About ten days ago, on June 19th, the Vatican released a document entitled Guidelines for Pastoral Care of the Road. Guidelines for Pastoral Care of the Road has been picked up by the press and renamed the Ten Commandments for Drivers. And I thought these were kind of interesting being that we've been going through the Ten Commandments. Let me read these for you. The first one you shall not kill. The road shall be for you a means of communion between people and not of mortal harm. Courtesy, uprightness, and prudence will help you deal with unforeseen events. Be charitable and help your neighbor need, especially victims of accidents. Cars shall not be for you an expression of power and dominion and an occasion for sin. You know, it's getting very personal right about now, isn't it? Charitability or charitable convince the young and not so young not to drive when they are not in a fitting condition to do so. Support the families of accident victims. Bring guilty motorists and their victims together at appropriate times so that they can undergo the liberating experience of forgiveness. On the road protect the more vulnerable party and finally feel responsible toward others. I don't know about you, but my first reaction was just what I need. I can't do the normal Ten Commandments. Now I've got ten more commandments. And we all know how difficult it is to be wholly on the road. I mean, if there's one place where we can lose our sense of sanctification, it's in our protected metal and glass bubble. And we make faces and we think and say and perhaps even gesture things that we would never do face to face with people in a room. Would we? Well, the document does go on and say that those who know Jesus Christ are careful on the roads. They don't think about themselves and are not always worried about getting their destination great hurry. They see the people who accompany them on the road, each of whom has their own life, their own desires to reach a destination and their own problems. They see everyone as brothers and sisters, sons and daughters of God. And this is the attitude that characterizes a Christian driver. How you're doing so far. This is very difficult and rush hour, very difficult and 436, very difficult downtown Ovidos sometimes. Now, granted, this was a very small part of about a 36-page document to talk all about homeless people and all kinds of different things on the road. But the points we'll take in, isn't it? As we've walked through the Ten Commandments in recent months, through the last nine and have one more to go, we've had a chance to see ourselves in the light of God's righteous requirement of law. And sometimes what we see isn't so good. Sometimes it's difficult. But I want us to look today at a passage and in God's Providence, my colleague Jim Fitzgerald was not well last week and so Jared jumped in and preached. And this was supposed to follow the last of the Ten, but I'm leaving this week for Mexico, so I'm doing this and you'll get the tenth one next week, God willing. But this is a way to look maybe in a whole fashion briefly at all the things we've been talking about. A small passage in the book of Josea that speaks to the righteous requirement of law. But let me give a little context and background before we get to that. Josea was a writer and God uses the nature and proclivities of people with their own styles when he communicates. And one of Josea's proclivities was to use metaphor. He loved metaphor. Now what is it? What is a metaphor? Technically speaking. We all know the word, but sometimes we forget what it actually means. It's a figure of speech where a writer or a speaker describes one thing in terms of something else. Very simply that. So the first verse of chapter 10 in Jose if you have a Bible and open to the very first verse of chapter 10 says Israel is a luxuriant vine. That's a metaphor. He's using one term to describe another. Israel is a luxuriant vine and then you have to kind of figure out what that metaphor means. And he does that through the through his book over and over and over again comparing Israel and God's people to different things. When he gets to chapter to verse 11 in chapter 10 he calls Israel and now he uses a synonym for Israel Ephraim and Jacob and he calls Ephraim and Jacob a trained heifer. Now you know not a very complimentary term. You know you don't want to be called a heifer. And in fact it's not a complimentary term in chapter 4 he'd use that same metaphor to describe Israel and it was very pointedly to say that they were stubborn people. And indeed verse 11 is more of a judgmental verse. It speaks of judgment and oppression. But then we get to verse 12 and there's a change. And in verse 12 it says so for yourselves righteousness reap the fruit of steadfast love break up your fellow ground for it's time to seek the Lord that he may come and reign righteousness upon you. So I want us to look at the three commandments, the three commands that we see in verse 12. So righteousness reap steadfast love and plough unbroken or follow ground. So first what does it mean to so righteousness? Let's try to unpack this agrarian metaphor just a little bit if we can. Notice in verse 11 again he talks about Ephraim and Judah will plough and hero and be yoke. Those are not friendly terms those are oppressive terms to plough is to strap on to yourself. Either a tool or to connect yourself to an animal and to do the hard work of breaking ground that has been farmed over and over and over again at the beginning of new season and it's difficult work and it's hard work. To hero is even more difficult work we don't use that word very often in our in our day but to hero is literally to pulverize the ground it's almost like to break up every clawed and to break it out smooth and soft and well homogenized so to speak as a verb to hero someone is to vex them to irritate them greatly. That's the idea of harrowing it is difficult work and then to be yoked again not a pleasant metaphor to to to yoke