Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. – Deuteronomy 30:11

Today's Scripture Reading (January 31, 2022): Deuteronomy 30

Six-hundred and thirteen. If you want to keep all of the Jewish Law, the number that you need to know is not ten; it is 613. According to the Jewish rabbis, the Bible contains 613 commandments that God expects us to follow. Of course, keeping all of the Law is not easy. And sometimes, they are even contradictory. For instance, the Law clearly states that leadership should "designate a place outside the camp where you can go to relieve yourself" (Deuteronomy 23:12). From the point of view of cleanliness, the rule makes sense, and it was a bit ahead of its time. Part of the cleanliness problem of a century ago was that outhouses were often way too close to the house, something that was done for the sake of convenience. In the process, diseases present in the excrement of the outhouse often found it easy to make the jump to the kitchen of the house. The Law says that such an area should be designated outside of the camp.

But a problem arose when Rabbis designated Jerusalem as the "Camp of Israel." Laws that applied to a camp in the wilderness now also applied to the City of Jerusalem, which meant that the place you went to relieve yourself had to be outside of the city. Of course, for some people living in the heart of the city, that meant a long trip to the closest available washroom. The journey to the nearest designated area was sometimes too far to walk on the Sabbath without violating Jewish Sabbath laws. But the rabbis had a solution for that problem. They made it illegal to relieve yourself on the Sabbath. Our human reality is that when the Law becomes too hard, the people begin to ignore the Law.

And that was the reality in Israel during the days of Jesus. The Law of Moses had simply become to hard for the people to keep, and so they stopped trying. The Pharisees prided themselves on their ability to keep the Law, but they had devoted all of their time to that one task. For the average person who had to do the necessary things of life, keeping the Law was simply beyond their capability, as I suspect was not using an outhouse on the Sabbath as had been decreed by the Rabbis.

But that was not the way it was supposed to be. The laws of the rabbis had actually begun to violate the Law of Moses. Moses clearly says that the Law he was giving to the people was not too difficult or beyond the reach of the people. But that was precisely what the Law had become, and the reason why Jesus had to come to fulfill the Law (Matthew 5:17); to make the Law available to the people once more.

Whenever we make rules upon rules until they are too difficult to understand or obey, we are going against the desire of God, who wants the Law to be easy enough to be understood and kept even by the least among us.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Deuteronomy 31

But to this day the LORD has not given you a mind that understands or eyes that see or ears that hear. – Deuteronomy 29:4

Today's Scripture Reading (January 30, 2022): Deuteronomy 29

When I was a teenager, I delivered an early morning paper. My early start ensured that the newspaper was there when the occupant and the sun began their day. That meant that I  rose from my bed at four in the morning, when the rest of the world was still asleep in its envelope of darkness and began my rounds. During one of those rounds, I experienced something that I have never been able to explain. One morning, something that looked like a ball of fire hovered for several minutes above the powerlines as I made my rounds. It seemed to follow me for a while, and then it was gone. I have toyed with many explanations for the phenomenon, but none seem to have quite fit what I saw. It was an Unidentified Flying Object, although not necessarily of the alien kind.

There is a belief among some sectors of Christianity that the best way to evangelize the world is through signs and wonders. Every once in a while, someone within my circle of influence questions why God doesn't just turn loose his miracles on the world,  demonstrating his power for everyone to see. Then, everyone would know that God exists and is in control. It makes some logical sense.

And yet, we also realize that the truth may not follow that logic. The cry of our world when confronted with the miracles that God does perform in our midst is that there must be another explanation, some other reason as to why and how these things have happened. Just because we can't explain something does not mean that there is a supernatural reason behind the event. It just means that we don't understand the occurrence. And the other side of the coin is equally true. Just because we can understand why something happens does not mean that God has nothing to do with the action, just like every strange light in a sky is not necessarily from another planet.

Moses understands this reality. He looks at Israel and reminds them that they had seen the miracles that God had done in Israel and throughout the past four decades. And if they did not see them, they had heard the stories told by their parents who had seen these marvels. And yet, they still didn't believe. And Moses tells the people that even though they have seen the wonders that God was doing all around them, the problem was that they did not have a mind that understands, eyes that see, or ears that hear. And until God moves and blesses them with those things, they will be blind to the movement of God.

