Think! The heavens, even the highest heavens,
belong to the LORD, your God,
as well as the earth and everything on it.
Yet in his love for your fathers the LORD was so attached to them
as to choose you, their descendants,
in preference to all other peoples, as indeed he has now done.
Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and be no longer stiff-necked.
Despite its precise descriptions of ancient Jewish religious ceremonies, which most people skip over, Deuteronomy is a comfortable home and an open book to Christian readers. In this text we recognize "God the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth" who has brought his Chosen People out of Egypt and blessed them with possession of the Holy Land. His demands are stern but not unreasonable, provided you remember that your present good fortune was neither earned nor deserved nor the luck of the draw. It was freely given to your ancestors and to you. These blessings come with an expectation of gratitude, and a humility which cannot gloat over the misfortunes of others.
God's expectations of obedience and righteousness are reasonable as the text challenges us to "Think!" For the Lord of Freedom is a jealous God. Those who squander the gift of freedom can expect more than a fall from grace; they will be punished. They, their children, and their children's children. That should be obvious; if your father wasted your grandfather's inheritance there will be nothing for you or your children.
But there is also an assurance that your heritage can be reclaimed despite your parents' sins and your own, because you are a child of Abraham, God's friend "to the thousandth generation."
Nor is it difficult to live within God's laws. At least it is no more difficult than living as the godless live with their suspicions, resentments and persistent violence. The Lord's yoke of obedience is easy; its burden is light.
Deuteronomy spelled out God's expectations of us long before the birth of Jesus, "So you too must befriend the alien, for you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt." To deny the alien their right of welcome is to savagely assail the core of one's own existence. If we are here it is because God has favored us. Not to do so amounts to spiritual suicide.
If we are afraid of welcoming the alien because they are alien, we have only to remember we too were once strangers in a strange land.
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.