“A Servant to the End”

Deuteronomy 34:1-12

October 23, 2005

How do you want people to remember you? How would you want them to describe you? What words would you want them to use? How would you want them to remember your life story? What would you want the final chapter of your life to say about you? All of us have hopes and dreams about the legacy we will leave behind after we are gone. All of us when we standing in front of death’s door want to be able to say that we have made an difference in the world, that we have, some how and in some way, impacted and influenced others in such a way that they are better off for it. We want to be able to lift our head high with a sense of peace and comfort in knowing that we have given all that we have, that we have fought the good fight, finished the race, and kept the faith. We want to be able to say without question that our work is done and we are ready having succeeded in our life’s purpose and mission.

Our text for this morning is more than just the final chapter of Deuteronomy; it is also the final chapter in the life of Moses, one of the greatest, if not the greatest, leaders of ancient Israel. It is a final tribute to the one person who made his people become God’s people. More than Abraham or Jacob, it was Moses who almost single handedly took a group of self-willed, stiff-necked people, loosely knit together by religion and blood, and molded them into a nation.

It was Moses who stood as the representative of Yahweh before Israel’s enemies and demanded deliverance. It was Moses who took this ragtag band of people and led them across the Red Sea into safety. It was Moses who led his people through the wilderness, who taught them the word of the Lord, who rebuked them, and challenged them, and encouraged them, and guided them toward the Promised Land. It was Moses who acted with courage in the face of great danger, who acted with great trust and faithfulness, carrying out Yahweh’s will for his life and the life of Israel. It was Moses who not only modeled for the people what it meant to be a servant of the Lord, but who also embodied in his life what it meant to be in relationship with the Almighty God. And as our text says, it was Moses who was unequaled for all the signs and wonders that the Lord sent him to perform in the land of Egypt, and for all the mighty deeds and all the terrifying displays of power.

Yet, this final chapter, this final tribute in the life of Moses ends on a peculiar note. For all that Moses was to the people of Israel, for all that he did as a servant of the Lord, he was not permitted to go into the Land of Promise. For all of his hopes and dreams, Moses is left to stand on Mount Nebo with the Promised Land in sight. For all of his successes and struggles, for all of his determination and self-doubt, for all that he gave and received, in the end he could only gaze upon the final destination of his journey from the wrong side of the Jordan.

To be so close to our life’s purpose and mission and to never accomplish it, to be so close to our final destination, that which we have struggled and worked so hard for, but to never be able to complete the journey, would leave all of us with a deep sense of loss and regret. If there ever was a person who deserved to go into the Promised Land, it was Moses. If ever there was a time to say, “life isn’t fair,” this would be it. Moses death seems to be a tragic end to a great life story, a life cut short of the goal toward which it has always been directed, a life that now seems to have no meaning.

An ending like this seems to be more like an ending from the work of Shakespeare rather than the Bible. Even Job got back all that he had lost and more. In our love for happy endings this story ends like a bad dream. The hero does not ride off into the sunset. The frog does not become a prince. The prince does not marry the princess. There is no rejoicing and singing in the streets. There is no living happily ever after. There is only lose, and regret, and disappointment. …Or is there?

The greatness of Moses comes not just from his noble character nor just from his astonishing achievements, but in the fact that he knew that we would never enter the Land of Promise but went anyway! At least three times in Deuteronomy, Moses is told by God that he will not enter the Promised Land, but Moses does not stop being faithful and obedient. He continues to lead his people, teaching them and instructing them and preparing them for living a life with and for God. He continues to be God’s servant, he continues to be completely dedicated to Yahweh and to his people, and he continues to put Yahweh’s will above his own. Even in knowing the outcome of his journey, Moses put his faith and trust in the presence and promises of God. He saw in Yahweh that which was greater than himself, a divine plan and purpose at work that only included him, but was not about him, a divine presence that would continue after he was gone, and a divine promise that would always point beyond the land to the ongoing offering of blessing and the way to it.

As Moses stood on Mount Nebo, he could look over the Land of Promise, not with a sense of disappointment or regret, but with a sense of hope and accomplishment. He could look out over the land knowing that his work was truly done, that he had fulfilled God’s purpose and mission for his life, and that he had given it his all in seeing to it that God’s people were ready to be God’s people.

The people of God no longer needed Moses. They have the word of the Lord that will be their guide in the land God has promised. They no longer need to be led by a great authority figure, because they will be led by the living God who will be present in the midst of them in God’s living word, the Torah. It would be the Torah that would open up the promises of God, explain the intentions of God, lay out the way for God’s people, and show God’s people what it means to live in relationship with the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and now Moses, the God of their ancestors and descendants, the God who was, is, and will forever always be, “I AM.”

Like Moses, we are always standing looking out over the Promised Land, for the Promised Land is always that which is before us, never behind us. It is always that which looks out into the future at what can be and will be. It is always the path before us that stretches out as far as the eyes can see, the ongoing journey of faithfulness and obedience upon which we are called to walk, but whose final destination we know we will probably not see in our lifetime.

Will you be remembered as having stood upon the mountain with a sense of loss and disappointment and regret having always thought about what you should have done or not done, said or not said? Or will you be remembered as having stood upon the mountain as one having led God’s people, teaching them and instructing them and preparing them for living a life with and for God? Will you be remembered above all else as a servant of the Lord, whose work was truly done, having fulfilled God’s purpose and mission for your life, having given it your all in seeing to it that God’s people were ready to be God’s people?

This last chapter of Deuteronomy is also the last chapter of the Torah, but this is not the end of their journey, it is the beginning. With the death of Moses, Israel finds itself at a turning point in the journey of faith. They have been delivered from slavery, led and directed to the boundary of the Promised Land, and now they find themselves on the bank of the Jordan ready to receive all that they and those who had gone before them had hoped for. There will be no looking back from this point on for their story will continue to unfold and be told by those coming after them in the pages of the Old Testament. Just as our story will continue to unfold and be told by those coming after us.

But, what story will they tell? How will we be remembered? What legacy will we leave behind for the coming generations? Will they be ready to meet the challenges of the day? Will they be ready to live out their faith and witness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ having been taught, and instructed, and prepared as Christ’s disciples by us? Will they be ready to be led by the living word of God in Jesus Christ into the Promised Land that is before them? Will they remember us as having been a servant of the Lord to the end?

Of all the things said about Moses in this last chapter of his life, the greatest one is not the length of his life, or his unimpaired sight, or his vigor. It is not that he was unequaled for all the signs and wonders that the Lord sent him to perform or the mighty deeds and displays of power that he performed. The greatest tribute given about Moses is that he was a servant of the Lord. He would need no grave nor tomb for the faithful to gather to preserve his memory, for his life and work would be engraved upon the hearts and minds of countless generations after him as an enduring testimony to the God who calls ordinary people for an extraordinary and divine purpose. Amen.