A few millenia have passed since the days of Moses, and that is still the truth. We don't need a God who will do more wonders in our midst. We need to pray that his Spirit will give us minds that understand, eyes that see, and ears that hear. And then maybe we will have the courage to point to all of the wonderful things that God is already doing in our midst.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Deuteronomy 30

Because you did not serve the LORD your God joyfully and gladly in the time of prosperity … Deuteronomy 28:47

Today's Scripture Reading (January 29, 2022): Deuteronomy 28

"If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome." The words belong to Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672), the most prominent of the early poets of North America. Bradstreet was born to a wealthy family in Northampton, England. She migrated to the New World in 1630 and was part of the group that founded the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630. As a founding member of the colony, she would have known a lot about winter and spring, as well as adversity and prosperity.

Like winter and spring, adversity and prosperity tend to be cyclical. If you are experiencing one, you will soon be experiencing the other. Most of the time, it is the periods of adversity that trouble us and receive our focus. James, Jesus's brother and the leader of the church in Jerusalem in the days after Jesus's death and resurrection, wrote that we should;

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything (James 1:2-4).

The emphasis is on what we do in times of trouble. Paul echoes the sentiment when he writes, "In your anger do not sin:' Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold (Ephesians 4:26-27). Again, the emphasis is on our reaction to trouble and adversity. And the encouragement is that when we face adversity, we should not sin.

Maybe the focus on times of adversity is warranted. After all, it is during times of trouble and conflict that our character is tested. And it is during those trials that we are tempted to cut corners and enter into sin.

But it is not times of adversity that receives Moses's attention. It is the times of prosperity on which Moses concentrates. And maybe that makes sense, too, because we can let down our guard during times of prosperity. We really do believe that we can do it by ourselves, and we don't need God during the good times. God promises that if we are willing to look to him and serve him gladly and with joy in times of prosperity, then he will take care of us in times of adversity. But if we refuse to serve him the good times of life, then we have no right to expect him to be with us when the good times turn bad. Because we know, even in the wonderful days of spring, that winter is coming.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Deuteronomy 29

Build there an altar to the LORD your God, an altar of stones. Do not use any iron tool on them. – Deuteronomy 27:5

Today's Scripture Reading (January 28, 2022): Deuteronomy 27

In the church's main sanctuary, just outside my office, hangs a series of banners. The banners, there are more than just the ones that are currently hanging in the worship hall, are intended to be changed according to season. Each banner was lovingly created by a talented seamstress in the congregation. And I believe that making these banners was part of her act of worship.

Other craftspeople have created other items around me. A bench in front of the church was made by a family in the church, and artisans created a plaque that lists the people who have passed away from the congregation, signs, posters, and beautiful poetry, every one of these things has been created by talented and gifted people. Some of the creations are signed, but not all. But each one of them is a gift beyond value because they were lovingly created as someone's act of worship.

And I believe that the offerings of these craftspeople rival those of the craftsmen that built and maintained the Tabernacle during the days of Israel's desert wandering. The items that these artisans had created to aid in worship were on display. Included in this list of creations were the panels of the Tabernacle itself along with all of the poles and fasteners, then extending to all of the items used inside the Tabernacle in the day-to-day activities of the priests. God had provided the necessary people with appropriate giftings to create everything that was needed. For these gifted artists, making the Tabernacle artifacts was an act of worship, an act of creation that was joyfully given to their God.

But as Israel prepares to cross the Jordan, God issues a different command to Moses and the people of Israel. Once you have crossed the Jordan River, build an altar of stones. This altar was supposed to be made with large rocks that the people would discover in the fields. They were field stones, and these stones were to be whitewashed, which likely means washed in lime, but other than that, they were to be left in the original form in which they were found; no iron tool was to be used to shape the stones in any way. While the various craftspeople of Israel had been kept busy making other significant things used in the worship of God, for this altar, they had been ordered to stay away. This altar would use the natural shape of the field stones in its construction. The beauty of this altar was to remain unenhanced because all of the worship of the people as they entered the land belonged to God; it could not be shared with even a talented craftsperson. The danger was that, when the altar was completed, there might be a temptation to glorify the builder over the creator. And as Israel moved into the promised land, they needed to have their eyes fixed on God and not on a human messenger of the one true God, regardless of how talented that messenger might be.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Deuteronomy 28

… take some of the firstfruits of all that you produce from the soil of the land the LORD your God is giving you and put them in a basket. Then go to the place the LORD your God will choose as a dwelling for his Name. – Deuteronomy 26:2

