Pastors Message July 13th 2025

It is Within You

 

A lawyer stood up to try and test Jesus. “Teacher,” they said, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” It is a pretty common question for someone of Jesus’ position. Many people asked prophets this type of question all the time. Many of us ask this type of question all the time. “What does God want from me?” or “How do I know I’m on the right path?” or simply “Am I doing enough?”

These aren’t new questions. We asked these same sort of questions last week. What does God require of me? Do I need to do these big extravagant acts of faith? Or by simply living am I doing enough? This is an ancient line of questioning, echoing through the centuries, even back to the time of Moses. Which makes the scriptures from today so powerful. Because even Moses, when speaking to the people of Israel as they prepared to enter the Promised Land, addresses this anxiety.

And in this address, Moses says something pretty astounding to his people. When they are asking, where is God, what does God want from me, how will I know? He says to them, “The word is very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart for you to observe.”

It’s not far, not hidden, not locked away in the heavens or buried beneath the sands. It’s not something only for the experts of the laws or the saints. The Word (capital W and otherwise) is already within you, already a part of you, in your mouth and your heart.

We’ve spoken about the Divine within a little bit before and today we are going to reflect a little bit more on this deep truth. What does this mean? How do we live with this fact? And more importantly, how do we trust in it enough to act upon it?

In Deuteronomy 30, Moses is nearing the end of his life. In this time, like he has been for many years, he’s preparing the people to cross into a new season of life. A new land, a new challenge, a new experience. And in this preparation, he is trying to encourage his people about what they need to do in order to live in prosperity and survive the rest of the journey to the Promised Land. And in doing so, he tells his people, don’t worry though, “this commandment that I am commanding you today is not too hard for you, nor is it too far away,” You’ve got this! Moses says. Now coming from someone such as Moses, this is a pretty grace-filled statement. Most of us imagine that following God is a kind of spiritual obstacle course. If we just run harder, climb higher, pray more, or do everything just right, then just maybe we will earn God’s approval or sense God’s presence.

That’s what we talked about last week and I’m sure that’s what the people assumed after making this huge journey across the desert. But Moses shatters this illusion. It’s not far he says. Its not hidden. Although we’ve come so far and have far to go, it’s already within your reach. He says, “It is not in heaven…it is not beyond the sea…the word is very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart for you to observe.”

And this isn’t some sort of abstract theology from a prophet nearing the end of his life. When he says it’s for you to observe, he means quite literally it’s for you to live, to embody, to enact. The Word of God is not merely to be studied and reflected on but instead to be expressed. And the radical message that Moses is telling his people and us is that we already have it. We already do it. It’s not somewhere else. It’s not some future version of us. It’s not something we have after we get our life together. It’s already here, now, within us.

Now, I don’t know about you, but this is something I need to hear in my life. Especially when it feels as though I’m crossing a desert of my own. However, sticking to the scripture, we fast forward centuries later. The Word becomes flesh and we have the person that is Jesus. And we have our religious law person, someone who knows the scripture, who knows the words of Moses by heart, asking Jesus, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”

A common question and Jesus answered as he commonly does as well. “What does it say in the law?” You know the text, what does it say? And the lawyer answers, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart…and your neighbor as yourself.” This is the right answer Jesus says, do this and you will live. That’s not good enough for this lawyer though. And truth be told, that’s not good enough for many of us. We want clarity, we want boundaries, a left and right limit, we want some control in this decision. So we ask, just like this lawyer, well “who is my neighbor?” In other words, well what do you mean? How far does this love go? Where is the line? There HAS to be a line somewhere right? Who can I ignore in this neighbor business?

