The Promised Land

FOCUS READINGS

Deuteronomy 34:8-12 (NRSV)

The Israelites wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days; then the period of mourning for Moses was ended. Joshua son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, because Moses had laid his hands on him; and the Israelites obeyed him, doing as the LORD had commanded Moses. Never since has there arisen a prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face. He was unequaled for all the signs and wonders that the LORD sent him to perform in the land of Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his servants and his entire land, and for all the mighty deeds and all the terrifying displays of power that Moses performed in the sight of all Israel.

Matthew 22:34-39 (NRSV)

When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. "Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?" He said to him, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'

DAILY BYTE

We’ve been talking for the past few days about the world from Moses’ perspective at the end of his life. But maybe you don’t see yourself in Moses. Maybe you’re feeling like the people of Israel right now. Maybe someone who’s led you on your life journey – someone who’s struggled with you and cared for you - is on the brink of death. Maybe they’re just moving on to a new stage in life. Maybe you are feeling the loss of their wisdom and guidance. When we lose people, for whatever reason, we need times of mourning. It’s curious that when Moses dies right at the edge of the Promised Land, the people waited thirty whole days before they crossed over. Can you imagine? You’ve just spent 40 years wandering in the wilderness, waiting for the moment when you would step foot into your new home – what on earth could possibly keep you from leaping in as quickly as possible? The answer: mourning.

Because in mourning, we grieve what is lost – whether it’s a person or a place or a pattern, but we also prepare ourselves for the new, changed life that is coming. We need that time to accept change.

The Israelites had to accept that the challenges and leadership of the past were important, but they were now gone. They had taught them survival and a deep faith, but the new land that awaited them had new challenges. Joshua had been anointed to take over leading the people, but the passage also makes clear that no leader – no prophet would be like Moses. No one would fill his shoes entirely. Joshua would need the help of all the people in the Promised Land. Everyone would be called on to bring God’s vision of new life to be. Everyone would need to remember the central teachings God had taught them in the past and apply them to their lives through action in the future.

And the central teaching that Moses brought from God to the people was: Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone 5You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. 6Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart’ (Deuteronomy 6:4-6).

This is what Moses commanded the people of Israel to remember when they went into the Promised Land – and it is the core of what God keeps wanting us to remember. Through all circumstances, we must love God because when we love God, our love for him flows out in our love for others. And only then – when we love others as much as we love God – will we really find ourselves in the promised land of peace that God has for us. This is what Jesus says in the Gospel of Matthew are the greatest commandments.

So if you are feeling a loss – if you are struggling to envision a new way of life. Remember what God taught us through Moses – that we are actively a part of creating the Promised Land through our love of God and our love for each other. We are called to be people who cast a vision not of an empty room full of lies and disappointments but a vision of an empty tomb – where there is space enough for the whole world to be wrapped up in the promised gift of Christ’s love. Have you learned from your past journey? From your leaders? From your experiences in the wilderness? Are you ready to go and lead others into the Promised Land that is coming? That is here?