ࡱ> wyv` 4Objbjss .v4Gt8t8t8t8<8\>99999999D>F>F>F>F>F>F>$?hBxj>h;99h;h;j>99>===h;R99D>=h;D>===9 9 P!`t8;r=D>>0>=B,=jB=B=9>1:,=]:$:999j>j>= 999>h;h;h;h;&p*p* The Sham of Gravity Deuteronomy 10:12-22 Its a rather unnerving thing for a preacher to begin questioning his current sermon series after one sermon -you see, Im supposed to be teaching you about the Ten Commandments...thats what Id planned, thats what Ive studied, thats what Carolyn and our musicians have planned for --but I must confess that Thursday night I lay in bed wondering how I could get out of it...after one message on the first two commandments I was suddenly shouldering the burden of the entire Jewish Law ---not a comforting feeling when your series is supposed to go until Palm Sunday -and my questioning led to doubts about the entire system of Law and moral obligation and obedience...and my doubts wormed their way into other areas of reality...and I have chosen you to be the first ones to hear my pronouncement about a physical law I do hereby, now and forthwith, reject the law of gravity -I declare it to be a sham, a fraud, a myth (and other synonyms I discovered in my thesaurus)...its a blatant lie contrived by physicists who are paid-off by the airlines...its all a big, last-gasp conspiracy engineered, I believe, by the Giuliani campaign --you see, if we would all deny the law of gravity, we could fly around on our own...we wouldnt need no stinkin airplanes... and wed have no more long lines at the ticket counter...no more lost luggage I think these people are all out to rob us of the joy of flying -sure, they call what they do flying but you have to do it in their airplanes and in accordance with their rules and their schedules dont you see how ridiculous that is?!! --e.g., Whitney cant fly non-stop from Chilli to Sudanwhy? --liquids and gels in quantities no greater than 3 oz.ever thought about that one? 4 oz. can blow up a plane, but what? 3 oz. can only blow a truck-sized hole in the fuselage? --and on the TSA website, do they really need to take up my valuable time to explain that spear guns, meat cleavers, tear gas, and sabers arent allowed in carry-on luggage? I, for one, am not going to put up with it anymore -Im going to prove to you once and for all that the law of gravity is totally bogus --watch me as I climb the water tower by the stadium (yes, I know thats illegal, but its simply another unfair limitation on my freedom) ---once I get to the top, Im going to jump and show you that gravity is a sham As I climb, Im relieved to discover many other people scaling the ladder with metheyre all so nice -standing up on the top, Im almost blown over by a gust of wind funny, it wasnt this windy down on the ground -despite the wind, the view is unbelievable...I can see the high school, the hospital, the Christison Addition, and the other water towers in town...whats surprising is how many other people are up here with me --clearly Im not the only one whos reached this conclusion...so that just proves I must be right And I leap...and for a second or two I appear to be flying -the rush is absolutely incredibleI told you, flying is soooo cool --although I cant see the high school anymore, I can still see more than all of those lame people waiting for a plane at KCI -but then something happens that I hadnt counted on: I see other gravity deniers crashing...hard...I mean, dig-your-own-grave-as- you-plow-into-the-ground-headfirst-kinda-crash -suddenly two thoughts occur to me --first: gravity is realregardless of whether or not I believe it --second: my flight is about to come to an abrupt end...and I never even had a chance to eat my honey-roasted peanuts Heres the thinggravity is real and true whether or not I agree with it, whether or not I like it, whether or not I understand it -in the same way, I can deny the truth of Gods standards for right and wrong...I can reject certain truths (or even the very existence of truth itself) because they dont fit into my person system...or I can appear to prove Im the one who determines what is right and wrong for me by living however I choose --for awhile, it may even seem that Ive gotten away with it -I might get pleasure by indulging myself in every fantasy I have -perhaps I gain tremendous financial wealth by taking unfair advantage of others or by cutting ethical corners -I may be popular at school because I steal test questions or sleep around or know where to get the alcohol -I might get a thrill by driving recklessly or vandalizing property --but the plain truth is this: those actions will only lead to a crash, a big-time, life-ending crash Now, as a preacher and a seminary graduate, I know all of that -but even I get tired of rules...yeah, even Gods rules *gasp*...which is why, I think, I was tired of this series of messages before it really got rolling --so Im figuring that if a holy, man of Godlike meis weary of his own sermons before theyre even written...well, perhaps there might be a few other holy men and women of God who are struggling a bit -the solutionlike it often