Deuteronomy 10.12-16
If this text sounds familiar, it should. I preached on it a month or so ago. That time I preached on one of the items in Moses' list, the fear of the Lord. This time I'm not going to focus on any one item on the list or even the list as a whole. The list will be included, but it won't be the focus of the sermon because it isn't the focus of the text. Instead, we'll work through the text and find its center and then see the rest of our text from that vantage point. So, let's start at the beginning of the text as see what we find.
The first thing to note is this language of 'require', '...what does the Lord your God require of you...' The implication of this phrase is not at all complicated, but it is most significant. God has expectations. He requires things. I point this out because this is something that far too many people have never considered. The all too common attitude these days goes something like this. 'Sure, I believe in God. He exists to help me out.' Few people would be so bold as to actually say it that way, but it is the common opinion out in the world these days. God exists for my sake. This explains why people so often get so angry at God when something terrible happens to them or to someone they love. 'Why did He let this happen to me!?!' The assumption behind that angry statement is that God is supposed to be there for me. It's His job to take care of me. The idea that He has requirements, expectations of us – beyond the occasional visit to a church – isn't even considered. So, as you encounter people like this, people who just assume that God is there for their sake, you might ask them, 'What do you think God requires of you in return for taking care of you?', followed up, of course, with, 'Why do you think that?' It might be a jarring question, and for that reason you need to be careful about asking it, but it might result in some rather fruitful conversations.
Our text also speaks to another group. The people in this group understand the idea of God having requirements. They look at our text and understand that God has expectations of them. And they recognize that that is appropriate, especially since they have expectations of God. It's something like a business contract. God has expectations of me and I have expectations of Him. If I keep my part of the arrangement I can expect Him to keep His. If they are a little sophisticated they might even label this a covenant relationship. These folk latch on to a text like this one. It answers the key question for this group. 'What are the things that I need to do to keep my end of the deal? Where can I find a list of things to do?' Is there a better text for that than this one? It makes perfect sense. To start off, there's to be proper respect and reverence for God. Then, we have all this about God's ways and serving Him and the commandments. All that boils down to things to do, like honor your father and mother, and things not to do, like adultery. And then there's this thing about being diligent in all of this, you know, doing it with all the heart. So, these folk look at our text and find exactly what they are looking for: a list of things to do. It's great because this group loves lists. It keeps things clear and objective. Just check off items on the list as you do them, and it's all good. And, in return, you get to enjoy a pleasant life since God will then keep His part of the bargain.
It needs to be said, though, that it's not always as smooth as that. Sometimes there are doubts. And these doubts pop up when life gets hard. That's when it does not appear that God is keeping His part of the bargain. Little bumps in the road are to be expected. But there are situations that no longer qualify as 'little bumps in the road'. That's when the doubts begin. Now, these people respond to this problem in various ways. Some redouble their efforts. Maybe they're not doing enough on their side of the bargain. Of course, there are others who begin to doubt the value of their arrangement with God. He doesn't seem to be meeting His contractual obligations. It needs to be said that there are some who give up on the whole thing. They may still continue some of their religious habits, but they are empty habits. Life at this point becomes very trying because hope, the hope of a pleasant life, dims.
The Spirit knows about these groups. That's why He wrote our text and its list of requirements. The message for the first group is clear. Yes, God has expectations. And you had better meet them. But when it comes to the second group, the message is different. It's particularly for the second group that the Spirit wrote this: 'Circumcise therefore your heart...' This statement mystifies the second group. It doesn't fit on a list. There's no objective thing to do, to be checked off. So, they wonder, 'What is this all about?' This is the center of this paragraph, the center of our text. Everything the Spirit has included in our text is tied to this. If we can understand what's going on here, the rest of the paragraph will fall into place. So, let's take a closer look.
To start with, remember Moses' audience. The book of Deuteronomy is a collection of Moses' final words to the church he had pastored for the previous forty years. Moses will soon die. Joshua is about to take the reins of leadership. Israel is about to cross the Jordan River and conquer the Promised Land. So, Deuteronomy is something like Moses' farewell address. These are his last words to Israel. Here, he reminds them, cajoles them, exhorts them and encourages them. Moses knows his audience, and he knows where they are tempted. So, he points to one thing that ties them all together as a group: their relationship with their God and in particular circumcision which is the symbol of that relationship. But as he refers to that sacrament he reminds them that the physical act of circumcision is not enough. That way of thinking about circumcision can only lead to a check list mentality. So, he exhorts them. 'Faithfulness is so much more than some check list. Deal with your heart! Circumcise your heart!' Now, just to be clear, when the Bible speaks of the heart it's not calling for some emotional response. The heart is not the seat of the emotions. It's the real you on the inside. It's where your desires, motivations, affections, hopes and dreams reside. What Moses is telling them is that if they would pursue their God aright, they will need to do it from the inside out. A check list mentality – something that only deals with the outside – will never do.
