The Lord Asks But This
Deuteronomy 10:12-21
October 20, 2019 anno Domini – Redeemer
If the Israelites (God’s Old Testament people) moved in next door they would be weird neighbors. They were odd balls. Every seven years they cancelled all their debts. If you bought a used pair of oxen from them and hadn’t paid them off in that seventh year those oxen were yours. The Israelites could eat beef and venison, but not pork. They could eat crappies but not catfish. They welcomed foreigners and strangers into their homes like family and looked after the widows and the orphans. They valued every human life from conception to death. The weirdest wonder was their worship of one God in one place – the tabernacle and then the temple in Jerusalem.
In today’s Old Testament reading Moses is preaching one of his last sermons to those Israelites. They are standing on the edge of the Promised Land, the land of Canaan. We’re in the book of Deuteronomy which means “second law” and Moses is recounting for them a second time, God’s covenant with them. Have you ever had to be told something twice before you hear it? Redeemed sinners need to hear God’s Word again and again. Without God’s Word your faith fades, your love twists inward, and the poison of sin infuses your heart.
The Promised Land was a land of pagans. Children were sacrificed for parent’s pleasures. There was a place of worship for every wicked desire of your soul or body. The people made gods like Baal and Asherah who today would be stars in the adult film industry. Their priestesses were prostitutes and their pastors were pedophiles. If the land of Canaan had a department of touristy their slogan would be “Come to Canaan where our gods never get in the way of a good time.” or “Canaan – It’s a real pleasure.”
The Israelites are entering a land where they will be tempted away from faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to worship a myriad of gods who promise everything and demand nothing. Their love would be ridiculed. Their sacrifices mocked. Work and play would be dangled as bait and they would be caught away from their Sabbath rest.
Does this sound familiar to you? It should because America is daily becoming more pagan. When Moses preaches to the Israelites he is also preaching to us.
““And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God (12) Did you taste the flavor of that opening sentence? God isn’t expecting much from you. It’s like when your mom says, “All I asked was that you pick up your room.” Your dad says, “I bought you the car, all I want you to do is check the oil level now and then.” The Lord isn’t asking the Israelites for much compared to what He has given them.
“Behold, to the Lord your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it. Yet the Lord set his heart in love on your fathers and chose their offspring after them, you above all peoples, as you are this day.” (Deuteronomy 10:14–15, ESV) Everything is the Lord’s and He gives everything to you. That is what God did at creation. He gave everything He created to you, to humans – He gave Eve to Adam as wife and Adam to Eve as husband, so they could bring more life into the world. He put everything in the garden under their care. God said, “I have given you life for all eternity and everything you need to live in this garden. I have only one thing to ask of you – don’t eat the fruit of that tree in the middle of the garden.” The true God gave them everything and asked for one little thing.
They did not do the one thing. They took what God did not give them, but the Lord did not quit giving. He promised that a son of Eve would undo their sin and crush the head of that tempting serpent the devil. He chose Abraham who fathered Isaac who fathered Jacob who was renamed Israel, who fathered 12 sons, who became the 12 tribes of Israel who were enslaved by Pharaoh, but God had chosen them so He sent Moses to deliver them. That great rescue happened in water. Pharaoh’s army was drowned in the Red Sea while God’s children came through those waters alive. Now God was handing over the deed and title of every acre of land and every house in Canaan. Vineyards, olive trees, split level homes with a three oxen garage.
We, who are baptized into Christ, have been asked no more than the Israelites. God chose you before the foundation of the world. He sent down the greater Moses, His only begotten Son. Jesus didn’t go to battle against a Pharaoh or a President, but against the Chief of all the Demons the Devil Himself. Like Moses, Jesus didn’t battle with might or power, but by the Word of the Lord. He did miracles. He claimed He was God. He taught the Old Testament like He had coffee everyday with Moses, Abraham and David. Like Moses at the Red Sea Jesus appeared to have come to a dead end on the cross, but what looked like defeat God turned into victory. Jesus carried your sins to the cross. When the blood of God was shed and when He breathed His last your sin was finished, forgiven, paid for. His blood was like that Red Sea flood – it drowned your enemies – sin, death, hell, the Devil. They’re dead to you. Oh, they might still be kicking a little, floating to the top now and then, but they are finished.
Jesus Christ rose from the dead proclaiming your sin is forgiven. In your baptism God chose you as His own child. Today He has given Maya forgiveness, eternal life. The Father has adopted her into His family, written her name in heaven, and guaranteed her resurrection. Before that He gave her to Jamie and Crystal and put her into a family that would bring her to the font. She like we are on our way to the final Promised Land – the land of the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. A land you did not buy. A mansion you did not build. A feast you did not provide. That’s all coming your way as certain as Israel crossed into Canaan and Jesus rose from the dead.
What does Jesus ask of you? To love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and secondly, to love your neighbor as yourself. Do you love God? Yes. Do you love your neighbor? Well, who do you mean by neighbor? With this second commandment Jesus puts flesh and blood on our love of God. It’s pretty easy to love God – you visit Him now and then, send Him a check or two, get your name on a membership list of some church. Loving your neighbor puts your love of God to the test, because your neighbor has flesh and blood that you see with your eyes. What does the Lord ask of you? That you forgive your neighbor 490 times a day. That you turn the other cheek, walk the extra mile, and share your extra coat. That you reserve sex for the one man and one woman union of marriage. That you are humble. That you don’t gossip. That you’re content with what you have. That you’re content with your neighbor who has more than you do. That you rest from your labors and are in the Lord’s house every Lord’s day. That you give to the Lord first and generously from what He has given you. That your primary concern as parents is the faith, not the fun of your child. That you remain vigilant in your faith always keeping an eye out for Christ’s return.
What does the Lord ask of you, but this (and probably a couple hundred things)? It’s not that much, really, in comparison to all God did for our flesh and blood with the flesh and blood of His Son. But it is too much, isn’t it? We fail to do even this little bit. We want to. We try to, but in the weakness of our sinful flesh we fail. We cannot bear this Word without Jesus. Christ alone, in His flesh and blood, won forgiveness for us. It’s all gift, all the time. So when we fail to do even the little love our Father asks of us we flee to His Son who loved us to the end, whose love finished off our enemies, and brings us to the Land of the Resurrection and the Life. In His Name. Amen.