iswas to spend some time in Scripture and be reminded of some crucial things about Gods commands which the Bible often refers to as the Law --so were going to take a break in a series after just one week... were going to step back and take a fresh, honest look at what the Old Testament, the New Testament, and especially Jesus have to say aboutdah, dah, dun, dunthe Law Starting with the Old Testament, weve learned from our repeated reading from Psalm 19 that Gods Law was held in highest esteem -it gives revival, wisdom, direction, joy, reward, and on and on -or read the longest chapter in the entire Bible, Psalm 119...the subject of 175 of its 176 verses is the Word of God --throughout the prayer-song, the psalmist uses eight different words to describe Gods Word --listen to one stanza...Read Psalm 119:9-16 -what do you notice? --Gods laws, His statutes, His decrees are all good things... things that lead to purity and light and life --the psalmist isnt whining about all of Gods dumb rulesjust the opposite, hes praising God for making His desires known ---God hasnt hidden His will for us, Hes revealed it clearly in Scripture and, like the psalmist, thats cause for worship We need to learn from the people who were closest to Gods Law... this is what they heard every time they went to the synagogue or the Temple...its what they taught their children...its what they lived...its what actually defined them as a nation set apart by God, for God... and its what demonstrated they were Gods people Now, you might find people who complained about how Gods Law was interpreted and applied...but thats an issue with their religious leaders, not with Gods Law -you never read about people who griped, What! You want us to tell the truth? What! You mean we cant steal our neighbors cattle? What do You meanYou mean we have to rest one day a week? Thats not fair!!! --no...you dont hear that at all...not when you slow down and take a good look at whats really going on here...Gods Law is an act of grace, not one of torture or punishment ---He gives us His commands to protect us and to mold us into godly people --which is why the psalmist declares in Psalm 119:14 ( I rejoice in following Your statutes as one rejoices in great riches. ---the psalmist is saying that he is just as thrilled to be able to obey God as the person who won Powerball last night ----honestlydo you approach Gods commandments with that kind of enthusiasm? why not? serious Look at the Scripture text Ive included in our order of worship -as the Israelites are preparing to enter the Promised Land, Moses preaches several sermons about how God has called them to live --they are sermons the people all said, amen in response to, but like you and me, they had a tough time doing it -this passage is a wonderful excerpt from a longer message Read Deuteronomy 11:12-22 That is why Im still going to preach on the Ten Commandments! -because God inspired Moses to remind the Israelites (and to remind me) the real deal about these Laws...and the real deal is pretty far stretch from what weve made them to be --perhapsjust perhapsyou need to be reminded, too Does God want us to have a checklist mentalityso that our religion is no more than doing the dos and not doing the donts? -or does God want our religion to be a relationship with Him? --you make the call...in vv. 12-13 He makes it kinda obvious that God wants us to fear Him, to live so that His character is our character, to love Him, to serve Him with all our heart and soul, and to follow His commands --if we could grasp the power and significance of the last four words of v. 13, our concept of God and His commands would never be the same...for your own good ---hardly sounds like the words of a cruel, raving-mad tyrant ---but just like a dummy whod challenge the law of gravity, we tend to think we know more than and better than our Creator...dont we? Thats precisely the point of the next section of Moses sermon -the heavens and the earththeyre Gods --the stars, the planets, the cometsyup, those are Gods, as well --the mountains, oceans, deserts, rivers, animalsall His -and of all of the expansive universeGod loves you & me the best --despite the fact you and I are obviously wracked-full of sin and that He is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome...well, Hes giving us another chance ---I know...it makes no sense whatsoever...but God has chosen us, He claims us, He wants us to display His love and justice to everyonethe orphans, the widows, the aliensbecause He has a plan and a future for each of us When you consider everything in that context, the entire concept of the Law suddenly takes on a new look -far from a burden intended to choke the life out of us, its a privilege because it reflects Gods amazing love for us...and our obedience to His commands demonstrates our love for Him No one in the New Testament writes more about the Jewish Law than the Apostle Paul...a Jew himself...who willingly submitted to the authority of the Law his entire lifeuntil he redirected his faith completely to