somebody right Paul says not not to be yoked again in the bondage of slavery to works he says don't be yoked unequally with unbelievers. Now granted Jesus does use the metaphor of yoke to doesn't he and Matthew 11 he says take my yoke upon you. It's and and yoke is still a hard metaphor but here he says my yoke is easy my burden is light he says connect with me in servanthood and walk with a suffering servant through your life. But verse 12 it changes sewing reaping breaking fallow ground these are words of hope and looking ahead to future with restoration path to restoration through these three terms. So what are we to sew righteousness so righteousness this and the product of the sewing in the next phrase steadfast love these are both ideas that convey to us the moral response to God. That's necessary for maintaining the relationship of God's people to the promises that God has given us through Moses and through Abraham. Let me say that again righteousness steadfast love these are moral responses that we have to God and they're necessary for maintaining the relationship between God's people and the promises that God has given us through Moses and Abraham through the ten commandments and through the bigger promises of inheritance and future. To sew righteousness means nothing less than to live in accordance with God's holy law and that's what we've been talking about these past months the ten commandments and if Israel achieved obedience they would reap this covenant steadfast love this covenant loyalty. Now sewing is still a labor isn't it it's still hard but it's a labor with the promise of reward and satisfaction at the end return produce yield there's good promise there but sewing doesn't stop by that doesn't you don't sew and then walk away do you. The soar has to tend and nurture the field and the rose has to watch for the crops has to to to be steadfast and continual in that labor. And it's it's interesting because all the time the the soar does this what's also necessary trusting in God's providence to provide sun and rain for the growth there's only so much a farmer can do right. I remember there's a very old movie James Stewart movie called Shenandoah about the Civil War era and I remember the one of the opening scenes is the whole family a big family is gathered around the dinner table and James Stewart prays and he says well God we plow the field we nurture the crop we harvest it we pound it in the flower we made it in the food we cooked it but thanks anyway. And I think you know the response was supposed to be whoa you know here here is a farmer who is counting self a little bit too important because without son without the rain without the mystery of life coming from seed farmer can do all he wants to do and nothing's going to happen but in some sense this describes our Christian experience doesn't it. We get up every morning we seek to follow the laws of God and we trust him to bring reward as we observe his law. We can't do all the things that are necessary to achieve that and so we must trust in him for his goodness and his grace to fall upon us like the sun and the rain but too often you see I think you know this is true too often we are not people who follow the savior too often. We we profess to follow without doing what he says to do Jesus Jesus admitted this in Luke chapter 6 he said why do you call me Lord Lord and don't do what I say. This is true in Jose's day as well Isaiah quoted Lord saying these people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips but their hearts what are far from me. Too often we are guilty of professing to follow the savior and simply not doing what he says so I want to ask you this morning what can you do in what ways can you be about the business of sewing righteousness. All the things we've talked about from Jim through these past weeks about the 10 commandments what can you do and I think a danger here is that we can compartmentalize this to be good works. Do good things for other people and those are all good as far as they go but I think the spirit of the law here is what can we so in our hearts what can we so in our own souls to begin internally to produce a disposition of heart that will naturally result in righteous fruit what things can you do in that respect I know that. It's always possible to say well one thing we need to do is to be people more of the book people more consumed by the word of God we need to read it more we need to study it we need to perhaps even memorize it and meditate upon it seek to live it. Because that's what works inside us to change us he's got living an active word going right down to soul and and mysterious places in our in our being the scripture say what can you do. To start to do that one thing I keep and you know this is part of my job here at Covenant I always say this if you're not a small group find a small group to be involved with be with people every week in some sense or every other week or once a month whatever might be periodically to be. To be with other people talking together about what the scripture say allowing the word to be so in your soul it not only makes you more in contact with the word but it makes you more in contact with each other and it so is people together hearts together souls together in ways that are good for us both individually and corporately I encourage you in that regard as they are says that from the Lord again he says that God's word is like. God's word is like rain that comes down from heaven and will not return without accomplishing what he has purpose for to do we put ourselves into the word it will begin to change us righteousness is also been called active holiness holiness being a state of being righteousness being more of an activity description of activity think about how you can live express demonstrate the things that Jim has talked about in past weeks to be righteous to live and demonstrate righteousness of God in daily life this is the challenge for us as we so righteousness so