Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-9

1 Now, Israel, hear the decrees and laws I am about to teach you. Follow them so that you may live and may go in and take possession of the land the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. 2 Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the Lord your God that I give you...
6 Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.” 7 What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the Lord our God is near us whenever we pray to him? 8 And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today?
9 Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.

Great

            Have you ever done something just so that you could say that you had?
            Back when I was in the seminary, I went to see Bob Dylan in concert. I’m not a huge Dylan fan; I like his songs well enough. And I definitely wouldn’t say it was the best show I’ve ever been to; he’s been old for while and his voice wasn’t great to begin with. But now I can say that I’ve seen, live in concert, one of the most famous and influential American musicians of all time. And so I feel special. Not everyone can say that.
            The Pharisees had a similar approach to God’s laws about cleanliness, as we see in the Gospel for today. The cleanliness laws were not about being practical. They didn’t necessarily make the Pharisee’s lives cleaner or healthier. They were about ceremonial cleanliness. Ritual cleaning. So the Pharisees obeyed those laws so that they could say that they had. They could say that they were following the traditions of the elders. And they could look down on those who couldn’t say that.
            And so they missed the whole point. In the Gospel for today, Jesus explains how they missed the point of the cleanliness laws. It’s not what goes in but what comes out that makes you spiritually unclean. The message of those laws was never, “Wash yourselves and you’ll be clean.” The message was always, “You’re already totally unclean. You need to be washed.” But the Pharisees missed the point of the cleanliness laws as they missed the point of a all of God’s laws. They made the law be about their doing so that they could say that they had done it. They made the law be about their own pride.

            But isn’t it about pride? Look at our text for today. Look at the Old Testament lesson. Look at what Moses says to the Israelites back at the very beginning of Israel’s relationship to God’s formal laws about cleanliness and about the theocracy and about morality.
            Moses says, “[Obey these laws] for this will show your wisdom and understanding.” He says, “[Obey these laws and show] the way the LORD our God is near us.” He says, “[Obey these laws because] what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws?”
            “Obey these laws because they are our pride. Obey these laws and be great!” That’s what the Pharisees heard. And so that is why they obeyed. For pride. To be able to say that they had. To be able to consider themselves great.
            And even as we judge the Pharisees, we want the same thing. They wanted people to call them wise. So do we. They wanted people to admire their closeness to God. So do we. They wanted people to think that they were righteous. So do we.
            And so we do. We do what the law says, in order to be able to say that we have. “I may not want to be in worship or Bible class every Sunday, but I do want to people to see me as a regular in church.” “I may not want to give of my time and talents and money to the work of God’s church, but I want people to see that I am generous.” “I may not want to act like a Christian, but I do want to look like one. Like a great one.” We all think like that. We all act like that. We all are tempted to use the law to make ourselves look great.
            Now that requires thinking that what makes us great is what we do. Which means missing the point of the law completely. Because what does the law teach us about what we do? What did Jesus say in the Gospel? The law says, “Do not put into your body any food that is unclean.” And Jesus explains the lesson that was always meant to teach, “It is what comes out of a person that defiles them” (Mark 7:15b). By telling Old Testament Israel to distinguish between clean and unclean going in, God was giving them an impossible task. “Wash your hands and they will always get dirty again. You’ll never be done. You’ll never be clean. Do what you will on the outside, you’re already defiled on the inside. The problem isn’t on your hands. It’s in your heart. The problem is your sin.”
            The law isn’t about telling us what to do to be great. The law is about showing how because of what we’ve done we will never be. The law is about smashing our pride. The law is about putting our sin on display for the filth and defilement that it is. We don’t point to the law so that we can say that we’ve done it. The law points to us so that we see how we’ve sinned.

            But then, how are we supposed to understand everything Moses says to us today? He encourages Israel to obey the law. He encourages us, too. What’s the point in pointing to our obedience if the point of the law is to show how we haven’t obeyed?
            Look at what Moses says. Moses says, “[Obey these laws] for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’” Obedience shows wisdom because the decrees are wise. Because God is wise.
            Moses says, “[Obey these laws because] what other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the Lord our God is near us whenever we pray to him?” Obedience shows that God is near us because it puts that nearness to use, like in prayer. Because God has already come near.
            He says, “[Obey these laws because] what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today?” Obedience shows what righteousness is because the decrees and laws are righteous. Because God is righteous. What Moses is saying is this: It’s great to obey because great is the God whom we obey!
            Wouldn’t that be great? To be able to obey out of pride in our God rather than in ourselves. Because that’s something worth being proud of. But we naturally want to be proud of ourselves and so we have no pride at all. We want to be great ourselves and so we have no greatness at all. The law reveals how disobedient we are, but wouldn’t it be great to have the obedience that the law demands and to be great, and show everyone how great God is? Wouldn’t it be great if we could do what Moses encourages?

            Look at Jesus. If anyone could obey just to say that he had, it was Jesus. He is God. He gave the law. And then he became man to live under it. He was born without sin, born of Mary and the Holy Spirit. He lived a sinless life. A life of perfect obedience. The law says, “Do!”; he did. The law says, “Don’t!”; he didn’t. The law says, “Be holy! Be perfect! Be clean!” Jesus was and is and always will be. Held up to the law, we aren’t great. We’re not even good. But Jesus is. He could point to every letter of the law and say that he had done it. And the law points to him as the only one ever to have kept it.
            So, Jesus doesn’t just explain the law. He fulfills it. But then gives that fulfillment to us. Jesus was clean, outside and in. And he gives that cleanliness to us. Jesus obeyed, perfectly and always. And he gives that obedience to us. God is great! Great is his holiness to demand perfect obedience from us. God is great! Great is his mercy to give perfect obedience to us. Jesus is our obedience. His obedience is ours. We’re forgiven. We’re good. We’re great. Because of Jesus.
            And now Jesus inspires us to be great. Because by faith we look to Jesus. By faith we have his forgiveness. By faith we have the credit for his obedience. And by faith we have the desire to live out that obedience ourselves. We want to follow God’s law the way Jesus did. Not in order to be proud of ourselves and what we’ve done, but because we are proud of our God and his salvation.
            By faith in Jesus we have the only right reason to obey the law. It’s not just to say that we have. We admit that we haven’t. But we rejoice that Jesus has. And so we want to live out our thankfulness for what we have received. The only right reason to obey the law is out of thankfulness to God for the gospel.
            And that thankfulness… It will show. Thankful obedience is wise because the decrees are wise. It’s wise not to commit murder, not to have sex outside of marriage, to recognize the dangers of sin. It’s wise to obey God, not because we’re wise but because God is.
            Thankful obedience shows that God is near us because it uses that nearness. God is near to us in prayer, in repentance, in worship and praise. Obeying him shows just how near he is, not because we bring him near, but because God comes near to us.
            Thankful obedience shows what righteousness is because the decrees and laws are righteous. We have Jesus’ righteousness and so we are right with God. Obeying means living that righteousness, putting to use the righteousness that doesn’t come from us at all. It’s from Jesus. Because he is righteous.
            What Moses says, Jesus fulfilled. It’s great to obey because great is the God whom we obey! Great is his holiness. Great is his love. Great is the salvation he gives us in Jesus. And such greatness deserves a great response, doesn’t it? And God gives us that too. He gives us our lives to spend obeying him out of thankfulness. What could be better? What could be greater? Amen.