Remember whose you are
Deuteronomy 26:5-11
My parents often sent me out of the house during high school with the quick admonition, "Remember whose you are."
It may not have been perfect grammar, but it got the point across--no matter what I did or where I was, I was first and foremost my parents' child. In a small town like the one where I grew up, that wise counsel was not only a request to remain true to our family's ideals and aspirations, but it was also a warning--you are probably in the presence of someone who knows you, whether you know them or not.
That second point was the one to watch out for.
In a small town, there is a tendency to know everyone, and certainly to know the families of those who were in public professions. So the doctors' kids, the preachers' kids, the mayor's kids, and all the other kids born to families engaged in the public arena got known whether they wanted to be or not. That meant that if one of those children got involved in a little tomfoolery, there was no doubt at all that mom and dad would hear about it.
In a sense, that is what is happening in this text from Deuteronomy. Moses is giving the final instructions to Israel before they cross the Jordan into the Promised Land. In this paragraph, he calls them to remember their history. They came from nothing--a wandering Aramean--and fell into less than nothing--slavery in Egypt--but God was good and grace abounded--the Exodus refashioned them as the covenant people, the people of God. They should never forget their history. They should recite it daily.
Why?
To recall whose they were.
They are God's own people. Everyone they encounter will know them as such. They will know them as such because of what the people do and say. They should aspire to exude the presence of God, the love of God, and the promises of God as they make their way in the world. They should fulfill the ideals of their faith. They are God's; they should act like it.
They are God's own people. God WILL know what they say and do. God WILL hear of their words and deeds. Wherever they go, they go with God, even when they want to be anything other than God's people.
Why would they want to be other than God's people?
Because being faithful makes you different. It means you can't be like everyone else. Years later, the people will come before the prophet Samuel, complaining bitterly that they want to be like other people--other nations have kings, why can't Israel? Samuel reminds them that God is their king. But that won't cut it. They want a real and actual monarch, just like everyone else. Then they will be a real nation.
Some of my friends chafed against all the public notoriety of being known in a small town by everyone. They, too, wanted to be like everyone else, and everyone else was free to be whatever they wanted, doing whatever they wanted. So, off they went, getting wild and free. And, at times, getting into more trouble than they ever imagined, just to be like everyone else.
Reading through the Old Testament, the same proved true for Israel--the more they became like everyone else, the less things went well, and the more things often fell into total chaos and disarray.
Faith does mean a reorientation of life. It really does mean making some changes, letting some things go, while pursuing others that not everyone else might chase after. Faith does mean living sacrificially, including the sacrifice of certain liberties and choices. It means considering the presence of God and recalling the demands of God upon us.
That is not always easy.
But therein lay the wisdom of Moses' counsel. His hope is that as the people repeat their story, they will see the grace that brought them forward more deeply. They will see the love that shaped them, formed them, and led them. They will see the richness and depth of being with God each day.
Most of us reach a point where we realize the grace we experienced beneath our parents. We come to appreciate all they did for us and all they provided, even as they seemed to curtail us and corral us. We see that their love led them. We see their wisdom. This becomes especially poignant as we become parents ourselves. We see what we had, and we seek to give it to the next generation.
So it is with God.
The more we set ourselves beneath the rule of God, the more come to understand the wisdom of God. We see the wonder, miracle, and promise of being in the confines of God's grace.
Then, indeed, we sing with the Psalmist, "I was glad when they said to me, 'Let us go to the House of the Lord!'"
It's good to belong.
My parents often sent me out of the house during high school with the quick admonition, "Remember whose you are."
It may not have been perfect grammar, but it got the point across--no matter what I did or where I was, I was first and foremost my parents' child. In a small town like the one where I grew up, that wise counsel was not only a request to remain true to our family's ideals and aspirations, but it was also a warning--you are probably in the presence of someone who knows you, whether you know them or not.
That second point was the one to watch out for.
In a small town, there is a tendency to know everyone, and certainly to know the families of those who were in public professions. So the doctors' kids, the preachers' kids, the mayor's kids, and all the other kids born to families engaged in the public arena got known whether they wanted to be or not. That meant that if one of those children got involved in a little tomfoolery, there was no doubt at all that mom and dad would hear about it.
In a sense, that is what is happening in this text from Deuteronomy. Moses is giving the final instructions to Israel before they cross the Jordan into the Promised Land. In this paragraph, he calls them to remember their history. They came from nothing--a wandering Aramean--and fell into less than nothing--slavery in Egypt--but God was good and grace abounded--the Exodus refashioned them as the covenant people, the people of God. They should never forget their history. They should recite it daily.
Why?
To recall whose they were.
They are God's own people. Everyone they encounter will know them as such. They will know them as such because of what the people do and say. They should aspire to exude the presence of God, the love of God, and the promises of God as they make their way in the world. They should fulfill the ideals of their faith. They are God's; they should act like it.
They are God's own people. God WILL know what they say and do. God WILL hear of their words and deeds. Wherever they go, they go with God, even when they want to be anything other than God's people.
Why would they want to be other than God's people?
Because being faithful makes you different. It means you can't be like everyone else. Years later, the people will come before the prophet Samuel, complaining bitterly that they want to be like other people--other nations have kings, why can't Israel? Samuel reminds them that God is their king. But that won't cut it. They want a real and actual monarch, just like everyone else. Then they will be a real nation.
Some of my friends chafed against all the public notoriety of being known in a small town by everyone. They, too, wanted to be like everyone else, and everyone else was free to be whatever they wanted, doing whatever they wanted. So, off they went, getting wild and free. And, at times, getting into more trouble than they ever imagined, just to be like everyone else.
Reading through the Old Testament, the same proved true for Israel--the more they became like everyone else, the less things went well, and the more things often fell into total chaos and disarray.
Faith does mean a reorientation of life. It really does mean making some changes, letting some things go, while pursuing others that not everyone else might chase after. Faith does mean living sacrificially, including the sacrifice of certain liberties and choices. It means considering the presence of God and recalling the demands of God upon us.
That is not always easy.
But therein lay the wisdom of Moses' counsel. His hope is that as the people repeat their story, they will see the grace that brought them forward more deeply. They will see the love that shaped them, formed them, and led them. They will see the richness and depth of being with God each day.
Most of us reach a point where we realize the grace we experienced beneath our parents. We come to appreciate all they did for us and all they provided, even as they seemed to curtail us and corral us. We see that their love led them. We see their wisdom. This becomes especially poignant as we become parents ourselves. We see what we had, and we seek to give it to the next generation.
So it is with God.
The more we set ourselves beneath the rule of God, the more come to understand the wisdom of God. We see the wonder, miracle, and promise of being in the confines of God's grace.
Then, indeed, we sing with the Psalmist, "I was glad when they said to me, 'Let us go to the House of the Lord!'"
It's good to belong.
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