statutes & ordinances
September 2, 2018
Deuteronomy 4:1-15
For as long as I can remember, Joshua has loved the zoo. He could spend hours upon hours upon hours watching all of the wild animals he encounters at the zoo. So, when our family went to Disney World last year one of the adventures we chose was what Disney calls a Kilimanjaro Safari at the Animal Kingdom. There we were, all five of us, along with a mother and daughter and a guide climbing aboard an open-air safari vehicle to take off on a guided tour into the African outback. And even though I have only seen the real African outback through pictures, this 110 acre tract of land that Disney has transformed certainly looked like the real thing. We stood in the back of this vehicle holding on to support rails as we bumped our way through our 18 minute adventure. An adventure I would highly recommend, by the way. It seemed everywhere we turned, we encountered another species of exotic African wildlife. For someone like Joshua, this was Hog Heaven. He was constantly looking around so that he would not miss anything this African outback had to offer that day. After all, this particular adventure affords you the opportunity to see Antelopes, Baboons, Black rhinos, Cheetahs, Crocodiles,
Elephants, Flamingos, Gazelles, Giraffes, Hippopotamuses, Hyenas, Lions, Okapis, Ostriches,
Warthogs, White rhinos, Wildebeests, Wild dogs, and Zebras.
At one point on our journey as our vehicle came to a stop, I caught myself looking around, and although I too didn’t want to miss seeing something, I was awestruck by something else. It was in that moment that I realized, everywhere I could see, wild exotic animals who didn’t look like each other, who weren’t even from the same family of animals, were living together harmoniously. Right there in front of my very eyes was the most beautifully natural community of diversity I believe I had ever witnessed. And from the looks of things, all of these diverse beings were comfortable living together in this community. It was such a beautiful sight, that aloud I commented how much I believe we human beings could stand to learn from the wild beings’ ability to cohabitate and coexist in community. No sooner had I said that than the mother of the young lady on the safari with us said, “you’ve got that right.” And it was only when I turned to acknowledge her comment, that I read the words on her t-shirt… “Black Lives Matter.”
Well suffice it to say, I was fully immersed in a certain beauty that day. A beauty that happens with the realization that authentic community comes about when diversity cohabitates… when diversity coexists… when diversity shines. A beauty that comes with the realization that such an authentic community, such a diverse community, is God’s community.
**************************************
Which leads me to Moses and today’s text about statutes and ordinances, and why this particular story was so important to these people that it continued being told throughout the years and was ultimately included in our Bible. This idea of importance, I was reminded a few times this week, is always a great place to start when reading the stories found in our Bible. No matter what biblical story you encounter, start by asking why the story is important to the people. And when we do that with this particular text, we see from the start it is their belief that God gives the statutes and ordinances for the well-being of the people, so that they can live the life God intends. In this way, God’s statutes and ordinances are given for the establishment of the common good of the whole community. God’s statutes and ordinances don’t choose one part of the community over and above the other. That tends to be the way human statutes and ordinances work, but not God’s and that is what Moses wants the Israelites to know as they stand of the brink of entering the promised land. God’s statutes and ordinances, God’s commandments present a structure for life that unites with the very nature of being itself. “To obey them is to step onto a path that leads to life as God has made and intended it.” To choose to live by God’s statutes and ordinances is to choose to discover life itself, and this life will be both promising and fulfilling because this life will be rooted in the practice of loving God and loving neighbor. This life will be rooted in rightly-ordered relationships, where cohabitation and coexistence are nurtured so they can flourish and grow and bring about the knowledge and presence of God.
To choose to live by God’s statutes and ordinances is to choose life that touches on significant relationships of daily living that have a consistent requirement for behavior that places the other above self. To choose to live by God’s statutes and ordinances is to choose to embrace the nearness of God, and to practice the kind of selfless love that we receive from God.
**************************************
Sadly throughout history, one group of people has used and abused its perceived power in ways that oppress and marginalize other groups. Even after instances of liberation from such oppression and marginalization, “the power dynamics of human existence have led the newly liberated to mirror the models of their oppressors.”[1] Maybe Moses knew of this human tendency and maybe that is why he wanted the Israelites to give heed to God’s statutes and ordinances. You see, we have taken on, wrongly I believe, the authority to determine who is worthy in this world. Worthy of our friendship. Worthy of our love. Worthy of our time. Worthy of taking up space. Worthy of being in our presence. Worthy in general.
The thing is, this seems to be the exact opposite of the statutes and ordinances Moses taught. This seems to be the exact opposite of the statutes and ordinances Moses wanted the Israelites to heed. This seems to be the exact opposite of the how they were being encouraged to live life. Deciding you have authority to determine who is worthy and who isn’t puts you in the same group as the oppressors and as the Israelites stood on the precipice of entering that promised land it appears important to Moses that those entering a new life be reminded that they were being called to live differently. They were being called to live their life based on God’s statutes and ordinances of love… A love of God and neighbor.
**********************************
Today’s scripture… Moses’ call to choose a life based on God’s statutes and ordinances of love allowed me to go back in my mind to that day standing in that open-air vehicle in the middle of Disney’s version of an African outback. This time, though, when I went back in my mind the picture of that diverse environment of wild beings cohabitating and coexisting took on an even more profound beauty for what our life can look like if we only choose. Let us today take heed of the statutes and ordinances God provided Moses to teach because they called for a completely different way of living. Both for Israelites back then, and for us today. So, my brothers and sisters, may we, in all that we do and all that we say, choose to live our lives based on God’s statutes and ordinances which are rooted in love and are full of grace.
Amen!
