Israëlzondag / IsraelSunday

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.

Comment

In September and October, the great feasts in Judaism fall, New Year's Day, Day of Atonement, and Feast of Tabernacles. That is why the first Sunday of October in many Protestant churches in the Netherlands is called "Israel- Sunday". Then special attention is given to the relationship of the Church with Israel, the people with whom God has made his covenant. And then the Christian communities pray for Israel.

Today is Israel Sunday. The people of Israel celebrate their main festivals at this time of the year: New Year, Day of Atonement, Feast of Tabernacles, Closing Feast, Joy of the Law. That is why it is customary in our church to reflect on our special relationship with Israel on the first Sunday of October. The people whom the Lord has used to make himself known to the world. The people from which the Messiah, the Savior, was born: the Lord Jesus.

Therefore I chose a text that stands out in Israel- their creed. The Shema, as it is called, to the first word: hear, listen. What the twelve articles are with us is with them Deuteronomy 6 verse 4. It sounds in their language, Hebrew, short, without verbs: Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord, one.

These words have a permanent place in their morning and evening prayers. Every Jew mutters them on his deathbed and wants to take them on his lips precisely at his last breath. It is known that the famous Rabbi Akiba, who was martyred under excruciating pain with an elongated "echad", "one", breathed his last. And also that countless Jews entered the gas chambers of the German concentration camps with this confession on their lips. You may have heard of the mezuzah, the little box on the doorposts of Jewish houses, which we also read about. Write them on the doorposts of your home. There's a little roll of parchment in there with a few verses, and the first is our text.

We read it backwards. First, we dwell on the words: the Lord is one, the only one. Then on: The Lord is our God. And finally on: Hear, listen, Israel.

So first: the Lord is one. For that is what Israel's confession leads to. It is also the significant difference between Israel's faith and that of other nations. Israel's people learned monotheism, the existence of one God, as opposed to polytheism, which was evident everywhere. Each country had its own God, who determined its ups and downs, as well as its character, its identity. Each region had its own God, who ruled there like a king and who you had to keep as a friend when you stayed there. Each area of life had its own God, whom you had to worship if you wanted to prosper in that area. There were the gods of love, fertility, trade and traffic. There were the gods who sent sickness or health. A particular God existed for the seafarers, the blacksmiths, and every industry. People felt that all of life was filled with magical powers, which you had to handle with care and persuade with prayers and sacrifices not to use their power against you, but for you.

And now there are a few weak people in that great strong Egypt. But Egypt must let it go. Their God frees them from bondage and proves too strong for all those magnificent Egyptian gods. It's the Lord! And when they come to the desert, it is evident that they will worship the desert gods for a good journey through that dangerous area, just like the wandering Bedouin peoples, the Moabites and the Ammonites. The temptation is strong. More than once, they succumb to it. But just then, they get into trouble; those gods turn out to be powerless. Full of shame, they return to their own God, and He appears to be lord and master in the desert. He gives manna and quails. He is their guide and protector in the cloud and the fire pillar. It's the Lord! And when they later settle in the promised land, it is natural that they entrust themselves to the fertility gods of the local Canaanite population, the Baals and Astartes, who can ensure success in livestock and agriculture. But that also breaks them down. Their God punishes them, and if they start serving Him again, He appears to be the master over this land, which He had finally promised them Himself. It is the Lord! He is always the strongest. They keep coming back to him. And then the other gods disappear like snow in the sun.

And so, in its history, Israel becomes deeply convinced: The Lord, our God, is the true, unique, only God. There is no God but He alone. The "I will be that I will be" who is always there and who applies to every area of life. Who is always so clearly superior to all other gods and powers. Compared to Him, they appear to be nothing and do not exist. He remains alone. The Lord is the only one.

And so He is still the God who is always there and everywhere and leaves nothing to other powers. He is there at the beginning and end of our lives, at birth and death. You feel that, don't you? He is there in health and sickness, in wealth and poverty. You know you depend on Him. The God who guides us, disposes of everything, gives us everything. It's the Lord! The God of power, who keeps his hold on this world, even in the great clashes between the nations. It's the Lord! The God of ethics, who is just, judges what is right and wrong, appeals to our conscience, and also forgives us. It's the Lord. The God who gives us immortality. It's the Lord. The God of our heart, who can fill us with peace, joy. It's the Lord! Everywhere, in all my ways, and always again, I meet Him. He is the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. Everything is from Him, through Him, to Him. There is no God besides Him. One Lord. "Everything must give way to you, Lord; who is your equal?" The Lord is greater, mightier than anyone, more just, holier than anyone, more merciful, more gracious than anyone. He showed it in the history of his people Israel. He showed it primarily through that one Israelite: the Lord Jesus Christ.

