The Law a Blessing or Curse?
The 3rd Sunday after Pentecost (June 1, 2008)
Rev. Steven D. Spencer – Messiah Lutheran Church, Salem, OR
Deuteronomy 11:18-28
18 Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 19 Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 20 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, 21 so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land that the LORD swore to give your forefathers, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth. 22 If you carefully observe all these commands I am giving you to follow-- to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways and to hold fast to him-- 23 then the LORD will drive out all these nations before you, and you will dispossess nations larger and stronger than you. 24 Every place where you set your foot will be yours: Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the Euphrates River to the western sea. 25 No man will be able to stand against you. The LORD your God, as he promised you, will put the terror and fear of you on the whole land, wherever you go. 26 See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse-- 27 the blessing if you obey the commands of the LORD your God that I am giving you today; 28 the curse if you disobey the commands of the LORD your God and turn from the way that I command you today by following other gods, which you have not known.
Grace, peace and mercy from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ, Amen.
What does our text and today have in common? Is there something special about today? The Baptismal Font isn’t pulled out, no baptism. The communion set isn’t out can’t be that! No birthdays or anniversaries that I’m aware of. So what could it be? Let me tell you, graduation. We have at least 3 people in our congregation that have just, or are going to, graduate. Congratulations!
Graduation (to graduate), interesting word, as Luther would have asked: “what does this mean?” Well in the broadest sense of the word graduate means: to pass from one stage of experience, proficiency, or prestige to a usually higher one, to move from one position, station or place in life to another. You are graduating. You are moving up. (One hand lower, one hand higher).
So what do you have in common with the people in our text? The people of Israel are finally getting to graduate. Moses and Aaron have wandered in the wilderness with the stubborn children of Israel for over 40 years. And finally God says they are ready to move ahead, to move up to the next level. “ 40 years and you thought your education was tough! The children of Israel were in God’s school for the spiritually challenged for more than 40 years before being ready to graduate, ready to enter the Promised Land, to graduate.”
Before I get ahead of myself, let me remind you that Moses and Aaron didn’t graduate. They flunked. Our passage today is just before Israel crosses the Jordan River and enters the Promised Land. Moses had gotten in trouble with God over being angry and striking the rock twice to get water. God had promised that a strike would do it. It was God’s promise to quench the thirst of Israel. Moses was taking no chances, he struck twice. Moses was like a door to door salesman, just standing there ringing the bell (ding-dong, ding-dong, ding-dong). Come on answer, come on God answer. Moses was being impatient with God.
Just before our Old Testament passage Moses is arguing with God in the 3rd chapter of Deuteronomy. He was blaming the people of Israel for his sin. “They provoked me to anger. Blame them, let me enter the Promised Land, let me graduate.” It didn’t work for Moses; I hope none of you had to use that same approach to graduate.
Some other important things that had happen to Israel before this text. God had to give them His Law twice. The first set was broken. The hearts of the Israelites turned to idols rather than to God. Moses in anger threw down the Tablets of the Law. But that time it was in righteous indignation. Moses acted out of righteous anger. The second set of Tablets showed God’s mercy. But even so the people rebelled against God. When they finally came to the Promise Land the first time they doubted God. “The enemy is too great, we can’t enter.” They feared the inhabitants and doubted the almighty God. Therefore God’s punishment was to wander in the wilderness. But the mighty, the soldiers, the fighters among them said, “NO, no more wandering, we will go into battle and take the land that God had promised.” But they had already doubted God and God wasn’t with them when they entered battle and they were completely annihilated, they perished. Let this be a lesson for you as well in two ways..
1. Trust God, believe what He says and do not doubt it.
2. Sometimes we need to learn a lesson may times over before getting it..
We don’t always learn God’s lessons the first time through. No, I’m not trying to encourage you to fail, just the opposite. Don’t lose heart when learning to keep on trying. Sometimes we just need more time to learn. The things that come easy aren’t what we really the truth. Stick with your studying. With that said let’s turn to verse 26.
Verse 26: “See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse.” When I went through confirmation it was common to say the Old Testament was all about the Law and the New Testament was about the Gospel. The Law is a curse and the Gospel is the blessing. It just isn’t true. I love a quote, which I have shared before, from Alfred Lord Tennyson: "A lie which is but a half of truth is ever the blackest of lies.”
The Law is indeed a curse. It shows us our sin. It drives us to our knees showing us our complete wretchedness. We are sinners. I am a sinner, you are a sinner. There is no good within you or me. Psalm 14:3 says: “They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; There is no one who does good, no not one.” I want to be fair here so before I go on, everyone please look down for a moment, don’t look to the left, don’t look to the right and don’t look up. If anyone has here has always done good, never failed, never sinned, no one peak (chuckle), if you’ve never sinned please raise your hand. I just want to see if we have any sinless people here. If you are sinless then you really don’t need to hear the rest of the sermon. Leave your hands where they are and look up, look around. The room is filled with people just like you. Now to make sure we understand what we just did, if you have erred, if you have sinned, if you're are not perfect please raise your hand (raising both my hand) now look around. You can lower your hands, we know who you are. You’re one of us sinners.
The Law convicts us, it show us our sin. How then can it then be a blessing? Because it shows us how much we need a savior. We can’t save ourselves. Therefore, it is a blessing.
Just moments ago you spoke the Apostles’ Creed: Join me if you can: I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen In Luther’s Small Catechism: “What does this mean” he says:
I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith. In the same way He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith. In this Christian church He daily and richly forgives all my sins and the sins of all believers. On the Last Day He will raise me and all the dead, and give eternal life to me and all believers in Christ. This is most certainly true.
I remember a story about a deaf boy who loved to walk on the steel rails of railroad tracks on his way home from church. His parents were completely unaware of their son’s habit. One day a policeman showed up at their house informing them, that their son had been seen walking on the railroad rails. Don’t worry he was alright. They tried and tried to convince the boy that such behavior was dangerous. But he wouldn’t listen, no pun intended. One day another deaf student, enjoying the same dangerous game, was killed by a train on that same stretch of tracks. The boy now understood.
“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). The Law shows our sin, it shows us we deserve death. But here is where it becomes a blessing. But we like the deaf boy wouldn't listen. By seeing our sin, by seeing the sinless Jesus die in our place we are blessed, blessed with the knowledge of the God News. It took the death of someone else for us to understand. Jesus took our place. He was our propitiation. He paid the price for our sin. Are we justified by the law? No! We are justified by faith. We are justified by apart from the law. But the law needed to be fulfilled. The faith we receive is a gift from God (Eph 2:8-9) but the law demanded its price.
So what then of the law? Is it abolished? No. It is made full in the grace of God through Christ Jesus. I want to make an important point here. Was Israel God’s chosen people? YES! Could they be saved by the Law? No! It would still take an act of God’s love to save them. The Law was means by which God would bless them. They too needed to see how they fell short in pleasing God.
All of the Old Testament is Law and Gospel. It points forward to the cross. For the Law tells us we cannot please God. We cannot live a perfect life. We cannot save ourselves but we don’t need to! “For God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
Israel did finally graduate into the Promised Land, but soon found themselves once again in the wilderness due to their sin. But you, my Christian friends, have graduated into a Promise Land that even sin cannot overthrow, the kingdom of God.
The question once again: “Is the Law a blessing or a curse?” The answer is yes! Because of Jesus, the curse has been paid in full on the cross. You are heirs of the blessing of the eternal Promised Land, and the passage has been paid in full by the blood of Jesus. Because of that you can know without a doubt that all your sins are forgiven, in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit! Happy graduation day, in Jesus name, amen and amen.
Now may the peace of God which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, Amen!