Deuteronomy 34 : 1-12 Matthew 22 : Sermon

Transcription

1 Deuteronomy 34 : 1-12 Matthew 22 : Sermon I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not cross over there. For 40 long years Moses, despite his initial reluctance, has led his people as they have wandered in the desert, searching for the land God has promised to them. He had seen them freed from slavery in Egypt and guided them through many difficult times. He has given them the commandments that he received on Mount Sinai. He has prayed for them and sometimes he has punished them. And always, ever since he first heard the voice of God at the burning bush, he remained faithful to his calling even when his people drove him to the very edge of despair. The whole story appears to be leading up to its great climax, the moment when he will lead his people into the Promised Land, the land where they may at last settle and enjoy peace and prosperity. So we read today of Moses being taken to the top of a great mountain and invited to finally look at the land they have been searching for for so long. And then just as his heart must have been bursting with joy and relief and pride - the Lord says no. The people will go there Moses but you will never make it. You can look with your eyes but you will never touch with your feet. It reminds me of a television games show host who, when the contestant had failed to get the right answers, would pull back the curtain to reveal the shiny car and say, look what you could have won allowing them to gaze longingly at the prize before leading them away. There are reasons given for this apparently cruel twist of fate at the end of Moses life. Earlier in the story there are two incidents where he is seen to get things wrong, and it is stated each time that for this reason he will not lead his people into the Promised Land. (see footnote) If we are to believe that Moses, after all his achievements, is now being punished for a couple of mistikes, we would surely conclude that it seems a bit harsh, a bit unfair. Why would God want to act like that? As an ending

2 to such a great story it just doesn t seem right. As St. Francis once said in a prayer to God, "sometimes I don't understand you". If we are looking for meaning for our own lives in this story, perhaps this is where we need to start. The way God is presented to us does make him seem very hard to understand. His ways are above our ways, his thoughts are not our thoughts, as the prophet Isaiah once put it. (Isaiah 55:8) Well if we are going to journey into the spiritual depths of life we had better get used to that idea. Sometimes "I don't know" is a pretty good very good theological answer. We would certainly have less religious fanaticism in the world if more people of faith were happy to admit there are some things they can't understand. Indeed it may more truly be a statement of faith to say that we believe even when we can t understand. To admit that God moves in a mysterious way, as William Cowper wrote, a man who himself suffered from mental illness and depression. To trust God, even when God doesn't make sense, is perhaps the only kind of trust which is worthy of the word. And that seems to be the kind of trust which Moses demonstrates, accepting his fate without complaint, despite all he had achieved, despite the fact that he still had plenty of vigour about him, as the text puts it. Moses comes the end his life, the end of his great adventure, and he has learned to trust the God he has never really been able to understand. Perhaps, in the end, that is what faith is all about. So in the story God acts in ways we can t understand, and he works in ways which don t seem fair. Well if we are going to grapple with the deep things of life we had better be prepared for a bit of unfairness, even for a bit of divine unfairness. But we shouldn t be too quick to complain about it. The story of the bible is going to lead up to a climax where God will give his son for the life of sinful people, the righteous dying for the unrighteous to bring us God. There is nothing fair or balanced about that, but we rejoice in the triumph of love over cold logic. The gospel is not about a God who is nicely weighing who deserves what and seeing that all is done fairly. It is always about a God who out of sheer love bends all the rules

3 and spreads his grace around to any who will receive it. But to get back to Moses and his story we are in the fortunate position of being able to do what he could not do. We can step back from that particular moment in time and see the broader perspective, the bigger story. More specifically, we can read on and see what happened next. What we discover is that Joshua was appointed leader to replace Moses, that he faced many new challenges and adventures, and that in the end the people were able to settle in the Promised Land. Moses had played his part; he had fulfilled his role in a much bigger story. He didn t see the outcome he had dreamed of, but his people did. His efforts had not been in vain. That may bring to mind a more recent story. On the 28 th of August 1963 Martin Luther King led a March on Washington for jobs and freedom. At the end of it he gave a 17 minute speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. No doubt with Moses in his mind he concluded it by saying, Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land! He went on, And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last! He didn t see his dream become reality. He was killed less than five years later when the struggle was still very much on-going. But he lived a life that was full of passion and purpose and power because of the dream he had, because he was convinced that what he believed in was true and that it would eventually come about. And he lived a life which became part of

4 the bigger story, which played a part in bringing about the change that he believed in. I m sure there is a lot of Moses in that attitude, and in that life. And perhaps this is the greatest inspiration that we can take from our scripture this morning. Like Moses, we are part of a story which is bigger and longer and more significant than we can know or see or understand. We are given a vision, a dream, which is greater than anything we can hope to accomplish. And while there might be much that leads us to despair for our world, to lose hope in the future, to give up doing which is right and good and worthy, we are called to believe that there is a promised land, that there is a kingdom of God, that there is an eternal purpose, and that it will come, in God s own timing and in his own way, which are far beyond our understanding. We are called to believe because that belief will keep us going, and by keeping going we can become all the more sure that we are going to get there. Every week in this church we pray that God s kingdom may come on earth as it is in heaven. I hope we also work every week so that God s kingdom may come on earth as it is in heaven. I hope we are inspired and motivated and encouraged to live lives that are full of passion and purpose and power because of the dream we have, the God given dream, the gospel dream, of the day when God s dwelling place (will be) among the people, and he will live with them (when) He will wipe every tear from their eyes. (when) There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, because the old order of things has passed away. (Revelation 21:3,4) The gospel dream of the day when all of humanity every tribe and nation will love God with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our mind, and love our neighbour as ourselves. We may not have seen that happening, and we probably aren t going to in our lifetimes. There are many, many people who have gone before us, who have prayed for that and longed for that and worked faithfully for that, but they didn t see it and we may not either. But that doesn t make the hope any less, or the dream any dimmer, and it doesn t make the faith futile.

5 Because it is not about us it is about something much bigger. Because it doesn t depend on us it depends on God. Because his plans last longer than the brief days of our lives they last for eternity. And we are privileged to see the vision, to know the hope, to live in the light of the promise, that his kingdom will indeed come and that it will indeed become our reality. And we are called to work for that vision, to live in that hope, to trust in that promise, so that we can be part of it, so that we can make our humble contribution, so that our lives may be fired with passion and purpose and power that is greater than anything we could ever muster for ourselves. May we all catch the vision, and life the life,and in the end, share the glory. Footnote In Numbers 20:12 we read, "But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them." What did Moses do deserve such a severe penalty? First, he disobeyed a direct command from God. God had commanded Moses to speak to the rock. Instead, Moses struck the rock with his staff. Second, Moses took the credit for bringing forth the water. In verse 10 Moses said, "Must we [referring to Moses and Aaron] bring you water out of this rock?" Moses took credit for the miracle himself, instead of attributing it to God. Third, Moses did this in front of all the Israelites. Such a public example of direct disobedience could not go unpunished, and the punishment was that he would not be allowed to enter the Promised Land. In Deuteronomy 1:37 Moses has referred to the sin and punishment given to a group of 10 men whom he had sent on a mission to scout out the land ahead of them. They did not do as they were asked and came back with a different kind of report. Moses says "Because of you the Lord was incensed with me too, and God said, 'You shall not enter it either".