I want to begin by talking to those who are worshiping online. I’m thankful that you are with us today as an active and dynamic part of this worshiping community. I don’t know what you are going through – what brings you joy or burdens your soul – or why you need to be with us online instead of in person. Some of you live in different states. Some of you just aren’t able to “people” today, and that’s ok.
You matter to us. You matter to God. Because you matter to God, you matter to us; and God is doing good things through us!
Now, for those who are in the sanctuary today, I want you to know the same. In fact, I want you to tell someone near you that they matter to God. Make sure everyone knows it. If you’re online you are welcome to tell someone else the same. They don’t even have to be worshiping with us right now. Just text somebody!
Now I want all y’all, no matter where you are, to repeat after me. I matter to God. You matter to God. Because we matter to God, we matter to each other; and God is doing good things through us.
Friends, what you have just said is the proclamation of scripture today! It may not seem like it, since the readings seem so morally constrictive and heavy-handed, but I believe that the core teaching of our readings today is that God is good, you are beloved, and that love triumphs over evil.
You matter. We matter to each other. God is doing good things through us.
Let’s start with Deuteronomy – the choice between life and death. While it is presented as a pretty stark reality, I would suggest that seeing it that way is about as effective as the scare tactics used in the “Just Say No” anti-drug campaign of the 80s. For those that don’t remember, it was a morally pure response to recreational drug use that had absolutely no impact on addiction and drug use and may have even paved the path for prescription drug abuse that we see today.
You see, threats, intimidations, and moral positions are generally not the best motivators for long-term results. Assuming that this was part of a farewell discourse of Moses, one might presume – as many scholars have – that the tone here is more parental than condemning (although your mileage may vary depending on your experience of all things parental).
The one thing that we know about this text is that Moses was speaking primarily to the descendants of those that left Israel and wandered in the wilderness, given that many had not made the trek, and this had to do with how to be a people of the God that liberated them in the first place. It was essentially true that if they rejected the God of their forebearer, Israel, they would cease to be a people.
The ordinances God gave them on Sainai, which we call the ten commandments, were given to form them into a people who would give honor and glory to God and demonstrate the character of God’s love for them in their relationships with one another. These relationships and the faithfulness of this God had saved them and given them longevity in the wilderness (or the Fireswamp for the Princess Bride fans in the congregation), and this was Moses’s plea that they give it the respect it deserves for their own benefit (or at least not treat it like garbage - boo).
Likewise, in his letter to the church in Corinth, Paul reminds those who are young in the faith not to turn their baptism into a status symbol. I love that it’s a little bit of a call back to 1:14-17 where he said “I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius…OK, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else.”
The point he is making is that those who have been baptized were not baptized in the old way as a sign of allegiance to the teachings of the one who baptized them. They were baptized as a public demonstration of the power of God over sin and evil, and their baptism confirms that they are members of the house and family of God. That’s it. No trading cards. No power-ups. No elevated status apart from being God’s beloved.
Here’s the beautiful thing about that – since we are beloved by God, we are also the ones through whom God's love flows! We are the building built on the foundation of God’s love. We are the field of dreams where love grows by the grace of God!
Sounds good, yeah? But wait – there’s more!
I don’t say that as a sales pitch, nor is it a warning of the other shoe about to drop or the “catch” that comes with the deal. Instead, I truly mean it as an opportunity. If God is doing amazing things through us, then it comes as no surprise that we have a different set of expectations placed on us than the rest of the world.
No athlete excels without training, right? Any scientist will tell you that problems do not solve themselves unless they resolve naturally and make way for a new phenomenon.
Such is the case with the words of Jesus as he continues to describe life in the Kingdom of Heaven. This is the point where some may say that life in the Kingdom of Heaven seems a little much if we get in trouble for just thinking about bad things!
That may be so, but I’d like to put it in light of the work of another public speaker, Simon Sinec. While he is no theologian and is clearly more concerned with productivity and expansion, he’s also someone who has captured the essential question about meaning and purpose by asking, “What is your why?” He might have a book or a Ted Talk with that title, but the point is to ask how conscious we are about our motivations.
So it is with Jesus who talks about lust and divorce in a society that viewed women as property, and who speaks to us as we continue to teach women how to stay safe instead of teaching men not to endanger them. So it is with Jesus when he talks about sacrificial living and reconciliation above sacrificing to God. Perhaps he would say the same to us over issues that continue to divide us ideologically, racially, and with regard to respect over identity and dignity.
V22 says, “if you say, ‘You fool,’ you will be liable to the hell of fire.” I mean, I can’t even go online without at least thinking that someone is a fool, and yet how hard is it for each of us, at times, to simply be even and direct – not putting on airs – and declare our limitations by saying “yes or no?”
A few weeks ago I witnessed something like this at St Anthony’s Catholic Church. I was there for a meeting about a new jail that has been proposed in their community. A city council representative was there, and I found it interesting that when pressed he touted his integrity which he credited to his parents as all good southerners do. To his credit, when asked if the council had consulted members of that community he did not talk about his Mom and them. He simply said, “No. We did not.” When asked if he would request a study that included the community, he said he would ask but made no guarantees.
Such is the way of God between faithful people when life is on the line. When our faith is placed in the One who has liberated us in the past, then we become those that participate in liberation today! It doesn’t have to be as big as a jail. It might just be as simple as showing hospitality to strangers during a parade, or putting a dollar in the pot after church to help tackle hunger, or doing the really hard work of forgiving someone and seeking to restore a relationship that is broken.
