Circumcise Your Hearts!
“Circumcise Your Hearts”
Today’s Reflections: We begin with the psalmist who reflects on the planting of the Israelites, the true Vine of God, into the Promised Land. God provided the conditions for them to flourish there, and their growth would result in shade for all those around them. It was always God’s desire for them to be a blessing to the nations who didn’t know God.
But first God had to do some business with them, as Moses their leader interceded for them while on the Holy Mountain, as he received the stone tablets containing the Ten Commandments. While Moses was receiving this holy gift that would set the people apart from the nations by their character and behavior and worship of God alone, the people were already turning to other gods in the form of a golden calf. Apparently Aaron, second in command, let it all go on under his leadership while his brother was gone.
As Moses came down he threw down the tablets in anger, and interestingly instead of sulking he went off to pray for another 40 days and 40 nights (that’s character!). Chapter 10 starts as God in his mercy gives Moses another set of tablets, and this time an ark, reminiscent of the ark that saved Noah and his family. The ark, made out acacia wood, would forever be a reminder of the covenant God made with Moses, and in his mercy not destroying them as they deserved by their actions. And then Moses tells the people to, “circumcise their hearts”, a phrase previously used only for the physical mark that Jewish boys had to set them apart as the Lord’s. So we see a combination of the courageous leadership of Moses, and the unfailing, merciful love of God to hear his prayers.
Finally, in our gospel lesson today, Luke’s Sermon on the Plain (similar to Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount) brings forward the idea of forgiveness and kindness to enemies. As the disciples now have become the vehicle by which God’s grace would be shared with the world, Jesus defines discipleship in these ways. A disciple looks like someone who loves their enemies, and gives without expecting commendation. A disciple doesn’t judge, for how can one who understands how much they have been forgiven, judge others. A disciple gives generously and radically, understanding the true nature of what they have been given in Christ. As they give without stipulation, God continues to bless them so they can be a blessing to many.
Does this describe your life? I know I fall short on many accounts. And yet, just as God has been merciful to the Israelites and later his disciples, God has mercy on us. Receive God’s mercy for wherever you are lacking in the standards God has set. Jesus came to set you free from sin, death and the power of the devil. Live in freedom serving God with a new heart and a new mind in the power of the Holy Spirit! Start today!
Psalm 80:8-11
8 You transplanted a vine from Egypt;
you drove out the nations and planted it.
9 You cleared the ground for it,
and it took root and filled the land.
10 The mountains were covered with its shade,
the mighty cedars with its branches.
11 Its branches reached as far as the Sea,
its shoots as far as the River.
Deuteronomy 9:7-10:22
10 At that time the Lord said to me, “Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones and come up to me on the mountain. Also make a wooden ark. 2 I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. Then you are to put them in the ark.”3 So I made the ark out of acacia wood and chiseled out two stone tablets like the first ones, and I went up on the mountain with the two tablets in my hands. 4 The Lord wrote on these tablets what he had written before, the Ten Commandments he had proclaimed to you on the mountain, out of the fire, on the day of the assembly. And the Lord gave them to me. 5 Then I came back down the mountain and put the tablets in the ark I had made, as the Lord commanded me, and they are there now.6 (The Israelites traveled from the wells of Bene Jaakan to Moserah. There Aaron died and was buried, and Eleazar his son succeeded him as priest. 7 From there they traveled to Gudgodah and on to Jotbathah, a land with streams of water. 8 At that time the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to stand before the Lord to minister and to pronounce blessings in his name, as they still do today. 9 That is why the Levites have no share or inheritance among their fellow Israelites; the Lord is their inheritance, as the Lord your God told them.)10 Now I had stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights, as I did the first time, and the Lord listened to me at this time also. It was not his will to destroy you. 11 “Go,” the Lord said to me, “and lead the people on their way, so that they may enter and possess the land I swore to their ancestors to give them.”
Fear the Lord
12 And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, 13 and to observe the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good? 14 To the Lord your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it. 15 Yet the Lord set his affection on your ancestors and loved them, and he chose you, their descendants, above all the nations—as it is today. 16 Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and do not be stiff-necked any longer. 17 For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. 18 He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing. 19 And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt. 20 Fear the Lord your God and serve him. Hold fast to him and take your oaths in his name. 21 He is the one you praise; he is your God, who performed for you those great and awesome wonders you saw with your own eyes. 22 Your ancestors who went down into Egypt were seventy in all, and now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky.
Luke 6:27-38
Love for Enemies
27 “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29 If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. 30 Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. 35 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
Judging Others
37 “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
Keep far from a false charge. Exodus 23:7
Rid yourselves, therefore, of all malice, and all guile, insincerity, envy, and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation. 1 Peter 2:1-2
Dear Father, we need to take inventory of spiritual things. We must be aware of things we say and do so we do not become too involved in life’s complications. Be with us. Amen.
