Walk in the way of the Lord your God.

 

Sermon for Trinity 13, September 6, 2020

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  He gave himself for our sins to rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father—to whom be the glory forever and ever.  Amen.

Leviticus 18:1-5  The Lord spoke to Moses: ² “Speak to the Israelites and tell them this.  I am the Lord your God.  ³ You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived.  You shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you.  Do not walk in their religious practices.  ⁴ Follow my ordinances and keep my regulations by walking in them.  I am the Lord your God.  ⁵ Keep my regulations and my ordinances.  Anyone who does them will have life through them.  I am the Lord.” (EHV)

Walk in the way of the Lord your God.

Dear sojourners on the road to heaven,

            Years ago, when one of my relatives heard I was studying for the ministry, he said to me, “So, you’re going to be a beggar, huh?”  I have to admit, I was offended, because he was implying that a pastor spends his time begging for money, which I feel is offensive both to our pastors and to the congregations they serve.  Today, I still know what he implied is wrong, even wicked, but I also realize that I am indeed a beggar, and anyone who isn’t really isn’t a Christian.

When reading through the books of Moses, many mistakenly think that God is primarily a lawgiver.  Our natural man assumes that the way to be right with God is to obey His laws, just as the ancient pagans believed that the gods had to be mollified before they would be safe and prosperous.

Sadly, most religions of our day still believe much the same thing.  Even many people who believe they are Christians fall into the trap of thinking that we get closer to God by obeying His laws.  That is a dangerous assumption, because it leads a person to put part of his hope for salvation in himself, and the truth is: if we must do any part of saving ourselves, we will be lost.

Now, the One true God Moses served and believed certainly gave laws for His people to follow, but please note, that is not how God describes Himself.  Instead, before Moses, God called out His own name saying, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, and overflowing with mercy and truth, maintaining mercy for thousands, forgiving guilt and rebellion and sin.” (Exodus 34:6-7)  Thus, we see God not as a lawgiver, but as the great Mercy and Grace Giver, who expects those to whom He has shown mercy to Walk in the way of the Lord your God.

When Martin Luther died, a note found in his pocket had these words written: “This is true.  We are all beggars.”  What Luther understood, and the reason his reformation was so needed, was this simple truth.  None of us can do anything to earn a place in heaven.  However, remember Jesus’ judgment of the Pharisee and the tax collector at the temple.  The Pharisee did his bragging but received no praise.  On the other hand, the tax collector begged simply, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” (Luke 18:13)  To this man’s plea Jesus observed, “I tell you, this man went home justified rather than the other, because everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 18:14)  This plea is the Christian life.  As sinners, we deserve none of God’s mercy, kindness, or grace.  Yet, our compassionate and gracious God provides everything we need.

In the beginning, God created man and woman holy, in His own image.  We were intended to Walk in the way of the Lord your God, populating the world with holy people who would live as the image of God on earth.  Obviously, sin interfered with that intention.  From the moment of the first sin, mankind became vindictive and cruel, arrogant slanderers, and thieves who willingly took what didn’t belong to them—even if it was only a few bites of fruit. 

Because we all became lawbreakers like Adam and Eve, we all deserve only death and separation from God.  Yet, from the beginning, God displayed His compassion.  He promised a Savior.  He drove Adam and Eve out of the garden, but He didn’t abandon them.  God continued to bless mankind throughout history.  In His continued kindness, God “makes His sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Matthew 5:45)  In other words, God continues to provide for the lives of all people on earth.  God is so generous in His compassion that He sent a Savior for us all, as Jesus declared, “God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” (John 3:16-17)

In our sermon text, God commanded His people, “You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived.  You shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you.  Do not walk in their religious practices.”  Both of those groups of people practiced religions designed to satisfy their lusts and please their imagined gods.  Yet, because they had rejected the true God, none of those things was based on love, neither did they consider the welfare of their neighbors. 

On the other hand, Abraham and his descendants were brought under God’s care by God’s decision, so when God led the Israelites out of Egypt, it showed the whole world how He rescues His people from the self-serving life that leads to death.  Likewise, God chose to rescue us from the gloom and death of this evil world.  God alone worked out our forgiveness and salvation by sending His Son to live and die for us.  God chose us to hear His promises and believe.  Through the proclamation of the Gospel and the Sacrament of Baptism, God made us members of His kingdom of grace, and in that exalted position, He wants us to be lights to the world and His hands of mercy to those around us. 

When God handed down His laws to Moses, it was not so that we might obey them to earn God’s favor, but rather, that having been freed from slavery, death, and condemnation, we may learn to Walk in the way of the Lord as shining reflections of our compassionate and gracious God.  St, Paul later wrote, “The whole law is summed up in this one statement: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Galatians 5:14) 

The LORD told Moses to tell the Israelites, “Keep my regulations and my ordinances.  Anyone who does them will have life through them.  I am the Lord.”  Allow me to share with you a very literal translation of this passage: “you will keep My statutes and My judgments which the man (literally, the Adam) will do them, and he will live in them—I am the LORD.”  Rather than view the commands as a means to gain life, see the One Man who lived in perfect harmony with all God’s statues and judgments and thereby won everlasting life for all who believe in Him.

St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians,

“The first man, Adam, became a living natural being.”  The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.  However, that which is spiritual is not first; rather, first comes the natural, then the spiritual.  The first man is of the earth, made of dust.  The second man is the Lord from heaven.  As was the man made of dust, so are the people who are made of dust, and as is the heavenly man, so the heavenly people will be.  And just as we have borne the image of the man made of dust, let us also bear the image of the heavenly man. (1 Corinthians 15:45-49)

Jesus lived a perfectly holy life in our place so that dressed in His righteousness, we Walk in the way of the Lord your God.  Because He suffered death on a cross for our guilt, and because the Holy Spirit has given us new life and faith in Christ Jesus as He brought us into the kingdom of our Savior, Jesus now again urges us “to keep all the instructions I have given you.” (Matthew 28:20)

From the Old Testament to the New, the instructions are the same: Walk in the way of the Lord your God.  Because our God is compassionate and gracious, we are given life and forgiveness through faith in the One and only Savior of the world.  In thankfulness for His kindness to us, we are to live as His instruments on earth as long as we sojourn in this dark and dreary land.  As children of the living God, we are to observe and obey all the instructions He has given, so that we may love God with all our hearts, souls, and minds, and love our neighbors as ourselves.  The Ten Commandments are simply the summary of how God wants to protect each of us from the worst of our corrupted natures.  The law cannot give life, but it guides us in how to live as redeemed children of the heavenly Father.

In our days, that means we will forgive those who don’t deserve it.  We will help our neighbors to the best of our ability, even those who hate and persecute us.  We will actively participate in the sharing of the Gospel in whatever way the Lord has us serve, and we will suffer the afflictions of the world without complaint and with a firm hope in the eternal glory Jesus has promised us.  Through it all, even our shortcomings and faults, we will trust firmly in the compassionate and gracious God who loved us enough to sacrifice His only-begotten Son so that we would be reconciled with our Creator and King.  Knowing that Jesus alone has done everything necessary to give us a new and holy life, we will walk in the righteousness of the new Adam, we will Walk in the way of the Lord your God.  All glory to His holy name.  Amen.

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto everlasting life.  Amen.