Whatever God calls you to do, you are not alone. We’re in it together. The good news in all of this is that you matter to God, and we matter to each other as God’s people, and God is doing good things through us. At least I pray it may it be so with me, and with you, and to God be the glory…now and always. Amen!
You matter to us. You matter to God. Because you matter to God, you matter to us; and God is doing good things through us!
Now, for those who are in the sanctuary today, I want you to know the same. In fact, I want you to tell someone near you that they matter to God. Make sure everyone knows it. If you’re online you are welcome to tell someone else the same. They don’t even have to be worshiping with us right now. Just text somebody!
Now I want all y’all, no matter where you are, to repeat after me. I matter to God. You matter to God. Because we matter to God, we matter to each other; and God is doing good things through us.
Friends, what you have just said is the proclamation of scripture today! It may not seem like it, since the readings seem so morally constrictive and heavy-handed, but I believe that the core teaching of our readings today is that God is good, you are beloved, and that love triumphs over evil.
You matter. We matter to each other. God is doing good things through us.
Let’s start with Deuteronomy – the choice between life and death. While it is presented as a pretty stark reality, I would suggest that seeing it that way is about as effective as the scare tactics used in the “Just Say No” anti-drug campaign of the 80s. For those that don’t remember, it was a morally pure response to recreational drug use that had absolutely no impact on addiction and drug use and may have even paved the path for prescription drug abuse that we see today.
You see, threats, intimidations, and moral positions are generally not the best motivators for long-term results. Assuming that this was part of a farewell discourse of Moses, one might presume – as many scholars have – that the tone here is more parental than condemning (although your mileage may vary depending on your experience of all things parental).
The one thing that we know about this text is that Moses was speaking primarily to the descendants of those that left Israel and wandered in the wilderness, given that many had not made the trek, and this had to do with how to be a people of the God that liberated them in the first place. It was essentially true that if they rejected the God of their forebearer, Israel, they would cease to be a people.
The ordinances God gave them on Sainai, which we call the ten commandments, were given to form them into a people who would give honor and glory to God and demonstrate the character of God’s love for them in their relationships with one another. These relationships and the faithfulness of this God had saved them and given them longevity in the wilderness (or the Fireswamp for the Princess Bride fans in the congregation), and this was Moses’s plea that they give it the respect it deserves for their own benefit (or at least not treat it like garbage - boo).
Likewise, in his letter to the church in Corinth, Paul reminds those who are young in the faith not to turn their baptism into a status symbol. I love that it’s a little bit of a call back to 1:14-17 where he said “I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius…OK, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else.”
The point he is making is that those who have been baptized were not baptized in the old way as a sign of allegiance to the teachings of the one who baptized them. They were baptized as a public demonstration of the power of God over sin and evil, and their baptism confirms that they are members of the house and family of God. That’s it. No trading cards. No power-ups. No elevated status apart from being God’s beloved.
Here’s the beautiful thing about that – since we are beloved by God, we are also the ones through whom God's love flows! We are the building built on the foundation of God’s love. We are the field of dreams where love grows by the grace of God!
Sounds good, yeah? But wait – there’s more!
I don’t say that as a sales pitch, nor is it a warning of the other shoe about to drop or the “catch” that comes with the deal. Instead, I truly mean it as an opportunity. If God is doing amazing things through us, then it comes as no surprise that we have a different set of expectations placed on us than the rest of the world.
No athlete excels without training, right? Any scientist will tell you that problems do not solve themselves unless they resolve naturally and make way for a new phenomenon.
Such is the case with the words of Jesus as he continues to describe life in the Kingdom of Heaven. This is the point where some may say that life in the Kingdom of Heaven seems a little much if we get in trouble for just thinking about bad things!
That may be so, but I’d like to put it in light of the work of another public speaker, Simon Sinec. While he is no theologian and is clearly more concerned with productivity and expansion, he’s also someone who has captured the essential question about meaning and purpose by asking, “What is your why?” He might have a book or a Ted Talk with that title, but the point is to ask how conscious we are about our motivations.
So it is with Jesus who talks about lust and divorce in a society that viewed women as property, and who speaks to us as we continue to teach women how to stay safe instead of teaching men not to endanger them. So it is with Jesus when he talks about sacrificial living and reconciliation above sacrificing to God. Perhaps he would say the same to us over issues that continue to divide us ideologically, racially, and with regard to respect over identity and dignity.
V22 says, “if you say, ‘You fool,’ you will be liable to the hell of fire.” I mean, I can’t even go online without at least thinking that someone is a fool, and yet how hard is it for each of us, at times, to simply be even and direct – not putting on airs – and declare our limitations by saying “yes or no?”
A few weeks ago I witnessed something like this at St Anthony’s Catholic Church. I was there for a meeting about a new jail that has been proposed in their community. A city council representative was there, and I found it interesting that when pressed he touted his integrity which he credited to his parents as all good southerners do. To his credit, when asked if the council had consulted members of that community he did not talk about his Mom and them. He simply said, “No. We did not.” When asked if he would request a study that included the community, he said he would ask but made no guarantees.
Such is the way of God between faithful people when life is on the line. When our faith is placed in the One who has liberated us in the past, then we become those that participate in liberation today! It doesn’t have to be as big as a jail. It might just be as simple as showing hospitality to strangers during a parade, or putting a dollar in the pot after church to help tackle hunger, or doing the really hard work of forgiving someone and seeking to restore a relationship that is broken.
Whatever God calls you to do, you are not alone. We’re in it together. The good news in all of this is that you matter to God, and we matter to each other as God’s people, and God is doing good things through us. At least I pray it may it be so with me, and with you, and to God be the glory…now and always. Amen!
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