Sermon on Deuteronomy 10:12-21, for the 18th Sunday after Trinity (1 Yr Lectionary), "Generation to Generation"

Grace, mercy, and peace to you, from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Today’s message is from Deuteronomy 10. You might be forgiven for wondering what Deuteronomy has to do with our lives today. It is Moses’s sermons to the Israelites, around 1406 BC. That’s over 3,400 years ago, if you’re keeping track. Moses was teaching the Israelites a final time before they entered the promised land, after 40 years of wandering in the desert, because of their unfaithfulness. A new generation of Israelites, were trying to learn from the mistakes of their parent’s generation, and recommit themselves to faithfulness to God. So how does that tie in with us?

First a few more facts about Deuteronomy’s importance. In all the Old Testament, it talks the most about passing on the faith to the next generation. A duty for every generation. Also, it strongly promotes the truth that God had specially chosen Israel, of all other nations—as God’s elect people. They weren’t elite, powerful, greater or more righteous than other nations—rather they were small, weak, and stubborn. But by God’s great love for them and promises, He chose them. Other nations would witness His mighty deeds and believe in Him. Also, Deuteronomy is the 4^th most commonly quoted or referred to book in the New Testament. Jesus often turned to Deuteronomy. So now that we’ve established its importance, and how it underlies so much of the Bible’s theology of grace and election—let’s zoom in on our passage from chapter 10.

On the verge of entering the promised land, Moses asks the people: ¹² “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, ¹³ and to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I am commanding you today for your good?” That word “require” jumps out at me. What does God require of you? Hopefully it’s not a word that makes us try to weasel out of doing something, or find out what the minimum requirement of effort or work is. A lazy person might look at “requirements” as the limit of what they’ll attempt to do, rather than a duty. That’s what our sinful nature thinks of it.

But God is NOT saying here, obey these required laws and you have salvation. Salvation, Old or New Testament, is by God’s grace alone. But God still expects us to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Jesus called this God’s greatest command. God calls, not for a minimal effort, but the fullest extent of our heart, soul, mind and strength to be given to God.

And notice God gives these commands for our good. When we react to God’s law saying we don’t care, or with laziness, resentment, or fear, we are missing the good that He wants for us. Our life is improved and blessed when we’re in line with the moral law God has written into nature. Breaking God’s commands is not just a moral error, but it hurts our own interest, and worse, it creates a separation between us and God. God’s actually looking out for our best interest, when He urges obedience, just like a parent with their child. Disobedience isn’t a small thing—in ourselves or others—and can lead to pain and consequences for bad decisions. Our new nature grasps the goodness of God’s law for us, and sees that this is a good and instructive pattern to follow. The new nature looks for opportunities to serve God, rather than ways to weasel out of God’s plan for us.

It continues: ¹⁴ Behold, to the Lord your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it. ¹⁵ 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. ¹⁶ Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn. The First and Greatest Command, to love God above all else, is rooted in God’s rule over all existence. But the Great and Enormous God of the universe doesn’t miss or overlook His people Israel—they are the object of His special affection and love. He set His heart on them and chose them above all peoples. Shun the stubbornness of your own hearts, He says. Cut away the stubbornness. All throughout Deuteronomy He reminds them of His great love and faithfulness to them, and that His choosing was “not because they were elite, or powerful, or greater or more righteous than other nations—to the contrary they were small, weak, and stubborn..”

God’s talks about hardened hearts needing to be “circumcised”, and is echoed by the martyr Stephen, in the New Testament, talking about hearts and ears needing to be “circumcised.” Both Old and New Testament call for our renewal—inside and out. Circumcision marked this in the OT—Baptism in the NT. Baptism is our washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, drowning our old stubbornness and sinfulness, and putting on Christ Jesus. Only in Christ, and by the renewal of the Holy Spirit, do we begin to fulfill that command to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. The Spirit gives us a new heart, a new nature that wants to live and walk in God’s ways.

¹⁷ For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe. ¹⁸ He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing. ¹⁹ Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. Notice how God’s good commands are rooted in His character. Who He is: the One True God—great, mighty, awesome, and just—informs His commands. God’s people are to live consistent with His justice and impartiality. If we are in a position of authority, we must not take bribes or show favoritism. Sculptures and art that show “Lady Justice” as blindfolded, and holding the scales, are supposed to convey this truth, that justice doesn’t see who the person is, but weighs only the merits of the case and the fair application of the law. And this requires a just law to apply in the first place. When we stand before the God of Justice, there is no “gaming the system”; no bribery or favoritism. God’s justice isn’t different based on who we are. God’s justice also guards those who are most likely to be neglected or short-changed by human systems of justice. The orphans, widows, and travelers living in the land. God sees to it that they are not abandoned or forsaken.

