Deut 30; Easy Street--Quoting Robert Fulghum

"9 and the Lord your God will make you abundantly prosperous in all your undertakings, in the fruit of your body, in the fruit of your livestock, and in the fruit of your soil. For the Lord will again take delight in prospering you, just as he delighted in prospering your ancestors, 10 when you obey the Lord your God by observing his commandments and decrees that are written in this book of the law, because you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 11 Surely, this commandment that I am commanding you today is not too hard for you, nor is it too far away. 12 It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will go up to heaven for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?’ 13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will cross to the other side of the sea for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?’ 14 No, the word is very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart for you to observe."

I. Introduction--Faith's Simplicity

One of the more popular American authors in the 1980s was Unitarian minister Robert Fulghum. In the space of a few years he churned out a number of best-selling books, beginning with All I Really Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. Fulghum's point is well-stated in the title--that the most important lessons of life are those that can be learned by a child. Let me list about a dozen of those lessons:

1. Share Everything
2. Play Fair
3. Don't Hit People
4. Put Things Back Where You Found Them
5. Clean Up Your Own Mess
6. Say You're Sorry When You Hurt Somebody
7. Wash Your Hands Before You Eat
8. Flush
9. Warm Cookies and Cold Milk Are Good For You
10. Live a Balanced Life--Learn Some and Draw and Paint and Sing and Dance and Play and Work Every Day Some.
11. Take a Nap Every Afternoon.
12. When You Go Out In The World, Watch Out For Traffic, Hold Hands and Stick Together.

We smile when we realize Fulghum's ingenious simplicity. Of course he is right. These are lessons that a five year-old can understand and that a sixty-five year old does well to heed. Part of Fulghum's appeal in the fast-paced 1980s was that he stressed the importance of just focusing on a few very simple things to achieve success in life. He became our teacher as we sought ways to slow ourselves down and learn to appreciate the important things in life. By the way, Fulghum maintains a very active website to this day, mostly a journal or travelogue, and seems thoroughly to enjoy his life. He will always have a following, I believe, even though the "Kindergarten Gospel" which he proclaimed has run its course.

The reason that I find Robert Fulghum helpful in reading Deut. 30 is that this text, dramatically set at a time just before Israel is to enter the Promised Land, emphasizes the simplicity of faith. Israel has just come through harrowing journeys in the wilderness, but Moses' point to the people is that future difficult times are avoidable if they learn the importance of simple obedience to the covenant and to Yahweh, the Lord of the covenant. Note the tone earlier in the chapter:

"When all these things have happened to you, the blessings and the curses that I have set before you, if you call them to mind among all the nations where the Lord your God has driven you, 2 and return to the Lord your God, and you and your children obey him with all your heart and with all your soul, just as I am commanding you today, 3 then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you, gathering you again from all the peoples among whom the Lord your God has scattered you" (vv. 1-3).

Obedience with all your heart. Returning to the Lord. Realizing that God is the source of all good in our lives. Jesus' words in Matt. 11 are seemingly calculated to make the same point:

"'Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’"

Though there is a tradition of Christian faith which emphasizes the disciples of faith, as well as what the Greeks called the askesis (from which we derive the word "ascetic") or hard exercises of faith, today we heara different message--that the word we should follow is right there, or directly before us. Sometimes the clarity of decision is overwhelming. Today is one such day. Obedience to God, choosing to follow the covenantal Lord, is the easy task for today.

II. Getting to Obedience

Though my message is that obedience to God is a duty simple to describe and, in Jesus' words, an "easy" burden, sometimes it takes us a while to get to "easy" in life. I am so glad that for most of us there is a decade known as our fifties, since the first five decades are often so difficult. In order to get to a point of comparative ease or prosperity or, alternatively, to activities which deeply nourish the heart, we often have to go through a long journey of difficult dimensions.

The Scriptures recognize the truth of this point, also. Notice that the "easy road" of Deut. 30 ("the word is very near you...") only happens near the end of Deuteronomy. It takes the author 30 chapter to get there! You need to go through the most interesting journey in the first 30 chapters to arrive at "easy street." Laws need to be observed, festivals kept, journeys made, children nurtured. Then, in Deut. 26-29 there are a series of blessings and curses which will come Israel's way if it choses to disobey the covenant with God. Sometimes we explore the minor keys of life for so long that we could write a symphony out of it all.

One of the big books of the 1990s (several years after the Fulghum-craze had died down) was Getting to Yes. It was written by Roger Fisher, director of the Harvard Negotiation Project. Though I don't have time to review his argument here, his point is that getting to the simple word "Yes," or to the alignment of divergent interests, can take considerable effort and strategy. To get to the simple life sometimes takes a lot of work.

Conclusion

Embrace the simplicity of the Gospel today. Obedience and blessing is right there, beckoning to us. It isn't difficult. It isn't far off. Yet, sometimes the lure of simplicity is like an enticing object on the other side of a glass window. We may have to work to get to simplicity and ease. Both are words to us for today. Embrace the simple message, even if it takes you a while to get there...

2762