Third Sunday after Pentecost“These Words...”
Deuteronomy 11:18-21; 26-28
You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 19You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 20 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, 21 that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers to give them, as long as the heavens are above the earth.
Words. Did you ever consider words? These little collections of letters that stand for other things – put them together into sentences and paragraphs and pages – and voila! You have communication! Words can describe things, ask questions, express emotions, and words can even DO things - “I now pronounce you man and wife!” or “We find the defendant guilty!”.
Of course some words are more important than others. Often it depends on where and when they are spoken – your wedding day, your deathbed, etc.. But even more important then when and where is who speaks the words? And no words are more important than God's words.
Moses, in a farewell address to the Israelites, encourages them to keep God's words always on their mind – even literally. Or as we might say, live, breathe, eat and sleep God's word.
This would be especially important as they were about to sojourn in the wilderness for forty years, and then enter the land of Canaan. In both places, the going would be tough. In the wilderness, they would have to rely on God daily to provide them with even the bare essentials of life. And in Canaan, they would have to rely on God and remain true to him under the pressures and temptations of wicked pagan religions – all too enticing and attractive.
But really, when is it not important to cling to God's word? For us, who sojourn here, it is the same. We too rely on him for every good thing. We too face temptations and trials, and live in a culture which is not always friendly to faith. We Christians, too, should live, breathe, eat and sleep God's word.
We need his word. We need his word of law – to constantly check our old Adam who would wallow in the mud of sin. Those words of God which show us how to live and those words which show us how we've failed to meet God's standards. We ought to teach our children right and wrong – not according to how they feel or what we think, but according to what God says. We should know the Ten Commandments. We should be able to recite them front and back. But moreso, we should be able to apply them to our lives and see the gross disconnect between God's perfect will for us and our faltering attempts to meet it.
Always, always, the law-word of God points out our shortcomings. And maybe that's partly the reason we don't keep it in mind like we should. Who likes to hear they are wrong? Who wants to be shown his fault? Who wants to face the fact that he is a poor, miserable sinner, guilty of this, that, and the other thing?
As unpleasant as this word of law is, it is something we sorely need. Like a doctor poking and prodding so the diagnosis can be made, the law assesses our sin, and shows the need for saving. And though no one likes to hear he is sick – isn't that the first step toward healing? Your main artery is 99% blocked. You are a ticking time bomb. Don't you think it's time for surgery?
And when we live, breathe, eat, and sleep God's word, we will see that apart from the law, there is another word. It is the Gospel. If the law diagnoses, the Gospel heals. If the law points out sin, the Gospel forgives it. Where the law kills, the Gospel brings life. It is the word of God that is truly good news for us – the word of God that is a pleasure to keep in mind, and on our lips, and in our hearts.
The Gospel, properly, is this: That while we were yet sinners, God the Father, in his great love, sent Jesus Christ, his Son, for us. And by Christ's perfect life, and by his death on the cross and by his resurrection from the dead, we are granted all the blessings of God – forgiveness, life, and salvation.
The Gospel comes to us in words – little combinations of letters and sounds that God uses to bring us eternal blessings! What a thought! Just as he uses simple bread and wine to feed us with Christ's body and blood, and just as he uses plain old water to wash away our sins – so too does God use these mundane, everyday things – words – to deliver salvation to the world.
Perhaps a practical word here. Certainly an important way we hear the Gospel is as it is proclaimed here in church. God's word is read – three lessons, usually. As we speak and sing the liturgy, we are using God's word. The sermon proclaims the law and gospel as well. So the word is at the heart of our weekly gatherings, and here God blesses us through it.
But there is more! Christians have the opportunity, yes, the privilege, especially in these modern times, to make the word even more a part of our lives. Rather than compartmentalize this word to an hour on Sunday, why not expand its reach into our lives? Why not read our bibles daily? Why not study the word with other Christians? Why not pray and meditate on the word in regular, daily devotional habits? Why not talk about it with your children, your spouse, and anyone who you can?
This, to me, seems what Jesus means in today's Gospel reading when he says the wise man builds his house on the rock. When life's foundation is on and in the word – when the word of God is not simply curtains on the window of the house – but when our very existence rests on that foundation, we are surely better able to withstand the storms and floods that may come.
And so the Holy Spirit uses the word, to work faith in our hearts, and applies to us the blessings won at the cross. He uses the word to strengthen that faith, and to inspire us to holy living. He even uses the word through us to bring others these same blessings.
And if that weren't enough, God's word takes on a whole new level of meaning when we read the Gospel of John. John starts out by showing us the true meaning of “the Word”:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.....And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory
Jesus Christ is the Living Word of God. He is the eternal Word who became flesh for us. Moses and the Israelites had the precious written and spoken word to fix upon their doorposts, to tie on their wrists, and to wear on their foreheads. We have Jesus Christ, the Living Word to keep always before us. The Christian should live, eat, breath and sleep Jesus Christ, our Savior.
We live Jesus – because we only live in Jesus, and only in Jesus do we have life. His words are life and they are life-giving. And in him we have eternal life.
We breathe Jesus – as we draw in the breath that keeps us alive, so too is Christ with us every moment, sustaining us with his words of promise. And just as we don't usually pay attention to our breathing but if we ever stopped breathing we would die – so too Christ is with us always, even when we aren't thinking of him, he is thinking of us and sustaining us. Who can speak a word without breathing? And how can we receive God's word without the Spirit – yes, even the word “spirit” means wind or breath – and so the very breath of God comes to us in his word.
We eat Jesus – that is, receive him in the blessed meal he offers. Bread and wine that mysteriously deliver his own body and blood for the forgiveness of sinners like us. We know it to be true, because of the power of his own words - “This is my body. This is my blood. Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins”
And we sleep Jesus, that is, when we leave this earthly life we fall asleep in him. The words of Scripture speak that way of death – that for the Christian, it is a sleep. Because the dawn of our rising to eternal life is just around the corner. Our rest in the grave is a rest in peace, because death is not the end of us. We who die in Christ will rise on the last day, as if from a slumber, never to die again.
So lay up these words in your heart and soul. Live, breathe, eat, and sleep God's word. That word of law and gospel. That Living Word, which is Jesus Christ. Hear the word. Study and Learn it. Pray it. Confess it. For the word of God is a precious treasure for the benefit of all his people. So treasure the treasure! In Christ our Lord, amen.
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