First reading: Deuteronomy 30:10-14
Psalm: Ps 69:14,17,30-31,33-34,36-37
Epistle: Colossians 1:15-20
Gospel: Luke 10:25-37

—No, it is something very near to you,—¨
already in your mouths and in your hearts;
you have only to carry it out.”

Blessings and curses:

Moses’s instruction on God’s blessings and curses takes four chapters in the Book of Deuteronomy, Chapters 27 through 30.

In Chapter 28 Moses says:

“When you hearken to the voice of the LORD, your God, all these blessings will come upon you and overwhelm you
But if you do not hearken to the voice of the LORD, your God, and are not careful to observe all his commandments which I enjoin on you today, all these curses shall come upon you and overwhelm you—

…and he goes on to list these blessings and curses related to living in the presence of the Lord. The community, the country, the society that lives in the Lord will be fruitful and strong while the one that forsakes the Lord will be disease-ridden, weak, powerless and enslaved.

So, how do we achieve God’s blessings and avoid His curses? How do we become a fruitful and strong community, a society living in accord with God’s commands? How do we get there today?

What is in our nature:

In today’s first reading, Moses tells us that we have the power to live in God’s presence and according to His commandments because doing that is already part of who we are. That is a strong comfort isn’t it?

Think of how awesome God’s wisdom is, that He would make us with the built in ability of avail ourselves of His blessings and avoid His curses. Hearing this, with ears of faith, we know that we will be rich in the rewards that God gives. Look to our Christian life in this community, how we interact with each other, how we welcome all, our generosity, our commitment, our work, our worship, our adherence to the truths of God. We are not flashy about it, and we don’t blow a horn in front of us as we live the Christian life. We are simply here in the moment.

Confusion and fear:

Unfortunately, we sometimes fall into confusion. Of course we want God’s blessing, and for all our life we want to avoid the curses that come from separating ourselves from Him. Sometimes we may over-think and overdo. We confuse ourselves by wondering about the past, focusing on what we have done or have failed to do. We sometimes set to living there, pondering and re-hashing. At other times we live in fear of the future. That’s a big fad nowadays. The economy, jobs, children, wants and needs and we stand in fear of what is to be. Sometimes we even fear our tomorrow with God. We somehow doubt we are going to get there, to heaven.

Confusion and fear, we get caught up in them. We place them ahead of our present — our place with God today. That is one of the greatest mistakes we can make. Jesus asks us to put aside the sins of the past and our worry for the future. We are to live in His presence today.

Past and future:

Everyone knows the story of the Good Samaritan. Now I want you to imagine the traveler lying there in the ditch. He’s been robbed and beaten. He is alone, and no one is stopping to help. How did past and future impact this traveler?

Was the traveler lying there considering God’s blessings and curses? Was he recounting all the wrong he had done, looking to the past to figure out why this happened? Was he thinking about his journey, where he was supposed to be? How his not reaching Jericho affected some aspect of his life? What would happen to his wife and children? What about his business? Was he going to see God? Is there a God?

Was the traveler considering the confusion of the past or living in the fear of the future?

Choosing:

What was the traveler’s choice, living in the past or the future, and in both to focus on the potential of curses from God. I don’t know if that is where he was at, but our experience tells us that in the most difficult of circumstances we do not have that luxury of choosing to think of past or future. When the trouble is big, it is all about the here-and-now. I think the traveler was thinking about the right now.

Isn’t it interesting that God tells us nothing about the future. Remember that even Jesus knew nothing of the end, but that was reserved to the Father. Similarly, God does not count the past against us. Isaiah tells us:

I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.

Our experience, and what is in us, tells us that in considering blessings and curses we need to focus on the present, on now. Our choice in seeking the blessings of God and avoiding the curses associated with failing to recognize Him, all has to do with today. Our choice has to be for today.

Doing:

Many of you remember my do-be-do-be-do homily. It was about taking action as Christians. It was about doing good, and the parable of the Good Samaritan is certainly about that, but not only.

The Samaritan certainly did by stopping. We remember that he comforted the traveler, poured oil and wine to cleanse his woulds, picked him up and placed him on his animal, took him to an inn, paid his room and board. The Samaritan did a lot, but we also have to think about what the Samaritan did not do in the here-and-now.

Quiet:

The Samaritan lived today. The Samaritan did not stop to consider past or future. He did not ask the cost. He did not ask the traveler’s political preferences, style of worship, theology, or family status. The Samaritan lived in the quiet moment of now, amid the turmoil — and God’s blessings were poured out. The traveler’s now was filled with blessings from God because of the Samaritan’s now.

So, how do we achieve God’s blessings and avoid His curses? How do we become a fruitful and strong community, a society living in accord with God’s commands? How do we get there today?

We do it by living today, in the moment. There are no questions to ask. There is no consideration of what was or what will be. We know that God’s blessings will come to us if we believe in Him, live, and yes, live today in accordance with the greatest commandment:

—You shall love the Lord, your God,
—¨with all your heart,
—¨with all your being,
—¨with all your strength,—¨
and with all your mind,
—¨and your neighbor as yourself.”

In doing that we need not consider the past or the future, the cost or the price. We need not tie ourselves to the concerns of the world. In faith we believe what God has promised for those who live with Him, for He promised:

When you hearken to the voice of the LORD, your God, all these blessings will come upon you and overwhelm you:
“May you be blessed in the city, and blessed in the country!
“Blessed be the fruit of your womb, the produce of your soil and the offspring of your livestock, the issue of your herds and the young of your flocks!
“Blessed be your grain bin and your kneading bowl!
“May you be blessed in your coming in, and blessed in your going out!
“The LORD will beat down before you the enemies that rise up against you; though they come out against you from but one direction, they will flee before you in seven.
The LORD will affirm his blessing upon you, on your barns and on all your undertakings, blessing you in the land that the LORD, your God, gives you.
He will establish you as a people sacred to himself, as he swore to you;
so that, when all the nations of the earth see you bearing the name of the LORD, they will stand in awe of you.
The LORD will increase in more than goodly measure the fruit of your womb, the offspring of your livestock, and the produce of your soil, in the land which he swore to your fathers he would give you.
The LORD will open up for you his rich treasure house of the heavens, to give your land rain in due season, blessing all your undertakings, so that you will lend to many nations and borrow from none.
The LORD will make you the head, not the tail, and you will always mount higher and not decline

That is God’s promise for those who obey His greatest commandment. He blesses us because we are not confused or fearful, because we do not live in the past or the future, but are alive and living in Him today. We are filled with His blessing today. We are sure in that this now is where we will meet God and we are blessed. Amen.