The Delight of the Lord

While the first five books of the Bible (the Torah of the Jewish people) are called the Law, Deuteronomy is the one book that actually lists all of the Law. Tradition says that Moses wrote Deuteronomy, that it was lost and, during the reform of King Josiah, was found in the temple before the Babylonian invasion. Most scholars today say that the book was written at the time of Josiah possibly using an older list of laws that came from the northern kingdom of Israel. Some of those scholars will also say that the part we read today is an addendum added after the return of the people from their captivity in Babylon because it departs from an adherence of the Law in order to please God to an understanding of a God that desires to prosper the people. God’s delight is not so much in the people keeping the Law but in helping God’s people prosper.

I suppose there are two views of God that have been around as long as there have been the people of God. One view is the angry God who desires obedience to God’s will and administers punishment to those who do not obey. The other view is a benevolent God who wishes for God’s people to live full lives. I suppose both views may be valid. Our texts for today lean heavily upon the benevolent side of God. God certainly wants us to prosper and to live our lives in a holy and gracious way as the writer of Deuteronomy says. In fact there we are told we do not have to go far to know the Word of God – it is in our mouth and in our heart.

We read this text from Deuteronomy because our Gospel reading is the parable of the good Samaritan. We all know this parable quite well. We have heard it all of our lives. It is a staple of Vacation Bible School and Sunday School because it is easy to teach and the concept is easy to grasp. In a nutshell, this parable asks what do you do when you see another person who is hurt. While many people try to complicate this story about the priest and Levite wanting to follow the Law about not defiling themselves by dealing with this man, Jesus’ point is the man is a neighbor because he needs help. It is not the proximity to where you live, how similar to you they are, or what nationality they may be that makes you a neighbor. Your neighbor is someone who needs your help.

The Colossians are a good example of this. While Paul wrote this letter to them, he had not visited them or preached to them. The Christian community in Colossae was the product of missionary work by the communities around it that had been started by Paul’s missionary work. They saw others who had not heard the message of the gospel as their neighbors and reached out to them just as the Samaritan reached out to help the stranger along the road.

We return to the delight of the Lord. The Lord does not delight because we live up to some standard or see some law as the unbreakable rule to live by. The delight of the Lord is that we prosper. How we prosper is by experiencing those in need as our neighbor and picking them up and showing them the love of God by our words and deeds. We do so not because we have to but because we want to share what God has given us – salvation through Christ. Be the delight of the Lord and proclaim God’s love to your neighbor and share the love that has found you through Jesus.