what about the second commandment reap steadfast love speaks to the harvest the sewing is the beginning of the process the reaping is the end of the process unfailing love steadfast love loyal love what does this mean well this is that Hebrew term that I've mentioned before has said need to drink a little coffee and get some stuff in your throat before you say has said and it's is not mere sentiment it's not an emotion it's a very deep covenantal loyalty that transcends even human associations this is this is God's loyalty to us through covenant and as a model for our loyalty to him and to each other we're told that as we fulfill the demands of the covenant here summarize for us in the 10 commandments that will reap God's favor and the favor of our brothers and sisters in covenant community this is the ideal isn't it this is what we want isn't it covenant loyalty would be easy if it weren't for all the difficulties we bring to the table right personally and even corporately we are people who are weak we're people who are broken we're people with proclivities that tend towards self rather than toward other but these two commandments so righteousness reap covenant loyalty they go hand in hand as we so righteousness which becomes a disposition of heart toward God to love him and our neighbor then we're more able to manifest that loyalty both toward God and to our neighbor they work together indispensable so I ask how does God display his covenant loyalty toward us his love covers a multitude of sins doesn't it and that describes us doesn't it people of a multitude of sins sin brings disappointment and disillusionment but God calls us to reap covenant love to maintain a bitingly deep commitments of relationship one with another giving the benefit of the doubt being willing to challenge when challenge is needed to call sin sin when it's needed by being committed to finding a nurture the best in one another as well it means in order to reap this truth that we must be sure that we don't take over in this field I've been in Florida about 1718 years now and I am always amazed still to walk out in my backyard or my garden after five days I waited this last week it was clear and if you leave soil in Florida untended for just a few days weed spring up and they will overrun follow ground they will overrun untended ground in no time flat they will choke out anything that is good that tries to spring up and this is why we need constant attention to our souls constant attention to our covenant community this is why it's so essential people to be in worship to find renewal to find forgiveness to find reconciliation with God with one another otherwise the reaping will be a reaping of frustration and lack of satisfaction at the end of the season the harvest shows the produce the harvest shows what will be brought in the yield of the land Jesus unpacked this idea with a parable of silver didn't he said that some fields are more prosperous more fruitful than others some yield 10 some 30 some 100 fold but he also said there are places of the heart that aren't even fertile ground yes he said that some some hearts can be like stony ground where there's no depth of dirt to allow righteousness to root at all some ground is just hard ground paved ground perhaps even where seed cannot find any hope of germination and fruitfulness some is ends up on the road of the walking path and gets trampled let our hearts not be that way my God have mercy on us and allow us to have hearts that are fertile soil for his seed and what happens with the fertile soil even here in Florida there are weeds that come up and that brings us sometimes to despair we go God I'm I'm trying here and nothing but weeds in my fertile soil I'm trying what does Jesus say about that as well he says God will reap everything at the end of the season and he will separate the weeds from the produce he does not tell us you will be saved if you produce 30 fold it's not not a question of the amount of fruit it's a question of is your heart fertile soil for his word he will determine the yield of the crop that's not up to us and even if there's weeds I want to tell you don't despair he's not going to pull up the weeds and the good and throw it all out he will know how to separate one from the other even when we cannot so we want to sow righteousness we want to reap steadfast love but finally we're commanded to break fallow ground what does this mean this is hope for the future this is new prospect this is new growth for God's kingdom and it's a command to find new places where the good news of God's kingdom can can take root both individually in our in our own hearts and corporately in our community and so we ask you as individuals as as men women as young people what's admit that as we draw near to God what happens he is light his commandments are pure and just and as we come into that light what happens to us we begin to see some of the dark recesses of our own soul don't we John Jesus says this to people in John 3 he says men love darkness rather than light why because their deeds are evil and light exposes those things and here's the here's the the ironic the paradoxical thing with faith as we draw closer to that light even as we're being made more holy the closer we get to the light what happens we see more of those little things about us and so it might even seem that as we're going forward we're really going backward this is the this is the tough thing of the journey of faith the closer we get to God the more we see his beauty and the more we recognize our unworthiness but that's as it should be because then we trust more and more and rely more heavily upon him rather than upon ourselves J. A. Packer has a book came out some years ago rediscovering holiness and he says that as we draw near to this intense holiness there's a reflex reaction to see ourselves more clearly and then he lists a pretty tough list of those things that get revealed and and as I read this list I want you to think about you