Today’s Reflections: We begin with the psalmist who reflects on the planting of the Israelites, the true Vine of God, into the Promised Land. God provided the conditions for them to flourish there, and their growth would result in shade for all those around them. It was always God’s desire for them to be a blessing to the nations who didn’t know God.
But first God had to do some business with them, as Moses their leader interceded for them while on the Holy Mountain, as he received the stone tablets containing the Ten Commandments. While Moses was receiving this holy gift that would set the people apart from the nations by their character and behavior and worship of God alone, the people were already turning to other gods in the form of a golden calf. Apparently Aaron, second in command, let it all go on under his leadership while his brother was gone.
As Moses came down he threw down the tablets in anger, and interestingly instead of sulking he went off to pray for another 40 days and 40 nights (that’s character!). Chapter 10 starts as God in his mercy gives Moses another set of tablets, and this time an ark, reminiscent of the ark that saved Noah and his family. The ark, made out acacia wood, would forever be a reminder of the covenant God made with Moses, and in his mercy not destroying them as they deserved by their actions. And then Moses tells the people to, “circumcise their hearts”, a phrase previously used only for the physical mark that Jewish boys had to set them apart as the Lord’s. So we see a combination of the courageous leadership of Moses, and the unfailing, merciful love of God to hear his prayers.
Finally, in our gospel lesson today, Luke’s Sermon on the Plain (similar to Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount) brings forward the idea of forgiveness and kindness to enemies. As the disciples now have become the vehicle by which God’s grace would be shared with the world, Jesus defines discipleship in these ways. A disciple looks like someone who loves their enemies, and gives without expecting commendation. A disciple doesn’t judge, for how can one who understands how much they have been forgiven, judge others. A disciple gives generously and radically, understanding the true nature of what they have been given in Christ. As they give without stipulation, God continues to bless them so they can be a blessing to many.
Does this describe your life? I know I fall short on many accounts. And yet, just as God has been merciful to the Israelites and later his disciples, God has mercy on us. Receive God’s mercy for wherever you are lacking in the standards God has set. Jesus came to set you free from sin, death and the power of the devil. Live in freedom serving God with a new heart and a new mind in the power of the Holy Spirit! Start today!
Psalm 80:8-11
8 You transplanted a vine from Egypt;
you drove out the nations and planted it.
9 You cleared the ground for it,
and it took root and filled the land.
10 The mountains were covered with its shade,
the mighty cedars with its branches.
11 Its branches reached as far as the Sea,
its shoots as far as the River.
Deuteronomy 9:7-10:22
10 At that time the Lord said to me, “Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones and come up to me on the mountain. Also make a wooden ark. 2 I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. Then you are to put them in the ark.”3 So I made the ark out of acacia wood and chiseled out two stone tablets like the first ones, and I went up on the mountain with the two tablets in my hands. 4 The Lord wrote on these tablets what he had written before, the Ten Commandments he had proclaimed to you on the mountain, out of the fire, on the day of the assembly. And the Lord gave them to me. 5 Then I came back down the mountain and put the tablets in the ark I had made, as the Lord commanded me, and they are there now.6 (The Israelites traveled from the wells of Bene Jaakan to Moserah. There Aaron died and was buried, and Eleazar his son succeeded him as priest. 7 From there they traveled to Gudgodah and on to Jotbathah, a land with streams of water. 8 At that time the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to stand before the Lord to minister and to pronounce blessings in his name, as they still do today. 9 That is why the Levites have no share or inheritance among their fellow Israelites; the Lord is their inheritance, as the Lord your God told them.)10 Now I had stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights, as I did the first time, and the Lord listened to me at this time also. It was not his will to destroy you. 11 “Go,” the Lord said to me, “and lead the people on their way, so that they may enter and possess the land I swore to their ancestors to give them.”
Fear the Lord
12 And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, 13 and to observe the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good? 14 To the Lord your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it. 15 Yet the Lord set his affection on your ancestors and loved them, and he chose you, their descendants, above all the nations—as it is today. 16 Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and do not be stiff-necked any longer. 17 For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. 18 He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing. 19 And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt. 20 Fear the Lord your God and serve him. Hold fast to him and take your oaths in his name. 21 He is the one you praise; he is your God, who performed for you those great and awesome wonders you saw with your own eyes. 22 Your ancestors who went down into Egypt were seventy in all, and now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky.
Luke 6:27-38
Love for Enemies
27 “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29 If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. 30 Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. 35 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
Judging Others
37 “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
Keep far from a false charge. Exodus 23:7
Rid yourselves, therefore, of all malice, and all guile, insincerity, envy, and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation. 1 Peter 2:1-2
Dear Father, we need to take inventory of spiritual things. We must be aware of things we say and do so we do not become too involved in life’s complications. Be with us. Amen.
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