This is worth a side note: immigration is a politically charged “hot potato” issue today. How do the many passages in the Old Testament that talk about “sojourners” or travelers living in the land, relate to the question of immigration? Is it an identical concept? A related concept? How do passages such as this one from Deuteronomy inform Christian thought about such things? Not to define a “Christian immigration policy”, if there were such a thing—but God’s Word helps us identify the boundaries and the right questions to be asking. For example—on the one hand God establishes the “rule of law”, and we should not interfere with the just application of the law. God gives governments to protect the peace, the interests and well-being of their subjects. But on the other hand, by highlighting the orphans, widows, and “sojourners”—or foreigners living in another land—God shows that systems of justice don’t always ensure that the disadvantaged are protected. The marginalized in society need compassionate advocates to speak up for them. Today the immigrants may need our extra care and attention, as do many other disadvantaged groups in society—the unborn, the aged, the disabled, etc. God’s Word keeps us from going too far in one direction toward lawlessness, or in another towards strict application of the law without mercy, or failing to bring about the justice the law inherently requires.

As Christians we are citizens of two kingdoms—the earthly kingdom: citizens of the USA or another nation, and secondly, as believers: citizens in Christ’s heavenly kingdom. Christians are stirred by God’s Word to show charity, hospitality, and kindness to the disadvantaged. This is our calling as citizens of Christ’s kingdom—that is, the church! Some churches (and other charities) aid illegal immigrants in finding a legal path to citizenship, or by caring for their physical needs, or finding gainful employment or job training. Jesus taught distinctly that whenever we help the “least of these”, we are actually serving Christ. The ideas Christians and our elected leaders have to solve these issues may differ, but God’s Word marks out boundaries against lawlessness and chaos on one extreme, and injustice, harshness, or neglect on the other. And practicing God’s justice is part of our Christian walk.

This passage ends: ²⁰ You shall fear the Lord your God. You shall serve him and hold fast to him, and by his name you shall swear. ²¹ He is your praise. He is your God, who has done for you these great and terrifying things that your eyes have seen. These verses bookend the beginning—that we should worship, serve, and love God alone. And it says that “He is your praise.” An unusual phrase. God is the highest and most worthy object of our praise. Some time ago in a sermon about praise, I shared that C.S. Lewis said we desire to praise those things that are highest and most worthy in life, and that our praise completes our enjoyment of them. When we experience or witness something truly awesome, we don’t hesitate to praise and celebrate it. God is our praise, because He is the highest and most excellent Being of all. We too experience fullest enjoyment of God when our lips and mouths overflow with praise to Him. We praise Him by declaring His mighty deeds. We delight in obeying His good commands.

Jesus added to God’s mighty deeds for a new generation, 1,400 years after Deuteronomy was written. But He didn’t just add to God’s mighty deeds, He brought them to their amazing climax. His death on the cross and resurrection was the remedy for our stubborn hearts, hardened with the same sin affliction as the Israelites. The sin affliction that prevents our consistent and reliable obedience to always “fear the Lord our God, to walk in His ways, to love Him, to serve Him with  all our heart and all our soul, and to keep the commandments and the statutes of the Lord.” If we were able to consistently do this, it truly would be for our good. The closer we are to His design, the better for us. Our new spiritual nature wants to go in the direction of God’s commands, but the old sinful flesh continues to tug-of-war back to the ways of disobedience. Jesus crossed that yawning chasm between God and us, created by our disobedience. Our sin keeps tugging us in the wrong direction. Thanks be to God, that like the Israelites of old, God set His heart in love upon us, and that in Christ Jesus, He chooses us and our offspring today. Thanks be to God that He calls us by the waters of baptism to repentance, and gives a promise of forgiveness and new life to us, and to our children, and to every generation that is still far off (Acts 2:38-39). It’s a task that goes from generation to generation, from Deuteronomy till now, to pass on the faith that was given to us. Faith in the God who set His heart on us in love, and works mighty wonders for His Name. We pass it on from generation to generation, so that they too will join in our Savior’s praise. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Sermon Talking Points

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1. What are the circumstances around which the book of Deuteronomy is written? (summarized in chs. 1-2). Deuteronomy emphasizes a) passing on the faith, from generation to generation, b) the words and teachings (torah) of God, c) God’s election of Israel as His chosen people by grace.
2. Does the word “require” in Deuteronomy 10:12 mean that obedience to the law is (or was) the way of salvation? How do people often try to back away from “requirements?” How does Jesus reaffirm this as the greatest commandment in the NT? Matthew 22:35-38.
3. What great incentive is there in understanding that God’s law is “for our good?” Deut. 10:13; 6:24; Romans 7:7-16.
4. Deuteronomy use the language of circumcision to speak of a spiritual “cutting away” of the stubbornness of their hearts. How do the NT authors/speakers borrow this language? Acts 7:51; Colossians 3:11.
5. How does Deuteronomy 10:17-19 speak to the application of the law and justice? How does Scripture set boundaries against lawlessness, and also against discrimination and injustice? Romans 13; Micah 6:8. What kind of tricks and games will not fly in the court of God’s justice?
6. Who are the most vulnerable today, and how do they require our assistance? How are Christians simultaneously citizens of two kingdoms? Matthew 22:21. How can we assist those in need in our time and place?
7. Why is praising God to be one of our highest joys? Why is He most worthy of all praise? How does Jesus’ life, ministry, and His great commission call us to continue the passing on of the faith to a new generation, just as years ago in Deuteronomy? See Acts 2:38-39.