15th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Reform)

Today we hear Moses declaring to God’s people, “If only you would heed the voice of the LORD, your God, and keep his commandments….”. These words are from the Book of Deuteronomy, one of the five books that form a part of the Hebrew Scriptures we call the Pentateuch. And it stands out from the other four books in its distinct style, just as John’s Gospel does from Matthew, Mark and Luke.

The Book of Deuteronomy has been described as possibly “the first book to pose the problem of modernity” (Jewish Study Bible, Oxford University Press, p356). Its author, who lived in the 7th century B.C., about 800 years after Moses, sought to retell the story of Moses and the Israelites, how Moses called the people to reform. The author of Deuteronomy retold this account so that the people of his time would reform, to again be in right relationship with God.

In this book, Moses addresses to the people at the near-end of their forty-year sojourn in the Sinai wilderness. At long last, they were just about to crossover to the Promised Land, and Moses called the people together, declaring something like this: “Before we cross over into the Promised Land, we need to first remember where we have gone wrong. But we also need to remember who gave us life, who we are, and how we are to live. So please listen as I spell it out.”

So again, why did the author of Deuteronomy feel compelled, some 800 years later, to recount this moment of reform for the Jewish people? It’s because they considered the regrettable state they were in as a society, and found themselves asking, “How did it come to this, that things have gone so wrong?”

But isn’t this the recurring story of God’s people in every age: they learn God’s truths, we move forward, and we fall. We pick ourselves up, hear God’s truths again, move forward and we fall, repeating that cycle again, again and again.

But maybe what’s different about us of the post-enlightenment age is that instead of accepting the hard truths again and then picking ourselves up, we are content to simply stay down. Rather than grind through the challenging work of reforming ourselves, we endeavor instead to reform God’s Law and if necessary, just push God out of the picture altogether, making it easier to justify and work within our reconstructed system of values.

Let’s be honest: There are a whole range of things that have become or are becoming part of the common landscape in our society that virtually no people of any previous generation could have imagined would be a societal norm. Yes, society evolves, and we should aspire to progress, but some of it is simply modifying our values to match our most base tendencies and impulses. And isn’t it true that in whatever ways such changes may initially seem shocking to us, with time, with time they no longer seem shocking?

So, would people of times past call us to reform? Probably. But is it because they were so unenlightened, lacking our scientific and cultural sophistication? Not necessarily. And by the way, I’m not suggesting that there was a golden age, when all things were in right order.

The fact that they were wrestling with it in Moses’ time, and also 800 years later, speaks to the notion that this is a challenge for every age, for every people. So, it's not just a matter of going back to how it was 40 years ago, 100 years ago or 5 centuries ago. It’s not a point in history, but instead a source that we must look to—God himself.

But the problem is that we tend to go to worldly sources to seek and understand our self-identity, rather than God. The effects show in our state of being, as individuals, and as society. Because ask yourself: Do we seem like we’re free of fear and anxiousness? Have the worldly answers given strength to our families and marriages? Have they brought greater peace and a sense of inner-calm? Have they satisfied our appetites? Are we happy?

For whatever way we’re seeking all our answers in the wrong places, and it becomes manifest in unfolding disorder in our lives and in our society, Moses says to us: If only you would heed the voice of the LORD, your God…with all your heart and all your soul. What he’s calling you to, your path to meaning and purpose is something very near to you, already in your mouths and in your hearts; you have only to carry it out. As Jesus himself, says to us: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart…” (Mt 11;28-29).