Call to Worship
God has told you, O mortal, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?
Let’s pray:
It is good to be together, God,
on these screens, with these people,
together listening for your voice,
united by your Spirit.
In this time of worship
tell us about your kingdom of kindness
so that we can seek it.
Show us your justice.
We want to walk with you,
humbly, closely, daily.
on these screens, with these people,
together listening for your voice,
united by your Spirit.
In this time of worship
tell us about your kingdom of kindness
so that we can seek it.
Show us your justice.
We want to walk with you,
humbly, closely, daily.
Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Holy God, we open our hearts
to you this day, and offer the truth of our lives:
The fear that stifles us,
The prejudice that blinds us,
The ignorance that limits us,
The doubt that plagues us.
Help us, we pray, that we will
Find courage in unlikely place,
See the world with new and gracious eyes,
Move to those places where love is needed,
Have faith that you are with us.
This we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
The fear that stifles us,
The prejudice that blinds us,
The ignorance that limits us,
The doubt that plagues us.
Help us, we pray, that we will
Find courage in unlikely place,
See the world with new and gracious eyes,
Move to those places where love is needed,
Have faith that you are with us.
This we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Hear the Good News: we are
forgiven! We are set free to go out into the world and be the loving, gracious,
hopeful people of God!
Alleluia! Amen.
Alleluia! Amen.
Bible Reading: Deuteronomy 8:1-11
This
entire commandment that I command you today you must diligently observe, so
that you may live and increase, and go in and occupy the land that the Lord promised on oath to
your ancestors. 2 Remember
the long way that the Lord your
God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, in order to humble you, testing
you to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his
commandments. 3 He
humbled you by letting you hunger, then by feeding you with manna, with which
neither you nor your ancestors were acquainted, in order to make you understand
that one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the
mouth of the Lord.[a] 4 The
clothes on your back did not wear out and your feet did not swell these forty
years. 5 Know
then in your heart that as a parent disciplines a child so the Lord your God disciplines
you. 6 Therefore keep the
commandments of the Lord your
God, by walking in his ways and by fearing him. 7 For
the Lord your
God is bringing you into a good land, a land with flowing streams, with springs
and underground waters welling up in valleys and hills, 8 a land
of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees
and honey, 9 a land
where you may eat bread without scarcity, where you will lack nothing, a land
whose stones are iron and from whose hills you may mine copper. 10 You
shall eat your fill and bless the Lord your God for the
good land that he has given you.
11 Take
care that you do not forget the Lord your
God, by failing to keep his commandments, his ordinances, and his statutes,
which I am commanding you today.
REFLECTION
Over the last few weeks, the world is slowly trying to get back to normal. There is a glimmer of hope as more and more businesses and shops and other parts of society that had been forced to close by the coronavirus pandemic begin to open. And as we emerge into what is increasingly being described as the ‘new normal’, we are eager to move forward, picking up what we can of life as we know it to be, recognizing that COVID-19 has cast its shadow over every aspect of our lives. There is a sense of determination to put it all behind us and start again. We stand with the rest of the world at the threshold of a new phase of our existence. There are fears, but yet there is hope. The past stands behind us and yet it shapes our present and our future.
Over the last few weeks, the world is slowly trying to get back to normal. There is a glimmer of hope as more and more businesses and shops and other parts of society that had been forced to close by the coronavirus pandemic begin to open. And as we emerge into what is increasingly being described as the ‘new normal’, we are eager to move forward, picking up what we can of life as we know it to be, recognizing that COVID-19 has cast its shadow over every aspect of our lives. There is a sense of determination to put it all behind us and start again. We stand with the rest of the world at the threshold of a new phase of our existence. There are fears, but yet there is hope. The past stands behind us and yet it shapes our present and our future.
Recall the Past
The people of Israel
found themselves in a similar situation. They had wandered through the barren
wilderness for forty long years. But their wandering was about to come to an end. They stood within touching distance of the promised land. They stood on
the threshold of a new beginning. They were eager to leave the past behind and
enter into their new future. And exactly at that point, Moses speaks to the
words of God to the people: “Remember
the long way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness…”(v.2a). They were told
to recall the past. While the future marked a new beginning, it was
their wilderness experience that had shaped them. The ‘long way’ that they had travelled
was filled with hardships, challenges and scarcity of resources. They were also
told to remember these experiences were: “in order to humble you, testing you to know what was in your
heart, whether or not you would keep his commandments” (v2b). The hardships
and difficulties were are testing ground for the people of Israel – not so much
to see how capable they were of handling the challenges, but rather to see whether
they would trust in the faithfulness of God. Specific examples of God’s
faithfulness are then provided: “He humbled you by letting you hunger, then by feeding you with
manna, in order
to make you understand that one does not live by bread alone, but by every word
that comes from the mouth of the Lord” (v.3a). God never left
them without providing for them. God never leaves us without providing for us.
No matter how hard or difficult things have been, God has been with us, by our
side, leading and guiding us. Or another example of God’s faithfulness: “The clothes on your back did not wear out and your feet did not
swell these forty years” (v.5). Think about it. Their clothes remained
good for 40 years! Their feet did not swell with 40 years of walking! The point
here is that God provided for them in extraordinary ways, when they thought
they could go on any further. The one constant factor in all of their
challenges for the forty years they wandered through the desert was the
constancy and faithfulness of God. And so, at a time when they were about to
begin a new phase in their lives, when a new future awaited them, they were
told to recall the past and to remember the faithfulness of the God who was
with them and who promised to be with them at all times.