All of this gets to why I'm preaching to you from this text. As God's people we face many dangers, many potential pitfalls. One of them is becoming merely religious. It's the merely religious who like check lists. They see some objective religious things that can be checked off, things done not from within but merely externally, and they figure that doing that is good enough. Let me remind you of one of Jesus' parables about two men who were praying. The first man was all about check lists. He began with the list of things not to be done. 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men ... I'm not an extortioner [check], nor am I unjust [check]. I am not an adulterer [check] or a traitorous tax collector [check].' So much for that check list. But then there was the other check list, things that are to be done. 'I fast twice a week [check]. I even give tithes of all that I get [check].' This man was a member of God's Church. He had a relationship with the God of his fathers. Yet, his circumcision, the symbol of that relationship with his God, never touched his heart. Today, there are many whose bodies have been wet with the waters of baptism, the symbol of their membership in God's Church and of their relationship with the Father, and yet their hearts are bone dry, completely untouched by the sacrament. Now, please hear me when I say this: falling into that kind of mentality is a danger that we all face. None of us is exempt. Remember, we have an enemy who hates us. So, like Moses, I would exhort you to be careful. And lest anyone here not take this danger seriously enough, let me quote the Apostle. 'Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.' We all need to be careful.
Moses urges the people but not by giving them some rule to follow. What good what that be? It would just become another item on the list to be checked off. Instead, to motivate them to heed his call, he points them to their God. Listen. 'Behold, to the Lord your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it. 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.' Do you understand what Moses is saying here? 'Consider your God. He is the God over all things. He is high and lifted up. He can do whatever He wants. And yet, whom did He decide to love? You! He could have chosen anyone, but He chose you.' And so, following Moses' lead, I exhort you in the same way. Consider your God. Of all the people that He could have chosen, He chose you. He decided to love you and to send Jesus to suffer hell for you. Can anyone here give me even one good reason why He should have done that to us but not to the many others whom He has passed over? Why are you going to heaven while so many others are going to hell? Consider your God. The person who gets this, even just a little, is someone whose heart has been baptized. Something has been stirred within. Mere religion – that check list mentality – just doesn't get it.
Moses has a second motivation for the people. Listen to this, especially the end. '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, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I am commanding you today for your good?' Did you hear that? Responding to God's call will result in your good. Your Father is not just dumping some requirements on you. Remember, He wants you to flourish. Being sure that your heart is baptized and grows in its baptism will result in much good for you. Your Father wants you happy. But that can only happen His way. Beware of the temptation of that evil check list mentality. Pursue your God from the heart. Pursue Him in this way and see how good He is to you.
The sermon thus far has only been descriptive. And it's important that I do that. But now you're ready to deal with the matter of what to do. And that is not complicated. Go back to what God requires. He wants you to fear Him, to walk in all His ways, to love Him, to serve Him with all your heart and soul and to keep His commandments and statutes. As you take this list of things with you to do them, to do them from a heart that has been baptized, you will discover something. You will discover that you aren't able to do them, not really, not in the way that God requires. And that's a very good thing to discover. For one thing, that's evidence that you are not looking at the list in the way someone who is merely religious would. You understand this list as a Christian. You understand what God expects, and you know that you aren't meeting His expectations. You can't. Now, don't get all discouraged as you see your inability. That's what Satan wants. Instead, remember the Gospel. Remember that you have a Savior. Jesus has come. He has come to bless you. And one of His blessings is the gift of the Spirit. It's the Spirit who makes all this work. It's because of what the Spirit does that you see what it means that Jesus died for you and suffered your hell. It's because of what the Spirit does that you begin to get it, that you understand what the Father requires and how that is so much more than being merely religious. The Spirit must do His work. And He does. And bit by bit, it makes sense. You don't need to do that check list to somehow make God like you. Jesus has already fulfilled the requirements. All the expectations are already met. The Father already likes you. Jesus has come for you, and the Spirit makes that work in your life. And that's what the merely religious never get. They think in terms of a business contract. 'I'll keep my end of the deal, and You keep yours.' How foolish. But those whose hearts have been baptized know that there are no conditions to be kept. Jesus has taken care of all of that. So much for the check list. But then, interestingly, you return to the list and consider it. And it becomes even more interesting as you find yourself working to satisfying its requirements: fearing God and loving God and serving Him with all your heart and all the rest. But it's so very different now. You don't do it to try to make God like you. That's unnecessary. You do it simply because you love Him. No check list mentality here. Just love. And out of this comes much good. And one bit of that good is joy. You rejoice in your God. You see what He's done in Jesus and what He continues to do by the Spirit. You see His kindly grace at work in your life and in the lives of others. And you rejoice in that. And, over time, there will be more and more joy in your life. And that will be more than enough evidence that your heart has been baptized.
