September 6, 2024
Deuteronomy 6:1-9
“Now this is the commandment—the statutes and the ordinances—that the Lord your God charged me to teach you to observe in the land that you are about to cross into and occupy, 2 so that you and your children and your children’s children may fear the Lord your God all the days of your life and keep all his decrees and his commandments that I am commanding you, so that your days may be long. 3 Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe them diligently, so that it may go well with you and so that you may multiply greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has promised you.
4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. 7 Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, 9 and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
In Mark, Chapter 12, when Jesus was asked, “What is the most important commandment?” he answered with Deuteronomy 6:4-5, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. It might seem strange to command someone to love someone else. Is this how love works? History is replete with tales of war and hatred of the other. We love the people that we are attracted to because of the way they act, look, or both. I believe that’s why God makes our children look so much like us. :-)
But love in the Bible, when it comes to God, doesn’t consider these human prerequisites for attraction and love. Think for a moment about God’s love for us. We say God is Love; therefore, it is God’s nature to love. Yet the Bible says that because of our sin, we are by nature “objects of wrath.” (Ephesians 2:3). Because of our sinful nature, God gets angry with us. He shouldn't love us, but His love overcomes His anger in a dedicated way. He works to love us. It's a love that says, "I'm going to die for you anyway."
The closest I can remember feeling that type of love is when each of my kids was born. At that moment, I fell in love like I had never fallen before. I knew, as did my wife, that nothing would keep us from protecting that child. I would lay down my life for each of them instantly. I love my wife, but the love of a parent toward a child is a distinctive level of love.
The love between two people in a marriage is different; we choose each other based on attraction. First, there is the physical, then the mental. Eventually, if we are lucky, we reach the spiritual level, and we begin to share our love for each other with God (we call this marriage). But this love takes work, communication, and trust. Happily-ever-after only happens in fairy tales like Sleeping Beauty.
Real love requires effort in a world filled with sin. This is why the most important commandment, given by God, instructs us to love the Lord with all our ENERGY. Loving God should be effortless, given His generosity, kindness, and mercy. However, it doesn't come naturally to us, as we tend to be lazy and self-centered by nature, in other words, sinful. Therefore, if we want to love God, we need to make a conscious effort to go against our sinful instincts.
Additionally, the Shema teaches that God desires our love to be emotional or from the heart: Love the Lord your God with all your PASSION. Finally, it should be spiritual: Love the Lord your God with all your SPIRIT. This requires wholehearted love that emanates from deep within. It resembles the love of a parent to a child.
The world asks, “How can you love if you can’t see or hear someone? The Hebrews say, “Shema!” It means “Pay attention to or focus on.” Leah, the first wife of Jacob, named her son Simeon because God listened to her cry for a child. Listening and performing are closely connected in the Shema. Christ teaches us that God asks us to pay attention, mainly because God wants to provide us with something. Faith is created when we pay attention to God. Paul says, “Faith comes from hearing the message.” (Romans 10:17)
Deuteronomy 6:4 emphasizes the uniqueness and lovable nature of God. It highlights the contrast between the one true God of Israel and the false gods that were worshipped by other nations. This distinction underscores the purity, holiness, and righteousness of the God of Israel, in contrast to the depravity and wickedness associated with the other deities. Many of which demanded such things as child sacrifice. Verse 4 conveys the idea that God is not one among many but rather the singular and supreme divine being worthy of worship and adoration.
I find it fascinating how John begins his gospel. It starts with the statement, 'In the beginning was the WORD, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.' God chose to communicate with us through Jesus, who is the Word in human form. Jesus embodies love in action. Jesus proves that love is a verb, a command, not just a mere concept. He didn't come to earth to be a king or a conqueror; instead, God came to walk among us, sacrifice Himself on the cross, and take the blame for the world's sins. This is the epitome of love, more potent than the love I felt the day my children were born. When Jesus took Peter, James, and John up the mountain, God declared from heaven, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” I desire to heed these words, as he is the unique Son of the ONE God. Do you? I want not only to listen but also to love him with all my heart, soul, and strength. Do you? Will you pay attention and listen?
I have a book in my office titled, “The Book of Who Said That?” It contains quotes, articles, famous stories, and speeches. It is filled with things that, as modern people, we consider “common knowledge,” but the origins have been misplaced in time. One such passage the author writes about is the Pledge of Allegiance. It is recited somewhere in our country every day to remind people of the ideals on which the United States was founded. However, how many of us remember who wrote it? Francis Bellamy wrote it in 1892 to increase sales of American flags to schools because he believed everyone deserved equal treatment under our constitution, and the flag represents that ideal. Remember, in 1892, women and people of color were not treated equally. Women could not vote, and blacks were segregated in society. This book reminds me to pay attention to our past by reminding me who wrote these famous statements, just as the Shema reminds us to listen to God, study God, and talk about God.
My father instilled a love of history in me, and I did the same with my son. I taught him to research things and try to understand both sides of the argument. Listen before you speak, and most importantly, if you don’t have something good to contribute, keep silent. I taught him this out of affection for his well-being. I taught him this to help him succeed in life. I taught him because I love him.