That is the painful misunderstanding between the Jews and us Christians. The Jews think that how we honour Jesus as the Son of God is too much like believing in two gods. And they feel that this goes directly against their confession of faith that the Lord is one. On the contrary, we confess: if somebody once more, in particular, demonstrated the uniqueness, the incomparability, the complete differentness of Israel's God, it was Jesus, in his dealings with his Father, his surrender to his Father, his reflecting and showing the attributes of his Father. Jesus showed that no one could measure up to his Father in his holiness, love, forgiveness, mercy, and redemption. Jesus showed how unique the Lord is. Precisely through Jesus, we get such an image of God, such an impression of God, that we only can say with amazement and adoration: The Lord is the only one. Which God does know so much wrath against sin that before he allowed it to go unpunished, he punished his dear Son with the bitter and shameful death on the cross? What God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life?

Our God. That's the second part of this sermon. "Hear, O Israel. The Lord is our God." Don't say that too soon. Let Israel say that first, for the Lord is especially Israel's God. And we as a Christian church have, alas, so appropriated ourselves to Him over the centuries, at the expense of Israel, that we must be very modest. We have said it all too often in words that are a theological fallacy, and we have even too often underlined it with anti-Semitic acts: "Hear, Israel, your God is no longer your God, but has become ours." While Israel has the oldest right to say: The Lord is our God. He made himself known to Israel with the first words of the Ten Commandments: I am the Lord your God. And nowhere does it say that He took that back. He remains faithful to it, despite Israel's unfaithfulness.

And yet, Jesus broke down the wall between Jews and Gentiles. Through Jesus, we who were far off have become one with Israel, who was near. Through Jesus, we have been grafted like wild twigs into the olive tree of Israel. And that is why we may say after Israel: The Lord is our God. And you hear the joy resounding in this confession. It's almost a shout of triumph. The Lord is our God. I am happy with that. That makes me feel good. That gives me peace and confidence because there is no better God. And so you also honour Him with this confession. It's praise. Blessed is the one who dares to speak out: the Lord is our God. Can you say it?

It says something about the Lord and something about us. It tells about the Lord that He says in His love: I want to be God for you. I want to lead you. I want to give you my commandments and promises. I want to divert you from the broad path that is a dead-end path and guide you to the narrow path that leads to true life. I want to comfort and help you. I want to reconcile with you. In your hearts, I want to live and work with my Spirit. Have you already experienced that? I want to be your God. I'm not only the God of your sweet aunt, your pious and serious neighbour, or that cheerful girl but also really of you. You don't need to be suitable for this, you know. Neither was Israel. It often stubbornly strayed from God. You don't need to be great for it. Israel also was small and insignificant in Egypt, the desert, and the promised land. It's not because of anything from us. But by the gracious, loving election of the Lord Himself, who himself wants to be our God. For Jesus' sake.

But if we know about that miracle, we also accept the Lord as our God. We consciously choose Him. Let's turn to Him. Let us say with heart and mouth: The Lord is our God. Him we obey. In Him, we trust. Him we honour and serve. We love him.

Did we also accept this Lord in response to the message that He accepted us? Fantastic, but that does have consequences in our lives precisely because this Lord, our God, is the only one. Then we cannot see Him as one power among many others trying to influence our lives. Then we cannot give every power its due. The Lord, but the power of economy and trade also, and the power of luxury and prosperity also, the power of vulgar fun and sex also some, the power of earthly fame and honour also. No. You shall not have other gods before me.

How long will you be limping on two minds? So Elijah asked Israel. If the Lord is God, follow Him. If it is Baal, follow him. But choose. Do not combine what cannot be combined. And you cannot combine the Lord with other gods because He is unique. He's the only one.

Jesus also said: No one can serve two masters. You cannot serve God and mammon. You shall love the Lord thy God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength.

