Sermon

Commandments, valentines, and the kingdom of God

Scripture Text:

Deuteronomy 30:15-20

Sermon:

I’ve noticed that Valentine’s Day seems more like a holiday of guilt on the one hand and disappointment on the other hand than a holiday that actually celebrates love.  I used to work with a woman whose birthday, engagement, and wedding anniversary were all on Valentine’s Day, and she used to actually complain that her husband got off easy AND that she was losing out on gifts because he got to roll them all into one every year.

Isn’t love a wonderful thing?

Or, I’ve heard some people talk about how much they hate Valentine’s Day because it reminds them that they are unsatisfied with their love life, and they can’t see all the hearts or people in love without getting stuck in their own anger and fear.

Valentine’s Day isn’t a Christian holiday, even though it’s named after “St. Valentine” (who was either one, two, or three different martyrs who were killed on February 14 in the first few centuries of Christianity). But it makes me think of the words of God to the Israelites out in the desert near Mount Sinai, that we are invited every day to choose between life and death, blessings and curses.  We can choose whether Valentine’s Day is a day of stress, or a day of blessing, (or if you prefer, a day like any other day).

When I was a senior in high school, my friend, Jill Fitzpatrick, brought valentines for practically everyone in the school. Jill was a sort of a messy tomboy, but because she had a full heart and a generous spirit, on Valentine’s Day she wore heart stickers on her school uniform and I think she even drew a little heart with a red marker on her cheek. She didn’t have a boyfriend and she didn’t seem to care.  And I remember her saying, “I love Valentine’s Day because it’s a day where you’re supposed spend the whole day being cheesy!”  Meaning, Valentine’s Day is a day to have fun, be corny, and celebrate the blessing of the people in your life!

We can all choose to wear black on Valentine’s Day, or to be disappointed or stressed about it for whatever reason.  Or we can choose to stay up late making little red paper hearts to give away for no reason to the people in our lives we care about, or send dozens of paper hearts to just one person who we know is having a hard time, which is how my friend Monica one year received 30 little paper hearts with little happy messages on them, because her friend Heather knew she needed to get them.

We can choose life, or we can choose death.

The thing is: it can be so much easier to choose guilt, self-punishment, or apathy, instead of choosing to actively, responsibly, and joyfully show our love for God, ourselves, and others.

Maybe we get into ruts of choosing to think about what failures we are,

or choosing to think that if we just DO enough, if we keep accomplishing and checking things off our lists, then we’ll have chosen life,

or we’d rather just sit on the couch and keep our distance from things.

This is what Moses means when he says, “if your heart turns away and you do not hear, but are led astray to bow down to other gods and serve them, I declare to you today that you shall perish.”  This isn’t just about Baal or Zeus or gods who have art and temples built to them, but gods like Couch and Guilt and Checklist.  These gods take us away from fullness of life, from living fully in the way God teaches us to live.

Because God knows that when people live full, responsible but joyful lives, that we can help but make the world a better place. And that’s what God wants.

God wants you to choose life for your individual life, and God wants you to choose life for the whole world.  Because when Moses says you you you to the Israelites in Deuteronomy, he’s saying you-plural: y’all y’all y’all.  The command Moses brings from God to Israel says: we’re all in this together – it’s not just “are you personally, living in the commandments and ways of God?” but “are you and your community, your church, workplace, school, and nation, living in God’s ways?”  Are you involved in more than just your own life?  Are you giving valentines away?

God’s ways, God’s laws, and God’s commandments are not about control, purity, punishment, or making your life as difficult and not-fun as possible.  God gives us commandments because God’s goal is for us to live a better life, a purposeful and productive life, for ourselves and for others.  Or, as the Bible often tells us, God wants us to create the kingdom of God on earth: a place of justice, mercy, truth, love, and healing.  When I read about heaven and hell in the Bible, I hear a teaching about how human actions create what humans experience here on earth.  We can choose to create a place where people can live good, productive lives and be healthy, strong, and even have some fun!  Or, we can choose to create communities where people are afraid, out-of-work, where they aren’t sure what they’ll do if they get sick or their kids get in trouble, or if they can trust the people who have authority, or if they can trust their neighbors.  We can choose life and we can choose death.

All this to say, when Jesus goes down the list of commandments, and tells us that being angry with your sister or insulting your brother is as serious an offense as murder,

that thinking some thoughts about a hottie you see at the grocery store is as serious as being unfaithful to your spouse,

that cutting off your hand is something to consider if it keeps stealing or hitting your kids or playing too much poker on the internet or filling your mouth with doughnuts instead of carrots and celery,

that divorce is not simple and painless, especially in a society like Jesus’ where women could be passed around with only slightly less ease than cattle and sheep,

that what Jesus is trying to say here is that following the law isn’t just about following the rules.   The law is about living a fuller, deeper life.  The law guides us to choosing life instead of death; it’s not about just doing “what God said.”

If I walk around being angry at people and complaining about them, I’m not choosing life – even if I could point to the Ten Commandments and say, “But I’ve never murdered anybody!”  I’m not choosing life if I’ve never been unfaithful to my husband but I’m being emotionally unfaithful because I’m spending all my time on the internet or our with my friends.  I’m not choosing life if I’m taking good care of my body – my right hand and my right eye and whatever – but not taking good care of my friends or my neighbors, or the kids at the high school, or the homeless people in Joliet, or children who’ve been orphaned by AIDS in Africa.

Choosing life and living by the commandments is not just about “me” and not just about following certain rules or expectations.  It’s about living into the whole kingdom of God.

The people of Egypt have been showing us how to “choose life” on a gigantic scale.  Thousands of protesters have been risking their lives for the good of their whole country.  The military vowed not to hurt the protesters, despite the threat of the protests to cause instability to their country’s economy and existence. There has been very little violence, accusations of treachery, or blaming of minority groups.  Christians and Muslims have been protecting each other at prayer and worship, and have been dancing, singing, cheering, and shooting off fireworks together in Tahrir Square. It’s a glimpse of the kingdom of God, and while it won’t last forever (as we veterans of democracy can attest!) it’s the result of people choosing to step outside their own safety and to choose life instead of death, to choose to take a risk together instead of continuing to suffer in silence, to choose to look for the possibility of blessing instead of accepting that curses are their unavoidable fate.

Choosing life and blessings, God and Jesus teach us, is not just about caring for ourselves but about caring for the whole kingdom of God.  We will find life fuller and richer if we involve ourselves in the kingdom beyond our own bodies, families, couches, checklists, and guilt.  If we don’t worry about what we’ll get or not get on Valentine’s Day, but have some fun thinking of what we can give and how we can share some of God’s great love for us with people around us.

Amen.

Uploaded on February 13, 2011 in by RevHeidi

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