Hear To Keep The Words
Texts: Deuteronomy 6:4-9; John 15:5-8; James 1:22-25
Pastor Phil Hughes, American Fork Presbyterian Church, Utah
September 24, 2023
The late Presbyterian pastor and writer Eugene Peterson said, “If Holy Scripture is to be something other than mere gossip about God, it must be internalized.”[1]
If the Bible is only talk about God it can remain out here and never really have any impact. If God’s Word is merely information no different than the instruction manual for our car then it’s easy to keep God at arm’s distance. In order for the words of Scripture to impact how we live we must get them inside of us.
God wants his word to get inside of his people. The prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel were both told to eat parts of the scrolls upon which Holy Scripture is written. John the disciple, who received the vision in Revelation is told to do the same. To be sure eating paper is a little weird and those were extreme examples, but eating a scroll was to symbolize the internalizing of God’s Word. It had to become a part of them.
For the past six weeks we have been focusing on what is called the Shema. Shema is the biblical Hebrew word for “hear.” Moses tells Israel to hear – shema – that the Lord their God is Lord alone, and that they are to love the Lord their God with all their heart, with all their soul, and with all their might. These have become perhaps the most fundamentally important words in the Jewish faith. They are equally important to followers of Jesus. Moses says the people are to take these words to heart. Some translations say that these words are to be upon their hearts.
When we talk about taking something to heart we mean we want what we say to really be heard and acted upon. The Lord wants his people to take to heart what it means to love him with all that we are.
The Israelites were given three very practical and visible ways to put these words upon their hearts. The first comes from Moses telling them to “Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.”[2]
In the first sermon in this series on the Shema I mentioned that while Deuteronomy 6:4-5 is the core, the Shema actually also includes parts of Deuteronomy 11 and Numbers 15. When Jews pray the words of the Shema they will often include these passages, too. In Deuteronomy 11 we again hear Moses say:
“Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.”[3]
People of the Jewish religion continue to take these words literally with the practice of tefillim. Tefillim is the practice of tying tiny boxes onto one’s forehead and around one’s arm that contain small scrolls with the words of the Shema. Jewish tradition has formal times of prayer at specific times each day. Jewish people will tie these boxes to their forehead and arm when they pray.These prayer boxes are called phylacteries. There is a specific process for how they are to be tied to one’s arm and forehead. After the time of prayer the phylacteries are removed. But, I am told that the imprint of the cords leaves an imprint on the arms for the rest of the day, thus serving as a reminder of God’s commands.
A second way that Israel was to keep the words to love the Lord on their hearts was by writing them on the doorposts of their homes. Moses says,
“Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.”[4]
This gave birth to the practice of the mezuzah which comes from the Hebrew word for “doorpost.” Mezuzahs are small, long containers attached to the frames of the front door of houses. Inside these small containers are small scrolls with the words of the Shema. People touch the mezuzah that is by their door when they come in and when they leave to remind themselves of the commands to love the Lord. You will see these in Jewish homes. When we were in Israel we saw these everywhere.
These scrolls that are put inside mezuzahs are handwritten by a dedicated scribe. On the other side of the scroll that contains the Shema the scribe writes one of the names in the Bible for God, the name Shaddai which means “Almighty.” The three letters that make up the Hebrew word for Shaddai form an acronoym that stands for the phrase “Guardian of the doorways of Israel.” Since Shaddai begins with the Hebrew letter “shin”, mezuzah cases are often decorated with this letter.
And then a third way Moses said that the Shema is to become part of the people is the use of tallits. Tallits are small, thin, knotted tassels that hang from prayer shawls. Prayer shawls are put around the heads or shoulders of Jews when they pray.
In Numbers 15, what we might call the third section of the Shema the Lord tells Moses to speak to the Israelites and have them make tassels on the corners of their clothing. And it says:
You will have these tassels to look at and so you will remember all the commands of the Lord, that you may obey them and not prostitute yourselves by chasing after the lusts of your own hearts and eyes. Then you will remember to obey all my commands and will be consecrated to your God. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt to be your God. I am the Lord your God.’” – Numbers 15:37-41
The purpose of these tassels is so that the person remembers the commands of the Lord. And that he is the Lord. And so that our hearts don’t become overcome by all the things we want, but we keep the things the Lord wants.
So, three ways the Lord gave Israel to put his words upon their hearts and get them inside of them. The tefillim, mezuzahs, and tallits are all found in the Shema as visible reminders for the people to remember the commands of the Lord.
We hear about these things when Jesus spoke about them. Matthew records for us one time when Jesus calls out the scribes and Pharisees for their hypocrisy in using these outward things for their own self-promotion. Jesus says, “They do all their deeds to be seen by others; for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes (tallits) long.”[5] He goes on to take them to task for being more concerned for how they look and their own pride than being the faith leaders they are to be.
Jesus was not contradicting Moses or putting down the use of phylacteries or tallits. Being a devout Jew himself Jesus most likely used phylacteries and tallits. He was saying the way the Jewish leaders used them was wrong. I merely mention this to point out that to use physical objects to remind oneself of the words to love God was the practice of Jews in Jesus’ time and still is today.
We use visible symbols to point to what we want our heart to know. We wear wedding rings to help us remember our promises and love for our spouse. It has become popular to wear wrist bands with various sayings to inspire us to “Live Strong” or to keep various causes in our view. We might wear a locket to help us remember someone dear to us. We hang photos of family to remember people or special events. I’ve seen people literally write names or words on their hands to remind them to do something. We need and use visible reminders all the time.
