Fuel

This is the last message I am doing in this short series called Tune Up. We have been considering through the month of August how it is that our faith periodically needs a tune up, kind of like a car gets a tune up in order to keep running smoothly. We’ve talked about some of those routine maintenance issues that come up with owning a vehicle—things like tension belts and oil changes and brake pads and wheel alignment. Today I want to finish us on this series with something that we would not consider maintenance, but is absolutely necessary for a vehicle to keep running: fuel. Or these days I suppose I should also augment that to include electrical charging for those that might drive an electric vehicle that does not run on gasoline. But, whether you drive a car with a gasoline engine or a battery powered electric motor, either way you must regularly make sure it is either filled with gas or the plugged in to recharge. The car engine runs on something, and you have to continually keep resupplying whatever it is—gas or electricity.

Let’s consider today how our faith may need continual resupplying—that our spiritual lives may need refueling or recharging. Those of us who own cars know that refueling is something we do regularly when the tank gets low. You don’t go all the way until the car runs out of gas and leaves you stranded. In fact, perhaps when we plan to take a trip or have a day when we know we have to go drive a considerable distance to visit another town or state, we plan ahead to make sure the gas tank is full before we begin. Knowing that a particular journey is coming that will deplete the fuel, it makes sense to refuel at the front end before the journey begins and be ready to go.

I am not sure we think about faith that way, but maybe we should. I am certain that just about all of us who have been Christians for a considerable period of time know what it is like to feel those moments when faith is running on fumes. We know those kinds of moments when we are acutely aware our spiritual life needs a serious recharge. We know moments when spiritual batteries feel just about empty. Let’s take some time today and consider that particular phenomenon we all encounter at some point in our faith—those moments when our faith needs refueling. Today we are traveling back into the Old Testament to the book of Deuteronomy. This comes in a section of scripture in which Moses is reminding the people of God’s laws and commands after spending 40 years in the Sinai desert wilderness, before they are about to enter the promised land of Canaan.

Deuteronomy 8:1–11 (NIV)

Deuteronomy 8:1–11 NIV

1 Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors. 2 Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. 3 He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. 4 Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years. 5 Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you. 6 Observe the commands of the Lord your God, walking in obedience to him and revering him. 7 For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land—a land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills; 8 a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; 9 a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills. 10 When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. 11 Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day.

Alright, there are a few things we need to unpack from this passage in order for it to make sense and apply to our lives today. There is talk about manna and wandering in the wilderness; there is a list of all the good things that will be coming in the promised land of Canaan; there is reference to the commandments of God and keeping all the commands. Let’s see if we can tie these together in a way that steers a message from God’s word in our direction—especially as we are considering the topic of keeping a life of faith that is fueled up and fully charged.

Hebrew shamar = pay attention, keep in mind, keep in front of you, remember (be careful, observe)

Deuteronomy is written in the Hebrew language; maybe you know I love to point out features of the original language from time-to-time when it helps bring some greater clarity and understanding to the Bible. The feature I want us to see in this passage is the organization around one word which shows us the structure of how these verses of scripture move together. It is the Hebrew word shamar, and it shows up three times in this passage as a divider. Shamar can be translated into English a variety of ways. It means ‘pay attention’ but also carries the nuance of ‘keep in mind’ or ‘keep in front of you.’ In this passage from Deuteronomy 8 it shows up in verse 1, verse 6, and verse 11. In verses 1 and 11 it is translated as “be careful,” and in verse 6 it is translated as “observe.” But all three of these mentions carry the meaning of shamar – ‘pay attention,’ ‘keep in mind,’ ‘keep in front of you.’

vs 1-5 — remember God’s provision in the past vs 6 — pivot — remember God’s commands vs 7-11 — remember God’s provision in the present/future

Follow along with me to see how this one word gives structure to the passage. I have noted before in the past how Biblical literature often uses a mirrored structure in which there is some kind of hinge or pivot verse right in the middle of a passage. The placing of shamar in this passage shows this structure. There are five verses (8:1-5). Verse 6 stands by itself as the hinge or pivot in this passage. And then there are five more verses (8:7-11). The 5-1-5 movement of this passage marks out the different sections. The first section in verses 1-5 looks to Israel’s past experience in the desert wilderness in which God provided manna. Verse 6 is the pivot. And then the second section in verses 7-11 looks to what is coming in Israel’s days ahead as they are about to enter the promised land. The overarching theme that ties it together is shamar – ‘pay attention.’

