Shema | Sunday, January 24, 2021

Now this is the commandment, and these are the statutes and judgments which the LORD your God has commanded to teach you, so that you may observe them in the land which you are crossing over to possess... Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. (Deuteronomy 6:1–5)

The greatest commandment is so simple that a child can learn it—and so deep that every other command is contained within it.

A Calling to Teach, 22 Years Ago

It was January 1999. I had recently turned 19, had one semester of college under my belt—the only undergraduate semester I ever did—and was just starting out as a staff member at this church. This past January 4th marked my 22nd anniversary on staff. When I first showed up, I thought I was here to help around the facility, work on phones and networks, handle IT, build the website, and mostly to learn about ministry from the inside as a pastoral intern.

But just a few weeks in, my youth pastor—Pastor Tony, most likely watching this message right now—asked if I would be willing to lead and teach the junior high youth ministry. At that point I'd only ever taught two or three Bible studies, and those few times had convinced me I wasn't called to be a teacher or a preacher, especially not to 11-, 12-, and 13-year-olds. But I didn't feel I could say no. So I gave the Christianese equivalent of no: I told Tony I'd pray about it.

That night I actually did pray. I don't remember the exact words, but it was something like, "God, I told Tony I'd pray about this, so I'm praying. If you want me to lead and teach the junior high youth group, then you'll have to make it clear to me." I had been taught from a young age that God desires to speak to and lead His people, and that the primary way He does so is through His word, His special revelation of Scripture.

Two Passages That Settled It

After that simple prayer, I read the two places where I happened to be in my devotional reading: 1 Samuel 12 in the Old Testament and Ephesians 4 in the New.

First Samuel 12 tells of Israel at the point they demanded a king. The godly judge Samuel had grown old and appointed his two sons, but they were not good leaders—they sought dishonest gain, took bribes, and perverted justice. The people demanded an earthly king like the other nations. This displeased Samuel, but God told him to anoint a king, and he anointed Saul. At the end of chapter 12, Samuel commissions both the people and their new king:

Do not turn aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart... Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you; but I will teach you the good and the right way. Only fear the LORD, and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you. But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king. (1 Samuel 12:20–24)

At the same time I was reading Ephesians 4:

And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. (Ephesians 4:11–12)

From those two passages I had the distinct impression that God wanted me to lead His people: to pray for them and to teach them the good and the right way, so they would be equipped for the good works of ministry and the body of Christ would be built up.

Not Just a Calling, but a Command

That has been my dedication for 22 years. I felt it not only as God's calling but as His command. Samuel said, "Far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you and teach you." I took that seriously even at 19. To fail to do so would be sin for me.

This was God's command to Samuel three thousand years ago, but it was also His command to Moses, who said in Deuteronomy 6:1, "Now this is the commandment, and these are the statutes and judgments which the LORD your God has commanded to teach you." The leaders of God's people are commanded to teach.

So important was this commission that the earliest followers of Jesus said in Acts 6, "It is not desirable that we should leave the word of God... but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word." Paul charged Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:1–2, "I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ... Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season." And earlier, in 2 Timothy 2:2, "The things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also." There's a generational apprenticeship in that—and for two thousand years the church has been faithful to it.

Why We Preach: Transformation, Not Mere Information

Why do we preach these words? As I read in 1 Samuel 12 and Ephesians 4—and as we see here in Deuteronomy 6—we teach God's word to God's people so they will know the good and right way of fearing and following God, and so they will be thoroughly equipped for every good work. Moses lists five purposes in Deuteronomy 6:1–3:

...so that you may observe them in the land which you are crossing over to possess; that you may fear the LORD your God... that your days may be prolonged. Therefore hear, O Israel, and be careful to observe it, that it may be well with you, and that you may multiply greatly... in a land flowing with milk and honey.

So that you may observe God's commands; fear the Lord; have long life; have good life; and grow and multiply as God's people. Let me say this plainly, because it matters: we do not teach God's word for mere knowledge transfer but for life and world transformation.

We believe God's word is living and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness, so that the man or woman of God may be complete—mature, perfect—thoroughly equipped for every good work. This isn't a university classroom where we lecture for a future written exam. We preach so you can navigate the storms and trials of life, pass its tests, live long in this world, and be prepared for the longest life eternally.

Hearers Who Are Doers

I do want you to have a strong knowledge of God's word—to know who Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are, to understand Nineveh, to know the days of Isaiah and Jeremiah and Habakkuk, the creation and fall accounts, the seven churches of Asia. But it is a real problem that many people know these things and yet are not transformed by them. Jesus said, "If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them" (John 13). It is more important to do them.

He ended the Sermon on the Mount this way:

Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock... But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand; and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall. (Matthew 7:24–27)

Both men hear the sayings; one does them, the other does not. I hate to say it, but in more than 20 years of pastoral ministry I have interacted with a lot of fools within the church—people who know a great deal about the Bible but do not do what it says. As Jesus asks in Luke, "Why do you call Me 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do the things which I say?"

It is one thing to know the seventh commandment forbids adultery; it is another not to commit it—or the internal adultery of looking at what you ought not on the internet. It is one thing to know the ninth commandment forbids lying; it is another not to bear false witness through gossip. It is one thing to know covetousness is wrong; it is another to not long after your neighbor's house, car, spouse, job, or 401k. We can know all the truths of the commandments—the question is whether we walk in them.