[1] Brown, Teresa Fry, Renovating Sorrow’s Kitchen
Deuteronomy 4:1-15
For as long as I can remember, Joshua has loved the zoo. He could spend hours upon hours upon hours watching all of the wild animals he encounters at the zoo. So, when our family went to Disney World last year one of the adventures we chose was what Disney calls a Kilimanjaro Safari at the Animal Kingdom. There we were, all five of us, along with a mother and daughter and a guide climbing aboard an open-air safari vehicle to take off on a guided tour into the African outback. And even though I have only seen the real African outback through pictures, this 110 acre tract of land that Disney has transformed certainly looked like the real thing. We stood in the back of this vehicle holding on to support rails as we bumped our way through our 18 minute adventure. An adventure I would highly recommend, by the way. It seemed everywhere we turned, we encountered another species of exotic African wildlife. For someone like Joshua, this was Hog Heaven. He was constantly looking around so that he would not miss anything this African outback had to offer that day. After all, this particular adventure affords you the opportunity to see Antelopes, Baboons, Black rhinos, Cheetahs, Crocodiles,
Elephants, Flamingos, Gazelles, Giraffes, Hippopotamuses, Hyenas, Lions, Okapis, Ostriches,
Warthogs, White rhinos, Wildebeests, Wild dogs, and Zebras.
At one point on our journey as our vehicle came to a stop, I caught myself looking around, and although I too didn’t want to miss seeing something, I was awestruck by something else. It was in that moment that I realized, everywhere I could see, wild exotic animals who didn’t look like each other, who weren’t even from the same family of animals, were living together harmoniously. Right there in front of my very eyes was the most beautifully natural community of diversity I believe I had ever witnessed. And from the looks of things, all of these diverse beings were comfortable living together in this community. It was such a beautiful sight, that aloud I commented how much I believe we human beings could stand to learn from the wild beings’ ability to cohabitate and coexist in community. No sooner had I said that than the mother of the young lady on the safari with us said, “you’ve got that right.” And it was only when I turned to acknowledge her comment, that I read the words on her t-shirt… “Black Lives Matter.”
Well suffice it to say, I was fully immersed in a certain beauty that day. A beauty that happens with the realization that authentic community comes about when diversity cohabitates… when diversity coexists… when diversity shines. A beauty that comes with the realization that such an authentic community, such a diverse community, is God’s community.
**************************************
Which leads me to Moses and today’s text about statutes and ordinances, and why this particular story was so important to these people that it continued being told throughout the years and was ultimately included in our Bible. This idea of importance, I was reminded a few times this week, is always a great place to start when reading the stories found in our Bible. No matter what biblical story you encounter, start by asking why the story is important to the people. And when we do that with this particular text, we see from the start it is their belief that God gives the statutes and ordinances for the well-being of the people, so that they can live the life God intends. In this way, God’s statutes and ordinances are given for the establishment of the common good of the whole community. God’s statutes and ordinances don’t choose one part of the community over and above the other. That tends to be the way human statutes and ordinances work, but not God’s and that is what Moses wants the Israelites to know as they stand of the brink of entering the promised land. God’s statutes and ordinances, God’s commandments present a structure for life that unites with the very nature of being itself. “To obey them is to step onto a path that leads to life as God has made and intended it.” To choose to live by God’s statutes and ordinances is to choose to discover life itself, and this life will be both promising and fulfilling because this life will be rooted in the practice of loving God and loving neighbor. This life will be rooted in rightly-ordered relationships, where cohabitation and coexistence are nurtured so they can flourish and grow and bring about the knowledge and presence of God.
To choose to live by God’s statutes and ordinances is to choose life that touches on significant relationships of daily living that have a consistent requirement for behavior that places the other above self. To choose to live by God’s statutes and ordinances is to choose to embrace the nearness of God, and to practice the kind of selfless love that we receive from God.
**************************************
Sadly throughout history, one group of people has used and abused its perceived power in ways that oppress and marginalize other groups. Even after instances of liberation from such oppression and marginalization, “the power dynamics of human existence have led the newly liberated to mirror the models of their oppressors.”[1] Maybe Moses knew of this human tendency and maybe that is why he wanted the Israelites to give heed to God’s statutes and ordinances. You see, we have taken on, wrongly I believe, the authority to determine who is worthy in this world. Worthy of our friendship. Worthy of our love. Worthy of our time. Worthy of taking up space. Worthy of being in our presence. Worthy in general.
The thing is, this seems to be the exact opposite of the statutes and ordinances Moses taught. This seems to be the exact opposite of the statutes and ordinances Moses wanted the Israelites to heed. This seems to be the exact opposite of the how they were being encouraged to live life. Deciding you have authority to determine who is worthy and who isn’t puts you in the same group as the oppressors and as the Israelites stood on the precipice of entering that promised land it appears important to Moses that those entering a new life be reminded that they were being called to live differently. They were being called to live their life based on God’s statutes and ordinances of love… A love of God and neighbor.
**********************************
Today’s scripture… Moses’ call to choose a life based on God’s statutes and ordinances of love allowed me to go back in my mind to that day standing in that open-air vehicle in the middle of Disney’s version of an African outback. This time, though, when I went back in my mind the picture of that diverse environment of wild beings cohabitating and coexisting took on an even more profound beauty for what our life can look like if we only choose. Let us today take heed of the statutes and ordinances God provided Moses to teach because they called for a completely different way of living. Both for Israelites back then, and for us today. So, my brothers and sisters, may we, in all that we do and all that we say, choose to live our lives based on God’s statutes and ordinances which are rooted in love and are full of grace.
Amen!
[1] Brown, Teresa Fry, Renovating Sorrow’s Kitchen