A Heart for God

It is serendipitous that this year the 6th Sunday after the Epiphany of our Lord falls near Valentine's Day, as the First Reading for this Sunday in the Year of Mark is Deuteronomy 30:15-20.  This passage is all about our heart:  What shall it be set upon?  What shall it turn  away from?  To which deity will we give our heart?  Moses is quite clear; our choice of lovers is a matter of life and death.  As preachers we will need to make this clear.

(The following questions are not meant to be exhaustive, but they follow a certain method which attempts to answer questions around how the Word functions, a primary concern of Law and Gospel preachers.  These questions are developed more fully in my brief guide to Law and Gospel preaching, Afflicting the Comfortable, Comforting the Afflicted, available from wipfandstock.com or amazon.)

1.  How does the Word function in the text?  There is a clear choice given in this text, the choice between loving God and loving other gods.  It functions as the call to faith.  Much the same way that Jesus, in the Gospel of John, announced that those who follow him would find life abundant, so Moses here announces that those who love the Lord will find life, but those who turn from this Lord of life will find evil.  The Word, therefore functions as both promise and threat, both Law and Gospel.

2.  With whom are you identifying in the text?  We are the listeners, the people of Israel.  We are those to whom these assurances of blessing or curse are given.  We are urged to love the Lord, walk in his ways, and obey his commandments.

3.  What, if any, call to obedience is there in this text?  Though this passage has the appearance of a call to obedience, it is not one, because it is not a call to live in a certain way in response to God's work.  That will come later. This is a call to faith.

4.  What Law/Gospel couplet is suggested by this text?  Unlike many texts, there are many couplets given right in this passage.  Some examples are:  death/life; adversity/prosperity; curses/blessings.

5.  Exegetical work:  There are a number of points at which Hebrew constructions grant us insight in this passage.  A good example is in verses 19c-20a, where we read, "Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him."  When we look at the Hebrew we see that the prefix attached to "loving, obeying, and holding" indicates manner or norm.  This means that here we have a description of the manner in which we "choose life."  We choose life by "loving, obeying, and holding fast" to God.  We do not choose life and then begin loving, obeying, and holding fast.  No, our choosing shows itself in whom our heart loves, to whom our heart listens, and to whom our heart clings.  It is all a matter of the heart.

6.  How does the Crossings Community model work with this text?  Michael Hoy, in his analysis, does a nice job of lifting up the blessings and curses dichotomy here.  He goes back a few verses, reminding us of Moses' word that "this commandment is very near to you" (vs. 30:14), and proclaiming that the blessings are to be found in Christ.  See the entire analysis, archived under its reference at crossings.org/text-study.

Blessings on your proclamation!