"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. [5] You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. [6] And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. [7] You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. [8] You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. [9] You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
[10] "And when the Lord your God brings you into the land that he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you—with great and good cities that you did not build, [11] and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant—and when you eat and are full, [12] then take care lest you forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. [13] It is the Lord your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear.
This is our text.
The text that has been selected for our meditation this morning is an important text in the Old Testament. It is a text that is known as the “Great Shema”. “Hear O Israel,” it says, “The Lord our God, the Lord is One.” These words were spoken by Moses. God had chosen Moses as the one who would lead his people out of their slavery in Egypt. Moses had accomplished the task that God had given to him. The Israelites were preparing to cross over the Jordan River but Moses would not be permitted to accompany them. The book of Deuteronomy is a final sermon – it is Moses' “Going Away/Farewell” message to the people that he led from slavery into freedom and into blessing. As Moses begins to develop this message he starts with the Law that God gave to his people on Mount Sinai. He reminds them of the covenant that they entered into with the Lord, the covenant that God himself established. And the next thing that he says is the words of our text – the “Great Shema”.
Shema is a Hebrew word. It is a word that means “hear”. It means “listen up”. It means turn your attention to the things that I am about to tell you. It is similar to what you might say to your son the first time you give him the keys to your car, or maybe what you might say to your neighbors son the first time he comes to take your daughter out on a date - “Listen up” I have some important instructions for you. You need to listen, and not only do you need to listen, you need to obey.
So Moses commands the Israelites to listen and this is what he commands them to listen to: this is the message that is so important for them: “The Lord our God, The Lord is One. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your might.” About 1500 years later these words will be repeated. Jesus will repeat these words as the most important commandment – as the summary of the entire law of God. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength – love God with everything you've got and if you do, if you do love God then you will keep the law – you will keep all of the commandments without exception – you will keep them perfectly. Love God and you will obey God. Love God and you will love your neighbor. Love God. Loving God begins with hearing God. Loving God begins with listening to his word as it is preached and proclaimed to us. Loving God begins with listening to His Word as it is taught to us.
Today, as you know, St Paul's is celebrating the gift that God has given to us through Lutheran Education. All week long our students have been celebrating National Lutheran Schools Week. We have had heritage day, hat day, school spirit day, we had a crazy man throw pancakes at us, we have had the special opportunity to watch a movie together. The point behind all of this has been to highlight in our minds the blessing that we have because of our school. The blessing that we have to learn and study all of the academic subjects. God has created such a wonderful world. A part of this world that God has created is the gift of language – so we study language. We study words, their definitions, their spelling, their relationship to one another through the rules of English grammar. We study how to write those words with good penmanship. We study how to read those words and how to pronounce those words. We study the order that God has built into his creation through the laws of math and science. We study the history of our world as God has provided people throughout the history of our world who have led us and shaped our way of life through their work and their thinking. All of these things are a part of the world that God has given and all of these things we study and we learn and we grown into a greater knowledge and appreciation, not just of school books and studying and learning, we grow into a greater appreciation of the God who has made all of these things. Lutheran education provides this perspective – it teaches that this world is God's world and it is his gift to us.
Today we are also hear to recognize one of the teachers that God has given to St Paul's. Today we recognize and celebrate the 25 years of service that God has given to St Paul's Lutheran Church and School through his servant Chris Dellinger. Chris certainly is one among many – St Paul's has been greatly blessed through the work of all of her teachers. But today we recognize Mrs Dellinger as one who has served diligently and faithfully in our Lutheran School to help teach those academic subjects and we are blessed through this instruction, but more than that Mrs Dellinger, through her faithful teaching and through her incorporation of the word of God into that teaching has taught us and our children those words of our Lord so that we might hear and believe.
Today, while we honor our Lutheran School and while we honor one who has taught so faithfully in our school, what makes these things worth recognizing is fact that they have assisted us in following through in obeying this all important command of God.
God wants us to listen. He wants us to hear his word. IF we are going to hear that means that there must be someone around to speak. Speaking the word of God involved teaching. God wants there to be teachers, because God wants us to hear his word, because God wants us to listen to his word.
