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“See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse: the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I am commanding you today; and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn from the way that I am commanding you today, to follow other gods that you have not known.”
These words are from Deuteronomy, our Old Testament reading for today. As much as we may want to proclaim that there are no set standards for Christianity, this is not the case. Just like some folks found out at the recent meeting with the Bishop, there are even specific standards for membership in the Episcopal Church. Attendance alone does not a member make. Neither is showing up for church services a guarantee of eternal salvation.
In fact, we are instructed by the Holy Scriptures to write the Words of God upon are hearts and to live out our faith daily. The scriptures state, “You shall put these words of mine in your heart and soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and fix them as an emblem* on your forehead. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land that the Lord swore to your ancestors to give them, as long as the heavens are above the earth.”
The Jews actually put pieces of scripture from Deuteronomy beginning with the words “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is One” into small leather boxes known as phylacteries and bind them onto their foreheads and fore-arms for morning prayers. Small containers known as mezuzahs that also contain these same Holy Words are placed upon the doorposts of Jewish homes as a constant reminder of God’s Word in their lives. In fact, part of our Old Testament reading for today is taken from this scripture in Deuteronomy, which has become known as the Mezuzah. For the Jews, the Holy Word of God is so important that they place it on them and before them as a constant reminder to follow the teachings of the scriptures.
As Christians, we believe the words from the gospel of John, “And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.” For us, Jesus is the Word of God made flesh. We who have received Jesus into our hearts and have been baptized into Christ no longer need to wear the Word of God on us, because we now abide in Christ just as Christ abides in the Father God. As Christ has taught us, we ‘worship God in spirit and in truth’. Jesus declared himself to be the Truth, the Way and the Life. By following the teachings of Christ and living our lives through Him, we are no longer bound by the Law. Instead, we have become Children of the Light, because the Light within us is the Christ who bears the glory of the Father.
Yet, we are not free to live without boundaries for we are bound to Christ to follow His teachings. In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus teaches us, “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its fall!’
Here on Fort Myers Beach, we can easily see the effects of the tides on the sand. The tides bring things onto the beach and the tides also carry things away into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. So it is easy for us to understand that a house built upon sand, when the strength of a powerful storm such as a hurricane comes to the island, then houses not built to stand these storms will fall. This is why hurricane regulations for buildings were put into place to protect homes from annihilation. We need to just be reminded of the recent tragic damage of nature’s storms in the tiny country of Mynnamar and the earthquakes in China as a reminder of the power of the Laws of Nature.
If the Laws of Nature apply to man-made structures, how much more do the spiritual laws of God apply to our souls! In St. Paul’s letter to the Romans, he is clear as to why the Law of Moses has been replaced by the teachings of Christ. “But now, irrespective of law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed, and is attested by the law and the prophets, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith.”
This is why it is so important to walk in the Light of Christ as bearers of the Word of God. For we have been chosen to be the heralds of the Gospel of Christ in a world wrought with storms and tragedies. We carry the hope of the world within us, especially in times of great despair and sorrow. As Jesus taught us, what good is it to put a light under a bush? We need to walk in the light and proclaim to all the amazing grace of God’s redemption to all of humanity through Jesus the Christ.
In the gospel reading today from Matthew, Jesus warns us that there are those who believe they are living according to the Word of God, but in fact, they do not even know Jesus. In this teaching, Jesus shows us that they have trusted in their own good works to get them to heaven. Yet, it is not our good works that will save us. Only the blood of Christ can purchase for us the crown of life. The only sure foundation for eternal life is a life built upon ‘the redemption that is in Christ Jesus’. All other foundations are as futile as sinking sand.
For it is only Christ who saves us. All of our works are as filthy rags. There is no salvation in anything we can do except for putting our faith in the only One who can restore our relationship with the Father God. In the words of St. Patrick,
“Christ be with me, Christ within me, Christ behind me, Christ before me, Christ beside me, Christ to win me, Christ to comfort and restore me.”
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