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... 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

Why did Jesus call this the greatest commandment? Because to love God with your whole being is to fulfill all the rest.

A Calling to Teach

It was January 1999. I had recently turned 19, had one semester of college under my belt—the only semester of undergraduate work I ever did—and I 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 here 22 years ago, I thought I was here to help out around the facility, work on the phones and networks, handle IT issues, build the website, and mostly to learn about ministry from the inside as a pastoral intern rather than learning theory in a Bible college classroom. But just a few weeks after showing up, one of the pastors—my youth pastor, Pastor Tony, who is most likely watching this message right now—asked me if I would be willing to begin leading and teaching the junior high youth ministry.

By that time I had only ever taught two or three Bible studies, and those few times had made me pretty convinced I wasn't called to be a teacher or preacher—especially not to 11, 12, and 13-year-olds. But I didn't feel I could say no. So I gave Pastor Tony the Christianese equivalent of no: I told him I would pray about it.

Two Passages, One Answer

That night I actually did pray. I don't remember the exact words, but I prayed something simple: "God, I told Tony I would pray about this. 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 the time I was young, both in age and in faith, 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 in Scripture.

I then read the two places 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's history at the point they demanded an earthly king. Samuel had been a godly judge, but his sons sought dishonest gain, took bribes, and perverted justice. Though it displeased Samuel, God told him to anoint Saul as the first king.

At the end of that chapter, Samuel commissions 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. — 1 Samuel 12:20-24

At the same time I was reading Ephesians 4, and immediately after that prayer I read this:

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 passages I had the distinct impression that God wanted me to lead His people by praying for them and teaching them the good and right way, so they would be equipped for the good works of ministry and the body of Christ would be built up. That is exactly what I have dedicated my life to for the last 22 years. I felt it was not only God's calling but 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," and I took that word seriously then and still do today.

A Command Given to Every Leader

This was the command God gave Samuel 3,000 years ago, and it's the command He gave Moses some 3,400 years ago. In Deuteronomy 6:1, Moses said, "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 His statutes and judgments.

So important was this commission to the earliest followers of Jesus that they 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 his young disciple Timothy:

I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ... Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. — 2 Timothy 4:1-2

And just before that: "The things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also" (2 Timothy 2:2). There's a generational apprenticeship there, and for the last 2,000 years the church's leaders have been faithful to this command to preach the Word.

Why We Preach: For Transformation, Not Just Knowledge

So why do we preach these words? I preach because I've been called, commissioned, and commanded. But we preach and teach God's Word to His 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 said it this way:

Now this is the commandment... 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. — Deuteronomy 6:1-3

Count the purposes there: 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. We do not teach God's Word for mere knowledge transfer but for life and world transformation. Let me say that again, because it's important: we do not teach 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, a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 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, and thoroughly equipped for every good work. This isn't a university classroom where we lecture so you can pass a written exam. We preach so you can navigate the twists, turns, storms, and challenges of life—and to prepare you for the longest life eternally.

Hearers and Doers

I do want you to have a strong knowledge of God's Word. I want you to know who Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are, to understand the story of Nineveh, to know what happened in the days of Isaiah, Jeremiah, or Habakkuk, to remember Paul and Silas in the Philippian jail in Acts 16, and to know the creation and fall accounts and the seven churches of Asia. But it's a real problem that many people know these things and yet they don't transform their lives.

Jesus said, "If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them." And He ended the Sermon on the Mount:

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 hear the sayings; one does them, the other does not. In more than 20 years of pastoral ministry, I have interacted with a lot of fools within the church—people who know a lot about the Bible but do not do what it says. In Luke's account Jesus asks, "But why do you call Me 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do the things which I say?"

It's one thing to know the seventh commandment says you shall not commit adultery; it's another thing not to commit it—or to not commit internal adultery by looking at things online you ought not look at. It's one thing to know the ninth commandment forbids lying; it's another not to bear false witness through gossip. It's one thing to know covetousness is wrong; it's another to not longingly desire your neighbor's house, car, spouse, job, pool, TV, or 401(k). The question isn't whether we know these truths but whether we walk in them.

Commands That 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 and judgments into practice. God doesn't give commands against lying, theft, adultery, and covetousness because He is some cosmic killjoy up in heaven. He gives them because these are the very things that 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 Him glory. And these things not only enrich this life—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 Commandment

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. Jesus called it the greatest commandment in the law and said, "Upon this commandment hang all the Law and the Prophets." Israel calls it the Shema.

If you ever go to Israel or to the home of an observant Jewish person, you'll see a small container on the doorpost called a mezuzah, and inside 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 greatest commandment? Why was it the first thing every Jewish child was taught going back to Moses? Because if you shema this commandment, you will fulfill all the others.

The Meaning of Shema

That word shema is the Hebrew word translated "hear" at the beginning of Deuteronomy 6:4. We saw it earlier 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." The word 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 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 inheriting salvation—hearing and heeding doesn't bring salvation. In fact, when you try to obey God's statutes, you often realize you fail, and that you need the work of Christ. But long and good life in this world, enjoying God's blessing, is promised to those who commit to hearing and heeding these words.

How Loving God Fulfills the Law

We've looked at the negatives—"you shall not commit adultery," "you shall not covet." But here is the positive: you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and strength. If you commit to loving Him with your entire being, then you will not have any other gods before Him, you will not make graven images, you 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, dishonor your spouse through adultery, steal what isn't yours, lie, or covet what God hasn't given you. If you love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and strength, all the other commandments are contained in that simple statement.

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. It's not the world we live in, but it's the world promised in the last book of the Bible, Revelation. And it's the world we followers of God should be expressing in our faith and in our church.

Not Politically Correct, but Biblically Correct

This past week I received an email from someone who wanted to unsubscribe from my daily reading plan at thereadingplan.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, that 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 bombard our nation—and the whole world—will continue, because we live in a broken and fallen world. But 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 to love our neighbors as ourselves.

These Words Shall Be in Your Heart

So important were these words that Moses wraps up this section with an exhortation:

And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and 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. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. — Deuteronomy 6:6-9

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." And notice the responsibility: you shall teach them diligently to your children. You might say, "I don't have any kids." It doesn't matter—anyone younger than you in faith or in life counts.

This is why observant Jewish people put the mezuzah on their doorposts; the passage commands it literally. And if you go to the Western Wall in Jerusalem, you'll see men praying with a leather strap and a small box on their arm and another on their head—phylacteries—containing this very passage. They take it very literally: these words shall be on your heart, your head, your hand, your doorpost, and taught to your children.

Reframing Our Conversations

If you want to live as God's people in this world, experience His blessing, and express that blessing to others—exactly what God wanted Israel to do and what He wants His church to do today—then we need to 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.

Moses says you shall talk of these things when you sit, walk, lie down, and rise up. What dominates our conversation today? For a lot of people right now it's coronavirus and politics. There aren't a lot of sports or movies to talk about—it's been a weird time. Virtually every conversation I've had over the last 11 months has touched politics and coronavirus. It would be a good exercise for you and me to talk more about the things of God and His Word—about the love of God and our love for Him—than about these things. It might change our outlook, our attitude, and even those around us.

So hear, O 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; upon these words hang all the Law and the Prophets. And the second is like it—"You shall love your neighbor as yourself"—but even that springs out of loving the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and strength.

Closing Prayer

Father God, I pray that You would do 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. And Lord, that exercise I encouraged my brothers and sisters with a moment ago—would You help us reframe our conversations this week, that we would talk more of You than of coronavirus and politics. Use us to be bright, shining lights, beacons of Your love and grace in a dark world. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.