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When you think back to learning rules in your life, how did that happen? Or if you have children in your life, how did you teach them rules?
I don’t remember the details of the story, but I’ve heard that it goes something like this. My brothers were born when I wasn’t yet three years old. I wanted to help my mom when they came home. I had watched her heat their bottles on the stove, so one day I took one of my baby doll’s bottles and tried to put it on the stove as well. Thankfully, I didn’t burn myself, but my parents discovered that I needed to learn a new lesson - not to touch the hot stove - even when I wanted to help.
Moses knows that the Promise Land is on the horizon. He also knows that he will not be entering with the people of God. So he gathers them together to teach them again the commandments, the laws, that are to guide them in this new place.
For us all of these generations later, his first set of teachings sound a whole lot like the ten commandments - which they should, because they are. But we need to remember why Moses needs to share the commandments again. This is not the same generation that received the commandments the first time.
The folks that he is speaking to now represent the second generation of Israelites. They are no longer those who originally left Egypt that night so long ago. No, this is the next generation of Israelites - those born in the wilderness. They may have heard of the Ten Commandments, but now they are theirs to live into. Their’s to embody. So Moses repeats them, one by one.
The word “Torah” means instructions. And the instructions that Moses is giving to the people is how to remain free. God in his graciousness has recused them from the hand of the Egyptians. Has brought them into this land that he has promised to them.
The law, these Ten Commandments, were also given to the Children of God, out of graciousness. It was a way to live differently in order to be reminded of God and God’s liberating work in their lives and to be a reminder that their lives should look differently because of God.
That isn’t often how we think of rules, is it? As a reminder of God’s liberating work in our lives and that which leads us to live differently because of what God has done for us. And maybe that’s because a lot of our rules have very little to do with God. But these Ten Commandments, reiterated on the threshold of the Promise Land serve that purpose. To point people to God!
One of the ways that the people of God’s lives looked differently from those around them was the Sabbath. A literal stopping of work. For everyone associated with the Israelites. Even down to the animals. Why? Because they were used to working all the time under the Egyptians. Worked to the bone. So God was giving them rest as a reminder of what God had provided and as an act of trust - that on this day of rest, this day of stopping, God will take care of the people. Entirely.
But while this was Moses repeating the commandments for a second time, that didn’t mean that it was once and done. No. God wanted the people to pass them on. From generation to generation.
To emphasize this - Moses gives what is called the shema - which means hear. “Hear, O Israel”. God is god alone. Love God with all you have and all you are. Keep these words before you by wiring them in your hearts, writing them on your doors, and share them with your children.
A few months ago, my dad recommended a book to me entitled Seven Things John Wesley Expected Us to Do for Kids. This short book made clear the ways that we can support the children in our lives in their faith journeys. I would call this the Wesleyan way of writing the Word upon our heats and passing it down from generation to generation. I want to lift up just a few for us this morning.
The first is to teach children intentionally. Our Jewish brothers and sisters understood this. Kids were with them during the day. They had key parts in holy gatherings. They watched the adults in their lives live out they faith. They asked questions and their questions were answered in intentional ways.
Church, how are we teaching the children in our lives today? Are we simply expecting others to do the teaching? Or are we being intentional about how we are reaching out to the children God has placed in our lives to teach them why faith truly matters?
The second is to know them personally. If we don’t know the children in our lives, we won’t know how to connect with them. Communicate with them. One of the things that I love about the shema is that it calls each person to a personal relationship with God. God knows us personally and reaches out to us in a way that connects to our hearts. Should we not do the same with the children in our lives?
One of the vows we take in ordination is to visit from house to house. We aren’t called to do this simply because it is a nice thing to do or because people would appreciate our company - though both may be true. We are called to visit from house to house in order to get to know people, so we can connect with them. That is also true of our children, church.
The last of the practices I want to lift up this day is to pray for our children intensely. Charles Wesley penned the following as an introduction to a children’s hymnal - “A lover of your soul has here drawn up a few prayers, in order to assist you in that great duty. Be sure that you do not omit, at least morning and evening, to represent yourself upon your knees before God.”
When we pray for our children intensely we show them how to talk with God who loves them dearly. We show that they matter to us. And that we care for them.
What I appreciate about the intergenerational nature of what Moses is calling the people to is that it was’t relegated just to private families or parents. Instead, the faith community cared for passing on the faith and being intentional about their relationship to God. The words of the shema are repeated every week. They were not neglected. They were passed on and written upon the heart.
How about us, Church? What is written on our hearts and how are we passing it on? Amen.
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