Today's Scripture Reading (January 27, 2022): Deuteronomy 26

A couple of decades ago, I was involved with a church that was considering a move. The church building had become run down, parking had been an issue for several years, and a piece of land at the edge of the city had become available. And so, the church began to consider whether it wanted to move. As an Associate Pastor still learning the ropes, I remember going to my boss and asking this question; "What does God want for us?" I was confused. The future seemed to exist at the edge of the city. Our contemporary reality of the modern church is that we seem to keep moving to the edge of our communities because that is where the land is available to build our dreams. But in the process, we lose much-needed influence on the inner portions of our communities. My dream has always been to buy an old grocery store closer to the heart of the city (grocery stores usually have lots of parking space available) and repurpose the building for the church. But that is an expensive proposition. So, when I asked the question, I felt the question was important. More than anything, I wanted to be where God wanted me to be.

I remember my boss's answer to my query. According to him, God didn't care where we were. I think it might have been more of a reluctance to put too much importance on one reality over another. In the end, we came just short of raising the money we needed to buy the property, so the move didn't happen. But decades later, the question still deserves a serious answer.

As Israel stands on the edge of the Promised Land, Moses tells the people to bring a sacrifice of the firstfruits to the Tabernacle. It is something that they haven't done in the wilderness because there were no "firstfruits." But Moses adds this phrase. "Then go to the place the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his Name." It wasn't, go to the place where the nation's leadership will decide; it was the place that God had chosen for the Tabernacle to be placed. God would make the choice.

While Israel worked at taking the Promised Land, the Tabernacle would reside at Gilgal. After the conquest of the Promised Land, the Tabernacle was moved to Shiloh in the territory inherited by the tribe of Ephraim, the son of Joseph. And at Shiloh, the Tabernacle stayed for the next 300 years. But then it moved, first to Bethel and then to Nob, near the hometown of Saul. And finally, David had the Tabernacle brought to Jerusalem as the King tried to consolidate both the secular and sacred power in his city. But the common theme after Shiloh seemed to be that the Tabernacle ended up where a leader wanted it, rather than the place that God had chosen for it to reside. And therefore, it suffered at the will of political leaders, and the will of God became a secondary concern.

My boss might have been right, and God didn't care where our church would end up. But I remain unconvinced. But I am also still not sure where God wanted his church to be, but I wonder if it was a question that should have been asked more forcefully before monetary restraints made the decision for us. After all, in the modern world and the absence of a Tabernacle or a Temple, I believe that the Christian Church is the place where the name of God resides. And maybe we would act differently if we really thought of the church in that manner.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Deuteronomy 27

Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain. – Deuteronomy 25:4

Today's Scripture Reading (January 26, 2022): Deuteronomy 25

One of my favorite verses in the Bible is a little obscure, and many would find it a weird choice. You might have read it and overlooked it just as quickly. It is the last statement in the story of Jonah.

And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals" (Jonah 4:11).

One of the first verses that we learned as children starts with the words "God so loved the world" (John 3:16). And yet some Christians often act as if that is not true. God does not love the world; he just loves the ones who we love. Or, maybe, he loves the ones who believe as we do. Within the association of churches in which I belong, there is an argument happening between two factions over what has become one of the hot topics of our society. But more important than the reason for the disagreement is our inability to love past the hot topic. We need to be able to say, I disagree with you, but I love you anyway, and I am proud that in the middle of our disagreement, we can find ourselves at the table and share together the bread and the wine.

What if John was right and God really does love the world. He loves us, he loves those on our side of the fissure of beliefs, but he loves those on the other side as well. One of my core beliefs about the universal Christian Church is that we need to be able to disagree and yet still be one in the body with Christ. Instead, we often accuse people who do not believe as we do of not being "Christian." And that is beneath us.

In the story of Jonah, this was the essential struggle of the Prophet's story. He knew that God loved Israel. His battle was that God could also love those who lived in Nineveh. Surely, God had made a mistake. He couldn't love the Assyrians of Nineveh. They were the enemy and existed on the other side of the fissure of belief.

But what draws my attention is that the author of Jonah doesn't end the story with God loving the people of Nineveh. He adds the phrase "and also many animals." Apparently, when John said that God loved the world, it wasn't just the people of the world that he had in mind. God loved the animals of the creation as well. And if God loves the cows of this world, why is it so hard to imagine that he loves the ones that we disagree with as well.