Consider the
Future
We are
provided with a detailed description of the land the people of Israel were
about enter. It was a land of plenty; it was a land that abounded with
resources and mineral wealth. Very different from what they had experienced for
the last forty years in the wilderness. There is first of all the promise of
water: “flowing streams, with springs and underground waters welling up in
valleys and hills” (v.7). This
was to people who had just come out of a dry and arid desert with hardly any
water available at all! Secondly, there is the promise of food in abundance: “a land
of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive
trees and honey, 9 a land
where you may eat bread without scarcity, where you will lack nothing” (v.8). For people who for forty years had had only
quails and manna to eat, while this was provided by God, there was not much
variety for the last forty years! Add to these whatever meagre resources the
desert had to offer. And thirdly, their final destination was a land full of
mineral resources: “….a land whose stones are iron and from whose
hills you may mine copper ” (v.8b). This meant that they could live a settled life, mining
and selling the resources of the land – after forty years of an unsettled,
nomadic existence scratching out a pitiful existence what they could from the
barren desert in order to be able to trade with those they came into contact
with.
The scarcity
of the past was radically being transformed to a future of abundance. And so
God call them to consider the future. And they knew that this was possible because
of God’s faithfulness to them in the past.
We stand at
the threshold of a new future, a ‘new normal’. Rather than fearing it, we are
asked to consider it as future God offers to us. He as been with us through the
lockdown. His faithfulness has not changed. The world may be different but the
constancy of God is the same.
Responsibility
in the Present
After
inviting the people of Israel to recall the past from which they have emerged
and to consider the future that they are about to embrace, they are given a
responsibility for the present time: “Take care that you do not
forget the Lord your
God, by failing to keep his commandments, his ordinances, and his statutes,
which I am commanding you today” (v.11). And it is here that the past and future come together in
the present. As they were about to embark on a new beginning, a fresh start, a
start filled with huge potential, there was the very real danger that they
would press on, forgetting all they had been through, forgetting their
struggles, their forty years in the wilderness, and most importantly, the God
who was with them in the desert at every stage of the way. Human nature is such
that we can adapt without even realizing that we have adapted. That
is the resilience of the human spirit. But if at all they had got to the point
where they now were, it was not because of their own efficiency; it was purely
because of God who accompanied them and led them and provided for them and
protected them each step of the way. And so they are told not to forget the
Lord. And how could this happen? It was possible to ‘forget the Lord’ by
failing to keep his commandments. And what were these commandments? While the specific
details of the ‘commandments’ are not spelt out. We must note that the laws and
commandments were interspersed through the whole of Deuteronomy (literally, ‘Deuteronomy’
means ‘second laws’ or ‘additional laws’, the first set of laws and
commandments being found in Exodus 20). However, the means of keeping these
commandments are stated earlier on in the passage: “Therefore
keep the commandments of the Lord your
God, by walking in his ways and by fearing him” (v.6). ‘Walking in [God’s] ways’ implies a conscious decision.
‘Fearing [God]’ implies revering God, honouring God and recognizing God as the
one who has brought them to this place. So the responsibility in the present,
when seen in relation to recalling the past and considering the future is of
utmost importance. For in looking back, it was possible to get stuck in the
past, focussing on the hardships and the struggles of the desert and become
bitter, complaining and unable to see the good future that God has in store; equally,
in focussing only on the future and all the potential it hold, the people of
Israel could have become self-sufficient, forgetting all that they had come
through, and thereby forgetting the grace and goodness of God. And this could
be us as well. We can either focus on how difficult life has been in the last
three months of lockdown or equally, how well we have coped and will continue
to overcome our struggles by our own strength – thereby forgetting God. And
so the responsibility in the present is for us be dependent on God, praising
him for all that is past, and trusting him for all that is to come.
Amen
Prayers of
Intercession
Lord
God,
I pray
today in Jesus' name that you will help me to be careful to follow every
command you give us. May we walk in your ways and revere you. I ask you to
bless us so that we may lack nothing. And when we have eaten and are satisfied,
I pray that we will praise you and bless you and be careful not to forget you.
May
our hearts never be lifted up and become proud. Keep us from ever saying in our
heart that our own power and the strength of our hands are responsible for our
success. Instead, may we always remember you, and remember that you are the one
who gives us the ability and power to produce wealth.
May we
humble ourselves before you when you test us to see whether we will keep your
commands. I pray that we will recognize that your purpose in testing us is only
to do good to us in the end.
I pray
that your testing will reveal to us what is in our heart, and I pray that we
will keep your commands even during the time of testing. Above all, I pray that
we will learn that we do not live on bread alone but on every word that comes
from your mouth.
We
acknowledge that because of your goodness we as a nation have eaten and become
full and have built good houses in which we live and our wealth has multiplied
in our hands. But we confess that we have forgotten you and have not kept your
commandments and statutes. Our hearts are lifted up in pride and we have said
in our hearts that it is our own power and the might of our own hands that has
gotten us our wealth.
Please bring about a great spiritual
awakening in our lives that we may remember you and obey your voice, and never
forget that you, the Lord our God. Amen.
* From Focal Point - Bryan Fischer
Blessing
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you
trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy
Spirit” (Romans 15:13)
And may the blessing of God, Father, Son
and Holy Spirit
Be with us, always.
Amen
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