Why are instructions given to fix the words of loving the Lord on bodies, on doorposts, and to have features on clothing to point to the commands of the Lord? Because God wanted his people to internalize his words. God wants his words and ways to be a part of us.
Psalm 119: I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you…[6] When God’s words get into us and become a part of the fabric of our lives, they are hidden there, working in us even when we aren’t consciously thinking about them.
God spoke through the prophet Jeremiah and said, “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts.”[7] When something is inside of you it isn’t hard to do. We are always going to do what is in our hearts. If there is mercy in our heart, then we are going to show mercy. If there is respect in our heart then we are going to honor people. If there is love for God in our heart, we will honor God and be the person he wants you and I to be.
And when the ways of God are in our hearts, we are going to walk in his ways and our desires will be for the things he desires.
One time our Lord Jesus said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit…” And then he added, “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”
The word for “remain” can mean to abide with or live in. Jesus was saying that he wants his words to find a home in our lives. When we make a home we move in, fix things in a way that is workable for us, and get comfortable. We don’t live out of suitcases and boxes, but we unpack them because we are staying. To be at home is a lifestyle. When Jesus’ words find a home in us we take them seriously, listen to them expectantly, and respond to them honestly.[8]
Jesus goes on to say that the way to make his words at home in us is to obey his commands, and that his command is to love one another. It echoes the Shema. Love God, love others.
It can be easy to approach the words of God with a kind of intellectual curiosity. We study it. Talk about it. Like Eugene Peterson said, it’s kind of like gossip about God. James says don’t just read it but do what it says. To not do it is like looking in a mirror, seeing smudged lipstick or spaghetti sauce on our face, and not doing anything about it.
The more we keep the Word out of our hearts and as mere intellectual info, the more theoretical, abstract and distant God becomes.
James writes that those who look intently into the words of God – what he calls the perfect law – and do it, those people will be blessed for doing so. Moses told Israel: love the Lord your God – take these words into your heart.
How do we get God’s word inside of us?
We begin by reading. We are living in a time when we benefit from the blessing of having easy access to God’s words in written form. We can get Scriptures via bookstores, the internet, phone apps.
A second way to internalize God’s words is to meditate upon what we read. We don’t rush through, trying to cover as much material as possible, but we slow down and think about the meaning. As one monk who lived in the fourth century put it, we let the words work the earth of our hearts. We let it fertilize our lives. We turn the words over, chew on them, and inwardly digest them.
We can memorize God’s words. Take a verse and try to recite it each day for a week. Think of how many verses you would have committed to memory if you did that every week, or even bi-weekly. Or take a passage and spend a month trying to memorize it.
Another way to get God’s word inside of us is to write it out. Sometimes we are better able to get the ideas or words of something when we actually write it down. Find a verse or passage you love and write it.
We might want to post certain verses where we can easily see them so that they become reminders. We can create our own mezuzahs by writing them and attaching them to our computer, refrigerator or desk. If you are artistic, take a verse or passage that is kind of your “life verse” and make a painting or Christian mezuzah and put it in your entry way the way Jewish people do with the Shema.
A young man who was part of my church in Salt Lake City told me that he grew up with a large wall hanging in his home. On it were written the words of the Shema – “Hear, O Israel” - in Chinese. Joel’s family is of Chinese descent. Now that hanging is in his home, with his wife and two children. Joel saw these words everyday of his life, and because they were in front of his eyes he learned it. Joel’s parents created a kind of Chinese mezuzah. We can create our own mezuzahs. We can change them from time to time. Perhaps we can adopt a different biblical passage each year – kind of a Bible passage of the year - and post it prominently in our homes and say it regularly.
Finally, we can make God’s words at home in us by listening to them. Literally the Shema is about hearing. Some people are better at retaining things audibly than visually. We have the Bible in audio form. We have sermons and other Christian literature accessible to download to listen to as we drive or walk or work. Listen to something enough and you will find it gets into your heart.
Think of how Psalm 23 has become a part of us. “The Lord is my Shepherd…” Or how we can recall “The Lord’s Prayer.” This is because we have heard and said these words so much. Many of us can say them by heart as well as other Scriptures.
Words can become a part of us. They can come to us at times of fear or need. They can be a comfort in times of trouble. They become a strength because we made them familiar to our hearts.
The purpose of what we read in Scripture is not about learning words but loving God. It is to open our hearts to love the Lord, which, as Jesus teaches, essentially also involves loving our neighbor. He is our God. We are his people. His love first came to us in Jesus Christ. And now he asks us to love him; every day, with all that we are and all that we have.
The Shema: Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
And as Jesus said, “The one who has ears, let them hear.”
Prayer: Lord our God, we ask you to help us understand and live this creed. Ignite and grow our love for you. Don’t let us settle for just thinking about you, but help us to love you with our actions, time, energy, thoughts, and intentions. Take all that we are and all that we have and make it an offering of love to you. Because whoever we love is who we live for. Through the Lord Jesus Christ who always loves us. Amen.
[1] Eat This Book, p.20
[2] Deuteronomy 6:8
[3] Deuteronomy 11:18
[4] Deut. 6:9 & 11:20
[5] Matthew 23:5
[6] Psalm 119:11
[7] Jeremiah 31:33
[8] Dale Bruner, Commentary on John, p.885