because it's very easy to kind of start nudging something next year these are things that God reveals to me and to you individually through the lights of his commandments he reveals stubborn habits of sin he reveals chronic patterns of moral evasion weakness of character cravings that can be vicious attitudes that are arrogant inclinations to self pity and self indulgence built in protectiveness because of past hurt moral quirks due to scars of abuse or layers of deep fear that is quite a list that gets pretty personal what are we to do with this when we see ourselves in this light the distance between perfection and performance seems to increase we say with Paul and Roman 7 a wretched man that I am somebody saved me from this body of death but indeed that is the good news of the gospel isn't it that Jesus does save those who come to an end of themselves and trust in him he does save what are some areas in your own heart that God wants to break new ground in sometimes we don't want to go there changes scary we like the status quo this is a command this is command to break fellow ground find new ground for God's kingdom to take root in your own soul seek ways through his grace his spirit can work in you be willing to allow his spirit to break up new ground in you and trusting him to bring in the produce that's what we're called to do as individuals what about corporately as a church interestingly and I think consistent with everything Jim has been saying for a long time every one of these commands is in the plural it's all y'all all y'all so righteousness everybody reap everybody break up new ground and so what does that mean for us well in a very literal sense right we've got we've got drawings and pictures in the foyer of of new ground we want to break in a very real way to establish our expression of God's kingdom right here in old video through a building and through property that's very existential it's very structural it's brick and mortar yes that's all true but why we want to do that because we believe that God's kingdom wants to break new ground in hearts and souls of people who are lost right here in our midst in this town we've seen some of that in recent months here at covenant we're grateful to God for new faiths bringing up in lives and hearts we believe God has much much more to do in that regard and God can do much more than we can ever ask to imagine I've been reading a book this summer about the first 300 years of Presbyterian history and y'all are going oh well page turner right there you know I call it beach reading for pastors and theologians but it's really been pretty exciting stuff and yesterday I came across a story in 1869 Presbyterian missionary Sheldon Jackson was sent out by the church to the western territories he was given western Iowa Nebraska Montana the Dakota's Wyoming Idaho and Utah go get him Tiger plant churches and he planted almost 100 churches in 10 years in towns that were overrun by frontier debauchery and sin God can do amazing things through willing service he took a couple years off and then he went to Alaska and did more started more churches and more schools up there God can do amazing things through willing service what about us here we want to have a representation of that kingdom here we want to see God break new hearts to be one for him we want to see him do amazing things we do things internationally there's a few of us going to Mexico this week we're in the past 10 years not 100 churches but three churches have been started through our help and with our partnership and through God's grace and we're going to keep that partnership going with Victor Cruz and the church in Kuwait, Mexico Jim and Carol Jim Fitzgerald are doing tremendous work around the world especially in Central Africa East Africa strengthening churches we are sewing seeds people we have no idea what God's going to reap with this work we can do amazing things ask him where he wants you to break new ground trust him to bring in the harvest let me conclude with this we've been talking about the Ten Commandments there in Exodus 20 but they're also in Deuteronomy 5 and for about five chapters after the Ten Commandments Deuteronomy 5 there's a whole bunch of what we call the big laws the grand laws of God and then there's another 12 or 18 chapters of small laws and threats of judgment and everything else right toward the end of those big laws in chapter 10 of Deuteronomy God gives one more command that just should break our hearts because he says and I mentioned this last week he says cleanse your hearts literally he sings circumcise your heart remove the uncleanness of your heart we can't do that that's not something we can do we can't go into our soul and excise the darkness of that we're unable and that should drive us to our knees and say God have mercy on me I can't do this and then there's 18 more chapters of this and it's just like piling on but then what happens in chapter 30 in Deuteronomy God says I will cleanse your hearts and it uses the same terminology I will come in and circumcise your hearts so that you can love me that's good news what God requires he gives he says so righteousness and what happens in his verse break up fellow ground it's time to seek the Lord that he may reign righteousness upon you that which he requires of us he provides and he provides in a manner that we can never produce ourselves that is good news and he does that through Jesus Christ he does that through faith in him as we trust him we are commanded the New Testament to work on our salvation we're commanded the New Testament to make our calling and lecture sure but God is the one who saves us and he is the one who keeps us it's both end and that's good news it's not up to us we serve a God who is powerful and strong even when we are not so let us come to him let us feed upon him let us trust in him so that we may so righteousness so that we may reap steadfast love and so that we may break new fellow ground for his harvest let's pray