i took your counsel

& came to ruin

A Sermon on the Sabbath:

Perhaps you’re wondering why, exactly, our first lesson is the one we just heard. After all, it sounds… well… just a little… familiar, doesn’t it?

Don’t be fooled, though, the lessons is not a repeat of last week’s…
Well… Not exactly, anyway.

Last week we heard the giving of the Ten Commandments at Mt. Sinai; right after the Israelites had been freed. Today, though, we hear the reiteration of these Ten Commands; 40 years later. Right before the Israelites leave the wilderness for the Promised Land. 

Here, Moses is giving his final sermon. All he can come up with though, is that old refrain again. “Second verse, same as the first; a little bit louder, a little bit worse!”

Moses’ uncertainty about how well those commands took the first time, is betrayed. Apparently Moses isn’t exactly confident in the mettle of those who are about to inhabit the property promised to Abraham long ago…
Apparently before God’s people come into the Promised Land, Moses feels the need to restate a few things…

Here, right before God’s promises to Abraham of progeny and property are fulfilled, Moses stops Abraham’s descendants and gives this loooong sermon.
All of Deuteronomy long…

Apparently God’s people need to be prepared to receive what was promised long ago. It is as if getting what they’ve been waiting for, is as much of a threat to their faith, as waiting for it was…
Like that song on the radio warns, “getting what you want can break your heart.”

So before God’s people settle the land God promised, Moses gives an extended sermon. A sermon about what it means to be God’s people in the land they’ve been waiting to inhabit. A sermon about how to retain their identity as God’s people now that they’ve ended their sojourn… 

…Now the tragedy, of course, is our story shows over and over again that the very thing Moses feared, happened. Beguiled by the blessings, we’ve forgotten the giver of every good gift. Mistaken the gift for the giver…

But, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. 

To truly understand this tragedy, we have to know it’s content. Especially since it is hard to hear. Since it is something we vigilantly avoid hearing…

…So… Did you notice the difference between this week’s first lesson and last week’s?

…The truth is, although the change is somewhat subtle, it’s also fairly obvious… 

While most of the lesson is the same. Where it isn’t, it really isn’t… 

The change is, *DING,* you guessed it!
In the Third Commandment. The Sabbath command…

There’s a few significant changes:

First, the command’s range has been expanded. Now the command includes others. No longer is the command to rest only for God’s people. Now everyone who works with, or for God’s people are to enjoy this rest too. 

This is, at it were, the first fair labor-law. 

Second, the command has been inverted. At Sinai, the command began will a call to remember. In other words, remembering God’s deliverance was the motivation to keep the command, to rest.

Now, though, the command is flipped, isn’t it? 

Now it begins with a call to observe the sabbath day.
Now the command makes a promise. Observing the sabbath will remind us of God’s action… 

That’s something, isn’t it? 

We think rituals have to buttress what we already understand. Here, though, it says otherwise. Observing this day will serve to make us understand something we couldn’t have otherwise.

Finally, the command itself has been expanded. Now the command includes why this day is to be kept. What observing this day will remind us of. “Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm…”

Now the command says what this day is about, not just rest. Not the rhythms of creation, but God’s deliverance. 

In the final moments when God’s people stop wandering and begin settling, Moses gives them this last sermon. 

It begins with the Ten Commandments. Verbatim, more or less. Except when it comes to the Third Command, the Sabbath Command…

Now, apparently, the Sabbath command is going to be important in a different way. Now it is going to be easy to forget God’s deliverance. Now it is going to be easy to withhold God’s blessings. 

Now that God’s promise is about to be fulfilled, it will be easy for God’s people to believe they’ve earned what’s been bestowed. Now it will be easy for God’s people to hoard God’s gifts…

Okay. I’m not the only one this sounds familiar to, right?

The reason why Moses retells this sermon, is the very reason why we need to hear this retelling. 

In the often overlooked book of the Bible. In this often ignored retelling of the commands, we see what Paul meant when he said we, Gentiles, have been grafted on to the tree of Israel. 

Their story, is our story. The tragedy that God’s people failed to heed Moses’ sermon, is our tragedy too, isn’t it?

The Ten Commandments given at Sinai aren’t so much for us. We stopped journeying long ago. We put down our stakes. We’ve settled. 

Now the Ten Commands given at the edge of the Promised Land, though, those are for a people like us. A people who have come into a land and settled it. 

We too have been tempted, and maybe have, forgotten the one who delivered us. We too have been beguiled, mistaking the gifts for the Giver of every good thing. We too have tried to hoard our blessings. We too have fallen for the illusion we’ve earned all our blessings.

*Just spend a little time with subsistence farmers in a place like Honduras if you need help getting over that illusion.*

What Moses feared, happened. It’s the story of God’s people, over and over again. It wasn’t only a people called “Israel” who refused to listen to Moses. A people called “Christian” have too, haven’t we? 

Here, I’ll lay my cards on the table. The first week I did the “what” of the sabbath. The second week, the “how.” Today is the “why.” 

Why Moses retold the Ten Commands at the threshold of the Promised Land. Why we hear this retelling today.
Why we do something as odd as give over 14 percent of our days, to something as unproductive of worship. 

It’s because there’s something we need to remember. Something we’ve forgotten, or maybe even never heard. Something we’re dying to be told. Something we can’t believe unless we stop, and someone else tells us.

You’ve stopped. For better or worse, I’m the someone else. 

So, listen up; you’re not here out of habit. You’re not even here because you’re a good, god-fearing Christian; which has always been open to debate, anyway… 

No, the only reason you’re here, is because God has done something; delivered you. You’re here because God brought you out, to hear this: God rescued you with a mighty arm and an outstretched hand. That’s who you are now. That’s your story. That’s our story. God has taken the tragedy of our failure to heed Moses’s words, and transformed it into the story of our redemption.
Never forget that, okay? 

Your sins, they do not define you. Death will not destroy you. You’ve been delivered. 

Keep this day, God will hold true. Simply keeping this day, in and of itself, will remind you of your deliverance. 

In case you’ve already forgotten, and this promise is so easy to lose, isn’t it? 

I’ll say it again: The only reason you’re here is because God has done something; delivered you. You’re here because God brought you out, to hear this: God rescued you with a mighty arm and an outstretched hand. That’s who you are, now. That’s your story, now.
Never forget that.

Keep this day, and God will not let you forget either.