If this text sounds familiar, it should. I preached on it a month or so ago. That time I preached on one of the items in Moses' list, the fear of the Lord. This time I'm not going to focus on any one item on the list or even the list as a whole. The list will be included, but it won't be the focus of the sermon because it isn't the focus of the text. Instead, we'll work through the text and find its center and then see the rest of our text from that vantage point. So, let's start at the beginning of the text as see what we find.
The first thing to note is this language of 'require', '...what does the Lord your God require of you...' The implication of this phrase is not at all complicated, but it is most significant. God has expectations. He requires things. I point this out because this is something that far too many people have never considered. The all too common attitude these days goes something like this. 'Sure, I believe in God. He exists to help me out.' Few people would be so bold as to actually say it that way, but it is the common opinion out in the world these days. God exists for my sake. This explains why people so often get so angry at God when something terrible happens to them or to someone they love. 'Why did He let this happen to me!?!' The assumption behind that angry statement is that God is supposed to be there for me. It's His job to take care of me. The idea that He has requirements, expectations of us – beyond the occasional visit to a church – isn't even considered. So, as you encounter people like this, people who just assume that God is there for their sake, you might ask them, 'What do you think God requires of you in return for taking care of you?', followed up, of course, with, 'Why do you think that?' It might be a jarring question, and for that reason you need to be careful about asking it, but it might result in some rather fruitful conversations.
Our text also speaks to another group. The people in this group understand the idea of God having requirements. They look at our text and understand that God has expectations of them. And they recognize that that is appropriate, especially since they have expectations of God. It's something like a business contract. God has expectations of me and I have expectations of Him. If I keep my part of the arrangement I can expect Him to keep His. If they are a little sophisticated they might even label this a covenant relationship. These folk latch on to a text like this one. It answers the key question for this group. 'What are the things that I need to do to keep my end of the deal? Where can I find a list of things to do?' Is there a better text for that than this one? It makes perfect sense. To start off, there's to be proper respect and reverence for God. Then, we have all this about God's ways and serving Him and the commandments. All that boils down to things to do, like honor your father and mother, and things not to do, like adultery. And then there's this thing about being diligent in all of this, you know, doing it with all the heart. So, these folk look at our text and find exactly what they are looking for: a list of things to do. It's great because this group loves lists. It keeps things clear and objective. Just check off items on the list as you do them, and it's all good. And, in return, you get to enjoy a pleasant life since God will then keep His part of the bargain.
It needs to be said, though, that it's not always as smooth as that. Sometimes there are doubts. And these doubts pop up when life gets hard. That's when it does not appear that God is keeping His part of the bargain. Little bumps in the road are to be expected. But there are situations that no longer qualify as 'little bumps in the road'. That's when the doubts begin. Now, these people respond to this problem in various ways. Some redouble their efforts. Maybe they're not doing enough on their side of the bargain. Of course, there are others who begin to doubt the value of their arrangement with God. He doesn't seem to be meeting His contractual obligations. It needs to be said that there are some who give up on the whole thing. They may still continue some of their religious habits, but they are empty habits. Life at this point becomes very trying because hope, the hope of a pleasant life, dims.
The Spirit knows about these groups. That's why He wrote our text and its list of requirements. The message for the first group is clear. Yes, God has expectations. And you had better meet them. But when it comes to the second group, the message is different. It's particularly for the second group that the Spirit wrote this: 'Circumcise therefore your heart...' This statement mystifies the second group. It doesn't fit on a list. There's no objective thing to do, to be checked off. So, they wonder, 'What is this all about?' This is the center of this paragraph, the center of our text. Everything the Spirit has included in our text is tied to this. If we can understand what's going on here, the rest of the paragraph will fall into place. So, let's take a closer look.
To start with, remember Moses' audience. The book of Deuteronomy is a collection of Moses' final words to the church he had pastored for the previous forty years. Moses will soon die. Joshua is about to take the reins of leadership. Israel is about to cross the Jordan River and conquer the Promised Land. So, Deuteronomy is something like Moses' farewell address. These are his last words to Israel. Here, he reminds them, cajoles them, exhorts them and encourages them. Moses knows his audience, and he knows where they are tempted. So, he points to one thing that ties them all together as a group: their relationship with their God and in particular circumcision which is the symbol of that relationship. But as he refers to that sacrament he reminds them that the physical act of circumcision is not enough. That way of thinking about circumcision can only lead to a check list mentality. So, he exhorts them. 'Faithfulness is so much more than some check list. Deal with your heart! Circumcise your heart!' Now, just to be clear, when the Bible speaks of the heart it's not calling for some emotional response. The heart is not the seat of the emotions. It's the real you on the inside. It's where your desires, motivations, affections, hopes and dreams reside. What Moses is telling them is that if they would pursue their God aright, they will need to do it from the inside out. A check list mentality – something that only deals with the outside – will never do.
