Order Up! - Deuteronomy 30:15-20; Matthew 5:37

Sometimes, when I think about Moses offering the Israelites life or death, blessings or curses, I imagine him in a black tie and apron with a pen and pad waiting to take my order at a fancy restaurant. “Our specials this evening are life in which you’ll have length of days so that you may live in the land that the Lord swore to give to your ancestors, to Abraham, Isaac, and to Jacob; or death, in which you shall perish; you shall not live long in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. What can I get you? Life? Great. We’ll have that right out for you!”

But I know that the choices Moses presents to the Israelites can’t possibly be that simple and straightforward. If they were, we’d have a restaurant full of disgruntled customers, because in life, we rarely get what we ordered.

Many Christian preachers and theologians in American history have used this passage from Deuteronomy to support what has been termed the “Prosperity Gospel.” It’s a way of interpreting scripture to suggest that if someone does good, good things will come to them; or more often, that if good things happen to someone, it must be because they “chose life and blessings” and thereby earned their good fortune. 

Of course, the logic goes both ways. According to the Prosperity Gospel, if something bad happens to someone, something like a natural disaster or a medical emergency or even poverty, they must have “chosen death and curses,” and therefore deserve their fate. 

But our experience as children of God tells us otherwise. We know that bad things happen to us no matter how fervently we choose life, no matter how well we have obeyed God’s commandments. We know that we will inevitably witness people who have broken God’s commandments in ways that oppress us, achieve success and happiness despite their behavior. And we know that no one deserves illness, disaster, or poverty.

When we are bombarded with the world’s lopsided justice, when we can’t seem to catch a break but the people who have harmed us can, our prayers tend to shift away from praise and thanksgiving, and turn into something like, “um, excuse me? Can I speak to the manager, please? I think there’s been some misunderstanding. I thought I ordered life and blessings?!”

In times like these, I find it helpful to look at other parts of Holy Scripture to help interpret a particular frustrating passage. Some of you may remember that Kate taught us about this a few weeks back. When we read one biblical text through the lens of another, it’s called intertextuality. Conveniently, we have a fabulous text to read next to Deuteronomy right here in today’s lectionary.

In our Gospel passage from Matthew today, Jesus describes several tough situations we may find ourselves in; everything from an argument with a friend to the breaking up of a marriage to keeping our promises. In each case, Jesus explains that the mere letter of the law is insufficient. He instructs those listening to go out of their way to show compassion and to prioritize being trustworthy people of integrity. 

Take adultery. Not only should we not engage in it, we shouldn’t spend time dwelling on it. It’s not healthy for us, and our partners should be able to trust our commitment. It’s the same for murder. It’s not enough to avoid the violence, we should work on releasing our anger. It’s not healthy for us and the people in our lives should be able to live without fear of our rage. In short, Jesus is calling us into relationships that not only function according to the law, they thrive, because they’re based not on rules but on compassion and trust. 

So what does this Gospel passage have to say about how we place our order in the restaurant of life? Well, in Jesus’ restaurant, we don’t order an entree to enjoy alone. The feast is a communal project. Our choices affect our neighbors and their choices affect us, so we’d better order something that’s good for everyone at the table.  

Taking this wisdom back to Deuteronomy, perhaps Moses, too, is not offering the menu of options to individuals, but to the whole community. Do you as a community of faith choose the path of life and prosperity for all, or the path of death and adversity for all? This is good news because it means that we don’t have to carry the weight of choosing blessings and curses alone. Sometimes we will fall short of life and blessings, and the community of the faithful will hold us up. At other times, we will help carry the load. 

But it also means that we have a responsibility to look out for one another and hold each other accountable, because when one of us heads down the path of death and curses, the whole community is in danger of tumbling down with them. And let’s be honest, it’s terrible being pressured into ordering something you regret. 

Jesus gives concrete examples of choosing the path of life and blessings. Most of them are either obvious — the consequences of murder are fairly intuitive — or they’re outdated — divorce is a different animal these days because women have more legal rights. But that’s not to say that we don’t face similar tough choices. If we were to come across Jesus preaching on a mountainside about abortion, or affirmative action, or the church’s position on politics, I’m sure we’d stop and listen closely, because it can be so hard to know what is right in issues like these. 

But when we read these passages from Deuteronomy and Matthew together, we get some instructions about how to proceed when we find ourselves at a crossroads and the paths of blessings and curses seems obscured. First, we keep in mind that our choices impact those around us, because the path that leads to life and prosperity is one we have to take together. We cannot get there alone. Secondly, we are called to show compassion and trustworthiness, and to maintain relationships of integrity.

This is great news. We can trust that salvation, our own salvation and the salvation of the world, is something we participate in, but we don’t have to carry that burden alone. It’s not up to us to save the world, but it is up to us to do right by the person standing in front of us, and this will help keep us all on the path towards life and prosperity. 

So it may or may not be helpful to you to imagine Moses in fancy restaurant attire every time you are faced with a tough choice. But I hope that it’s helpful to remember that salvation, that feast we’re all working towards, is communal. We cannot get there if we keep leaving folks behind. So, what are we, the Christ Church community going to order? Life and prosperity for all? It’s a tall order. But we are not alone, and I’m glad to be on this path towards life with all of you. Amen.