Christ -as a Jew turned Christ-follower, Paul has a unique perspective --remember, by Law, hes referring to all of Gods commands He writes in Romans 7:7 ( Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, Do not covet. -Pauls not rejecting his Jewish roots altogether...instead, hes recognizing another of Gods purposes for the law: helping us to realize our sinfulness --the commands of God outline how a child of God should live ---a child of God should not lie ---a child of God should not commit adultery ---a child of God should not misuse the name of her God ---a child of God should not have any idols But as wonderful, as perfect as Gods Law is...its limited in its power -Romans 3:20 begins( No one will be declared righteous in His sight by observing the law. --in other words, being good little boys and girls doesnt cause God to proclaim us to be acceptable in His sight -that verse goes on, however, to reinforce the teaching of Romans 7:7...following the law doesnt earn a place of good standing with God...but the law does have this benefit: through the law we become conscious of sin. --how do you know its wrong to dishonor your parents? --how do you know its wrong to worship other, so-called gods? --how do you know its wrong to steal? Still its just human nature I suppose for people to think that trying to act good actually makes us good -and it would seem logical, then, for people then to make the jump to lets make sure it looks like were behaving ourselves because then that will force God to accept us --but thats never, ever been true ---even in Old Testament times, people were declared right in Gods sight because of their faith ----thats what Habakkuk 2:4 affirms ( The righteous will live by faith. ----all the way back in Genesis 15:6, hundreds of years before there even were Ten Commandments, were told ( Abraham believed the Lord, and He credited it to him as righteousness. --but that human tendency to want to do things ourselves, to prove ourselves worthy...has caused people for thousands of years to rely on their attempts at being good ---but the Law is incapable of doing what we want it to do --as Eugene Peterson so clearly paraphrases Romans 8:4 ( The law always ended up being used as a band-aid on sin instead of a deep healing of it. Too many times Ill hear preachers and teachers and even myself sometimes denouncing the Law as evil and worthless -but the Law isnt evilit never was...it came from God...its always been good and perfectthe fault lies in us...in our misguided expectation that the Law can save us...something God never intended for it to do --still today, we make a false dichotomy between law and grace, as if they are in radical opposition to one another ---we pooh-pooh obedience and we readily paraphrase Romans 6:14 ( ...I am not under law, but under grace. ---but we forget that in that same chapter, Romans 6, Paul also writes ( Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means!...Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! -rather than be in conflict with one another, the Law and grace work in tandem...the Law pointing out our shortcomings and our need for a Savior, and grace doing what we ourselves cannot do ...that is, make ourselves right in the sight of God I dont know about you, but this still seems rather complicated to me -do we obey the Law to the letter? toss it out completely? --thats where Jesus steps in...His teaching and perfect example show us how to interpret and to live out Gods commands -very early in His ministry on earth, Jesus preached what we call The Sermon on the Mount --listen to one important paragraph found in Matthew 5:17-20 ---from there, Jesus cites several familiar commands, but then He gives the full sense of the true meaning of those laws... essentially that its much, much more than some outward, ritualistic rule-keeping...instead, the commands govern our hearts, our feelings, our speech, our motives...things no one up til that time had even considered important ---in doing so, Jesus accomplishes two critical things ----He shows us how a Christ-follower is to live, think, speak, and love ----He shows us how miserably short we fall from living up to Gods expectations...in other words, how desperately we need a Savior -----whereas someone might boast, Ive never murdered anyone!...Jesus replies, Perhaps, but have you ever been angry or called someone a fool? You see, youre not as good as youve judged yourself to be. -----or to the woman or man who brags, Ive never committed adultery!...Jesus answers, Okay, congratulations, buddy...but, uh, have you ever had lust in your heart...because you see, lust is a severing of your marriage vows, too. ---Jesus gives only six examples...its all He needs to give...we get the point ----no matter how we rationalize our sin...or justify our minor indiscretions...in the end it only emphasizes the truth that we all are wretched, vile sinners worthy only of the fires of hell [PAUSE] Arent you glad the sermon doesnt have to end there? 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