Two Great Challenges
Text: Deuteronomy 10:12-22
Title: Our Two Great Challenges
Textual Theme, Goal, Need:
Theme: Fear the Lord
Goal: to encourage Israel to truly fear the Lord
Need: Israel is on the journey from captivity to final reward and they need instruction in how to fear the Lord after they have been chosen for this journey.
Sermon Theme, Goal, Need:
Theme: Fear the Lord
Goal: to encourage Christians to truly fear the Lord by loving God and neighbor.
Need: Christians are on the journey of the relationship with God.
Textual Outline:
- Fear the Lord
- God Loves us
- God Loves others
- Fear the Lord.
Textual Notes:
Sermon Outline:
- Introduction: we are all on the journey of faith.
- Great Commandment is to Fear God
- God of the universe chose us.
- God of all gods loves others
- Love because he first loved us.
- Conclusion
Sermon in Oral Style:
Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Can you believe it is august already? Its crazy how quickly the season went by. Its crazy how quickly years go by. This august will make it ten years since my parents left me out at Dordt College for the beginning of Freshman Orientation.
Not many people got a lot out of freshman orientation, but I know I did. I probably couldn’t have told you were the faculty offices and classrooms were at. But, I met my wife Angela on the first day of freshman orientation ten years ago this month.
Crazy how life flies by. Pretty soon some of us here are going to be headed off to school somewhere again. If you are headed away to college or university you will start getting back into classes again.
I always remember that being a very positive time. You sit down in the class for the first time. You find out who the professor is and who else is in the class. Then they hand out the syllabus that explains how you can work for that 100% during the semester. At least you have the chance to pretend like you are going to be able to shoot for that 100 this year. The syllabus is the outline of the challenges and expectations for that class.
There are many ways that every human beings journey through life is like the journey through classes at school. They both take work and fun. In both you expect to be a better wiser person by the time you are finished.
One major difference between life’s journey and the going through classes at school comes if you have Jesus Christ in your life. In the journey of faith you already have all the credits for graduating if you believe in Jesus Christ. When you confess your faith in Christ, you already have the title behind your name. You aren’t hopefully possibly working toward that title behind your name. Joe Smith PhD. With Christ, as you go through life you have the title when you begin your life. Joe Smith. Saved by the Blood of Christ.
But even though salvation comes through faith alone, there is still a course syllabus. There are still studies to be done. God still takes pleasure in seeing us succeed in doing the things he calls us to. He still celebrates when we grow and change and become better people for his kingdom.
Selection, Salvation, and then the syllabus, that’s the order that God operates with. We find it here in our passage also. Verse 15 reminds us that God selected Israel out of all other people in the world to be his people. Then, because he selected them to be his people, he saves them and forgives them.
Just before the passage we read this morning, in chapter 9 its tells us about how God has rescued them from Egypt where they were a whole nation of slaves for the Egyptians. God took them out of the terrible place they were in and brought them into the desert, a journey of faith that would eventually bring them to the promised land. Selection, then Salvation, then the journey of faith.
Verse 12 starts off saying, “and now.” Some very important words. “Okay… God has selected and saved us. And now? What do you expect from us? What can we do to get ready for real life in the land with God?
That’s often the exact question that we are asking. Okay. I believe in God. I believe Jesus Christ has saved me from my sin. I was selected. I have been saved. And Now?
Verse 12. “12 And now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God ask 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 observe the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?[1]” What point is there in my life? What has God put me here for? What does he expect of me now that I know I owe him everything?
Fear, walk, love, serve, and obey. Five things are listed. They all are joined very closely with each other. All extremely important. But one great thing about the Hebrew writing is the middle item is the focus of a whole list In our culture we start with a strong point and then end with the wham-bam finale. Hebrews did it differently. The middle point would be the highlight. And all the rest would add more meaning to the middle idea.
