CALVARY BAPTIST CHURCH
Rev. Fred Weimert
October
26, 2008
A Great Story
The reading which was assigned for today
was
from the last chapter of Deuteronomy…
Chapter
34…
It
was to be the story of Moses…
On
mount Nebo…
looking
over and seeing the promised land…
all
the while knowing that he would not
get
there…
He
wouldn’t be crossing that river…
instead
he died there on the mountain,
and
the text says…
God
buried him.
It
is a great story,
and
I loved how Dr. King used it to define
his
feeling of the future,
and
his future,
At
Mason Temple the night before he died.
Saying that I need to tell you that I
decided not to use that reading
Instead,
as I got thinking about the end of Deuteronomy,
I
thought of a passage
near
the end of Deuteronomy,
which
has always been one of my favorites,
but
it appears to have been deleted
from
the schedule of readings assigned.
What’s
more this reading from Deuteronomy 30
also
speaks of Commandments…
so
in a way it goes with the gospel reading for today.
Hear now
Deuteronomy 30:
11-20
Surely, this
commandment that I am commanding you today
is not too hard
for you,
nor is it too far away.
It is not in heaven, that you should say,
"Who will go up to heaven for us,
and get it for us
so that we may hear it and observe it?"
Neither is it beyond the sea,
that you should say,
"Who
will cross to the other side of the sea for us,
and get it for us so
that we may hear it and observe it?"
No, the word is
very near to you;
it is in your mouth
and in your heart for you to observe.
See, I have set
before you today
life and
prosperity,
death and
adversity.
If you obey the
commandments of the LORD your God
that I am
commanding you today,
by loving the LORD your God,
walking
in his ways,
and
observing his commandments,
decrees,
and ordinances,
then you shall
live
and become numerous,
and the LORD your God will bless you
in the land that you are entering to possess.
But if your heart
turns away and you do not hear,
but are led
astray
to bow down to other gods
and serve them,
I declare to you
today
that you shall perish;
you shall not live long in the land
that you are crossing the
I call heaven and
earth to witness against you today
that I have set
before you life and death,
blessings and curses.
Choose life
so that you and your descendants may live,
loving the LORD your God,
obeying
him,
and
holding fast to him;
for that means life to you
and length of days,
so that you may live in the land
that the LORD swore to give
to your ancestors,
to Abraham,
to Isaac,
and to Jacob.
Here
ends the reading.
It
sounds so simple here…
two paths converging…
one to life and good…
the other to death and evil.
Who
would be foolish enough
to not recognize the difference…
to take the wrong path?
Of
course those who make fun of religion
comedians like George Carlin—
and others—
question why the
two paths exist at all.
and how a good God
could be the keeper
of these two very
disparate paths—
one to life the other to death…
Carlin joked in his stand up routine…
“I am your God and I love you…
But if you don’t do
what I want I’ll kill you.
What kind of God is that?”
That’s the way it is pictured in
Deuteronomy 4: 26:
For the LORD your God is a devouring fire,
a jealous God.
When you have had children and children's children,
and
become complacent in the land,
if you act corruptly by making an idol
in the form of anything,
thus doing what is evil
in the sight of the LORD your God,
and
provoking him to anger,
… you will not live long on it,
but will be utterly destroyed.
Theology is similar to this if found
many places in scripture…
and it is the heart of
Deuteronomic theology…
that is that good
things happen to good people
and bad things happen
to bad people.
So if
something bad happens to you…
I
must somehow be your fault.
We are happy with this theology
when someone we don’t like
gets their “come-up-ance…”
But like the Biblical character Job
with his four condemning
friends…
we hate this
theology when it is turned against us.
George
Carlin,
even though he is dead,
deserves
an answer—
More
than that Judaism deserves an answer to that…
especially after the holocaust…
was that somehow their fault.
Is
this the kind of God
we can love with all our “heart, soul,
mind?”
Is your mind going to
accept
that our suffering
is a product of our God’s jealousy…
and that law…
A law
which no one really
can keep anyway.
Which
one of you…
believes themselves to be
the one who has
brought on this economic crisis?
We can wait for you to slip up your
hand.
because we would like to
stone you.
It must have been
one of those
Christmas and
Easter people.
Does anyone believe
that you are not
going to suffer some
because of this crisis?
I think we all
will…
Is it because of our sin…
probably on a
corporate/national level…
this situation is a
product of sin and greed…
individual
and
corporate.
We may have benefited from profits of
that sin
in profits on the stock market
and in the housing
market,
but we didn’t plan this…
or initiate the charge
down the path to
death and destruction.
In a way we were
just by-standers…
fairly innocent of any great
transgression…
and yet we may suffer with
everyone else…
in
our nation…
and
in the world.
Is this like that
were there not enough
righteous people found
to save the city,
the state…
I don’t think that is the theological
path we should take.
The truth for me lies in the
idea
that there are
indeed two paths,
and every morning each of us
has the opportunity
to choose which of
the paths we will walk on
during the day.
One path is the path of love
for God and neighbor…
The other is the path of I am
God and that’s all that matters…
One path leads to
life
the other to death.
Sadly, neither one of these
paths holds any promise
that we won’t
suffer
on our journey down
the path.
However the path of love for God and
neighbor…
does hold the promise
that we won’t walk
alone…
no on this
path we will be accompanied
by
the “Love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
The one
who an early Church described this way:
“who, though he
was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God as something to be
exploited,
but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
And
being found in human form,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death—
even death on
a cross.” Phil. 2: 6-8
To
walk the path of love of God and neighbor
is to risk suffering,
maybe pain,
or maybe just being taken as
a fool
but it is the way
of Jesus…
the way of the
cross…
but most
importantly the way of life.
I
don’t know what the days ahead will hold for us
individually or as a nation…
I’m not good at predictions…
but one thing I am
fairly sure of
is that
tomorrow
when
you get up…
there
will be God
and
there will be neighbors.
May we
choose to love both and find life. Amen.