The value of animals is ingrained in the law. The humane treatment of animals is the least we can do for a God who loves all of His creation. The general example is the condition of an ox treading the grain. In ancient times, the husk would be separated from the grain by having an ox walk in a circle on top of the grain; the ox would "tread the grain." But the human reaction was to muzzle the ox so that the animal would not eat some of the grain while it worked. But the law considered "muzzling the ox" inhumane treatment of an animal that God loved. To surround it with food and not let it eat was simply wrong. The animal deserved better.  

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Deuteronomy 26

 

… then her first husband, who divorced her, is not allowed to marry her again after she has been defiled. That would be detestable in the eyes of the LORD. Do not bring sin upon the land the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance. – Deuteronomy 24:4

Today's Scripture Reading (January 25, 2022): Deuteronomy 24

Judy Sheindlin, better known as Judge Judy, has been married three times, but only to two husbands. She married Richard Levy when she was in her early twenties. The marriage lasted for twelve years. Then, in 1977, Judy married Jerry Sheindlin; the pair then divorced in 1990 but remarried again in 1991. Jerry and Judy have remained married since then. The reason for the divorce is believed to have been a result of the stress on Judy due to the death of her father. Maybe we should see the divorce in 1990 as a mistake, one that was rectified a year later.

The Bible's stand on marriage might be a little confusing. But the preferred standard has always been a union between two people for life. Genesis sums up the concept of marriage with these words: "a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh (Genesis 2:24).

The Pharisees asked Jesus if it was legal to divorce a woman for any reason. Part of our struggle with ancient marriage is that the control over the marriage rested with the man. A woman had no say in whether or not the marriage continued; it was the man who held the power of divorce. Today, that power is shared between the couple. Another problem with divorce is that the dissolution of a marriage would often leave the woman in a state of poverty. Unless she could find someone else who was willing to marry her, the divorced woman could often live only because of the financial support of her friends and family. The effects of divorce were decidedly one-sided, with the woman bearing most of the cost for the end of the marriage. Jesus's response to the Pharisees was;

Haven't you read that at the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,' and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh?' So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate" (Matthew 19:4-6).

The next question of the Pharisees was if marriage is supposed to be permanent, why did God make provision for divorce? Again, Jesus responds that "Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning" (Matthew 19:8).

One restriction that Moses does put on marriage is that remarriage of a spouse after she has married someone else is prohibited. And the reason might not be obvious, but I believe it is so that women could not be toyed with. It is not so that a mistake can't be corrected. Judge Judy's remarriage would have been legal in Moses's Israel because there was no spouse between her two marriages to Jerry Sheindlin. But in a world where the man holds all of the power, the woman had to be protected. And allowing a man to play with a woman's emotions was simply wrong. Regardless, it would be better if the divorce hadn't happened in the first place.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Deuteronomy 25

 

You must not bring the earnings of a female prostitute or of a male prostitute into the house of the LORD your God to pay any vow, because the LORD your God detests them both. – Deuteronomy 23:18

Today's Scripture Reading (January 24, 2022): Deuteronomy 23

Several years ago, I served as a youth worker in a small church. The youth group needed to raise some money to help fund some of the more expensive activities it wanted to undertake, and so, among other opportunities, we decided to do a bottle drive. The church had made a stand against the consumption of liquor, and as we planned the bottle drive, they decided to extend the ban on alcohol to the collection of bottles that once held the liquor. The problem was that the lion's share of the money collected from a bottle drive was gained from beer and other liquor bottles. I admit that I didn't understand the prohibition at the time, but we followed the directions we had received from church leaders anyway.

The same denomination had also banned gambling in any form, including lotteries. And along with the prohibition on buying a lottery ticket, it also prohibited accepting any government grants funded by lottery sales. And again, lottery sales were the foundation of most of the fundings available to non-profit organizations, so member churches were unable to take advantage of these funds.

I admit that I have not always agreed with these stands on morality, but I understand them more now than in years past. The response is ingrained in the Mosaic Law. Moses reminds the people that they were not to act as a "shrine prostitute." According to the Law, that action was morally beneath them. They were created with a higher purpose in mind. But, if they did work as a prostitute, then any proceeds raised through the endeavor could not be used to pay for the Temple tax or any other Temple-directed activities. The principle is straightforward; if an action was declared to be immoral, then the proceeds that might be obtained through these actions must be immoral as well.

