbox, chances are it won’t get done. More often than not these days I can send myself an email instantaneously. If someone asks me to do something during breakfast I can stop, type, and send. But, there are still times when I am forced to use the original palm pilot [show hand]. Writing notes on my hand is as close as I’ll ever come to binding the Word as a sign on my hand or fixing It as an emblem on my forehead. We just don’t tie boxes of scripture to our hands and head anymore. Without these physical reminders we are out in the world without a tactile, physical reminder of God’s will for us. This makes it easy to fall prey to the will of the things we do carry around; our wallets, our cell phones, our business cards, our labels. Some have found ways to keep the physical reminders of obedience close by. They wear crosses around their necks. Others carry prayer beads or a cross or a smooth stone in their pocket as a reminder to pray; of God’s supreme love on the cross; or of the foundation upon which we set our hope. Still others have pocket sized Bibles that they carry so that the Word, while not bound physically to them, is never far away. Having a real and tangible touchstone that reminds us who is in charge is the second ingredient in foundation of Kingdom Living.
Finally, Moses says, “Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates…” To this day devout Jewish families will have attached to their doorway a Mezuzah - a parchment inscribed with the commands of Moses including the most important – the Shema which begins, “Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God, the LORD is one. And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.” This serves for them as another reminder that the Law of God is to be upon our hearts and our souls and our bodies. It is to permeate all aspects of our lives; the spiritual, the emotional, and the physical. The Mezuzah serves as a visual cue that God’s will is to be the sole focus of our attention. Every time they enter or leave their house they are reminded of whom they serve. Here too we have Christian allegories; a cross above a doorway, a last supper scene, a nativity set, a Jesus bobble-head doll. What is it in your home that serves as a visual reminder that God is in your life and should be the focus of your attention? Being reminded each time we enter the world that God’s will is to be done is the third ingredient in the foundation of Kingdom Living.
It is human nature to forget. It has become second nature to turn from God’s way and follow another plan; a career path, an investment strategy, or the TV Guide. Every time we turn to those idols it is like removing water from the cement that makes up our foundation of rock, and we are left as just sand – easily tossed about by wind, wave, and child. Following God’s will for our lives is about a lifestyle; every moment of everyday; in our souls, on our bodies, and in our homes we either live for God and choose the blessing of a solid foundation or live for ourselves and choose the curse of a house built on sand. May God give us the strength this day to choose blessing. Amen.
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