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BFNK Sunday 25 Oct 2020 Readings Deut 34

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BFNK Sunday 25 Oct 2020 Readings Deut 34 BFNK Sunday 25th Oct 2020 Readings Deut 34: 1-12 The death of Moses Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Mount Pisgah east of Jericho, and there the LORD showed him the whole land: the territory of Gilead as far north as the town of Dan; 2 the entire territory of Naphtali; the territories of Ephraim and Manasseh; the territory of Judah as far west as the Mediterranean Sea; 3 the southern part of Judah; and the plain that reaches from Zoar to Jericho, 4 the city of palm trees. Then the LORD said to Moses, “This is the land that I promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob I would give to their descendants. I have let you see it, but I will not let you go there.” 5 So Moses, the LORD's servant, died there in the land of Moab, as the LORD had said 6 he would. The LORD buried him in a valley in Moab, opposite the town of Bethpeor, but to this day no one knows the exact place of his burial. 7 Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died; he was as strong as ever, and his eyesight was still good. 8 The people of Israel mourned for him for thirty days in the plains of Moab. 9 Joshua son of Nun was filled with wisdom, because Moses had appointed him to be his successor. The people of Israel obeyed Joshua and kept the commands that the LORD had given them through Moses. 10 There has never been a prophet in Israel like Moses; the LORD spoke with him face-to-face. 11 No other prophet has ever done miracles and wonders like those that the LORD sent Moses to perform against the king of Egypt, his officials, and the entire country. 12 No other prophet has been able to do the great and terrifying things that Moses did in the sight of all Israel. Matthew 22: 34 -40 The Great Commandment 34 When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they came together, 35 and one of them, a teacher of the Law, tried to trap him with a question. 36 “Teacher,” he asked, “which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 37 Jesus answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the greatest and the most important commandment. 39 The second most important commandment is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’ 40 The whole Law of Moses and the teachings of the prophets depend on these two commandments.” Thought for the Day Looking ahead What’s the most hopeful thing anyone can do in these dark days? Book a holiday? Order a turkey? Or what about this? Yesterday we had a wedding here, of Laura and Malcolm. Two people declaring in public their love for one another and making a commitment to each other, saying that for the future their lives will be joined and not separate. And that’s a great sign of hope for anyone. It says that no matter what happens they will each have someone who will put them first. It says that they will not be alone on life’s journey. And in a Christian wedding they are being made a promise, that God will go with them wherever that journey takes them. Robert Louis Stevenson suggested it is better to travel hopefully than to arrive. It’s not always the case but if we do travel what might give us hope and a sense of enjoyment is knowing our destination and arrival time. It’s frustrating to stand on a station platform hearing that the train is not going to arrive at all. I have heard of people booking package holidays, getting to the airport and a holiday resort, and having no idea of their destination on a map, or what part of the world they have arrived in. Sadly many holiday resorts designed for UK holidaymakers look so alike that it might be quite hard to tell in any case. If we’re travelling we do at least need a sense of direction. And I think in these troubled times many people are losing hope and fear not travelling at all; being alone, isolated in hospital or a care home or even their own homes. It is hard to look ahead or make any plans. Virtual contact is not the same as real contact with a living person and I feel sorry that churches still can’t offer coffees or activities that give people company and a change of scene. People ask me what I’m going to do for Christmas services and I simply don’t know yet. There’s a distant promised land with no restrictions but it’s certainly not on the horizon so far. Meantime anything we can do to keep people together is worth doing. And I wonder if you have ever thought about the best- known bible stories and how many are about journeys. Abraham was called to leave his home and head for a land he had never seen. Moses does in our recent readings. Jonah ran away from God and a journey to Nineveh, endured a fishy one instead. And Jesus of course was always on the move, as were the apostles of the early church. When Jesus called disciples and said follow me, he actually used a word meaning ‘keep on following me’ rather than ‘settle down with me’. And his journey with us for over 2000 years isn’t over yet. So how do we feel if we can’t see too far ahead? If we have a sense of direction but not an exact map? Think about Moses. We’ve followed him from the basket in the Nile through the Passover, umpteen years travelling in the desert with the Israelites and finally he gets close to the Jordan, is guided to climb yet another mountain to a point where he can see for miles, to Jericho in one direction and the Med in another. This is what he’s been waiting for, this is his big moment arriving when he can see the destination laid out in from of him and then---- curtains. Moses dies without ever setting one sandal onto the Promised Land, and Joshua takes over as leader of Israel. Deuteronomy closes with praise for Moses as a great prophet, but nowhere does it lament the fact that Moses did not get across the Jordan. The people saw Moses as a key part of their story but they knew Moses the leader was not indispensable. The story of God and the nation would carry on. That’s a lesson for us all. Moses told them in a farewell speech how to keep going in the right direction. Make sure you obey all these commands that I have given you. Repeat them to your children so that they may faithfully obey God’s teaching. These are not empty words: they are your very life. Obey them and you will live long in the land over the Jordan you are about to occupy. Moses left the 10 Commandments and two simple but positive laws to live by, from Deuteronomy and Leviticus. In Deuteronomy is the daily prayer, the SHEMA. Hear O Israel, the Lord your God, the Lord is God alone. Leave Egypt behind. And it goes on: You shall love the Lord your God with heart soul and mind. And in Leviticus Moses says Do not take revenge on anyone or continue to hate him but love your neighbour as you love yourself. It’s about good relationships as a way of getting past difficult times. Seeing your neighbour as a person just like you. These commands are not about what we shouldn’t do but what we should. Love God, and love our neighbour as ourselves. Jesus singled out these two commandments again in Matthew. When they escaped from Egypt the Israelites didn’t realise that the journey to the Promised Land would take several generations and they also didn’t realise that the hope of getting to the destination was not the only important thing. They were being moulded by their time in the desert. Hope kept them going, but what really mattered was the kind of people they were becoming, their faith, their behaviour and their treatment of each other. They thought God was preparing a place, while God was actually preparing a people. And it’s still the case: what matters is not where you came from or where you are, but the kind of person you are growing into. And the kind of congregation we are growing into, and around us the kind of nation we are growing into. The Israelites had to work out among themselves, sometimes painfully, how to be God’s people, what was ok, what wasn’t, and the hard journey also meant they had to depend on God. It wasn’t like fertile Egypt with food and civilisation on tap. They had to leave all that behind and move forward in faith and hope. It was a good training ground. You only have to look at Covid restrictions to see that what tests us as a nation is being under pressure. When all is going well, we just do what we’ve always done. When we are visited by a modern plague it brings out the best and worst in people. Some are going out of their way to help their neighbours and look for ways to help, while others are ignoring the needs of their neighbours and putting others at risk.
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