All of this gets to why I'm preaching to you from this text. As God's people we face many dangers, many potential pitfalls. One of them is becoming merely religious. It's the merely religious who like check lists. They see some objective religious things that can be checked off, things done not from within but merely externally, and they figure that doing that is good enough. Let me remind you of one of Jesus' parables about two men who were praying. The first man was all about check lists. He began with the list of things not to be done. 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men ... I'm not an extortioner [check], nor am I unjust [check]. I am not an adulterer [check] or a traitorous tax collector [check].' So much for that check list. But then there was the other check list, things that are to be done. 'I fast twice a week [check]. I even give tithes of all that I get [check].' This man was a member of God's Church. He had a relationship with the God of his fathers. Yet, his circumcision, the symbol of that relationship with his God, never touched his heart. Today, there are many whose bodies have been wet with the waters of baptism, the symbol of their membership in God's Church and of their relationship with the Father, and yet their hearts are bone dry, completely untouched by the sacrament. Now, please hear me when I say this: falling into that kind of mentality is a danger that we all face. None of us is exempt. Remember, we have an enemy who hates us. So, like Moses, I would exhort you to be careful. And lest anyone here not take this danger seriously enough, let me quote the Apostle. 'Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.' We all need to be careful.
Moses urges the people but not by giving them some rule to follow. What good what that be? It would just become another item on the list to be checked off. Instead, to motivate them to heed his call, he points them to their God. Listen. 'Behold, to the Lord your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it. 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.' Do you understand what Moses is saying here? 'Consider your God. He is the God over all things. He is high and lifted up. He can do whatever He wants. And yet, whom did He decide to love? You! He could have chosen anyone, but He chose you.' And so, following Moses' lead, I exhort you in the same way. Consider your God. Of all the people that He could have chosen, He chose you. He decided to love you and to send Jesus to suffer hell for you. Can anyone here give me even one good reason why He should have done that to us but not to the many others whom He has passed over? Why are you going to heaven while so many others are going to hell? Consider your God. The person who gets this, even just a little, is someone whose heart has been baptized. Something has been stirred within. Mere religion – that check list mentality – just doesn't get it.
Moses has a second motivation for the people. Listen to this, especially the end. '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, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I am commanding you today for your good?' Did you hear that? Responding to God's call will result in your good. Your Father is not just dumping some requirements on you. Remember, He wants you to flourish. Being sure that your heart is baptized and grows in its baptism will result in much good for you. Your Father wants you happy. But that can only happen His way. Beware of the temptation of that evil check list mentality. Pursue your God from the heart. Pursue Him in this way and see how good He is to you.
The sermon thus far has only been descriptive. And it's important that I do that. But now you're ready to deal with the matter of what to do. And that is not complicated. Go back to what God requires. He wants you to fear Him, to walk in all His ways, to love Him, to serve Him with all your heart and soul and to keep His commandments and statutes. As you take this list of things with you to do them, to do them from a heart that has been baptized, you will discover something. You will discover that you aren't able to do them, not really, not in the way that God requires. And that's a very good thing to discover. For one thing, that's evidence that you are not looking at the list in the way someone who is merely religious would. You understand this list as a Christian. You understand what God expects, and you know that you aren't meeting His expectations. You can't. Now, don't get all discouraged as you see your inability. That's what Satan wants. Instead, remember the Gospel. Remember that you have a Savior. Jesus has come. He has come to bless you. And one of His blessings is the gift of the Spirit. It's the Spirit who makes all this work. It's because of what the Spirit does that you see what it means that Jesus died for you and suffered your hell. It's because of what the Spirit does that you begin to get it, that you understand what the Father requires and how that is so much more than being merely religious. The Spirit must do His work. And He does. And bit by bit, it makes sense. You don't need to do that check list to somehow make God like you. Jesus has already fulfilled the requirements. All the expectations are already met. The Father already likes you. Jesus has come for you, and the Spirit makes that work in your life. And that's what the merely religious never get. They think in terms of a business contract. 'I'll keep my end of the deal, and You keep yours.' How foolish. But those whose hearts have been baptized know that there are no conditions to be kept. Jesus has taken care of all of that. So much for the check list. But then, interestingly, you return to the list and consider it. And it becomes even more interesting as you find yourself working to satisfying its requirements: fearing God and loving God and serving Him with all your heart and all the rest. But it's so very different now. You don't do it to try to make God like you. That's unnecessary. You do it simply because you love Him. No check list mentality here. Just love. And out of this comes much good. And one bit of that good is joy. You rejoice in your God. You see what He's done in Jesus and what He continues to do by the Spirit. You see His kindly grace at work in your life and in the lives of others. And you rejoice in that. And, over time, there will be more and more joy in your life. And that will be more than enough evidence that your heart has been baptized.
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