Alright, that’s the structure. Now let’s consider the content. Pay attention to what exactly? These are only a few verses out from a very long string of teachings from Moses in Deuteronomy. It begins back in chapter 5 with the retelling of the Ten Commandments which Moses summarizes in chapter 6:4

Deuteronomy 6:4–5 (NIV)

Deuteronomy 6:4–5 NIV

4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

Those of you who read and study the Bible know well that the heart of God’s law is love—love for God and love for neighbors. We just saw in last week’s message from Romans 13 that the apostle Paul summarizes all of the commandments of God in one phrase, “love you neighbor as yourself.” Love is at the heart of the commandments. That’s good to remember because otherwise the commandments of God all throughout scripture begin to feel a bit overwhelming. There are so many commands, and it feels impossible to even remember them all, let alone keep them all.

vs 1 — “shamar the whole command I am giving you today”

commands are not moralistic behavior modification; but fuel for faith formation

If the gospel of God were about moralistic behavior modification, then we would be in trouble. But the heart of love woven into the teaching of the law is helpful. I know that our English Bibles begin this passage toady in chapter 8:1 with the instruction to “be careful to follow every command I am giving you today.” Again, that’s a lot of commands to remember. But I think the English translation of this Hebrew passage is not the most helpful. Sometimes words in the Hebrew language have a variety of meanings, and often translators must make a choice about how to say it in English. I think in this instance a better way to translate chapter 8:1 would be to say “pay attention to the whole command I am giving you today.” whole, not in the sense of every, but in the sense of summary. Keep in mind—or keep in front of you—the heart of love which these commands represent. It is not moralistic behavior modification; no, instead it is intended to be the fuel for faith formation.

always remember that all we have comes from God’s provision

Notice how this works. Hand-in-hand with the instruction in this passage to remember the commands of the Lord is the instruction to always remember the provisions from the Lord. That first section of five verses is all about the way God provided for his people in the desert wilderness. And the second section of five verses is a reminder that all the overflow of provisions they are about to experience upon coming into the promised land of Canaan is also a blessing from God to his people. The ‘pay attention’ instruction is not only to remember the commands, the ‘pay attention’ is also to always remember that everything comes from God. It is as if God already knows how quickly the people of Israel will completely forget this once they become settled into the promised land and experience its abundance—which, of course, God does know. The story moving forward from the time of the judges all the way to Babylonian exile is the repeated narrative again and again of the Israelites forgetting exactly what this passage is telling them to always remember.

Israel would forget, experience hardship, turn back to God

It is a cycle we see repeated in the Old Testament. The people forget to live in ways which acknowledge God alone as their divine provider. The people are attacked and invaded. The people hit rock-bottom and cry out to God for help. Over and over again, God’s people in the Old Testament only seem to turn to God when the gas tank of their lives hits empty, when the batteries of their faith are depleted. They lose sight of the way in which God intends for their faithfulness to be continually refueled and recharged. Again and again, they let the tank run dry before doing anything to seek God’s recharging.

periodic quick recharge just to keep the power from dying

I know you and I all drive cars that have indicators on the dashboard to tell us when the gas is starting to run low, or the batteries will need to charge. It seems like we should have some kind of indicator like that on the dashboard of our spiritual lives. Maybe you’ve had a time in your life when resources were tight, and you had to limp along for a while only being able to afford a few gallons of gas to get you through the day. It’s kind of like when I forget to plug in my cell phone at night and leave the house with it the next morning only having 10% battery left. I can take a few minutes while I am at the office to plug it in for a quick charge, or maybe have it plugged in on the car charger while driving from one appointment to the next. But it seems like I am fighting all day just to keep the phone from dying. I scrap together a few quick jolts of power, not to completely recharge it, but just to keep it from dying. Or I only have a $10 bill in my wallet, so a few gallons of gas is all I can put in to get me through the day without the tank running dry.

we tend to only seek for God’s replenishment for our souls once the spiritual tanks are in danger of being completely empty

That’s how Old Testament Israel was living their spiritual life with God. And how often does our own spiritual life fit that same pattern. How often does it feel like a day of sabbath rest isn’t approached as a time to fully top up the spiritual tank and fully charge the spiritual batteries, but rather it is something arrived at coasting in on fumes because the tank is already empty, and the batteries have already died? How often do we neglect to approach God to strengthen and build our faith to full power for the journey ahead, but rather reach out to God just for a quick charge or a few drops of spiritual fuel to keep my faith from completely stalling? Doesn’t it seem like—just like Old Testament Israel—we tend to only seek for God’s replenishment for our souls once the spiritual tanks are in danger of being completely empty?

Keep in front of me the heart of God (proximity to God)

continual proximity to the heart of God places your faith in patterns of re-nourishment

What do we do about that? How do we live as people who have faith that is fully fueled and recharged? The answer here in Deuteronomy 8 is shamar. Keep in front of you the heart of God which is represented in his commands and his provision. A continual proximity to the heart of God places your faith in patterns of re-nourishment. Pay attention to the heart of God not as a side-gig or a hobby or an add-on, but at the center around which everything else in life is attached. Keep that in front of you; keep God’s heart in front of you.

God will never turn away those who come to him in faith

The promise from God to you is this: God will never turn away those who come to him in faith. Jesus always invites close to himself those who are seeking him. God’s covenant love will always enfold and never let go of those who approach in faith. You and I do not have to convince God to let us approach him. It is just the opposite; God wants you to approach him, he invites you to keep him at the center of your life. Keep in front of you the heart of God, and you will discover that his heart has always been there in front of you the whole time.