And in Jesus’ answer, he gives a story. Quite possibly one of my favorite stories from Jesus. A man, he says, goes down from Jerusalem to Jericho. In this journey, he’s attacked, robbed, beaten, and left for dead. Now as he’s lying there, a priest comes by, and then a Levite. Two religious men, thank goodness! Two people we would expect to help. But they just pass on by, going to the other side of the road even! Then comes a Samaritan, a cultural and religious outsider, someone Jesus’ listeners would least expect to be the hero. But this Samaritan sees the beaten man, he stops, bends down, and touches his wounds. Gives him some bandages, lifts him up, carries him to an inn, pays for his care and promises even more. This Samaritan does the work. This Samaritan lives the word. He doesn’t just know it like the priest and Levite. He doesn’t recite Scripture at the broken man. He simply embodies mercy.

And in doing so, he shows us what Moses meant when he said, the word isn’t far away. It’s not just in the holy texts. It’s not trapped within rituals. It’s in your heart, in your mouth, and in your hands. It’s the way you see and how you respond to this world. Now Jesus turns back to the lawyer and asks him, “Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor?” And the lawyer answers, “The one who showed mercy.”

It seems like a simple answer. It’s a simple story. One that the man of the law definitely knew, one that all of us know already. Yet we live in a world that is overwhelmed almost by information and utterly starved of transformation. We know what the Bible says, we can look up every single verse in seconds, listen to thousands of sermons, hear podcasts or seminars – yet we can still miss the point like that priest and Levite. And that’s why the concept of the word within you is so powerful. It’s not just a code of conduct to read and obey. It’s something that God has planted so deep within us that we need to allow it to reshape us from the inside out. God has planted something holy within us. God’s image, God’s love, God’s breath, God’s Spirit. It speaks to our hearts, it nudges our conscience, moves our hands and feet. It cries out for love. You don’t need to become someone else first. You don’t need to attain a certain status or make this long journey of discovery. You don’t need to be perfect. You simply need to trust the Word that God has already planted in you – and act on it.

But, but, but… what about this? What about that? What about when I don’t feel it? What if I don’t hear God’s voice? What about when my heart feels dry, worn out or distant? Trust me, I get it. There are many times in our lives when the Word feels buried. But even then, it’s still there. God doesn’t withdraw their presence just because of our circumstances. Yes, sometimes we don’t listen as well as we should. We’re too distracted, too afraid, too tired or simply too cynical. However, the Word doesn’t leave us. God doesn’t flee from our predicaments. The Word is near to you, within you, not because we’ve earned it from our accomplishments and acts but because God’s grace has placed it there. And that’s the beauty of it all. You are already closer to God than you realize. You know more than you think. You carry the image of God within you. You already have the capacity to love like the Samaritan. Not based on your predicament or the situation you find yourself in from day to day but because of God’s indwelling presence.

So then, how do we live out this Word in our lives? First, we must allow the Word to rise up to our mouths. Don’t let it dwell deep within us never to see the light of day. Speak truth, speak love, speak encouragement. It doesn’t need to be grand. It could be a simple story such as Jesus shared many times. All the Word from your mouth means is that your speech reflects the grace placed within you. What we say reveals what we carry within us.

Therefore, we must also allow the Word to settle on our hearts. We must allow the Word to shape our values and desires. Spend time focusing on the within. Dwell within God’s presence and witness the Word within you. Let it transform you. And then finally, let the Word move your feet. The Samaritan didn’t just feel and speak compassion. He acted. He got down off his animal and got involved. Because that’s what the Word within us wants to do – it wants to move us toward the pain and suffering of others. Not away from it.

It's not a lot. There aren’t many rules to the Word within. There aren’t many instructions on how to live it out within our lives. So therefore, I end this message with the words Jesus used to end his message, “Go and do likewise.” You already have the answers, you already know what to do. The Word is not far off. It is in your mouth. It is in your heart. For you to observe. For you to live. When we stop waiting for a more perfect moment, when we stop imagining we’re too far from God, when we stop using religion to avoid people instead of love them…then we are finally free to go and do likewise. To love our neighbor, to bandage wounds, to cross boundaries, to let compassion inconvenience us. And in doing that, in that mercy, we find the answer to what we’ve been asking all along, what must I do to truly live? Let the Word that is already within you come alive. And love – deeply, bravely, and now. Ame