Isn't it reasonable for God to expect even more as our Lord? The Shema says to instill these teachings deeply in your children and discuss them at home, while walking, before bedtime, and upon waking. Keep them in mind always. Let them serve as a reminder on your wrists and an emblem on your forehead. Display them on the doorposts and gates of your homes. But notice also that God wants this done even while you are on a journey (Vacation or Work). Have you ever actually done that? Have you ever done that? Have you been on vacation and said, “Hey, son, let’s talk about God today." I mean, where do you start, mainly if you’re not used to it? It probably sounds almost cheesy to try to bring it up in a conversation with your family.
A part of the problem is that families don’t talk that much. We might talk about schedules or sports a bit, but it never gets too deep. It’s all light and surface conversations. We don’t like talking about religion and politics because those might lead to fights. But talking about religion can also lead to UNITY in a family and friends when you are teaching about forgiveness and mercy and grace. (Our apathy toward deep conversation is something that other countries despise about Americans. They feel we are very inconsistent and apathetic in the area of conversation, and they might be right.)
We do an excellent job in our education of children at Douglas. Our teachers care deeply about cultivating the relationship between our children and Christ. I can tell by the conversations I have with my 7-year-old. We also take the Word out into the community through our Good News Club, and I can tell by the attention given to those kids that something is happening there, too, but the Shema isn’t a command about church education or missions.
The Shema says these tasks should start within our homes. The home is where the most crucial Christian teachings should take place. Difficulties arise when all responsibility is relinquished to a school, children’s church, or after-school programs. Parents and grandparents assume that's all God expects as long as the attempt is made. However, what happens after Good News Club ends? What happens the other six days outside of Children’s Church
The commandment was taken so seriously by the Jews that they actually inscribed Bible verses on small pieces of paper and placed them in leather boxes, fastening these to their foreheads and arms. The intention behind God's directive was for us to internalize His Word in our minds, leading to heartfelt understanding and impacting our behavior. By consistently reading the scripture, you can internalize it and let it influence your actions.
One can justify that if such worship of God starts at home, it would extend to worship at church. As adults, our education of scripture should not stop. God is infinite and infinitely complex. Acceptance of Christ as your savior is only the first step. The Shema commands continued worship. As Christians, this means worshiping together, not only teaching our children by lesson but by example. If regular worship attendance is not upheld, how can one expect their descendants to continue attending? It only takes one or two generations to lose everything.
Ask most kids today, “Who is Moses? Who is Abraham?” They will give a dull stare. But ask them about SpongeBob or Kim Kardashian. They know who they are, no problem. It’s a simple struggle with exposure. We cannot shield them from popular culture forever, but we should expose them to as much about God as possible, at least as much as they are exposed to the Kardashians. And in the end, without continuing in the Word, without teaching them about Jesus, they will know nothing of salvation. And guess what, we’ll have no one to blame but OURSELVES because we didn’t take it HOME!
The more you delve into the Scriptures, the more you analyze and comprehend them, and the more chances you will be offering the Holy Spirit to infiltrate your HEART and your SOUL. Eventually, it will cease being an obligation and become a source of joy and love. Consider the seven years that Jacob spent laboring for Rachel. They passed swiftly because each day, he could catch a glimpse of Rachel and anticipate her becoming his spouse. His labor was fueled by love. (Genesis 29) The more you observe Jesus in the Scriptures, the more you will desire to understand, and the more you will yearn to be in communion with him.
The world is filled with temptations and wicked images that constantly bombard us. We hear many voices contradicting the Word of God. Although these things may seem attractive, they are highly deceitful. In 1973, Niko Tinbergen experimented on butterflies to see how they would react to stimuli. Douglas Browning writes about it,
Tinbergen created a cardboard box with a highly detailed and colorful butterfly drawn and painted on it. He then cut it out, attached it to a stick, and placed it in the midst of a group of actual butterflies. The male butterflies were notably more attracted to and intrigued by the artificial butterfly due to its larger size and vibrant colors compared to the real ones. They even attempted to mate with the fake cardboard butterflies while completely disregarding the actual female butterflies in flight around them. (Browning, 2017)
This is a sampling of how deceptive the world can be with its fake beauties and its false idols, sports, sex, and even work; it can all be so deceptive in the end. What is the remedy? Shema! Listen! Learn about God. Teach others about God, starting at Home. Then, continue to lean into the life of Christ by not just following but being the example Christ sets for us. Our journey is not over. Our worship does not end with the postlude on Sunday. We are not called to be static Christians but Dynamic Christians! Are you? Shema!
Works Cited
Browning, D. (2017, 11 09). Protect Kids from Porn: A Simple Lesson from (Fake) Butterflies. (Glen Cove Press LLC) Retrieved 09 2024, from Defend Young Minds: https://www.defendyoungminds.com/post/protect-kids-from-porn-fake-butterflies
Daily, J., & Strasen, M. (2017). The Book of Who Said That. Morton Grove, IL, USA: Publications International, Ltd.
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