Once upon a time, a man was only at home on weekends. He travelled during the week because of his work. He wore his wedding ring on weekends but took it off during the week. Then he wanted to be a free man. But then you don’t love.

Serving the Lord in church on Sunday but putting off faith during the week is not possible. Believing in the unique God is also uniquely obeying, trusting, and loving Him. In the depth of life. With heart and soul. In the length of life. By passing it on to our children, being a living example. Instil them in your children and keep talking about them. So that not only we but also those who come after us may believe in the Lord.

In the breadth of life: at home and on the road, when you go to bed and get up. Home and away, day and night. ‘The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. Who have I in heaven, Lord, but You, my comfort and honour? What on earth can delight me? I only want to belong to you.’ 

We sometimes fall short in that. We sometimes surrender ourselves to other powers. How far it often is that we are all love to the Lord. Israel was often far away. So are we. And yet that is the genuine faith in the Lord: He alone. Is it also in Christ whole and alone?

But how can it come to this for us? By listening to the Lord. ‘Hey, Israel. Listen.’ All other gods are stupid. All other powers are impersonal. But ‘Lord’ is God’s personal name. Israel’s God is a personal God. He wants to talk to us. He spiritually does his best to win us. He likes to show us how unique He is. The religion of Israel used to be unique in that it was the religion of the Word. And because the Christian faith is based on the Jewish, it is not different from us. ‘You come to believe by hearing God’s word’, Paul wrote to the Romans. Faith is: being addressed by God in your heart. It is hearing with amazement what the Lord has to say to you. It is gladly accepting the promises heard and lovingly obeying the commands heard. To believe is not to turn a deaf ear when you are told: Listen! But prick up your ears and yield to the word of the Lord. Whether it is admonishing or comforting, it hurts or relieves pain. Surrender to the word of the Lord even if it says what we prefer not to hear. Even if it sends you ways, you will not go alone, even if it requires difficult choices and sacrifices from you.

We get impressions from the outside world into our hearts through our senses. The most important of them are sight and hearing. And it seems as if the first one has won over the second. We are visually oriented today. We live in a society of TVs, videos, movies, monitors, and mobile phone screens. Can we quietly listen to each other? We don't have the time or patience. Listening to a speech with concentration for 10 minutes is already quite an achievement. That used to be different. Then one could listen to storytellers and preachers for a long time. And one could also absorb well what one heard. Before writing was invented and long after, all that humankind had accumulated in knowledge and experience was handed down orally from one generation to the next, with listening.

Moreover, what we see often leaves a fleeting impression, while really listening means much more to us. Seeing seldom leads to hearing differently. But hearing leads to seeing differently often, giving you a different view. It also can give you a picture of what cannot be seen with human eyes, of the secrets hidden behind the visible. So it also gives you a view of God. It doesn't say, look, Israel. But hey, Israel. The Lord does not want to be served through graven images you look at but through listening to his voice. To love the Lord is to listen to Him, just like children who love their parents by listening to them. The Lord is also the one Lord in this respect that He is the speaking God to whom one can hear.

But here again, we must confess with shame that we are bad listeners. "Hear me, o Israel, what commandment I will instruct you. But my people would not listen to my voice. Israel has forsaken me and my commandments and chosen other gods." Time and time again, we do not listen to the Lord but to others. And those who shout the loudest are heard the most. Time and time again, we turn a deaf ear to the God who has so much good to say to us. We need to be dragged in with our ears. Hey, Israel. Hey, you, congregation! Listen: the Lord will be our God. And He is the only one.

But if we, as a congregation from the Gentile nations, do not without the Lord Jesus, hear something from the Lord, "This is my beloved Son, hear Him," said God from heaven at Jesus' baptism. We can only listen to Israel if we listen to this Savior. He is the Messiah from Israel. He has given us God's Word. He is the Word of God that became flesh. Yes, the Father speaks to us through Jesus' words and what Jesus did and suffered. And let us always pray that Israel may also discover that miracle. That "after in the past God had spoken in divers manners and various ways to the ancestors through the prophets, now that time is running out He has spoken unto us through the Son.

Hear, Israel, the Lord is our God, and the Lord is the only one. Write that on the doorposts of your house, of your heart. For whoever confesses this with Israel will be saved. Amen.