Anglican and Puritan biblical commentator, John Trapp, writing in the middle years of the seventeenth century (the 1600s), accused the Roman Catholic Church of violating this precedent. And his issue was not a peripheral cultural interpretation of the law. He accused the Pope of not just turning a blind eye to the profits that were gained through prostitution but of being the pimps who recruited and turned the prostitutes out. In 1659 Trapp wrote:

And what a stinking shame is that, that stews and brothel houses are licensed by the Pope, who reaps no small profit by them? The Papists themselves write with detestation, that at Rome a Jewish maid might not be admitted into the stews of whoredom, unless she would be first baptized.

Truth? Unfortunately, yes. Stories abound of corruption inside the highest levels of the Christian Church. Standing among the worst was Pope Alexander VI, who led the Roman Catholic Church from 1492 until he died in 1503. Alexander VI has been described as a thoroughly secular Pope and is remembered as one of the most corrupt Popes in the church's history. Alexander VI entered into a scheme to sell his daughter into marriage to wealthy merchants, only to annul the wedding as soon as the dowry was paid so that he could sell her again to the next wealthy merchant that happened by. He also was known for instituting the Banquet of the Chestnuts. At a gathering for church leaders, he hired fifty prostitutes to attend the conference. The prostitutes entered the room with baskets of chestnuts. Once they had taken their places in the center of the men, they threw their chestnuts onto the floor, and the gathered leaders auctioned to buy the prostitute's clothes. Once the clothing had been sold, and the prostitutes were standing naked in the room, the girls were ordered to pick up the chestnuts. (And, somehow, collecting beer bottles seems to be mild in comparison.) It probably isn't hard to imagine what happened next. John Trapp's condemnation was well deserved.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Deuteronomy 24

Make tassels on the four corners of the cloak you wear. – Deuteronomy 22:12

Today's Scripture Reading (January 23, 2022): Deuteronomy 22

When I was younger, there was a phenomenon present in some record album art. The phenomenon was that musical artists who might have been somewhat critical of the church often represented their anger by depicting Roman Catholic Priests in uncomfortable positions. One day, a friend asked me an interesting question. What do these musicians have against the Roman Catholic Church? Of course, the answer was nothing, not really. Their opposition was to Christianity, not Roman Catholics in particular. But depicting a Protestant Pastor didn't identify them well enough. Often, at least when I was young, pastors looked more like business people than religious leaders. But Roman Catholic priests, and the priests and pastors of a few other denominations, wore clothing that set them apart from the rest of the people that you might meet on a local street.   

I have never worn a clerical collar, although I have thought about it. There was a time in my career when I considered wearing a clerical collar when dealing with the community. I was there as a spiritual leader. And again, it was the ready identification that was important. If I wore the clerical collar, those I came in contact with would immediately understand the role I was playing at the function. But there is also a danger in the process. In being set apart, we can also become separated from the people and those who see us begin to believe that our "set apartness" means that we can't understand the problems they confront in their daily lives.

But in the end, I decided against the idea. Part of my problem is that dressing differently put an additional barrier between me and those to whom I was ministering. And often, there is enough of a wall there already. For me, the clerical collar was not a good fit, although I recognized why some of my colleagues were choosing to wear one.

Moses reminds the Israelites that they were to add tassels to the four corners of their cloak. There was a practical purpose to the tassels. One obvious purpose was that the tassels would visually set Israel's people apart from the other nations. If you came upon someone wearing a cloak with tassels at the corners, you would know that this person was an Israelite and a disciple of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

But a more important purpose was that the tassels were intended to remind them to follow God's commands.

'Throughout the generations to come you are to make tassels on the corners of your garments, with a blue cord on each tassel. You will have these tassels to look at and so you will remember all the commands of the Lord, that you may obey them and not prostitute yourselves by chasing after the lusts of your own hearts and eyes. Then you will remember to obey all my commands and will be consecrated to your God (Numbers 15:38-40).

Like most commands, we have managed to twist the instructions of God into something that was never intended. Jesus condemned the Pharisees for making the tassels more prominent to prove how spiritual they were or how "special" and "set apart" they were. They believed that by wearing long tassels, the people they met would understand that they were worthy of respect and admiration. Jesus responded with these words.

"Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called 'Rabbi' by others (Matthew 23:5-7).

They loved to be the most important people in the room. But we are to choose a different path, characterized by humility and consider others to be more important than ourselves.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Deuteronomy 23