Fear, walk, love, serve, obey. The middle is Love. Love God. It might be number 3 on the list, but it is at the very heart of the syllabus, the summary outline of what God’s purpose for his people are. Love God. The first great challenge in the syllabus after salvation. Love God.
That love ought to include not just an emotion… “oh God, you are so good I love you. This love includes Hebrew Fear which, or awe and respect. Love includes walking in God’s ways. Making sure your daily walk is always the Christian walk. Has your Christian sit and listen in Church translated into a Christian walk every single day, wherever you are, from work to the beach to the classroom to the summer cottages? That is part of the love. Serve the Lord. Loving God involves helping with your life to accomplish the worldwide goals of God. Make disciples of all nations right. Shall we start with Canada. Not a bad idea. And it says, observe the Lord’s commands. Obey God in order that you can be a person of Godly character. Be the person God wants you to be.
The first great challenge in God’s course for us after salvation is to LOVE HIM. Christ tells us that again in Matthew 22. Love the Lord your God with every part of you.
Does God deserve it? Our passage doesn’t leave any questions to it. God owns the sky, space, galaxies upon galaxies, the earth, and every single creature and living plant, animal, it all belongs to God. With all this that belongs to him, God decided to do more than just own his people. He decided to love them. He decided to love us. He selected us. He saved us. He loves us. Now by the blood of Christ, we love him in return. We love him with all of our selves. We love him in all areas of our living.
The next thing we are told is that we have to circumcise our hearts. Circumcision was the sign of the relationship between God and Israel. Today the sign of our relationship is baptism. These people who heard this message originally were circumcised, they had at least a symbolic relationship with God. But he says, I don’t care what nation you are a member of, or what group you are a part of. Circumcise your hearts. God doesn’t care that you have membership in a church. God doesn’t care that you have been baptized, go to church on Sunday, eat the bread and juice at communion. All that matters is that your heart is circumcised. God wants your heart to bear the mark of faith. God wants your heart. God wants your love. Challenge number one is loving God.
Then Dueteronomy continues talking about the love of God. But this time it says that he is the god over the gods of all nations. He is the great, mighty, and awesome God. And then in verse 18-19 it gives us our next challenge. It says, “18 He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing. 19 And you are to love those who are aliens, for you yourselves were aliens in Egypt.[2]”
This should remind us of that second great commandment that Christ mentions in Matthew. Love your neighbor as yourself. Christ had this context in mind as he told us to love our neighbor.
We are challenged to love our neighbor. That includes the people around us who are having difficult times. The passage tells us God cares for the widow and the fatherless. That reminds us that God loves those who are ignored because they are different. The widow, and the orphans were the poor in Israel. The foreigners were the outcasts. They were different. They were not treated the same. One of the greatest things about God is that he opens his arms to the people that we are guilty of pinching our noses because of their smell, folding our arms because we don’t trust them, or even pushing them away because we don’t think they are good enough to experience the love of God and give it back to him in return.
The challenge is, love the alien among us. Love the one who is different among us. On the journey of faith watch for the ones who looks lost, or look like they have no one to stand with them.
That may apply to the fellowship hall at church. But, like Jesus Christ himself, this is so much more than church. What about in your work. What about in your circle of friends? I have heard of groups of friends, maybe even some from this church, groups of friends who decide they want to go together to on a mission trip. That would be absolutely incredible. What a way to take your love for others outside of the realm of just loving the people around you in church. What a way to turn a group of friends into friends in Christ. What an opportunity to grow together in the faith as you love each other even more deeply.
So on this journey of faith God has selected us, then he saved us, now we are a part of the process of being sanctified. We are following his syllabus, his purpose for us on the journey of faith. And the two challenges for all of us. Love out neighbor because God loves them already. And most of all, Love God with your complete self and whole life. How will your love change after hearing God’s word?
AMEN.
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[1] The Holy Bible : New International Version. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. Dt 10:12-13
[2] The Holy Bible : New International Version. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. Dt 10:18-19