What Would Moses Do? – an intergenerational ministry devotion

By Mike Wardrop
Intergenerational Discipleship Developer

Posted May 11, 2016 in Faith

In Deuteronomy 6:4-9, Moses delivers a powerful message to the discipleship of families in Israel – Shema, Great Commandment, Generational Directive. Intergenerational Discipleship Developer Mike Wardrop reflects on these ideas in this devotion aimed at intergenerational ministry leaders.

 

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. – Deuteronomy 6:4-9

 

The order – Shema, Great Commandment, Generational Directive – stands out powerfully in this passage.

 

Shema

The Shema encapsulates the “monotheistic essence” of Judaism, and Christianity. 

It is the centrepiece of the Jewish morning and evening prayers.

This first line is the call to worship for Israel:

“Shama Israel, Jehovah Elohim, Jehovah echad.” / “Hear O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.”

So the purpose of the Shema is as an essential prayer. It is a call to worship, to simply worship God as God.

Where does this progress? The Great Commandment

We are reminded of what Jesus taught in Matthew 22:35-40.

We are taught what that worship looks like: LOVE

An adapted translation might be to say: Love with our inner selves, love with our very substance, love with the mightiest force we can muster. 

This is why we hear Paul in Romans 12:1 telling us to offer ourselves as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is our spiritual act of worship. It is a full-throated echo of Deuteronomy 6:5. It is the truest form our worship takes.

 

Generational Directive

Moses instructs us in who we are to live out our worship to. It is to those with whom we live in community.

• We (Israel) are told to impress them on our children. Our family receive the highest priority – impressing them leaves a discernible mark.
• We are told to talk about God's commandments when we're at home (and away), lying down (standing up)...we get the picture that God wants us to be immersed in His ways.
• We are told to tie them to us – on our hands and foreheads. Visibly, physically, viscerally standing for God.
• We are told to write them on those things we most value – our gates, our homes, our doorframes. Reminiscent of the blood of the Passover lamb, worship of God is to be the saving grace of Israel.

Now living in the light of the saving act of Jesus, we live out these commandments – not out of necessity or righteousness, but out of love. But these verses continue to define us.

So out of worship for God, we are sent on mission and we are told to pass on to the next generation all that we know of worship and all that we do in mission.

I feel deeply privileged to serve alongside workers in children, youth and young adult ministry as we ask how we can pass on a living faith in Jesus Christ, the fulfiller of the old covenant, to the next generation.

This devotion was written for the new Intergen News, which delivers information on intergenerational ministry and the Uniting Church SA Intergen Team in an email newsletter sent once each school term. For more information or to subscribe to Intergen News, please email Turn on Javascript! 

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