Sunday 3 April 2011 – Chamonix Dt 30/11-20 11 Surely, this commandment that I am commanding you today is not too hard for you, nor is it too far away. 12It 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?’ 13Neither 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?’ 14No, the word is very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart for you to observe. 15 See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity. 16If you obey the commandments of the LORD your God* that I am commanding you today, by loving the LORD your God, walking in his ways, and observing his commandments, decrees, and ordinances, then you shall live and become numerous, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to possess. 17But if your heart turns away and you do not hear, but are led astray to bow down to other gods and serve them, 18I declare to you today that you shall perish; you shall not live long in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. 19I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, 20loving the LORD your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him; for that means life to you and length of days, so that you may live in the land that the LORD swore to give to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

Predication The text this Sunday is one of the most powerful in all the Bible.. Why so ? Because in our lives we have the regrettable tendency or habit of considering the world as apart from ourselves, and to look at others from our own perspective, to judge our actions and those of others from OUR point of view. But these attitudes, this way of doing things are the mark of sinfulness. The sinfulness which puts ourselves at the heart of everything, this sinfulness which makes us look at others as though we were the ultimate judge, this sinfulness which spoils our relationships and our way of looking at things. In this text from the book of Deuteronomy, it is Moses who speaks. The great liberator of the Hebrew people who has always acted on God's orders, is now at the end of his life. He addresses the people before he dies. Moses himself will never enter the land of Canaan. His words here have the weight of a last testimony. He tells this people, who have such difficulty in getting rid of their idols, of what the one and only God has done, and will do, for them.

You will notice the structure of the speech which is like a dialogue, shown by the

frequent use of "I" and "you". This signifies that it is the Lord who speaks through Moses' mouth, in the context and framework of the COVENANT. In the Bible, the LORD never speaks in any other context than that of the Covenant. It is the framework, defined by Himself, of the relationship which He wishes to maintain with humanity. What it also signifies, and this is underlined by the testamentary nature of the words, is that these words are Good News - they are good for us. God cannot be anything other than good within the framework of the Covenant. And here our own judgement comes into play, because "good words" does not necessarily mean words that are easy to listen to, words which will flatter our ego. When Moses hears of « good words » from the Lord, he speaks about words which are good for Life, this Life which God wants for us. As opposed to the life we choose for ourselves. Several times his speech mentions Life and Death. So it is a good thing to listen to these words, because they speak to us of Life and Death. Do we so frequently hear this that we can pass by up without taking notice? We need to remember one important thing. Life and Death in the Bible is not understood as biological life and death. Here, as throughout the Bible, when we talk of the Eternal, we are talking about how we are with others, and with God, of our relationship and our lack of relationship. It is, therefore, a question of receiving and listening to others, respecting and forgiving, of peace and happiness. Because this text is exceptionally rich in meaning, I would just like to bring out one or two points which seem to me to be key. → It is certainly not beyond your strength nor out of your reach. The word of the Eternal God does not demand the impossible. To believe does not require us to be a hero. What the Lord requires is not beyond our strength. In Hebrew this word means "not extraordinary" - that is to say it is possible every day, in our normal lives. The word 'today' appears 5 times in the speech and several times it speaks about days. This tells us that it is day by day that God trusts us. It's a message which tells us that the Lord is there to accompany us along the way. → And God finishes His message with : No, the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, Here God gets to the root of our problem. We are so often tempted to look elsewhere, in the pleasures of life, in the perspective of others, for happiness in life. So often we make others responsible for our lives, our happiness: if only our spouse did that, we would be happy, if our children were like that, we would be happy, if our boss would only do this, we would finally be happy, etc … Without ever referring to God, who according to many people, doesn't do His job properly..... So many accusations and reproaches which scarcely hide our capacity to make others responsible, when the responsibility for our happiness lies with ourselves..... This message is very clear on this point: it's in us, it's a gift which God gives to us. And for God, to live is to hear His Word, His Word which gives life, His Word which shows the way, His Word which inspires trust. From whence comes « to enter into ourselves » to discover this gift within ourselves. This word of life is not a prize, it's a

gift for life - for our life. It's up to us to look for it within ourselves. → I set before you this day on the one hand - life and happiness, on the other - death and misery. So God himself confirms to us that life and death are mixed up, intermingled. That happiness and misery exist in life, in our lives. Life, our life, is not only happiness, nor is it only unhappiness. They are intermingled in our lives, but the Lord sets on one side life and happiness and on the other death and misery. What does this mean? That often we confuse life and misery, we define life as a series of mishaps. We suppress the possibility of happiness. However, God shows precisely, like a road map, that there are several possibilities: on the one side, and on the other. So there are different routes, which means for us, that we can go one way or the other. → Choose life, so that you may live The Lord confirms that there are various possibilities : Choose He says to us, men and women . This is Good News: we have a choice, therefore we are free and responsible! It is up to us to choose what our life will be, amid the happiness and the misery. That is to say that in unhappiness we can still choose the happiness of life. In other words, it's up to us to choose if we will give in to the forces of evil which plunge us into unhappiness, or if we will support the forces of life. Will we agree to move on from our grief when the time is right, or will we imprison ourselves in a state of suffering? It is also up to us to choose what qualifies as happiness. So often we confuse happiness with well-being, with an easy life or with certain luxuries. But deep down, we know that while all these may help, they are not happiness. We well know that happiness is a question of peace, not of tranquillity, of respect rather than indifference, of commitment, not of impotence. Like a loving Father, the Lord shows the way to His child, the right way, and He advises him to take it and warns him: if he takes the other road he will be in mortal danger, that is, his relationships, his capacity for love will be severely impaired, by what we call Sin. So, this is the Word of Life that Moses gives to his people. We can choose what leads to happiness rather than what leads to misery. It is up to us not to mix the two. It's up to us not to confuse life and misery. Let's not waste our time and energy on that which does us harm. That too is a choice. Let us choose words of blessing for ourselves and for others, and not words of cursing. Love life,it is, after all, a question of taking sides,of deciding and choosing. Choose, choose always what does the most good to yourself and to others. Love life, because life is a gift from God. Love life, our life, because, even in difficulty, we can decide that God's love for us is, in the end, more important than these troubles. Love God and listen to His Word so that you make the right choices. Definitely choose life and happiness !