The Word Is Not Far Away – Deuteronomy 30:9-14

A text – Deuteronomy 30:9-14

⁹ and the Lord your God will make you abundantly prosperous in all your undertakings, in the fruit of your body, in the fruit of your livestock, and in the fruit of your soil. For the Lord will again take delight in prospering you, just as he delighted in prospering your ancestors, ¹⁰ when you obey the Lord your God by observing his commandments and decrees that are written in this book of the law, because you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

¹¹ “Surely, this commandment that I am commanding you today is not too hard for you, nor is it too far away. ¹² It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will go up to heaven for us and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?’ ¹³ Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will cross to the other side of the sea for us and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?’ ¹⁴ No, the word is very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart for you to observe.

A reflection:

This portion of Deuteronomy is from Moses’s farewell address to the children of Israel just before he dies and they enter the promised land. It is a sort of thanksgiving for two things: God’s presence with them for many years, and God’s promise to always stay with them in the future. Moses and the other leaders have been teaching the people the Ten Commandments ever since those commandments were given after the people’s escape from slavery in Egypt. They know what the Lord wants and how the Lord has told them to live.

Not only that, says Moses, but you don’t have to go far away to know what is right and to do what is right. It isn’t a law posted somewhere in a different land. It is written in your mouth and in your heart. You can easily observe it (act upon it).

When we think of the story of the Samaritan who was neighbor to the injured Jewish man, and we think of all the learned people who walked by him without helping, even though they had the laws of hospitality and care for the stranger “written in their mouths and in their hearts,” we are forced to confront something Jesus knows we will wonder about: Why is the least likely person in this story doing the right thing? And why aren’t we?

The obligation of the people of Israel to do the will of God, to love God above everything, and to love their neighbor as themselves…that extends to us too if we follow Jesus. We are obliged to pray prayers of gratitude, lament, or even fighting words to God every day, and to love our neighbors as ourselves. And as Moses says, “It is not too hard for you, nor is it far away…It is in your mouth and in your heart.” We know what we must do. We already know.

A prayer:

Lord God, Thank you for loving us. Thank you for giving us your law and obliging us to live our lives that way. Help us to really feel what we already know, so that we do it every day. Amen.