Meditation for May 31, 2007

From The Rev. Peter A. Munson

Deuteronomy 4:32-40

 

[Moses spoke to the Israelites], "Ask now about former ages, long before your own, ever since the day that God created human beings on the earth: ask from one end of heaven to the other: has anything so great as this ever happened or has its like ever been heard of?  Has any people ever heard the voice of a god speaking out of a fire, as you have heard and lived?  Or has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs and wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by terrifying displays of power, as the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes? To you it was shown so that you would acknowledge that the Lord is God; there is no other besides Him. From heaven He made you hear His voice to discipline you. On earth He showed you His great fire, while you heard His words coming out of the fire. And because He loved your ancestors, He chose their descendants after them.  He brought you out of Egypt with His own presence, by His great power, driving out before you nations greater and mightier than yourselves, to bring you in, giving you their land for a possession, as it is still today. So acknowledge today and take to heart that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other. Keep His statutes and His commandments, which I am commanding you today for your own well-being and that of your descendants after you, so that you may long remain in the land that the Lord your God is giving you for all time."

 

Acknowledging That God Alone Is God

 

"To you it was shown [these mighty acts of God] so that you would acknowledge that the Lord is God; there is no other besides Him." (Deuteronomy 4:35) 

 

Soon after the Exodus, that unprecedented time in Jewish history, when - "by signs and wonders" - the Lord God led the Jews out of slavery in Egypt, and prior to their entry into the Promised Land of Canaan, Moses makes this statement to all the people.  In effect he says, "All that you have seen and heard in the events of the Exodus... what other nation has been so fortunate?  What other group of people has experienced a god like our God - the one and only God?  How should we react?  We should acknowledge that the Lord is God, and that there is no other besides Him."

 

We must remember, of course, that in this time in history it was much more the norm for the peoples of the earth to be polytheistic - to worship many gods.  Monotheism was a new thing.  Polytheism is not the norm today.  And yet... we still have this tendency to pursue other things as if they were gods.  Some people elevate the nation above all else. Some people worship money and the pursuit of money.  Some folks' lives are "consumed" by being consumers.  For some, sports are their religion.  (A coach told Julia one time, with respect to youth hockey, "Hockey sort of has to become your religion."  To which Julia replied, "We already have a religion, and it is not hockey.")

 

As I read this passage, two things come to mind.

 

First, we are just as blessed and just as fortunate as the Jews who experienced deliverance out of Egypt, and deliverance at the Red Sea. God has revealed Himself to you and me, too. The Holy Spirit guides us, whether it be through reading certain passages of scripture, or in our times of quiet (whether inside or out in nature), or through various people that God puts in our lives. God has spoken to us, too.  God has done mighty things in our lives, too.  He has been active in bringing us together with our spouses. (Your partner is a gift from God!)  He has blessed us with good friends. He has blessed us with children. He has guided us in our career paths, and led us to fruitful employment, and provided for our physical needs. Through various relationships, He has provided for our emotional and social needs.  And through his Word and by the power of the Holy Spirit, and through various authors, teachers, clergy, and other mentors, He has provided for our spiritual needs.  We are no less blessed than those Jews with whom Moses spoke, as they stood ready to enter the land of Canaan.

 

Second, we, like our ancestors in faith, the Jews, are called to acknowledge that God alone is God.  And we must remember the first commadment, "You shall have no other gods before Me." (Deuteronomy 5:7)  We can be patriotic, but the nation must not become our God.  We can use money for kingdom purposes, but we must not serve money as our god.  We can love ourselves in part by staying in shape and eating right and exercising. But we must not become so obsessed with our bodies and with sports that they rule our lives, and, in effect, become our gods. We must provide for our own needs and for the needs of our families, but we must not get so carried away with our spending that all we think about is what thing we are going to buy next.  We must not forget the all-important distinction between needs and wants.

 

These other things cannot ultimately satisfy. Only relationships bring ultimate satifaction, and our relationship with God is paramount, because only God is God. Only God can provide for our deepest needs. I think, deep down, we all know this.  To paraphrase Augustine (or maybe this is close to an exact quote), "Our souls are restless until they rest in Thee, O Lord."  The answer to our restlessness - only God can be that.

 

May we acknowledge how blessed we are in the fact that God reveals Himself to us and blesses us in so many different ways.  And may we acknowledge God, and give God all that He deserves, as the only God.