In our text, Moses makes this point by use of a literary technique known as hyperbole. Perhaps we could have one of our students stand up and give us a definition for hyperbole – test them and see if they have been paying attention in their classes. Hyperbole is overstating your case for the sake of emphasis. For example – I am so hungry I could eat a whale is an example of hyperbole. Of course, literally I could not eat a whale. I am just trying to emphasize how hungry I am. In a similar way, Moses says to “tie these words of God to your forehead and on your wrists and write them on the door posts of your house and on your gates”. Moses is not commanding us to do this literally. Moses is simply emphasizing the point that he just made. If you are going to hear the Word of God, you are going to have to talk about it. You are going to have to talk about it when you get up in the morning. You are going to have to talk about it as you go through your daily routine. You are going to have to talk about it. You are going to have to talk about it when your day is coming to a close and you are getting ready to go to bed.
Parents, this is first and foremost your job. The primary place that this is to occur is in your house. God has commanded you to be teachers. He has commanded you to instruct your children in the words of God. You are to teach them first of all to love God. You are to teach them what it means to love God. You are to teach them to obey God commandments through learning them and applying them. Parents you are also to teach your children what God has done for them. You are to teach them that they are sinners who do not obey the commands of God. You are to teach them that God sent His Son Jesus to die for their sins on the cross. You are to teach them to pray. You are to teach them about their baptism. You are to teach them the Christian faith. These things are your God given responsibility. Our text right here says so. Do this at home, do this as you drive in the car, do them when you sit down to eat, do this when you get up in the morning, do this when you go to bed at night. Teach your children. It is God's command to you.
Parents, as you send your children to St Paul's School you have help in accomplishing this task. You have faithful teachers who help you with this. Now it just so happens that my office shares an adjoining wall with Mrs. Dellinger's room. And when you have a room full of very young children you are going to have occasion to raise your voice to be heard. From time to time I will get to listen in on the preschool and kindergarten classes as Mrs Dellinger instructs them. I can hear her fulfilling this command for you. I am your witness. I have heard the story of the Gospel being told. I have heard the story being sung in songs that are about the Christians faith and about Jesus. I have heard through the wall your children fulfilling this command of Jesus hear, to listen, to obey. They begin with it in the morning. The end with it as they close their day. The word of God is before them throughout the day.
You can never begin to count the blessing in this. You can't put a price tag on it. GOD promises so many blessings through the fulfilling of this command. As we hear, as we listen we are promised that the Word of God is alive and active. Romans tells us that “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word.” The Holy Spirit is active through the Word of God. The Word of God is alive and it is powerful The Word of God is doing and accomplishing things that you could never even imagine. The word of God is crushing us in our sin, convincing us that we have not obeyed and fulfilled these commands. The word of God is pointing us to Jesus who has died for these sins and forgiven us so that we might be saved. The word of God is bringing us to life where we were formerly dead in our sins so that we might believe in him.
As we hear this word of God, as we send our children right here to St Paul's Lutheran Day School, as we come ourselves to worship, as we read the word of God in our homes when we wake up, when we sit down to eat, when we lie down to go to bed God is there. He is forgiving our sins and strengthening our faith so that we are kept safe and brought securely to heaven. Is there anything better.
Every parent that takes seriously their God given responsibility of caring for their children wants only what is best for their children. Parents will sacrifice to ensure the good health, the happiness, the safety of their children. Parents will endure all kinds of discomfort and inconvenience all to make certain that their children are okay. Children are a parents greatest treasure and that is evident in the sacrifices that they make for them. Understanding this love that we have for our children, there is then no greater gift that we could give them than the word of God, than the continued hearing and teaching of God's Word of forgiveness of love and of grace.
Today we thank God that he has provided for us here at St Paul's that very gift through the work and through the service of our Lutheran Schools and our Lutheran school teachers – especially today for the service of Mrs Chris Dellinger. These are gifts given by God to point us back to Him.
Amen.
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