000 Allen FMT (i-xxii) - The Presbyterian Leader

Ninth Sunday after the Epiphany/Year A 27
Ninth Sunday after the Epiphany/Year A
Deuteronomy 11:18–21, 26–28
The authors of Deuteronomy wrote after the exile using stories from the
era of the wilderness wanderings to explain why the exile happened and
to persuade their later generation to follow God’s instruction (see Proper
17/Year B). The reading for today reinforces these motifs.
The literary context of today’s lection begins at Deuteronony 10:12–13,
where the authors ask a question that sounds as if it came from a liturgy,
“What does the LORD your God require of you?” The answer: to revere
God, to walk in God’s ways, to love and serve God with all the community’s
heart and soul. Deuteronomy 10:14–11:17 recalls the congregation’s
experience of God’s salvific work, and the importance of serving God and
not turning from God (11:16). The consequences of turning away are
summarized in 10:17.
Echoing Deuteronomy 6:4–9, the passage for today helps the congregation
develop a practical plan for nurturing obedience and minimizing
the likelihood of serving other gods. The community is to put “these
words of [Moses]” in their heart and soul, that is, to internalize the teaching
of Deuteronomy and to become a community that persistently teaches
the ways of God (see Proper 26/Year B).
The Deuteronomic Moses sets before the community a fundamental
choice. On the one hand, the community can obey God and be blessed.
On the other hand, the community can disobey and be cursed (Deut.
11:26–28; 26:16–27; cf. Josh. 24). The blessings and curses concern individual
existence, communal life, and even the relationship of humankind
and nature. Every aspect of life is affected.
Preachers sometimes object that Deuteronomy takes a wooden and oversimple
approach to the relationship of obedience and disobedience, blessing
and curse. Preachers rightly point out that obedience, Deuteronomy-style,
does not always result in material blessing, and disobedience does not
always end in curse. The righteous sometimes suffer innocently while the
wicked not only go unpunished but prosper. At one level we agree. At
another level, people get through life better when they seek to walk in
God’s way, for even in the midst of difficult material circumstances, the
awareness of divine presence can sustain and empower. Indeed, God hopes
for people to experience as much blessing as any set of circumstances allow,
even as God seeks to help each set of circumstances make possible a greater
degree of blessing. Inversely, when people do not attempt to walk in God’s