God's Commands Lead to a Good Life

Life transformation comes as we apply the truths of God's word. God promised His people long, good lives as they put His statutes into practice. He doesn't give His commands against lying, theft, adultery, and covetousness because He's a cosmic killjoy in heaven, but because these very things steal, kill, and destroy our joy and every other good thing about life. As we keep His commands, they lead us into a long and good life that brings glory and praise to Him—and they begin to prepare us for salvation. Keeping God's law doesn't give us salvation, but it certainly begins to prepare us for it.

From the "You Shall Nots" to the Greatest "You Shall"

Months ago in Deuteronomy 5 we studied the commandments mostly in the negative—the "you shall nots." Now we move to a command framed in the positive, and it is the most important one of all. Jesus called it the greatest commandment in the law, the commandment on which all the law and the prophets hang. Israel calls it the Shema.

If you go to Israel, or to the home of an observant Jewish person here in the U.S., you'll see a small container on the doorpost called a mezuzah, and inside it is this passage:

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. (Deuteronomy 6:4–5)

Why is this the most important commandment, the first one every Jewish child was taught back to the time of Moses? Because if you shema this commandment, you will fulfill all the others.

What It Means to Shema

The word shema is the Hebrew word translated "hear" at the beginning of verse 4. We saw it back in Deuteronomy 4:1: "Now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the judgments which I teach you to observe, that you may live and go in and possess the land." Shema means to listen, to hear—but also to heed, to understand, and to obey. All of that is contained in this one word.

So if you shema this commandment, you will reap the benefits and blessing of God. Life and possession of God's blessing depend on hearing and heeding His statutes. I'm not talking about salvation—hearing and heeding these things does not save you; in fact, when you try to obey them you realize you fail, and that you need the work of Christ. But long life and good life here in this world, enjoying God's blessing, is promised to those who commit to hearing and heeding these words: "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength."

All the Commandments in One

We've looked at the negatives—you shall not commit adultery, you shall not covet. Here is the positive that contains them all. If you commit to loving the Lord your God with your entire being, then it is certain you will not have other gods before Him, will not make graven images, will not take His name in vain. You will honor what God honors, like the Sabbath and your father and mother. You will not take the life of another made in His image, will not dishonor your spouse through adultery, will not steal, will not dishonor truth with lies, will not covet what God has not given you. If you love the Lord with all your heart, soul, and strength, all the other commandments are kept.

Will we ever fulfill this command completely? I don't believe we will. But imagine a world in which all people aspire to love God above all. That is a wonderful world—not the world we live in, but the world promised in the last book of the Bible, the world we who follow God should be expressing in our faith and in our church.

Biblically Correct, Not Politically Correct

This past week I received an email from someone wanting to unsubscribe from my daily reading plan at thedailyreadingplan.com. The person wrote that "Pastor Miles is not who I thought would be giving truth to me in a sea of lies—storms are coming, and Pastor Miles is still navigating the waters like a politically correct HR representative." Honestly, the creative comment made me laugh, and I had a good interaction with the person.

But let me say something that isn't politically correct yet is biblically correct: the problems that constantly bombard our nation and our world will continue, because we live in a broken and fallen world. Yet the world would be a whole lot better if we endeavored to love the Lord our God with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strength—and from that, worked to love our neighbors as ourselves.

Words Written on the Heart

These words are so important that Moses wraps up this section after the Shema by saying, "And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart." That's my aim as your pastor—that the word of God would find its way into your heart. The psalmist says, "Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You."

Then comes a responsibility: "You shall teach them diligently to your children." You might say, "I don't have any kids"—but this means anyone younger than you in the faith or in life. How? "You shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up." These things should be so in your heart and mind that you constantly rehearse and speak them. "You shall bind them as a sign on your hand... write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates."

This is why you see the mezuzah on doorposts in Israel—they take it literally. At the Western Wall in Jerusalem, which I've visited many times, you'll see Jewish men praying with a leather strap wrapping a small box containing this passage around the arm, and a phylactery box on the head as well. They take literally that these words shall be in your heart, on your head, on your hand, on your doorpost, and taught to your children—because this is essentially important for the people of God to live as His people and receive His blessing.

Reframing Our Conversation

If you want to live as God's people and experience and express His blessing—exactly what God wanted Israel to do thousands of years ago and what He wants His church to do today—then apply this word: love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Know it in your mind, hide it in your heart, teach it to everyone you meet, and seek to shema it—not just know it, but hear, heed, obey, and walk in it. The result is to experience God's blessing.

Notice He says you shall talk of it while you sit in your house, walk by the way, and lie down—all the time. What dominates our conversation today? For a lot of people it's coronavirus and politics. There's not much sports or entertainment to talk about right now. Virtually every conversation I've had over the last eleven months has been about politics and coronavirus. It would be a good exercise for us to talk more of the things of God and His word—of His love and our love for Him—than of these things. It might change our outlook, our attitude, and even those around us.

So hear, O people of God, people of Cross Connection Church: the Lord our God is one Lord, and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. This is the first and greatest commandment, on which all the law and the prophets hang. And the second is like it—we'll talk about it another time—you shall love your neighbor as yourself. But even that springs out of this one.

Closing Prayer

Father God, I pray that You would do a work in us—that we would be a people aspiring to do just what this passage says, endeavoring to love You with total devotion of our entire being: heart, soul, mind, and strength. May we be committed to this. And may we not only love You but experience and express Your love to other people. Lord, help us with that exercise I encouraged my brothers and sisters with—to reframe our conversations this week, that we would talk more of You than of coronavirus and politics. And God, use us to be bright shining lights, beacons of Your love and grace in a dark world. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.