September 13th, 2009

September 13/14, 2009
Pastor Waldschmidt
Deuteronomy 4:1-2,6-8 “ Hear now, O Israel, the decrees and laws I am about to teach you. Follow them so that you may live and may go in and take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you. Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the LORD your God that I give you… Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, "Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people." What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the LORD our God is near us whenever we pray to him? And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today?”
The Lord is Near With His Word
I. As a guide for you.
II. As a witness for the world.
In the name of Jesus, the way, the truth and the life, dear fellow redeemed children of God,
Did you have an imaginary friend when you were growing up? My mother often told the story of a time when she scolded my sister for crossing the street alone. My sister replied that it was OK because she had looked one way and “George had looked the other way.” George was her imaginary friend. George didn’t make my mom feel any better about my sister crossing the street. Today in God’s Word we see the Children of Israel standing at the edge of the promised land. I wonder if the people who were living in the land of Canaan at that time thought that God was an imaginary friend of the Israelites. After all, they all had their idols of wood and stone that they could see and touch. Perhaps the Children of Israel would even feel that way as they moved into the promised land and they didn’t have that pillar of cloud and fire leading them around anymore like they had in the desert o lead them around. Maybe to some people in your life God might seem like your imaginary friend. But God assured the Israelites and He assures you and me that He is near. The Lord is near us with His word. The Word of the Lord is I. a guide for us and II. a witness for the world.
Deuteronomy means “a second giving of the law.” Remember that the Children of Israel had refused to trust God when the spies were sent into the promised land. 10 spies came back with the report that the people there would huge, powerful and on top of that, they lived in walled cities. They thought God would not be near them. They didn’t listen to Caleb and Joshua who said that the Lord would be near them and help them to win the victory. Because they thought the Lord would not be near them, God had the people live in the desert, wondering from place to place, until all of the adults who refused to trust in the Lord were dead. Now after 40 years, the people stood on the edge of the promised land. Now Moses, their leader for the trip out of Egypt, would not be with them as they entered the promised land. Before the people went in to possession of the land God was giving them, Moses takes this chance to remind the people of what the Lord had said. “Hear now, O Israel, the decrees and laws I am about to teach you. Follow them so that you may live and may go in and take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you.” He goes over God’s law for a second time. This review gave the people a chance to see that the Lord would be near to them with His Word. His Word would guide them in the new land.
There would be plenty of things to make the Children of Israel forget that the Lord was near. Remember that the Promised Land is described a land “flowing with milk and honey.” It was also flowing with blood- the blood of children sacrificed to idols. Later in their history even some of the kings of Israel took up this practice. It was a land flowing with gold and silver. The precious metals had been melted and pounded into the shape of idols. Those idols would catch the eyes of some of the Israelites who wanted the pocket the gold. God said, “The images of their gods you are to burn in the fire. Do not covet the silver and gold on them and do not take them for yourselves or you will be ensnared by them.” Those idols would also catch the hearts of many of the Israelites who would forget that the Lord was near. The Land flowed with all kinds of material wealth. The water they must have searched for and rationed in the desert would be plentiful in the new land with “streams and pools of water, with springs flowing in the valleys.” They had gathered and eaten manna for 40 years but now in this new land, “bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing.” That’s why God said, “When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you.” The land God was giving them was a land “where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills.” That’s why God said, “Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God failing to observe his commands his laws and decrees…otherwise when you build fine houses and settle down and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then you heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God.”
If I’m asked what I want on my hamburger I’ll reply “nothing, I’ll have it plain.” The people behind the counter usually look at me like I’m from Mars but that’s the way I like it. It is sort of like it’s ruined if it is doused in catsup and mustard. Maybe you have a favorite food that if something is added to it, is not your favorite food anymore. Some people think that adding catsup and mustard makes a hamburger better. That might be true of a hamburger. That is not true of God’s Word. When something is added to God’s Word is makes it difficult to tell what is God’s Word and what is just what sinful humans think. If we are very fussy about our food, imagine how God feels about someone adding something to the living and active holy word of God. God told the Israelites and he tells us, “Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the LORD your God that I give you.” God knew that there would be plenty of false prophets in the land who would “wag their own tongues and yet declare, “the Lord declares.”
Imagine that we had a free give away today at church- Free football spikes and 8 track tapes for the first 500 worshippers. Most of us I think would have to say, “these are nice but not really very useful. The 8 track tapes are sort of outdated.” God’s word is something that is always useful. It isn’t outdated. It doesn’t need to be spiced up and edited and revised for a new generation. You can see that the Lord is near with his word speaking to us in the United States in 2009. Our land flows with the blood of children- from the blood of children our nation has allowed to be killed in abortion clinics to the blood of children killed by people who were supposed to be taking care of them to the blood of children killed by senseless violence in our streets. Gold and silver fill our land. Our homes and our garages are filled with stuff. Our hearts and our lives are consumed with a desire to gobble up more stuff. There are all kinds of false gods for us to worship. There are all kinds of things to put on the throne of our hearts instead of God with names like work and power and sex and football. Churches across our land want to add to God’s word what they think it should say and subtract from the commands of God the parts they don’t like.
How closely have you been following God’s commands? Now before you answer that remember that the Lord really is near. He has seen everything that has gone on in your life in the last week. He has observed every action, heard every word and is aware of every thought. When it comes right down to it we have to admit that we have not followed the commands of the God we follow, the God who is near us. The punishment for sinning against God is sitting in fire forever in hell. This week I watched a documentary on the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon. The documentary featured a woman who was trapped in a burning office at the pentagon. She said she was imagining in her mind how much it hurts for your clothes to catch fire and how long it takes to die. At that moment the sprinkler system was activated and above her and her life was saved. God’s Word gives guidance to those who fear the fires of hell. It points us to the Savior God wanted us near to him forever and so he took the fire for us. He sent His Son “who made his dwelling among us.” We have seen His glory in the face of Jesus on the pages of God’s Word. It tells us of how Jesus gave His life for ours so that we could live in heaven.
Do you ever feel like you are being watched? It’s because you are. Not that someone is stalking you. But people are watching you. They noticed how you act. Jesus says, “You will be my witnesses.” That is what you are. That’s what the Children of Israel were too. They were witnesses of the true God. The Lord would be near His people with his commands and they would be a witness to the world.
Moses told the people, “Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, "Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people." What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the LORD our God is near us whenever we pray to him? And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today?” I’m sure the people who came into contact with the Israelites noticed some strange things about them. They spoke about those ten commandments the Lord had given them. It had to have struck them that their false gods had been silent. Their religions all revolved around what they thought their god wanted. Their god hadn’t told them because wood and stone don’t talk.
The people around the Israelites also must have noticed some of their strange customs. They didn’t eat bacon or pork chops or shellfish or blood sausage. Every seven days, the worked stopped and they rested and worshipped. At the center of the camp was a tabernacle with things that went on there that must have seemed strange to the Canaanites. In all of these ceremonial laws God was pointing both the Israelites who observed those laws and the gentiles ahead to the Savior who would come from Abraham’s family. The Savior pictured in the ceremonial law would bring rest and peace. The Lamb of God would take the punishment sinners deserved.
People notice you and me too. They notice the things we thing and say and do. Are they seeing that Christ Jesus is near us? Are we reflecting Christ to our family and friends. God’s Word gives guidance in how we can thank Jesus. “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving.”
Do people think that God is a friend in your imagination? Though for now we can only imagine what Jesus looks like, he is not just an imaginary friend. He is very real. He loves us. He died and rose for us. He won’t leave our side. He guides us with His word. Amen.