Preamble

Deuteronomy 4:1-10         1/22/2018

Moses reminded the people to observe all the commands of the Lord – as Moses had delivered them. He also admonished them to neither add or subtract to the laws. Otherwise, Moses warned, God would not remain in the presence of the Israelites.

Addition and Subtraction

More laws leads to increased division.

Moses anticipated that increasing the number of laws, or changing the laws would result in the failure of the Authentic Community. Centuries later he was proved right when the nation of Israel split into two different nations.

The Problem of Being a Law Unto Myself

It’s written; “Every man’s way is right in his own eyes”

It’s not merely that the average person is trying to game the system – though there is always some of that. But for most people, the problem runs deeper.

Most people really believe that their way is morally right or, at least, justifiable.

There is a certain bias in our mental development that makes us blind to errors that other people obviously notice. As a result, we interpret even the most universal truths in a localized and parochial way.

My errors, to the extent that I recognize them, don’t seem as bad; desperate; pathetic; devious or anti-social as the errors of other people.

Every One a Caesar and a Pope

Left to our own devices, we would make rules that regulate everyone but ourselves. Imagine how that might work out.

A solipsist nightmare.

When asked to change the world, William Wilberforce once said, “I would sooner change myself”.

The law wasn’t designed so that I could accusatorily hammer people over the head with it. It will never be enough that I should try to change the world by forcing them to think as I do.

The law is for me. It was always for me. That I would apply it’s precepts to my behavior. It’s the possibility of my freedom.

“Rather, one is a Jew inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart, in the spirit, not the letter; his praise is not from human beings but from God” Rom 2:29