What’s going to happen to us when you’re gone? What’s going to happen to us when you’re gone? This was the refrain sung by Westwood High School teachers in the spring of 1992 when Norman Sansom announced his upcoming retirement. Mr. Sansom had been the principal since Westwood opened 11 years earlier. He had hired each and every one of us who taught there. Low-key, he easily formed relationships with the staff, students, parents, and people from the community. A former coach, he emphasized teamwork. Norman was respected and loved by the faculty. What’s going to happen to us when you’re gone? Does it sound like we were anxious, maybe even a little fearful? Well, we were.
What’s going to happen to us when you’re gone? That’s the question lurking behind the book of Deuteronomy. That’s the question Moses addresses in his farewell speech—all 33 chapters of it. Forty years before, Moses had led Jacob’s descendants out of slavery in Egypt and into freedom. Moses brought them to the same mountain where he had first encountered God in the burning bush. There, at Mt. Sinai God promised them: 5 . . . If you obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession out of all the peoples. . . .6 . . . you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation.[1] There God provided the 10 commandments —the foundation for faithful living—living faithfully to God and living faithfully with one another. From Mt. Sinai, Moses had led the people to the Jordan River and prepared them to cross over into the land promised by God. But fearing the land’s inhabitants and displaying what would become their characteristic lack of trust in God, the people refused to cross the Jordan River and take possession of the land. So, for the next 40 years, they had wandered in the Sinai wilderness until the last of that generation died. The people Moses addresses in today’s text are the 2nd and 3rd generations of the Exodus—those who were born and grew to adulthood in the wilderness. They have known no other life but this nomadic life. They have known no other leader but Moses. And now, he has come to the end of his years.
What’s is going to happen to us when you are gone, Moses? To answer, he summarizes the last 40 years—retelling the story of the flight from Egypt, reviewing the 10 commandments, and reminding the people of God’s provision and promise. Yet they are still fearful. In the chapter and verses immediately preceding our text, Moses reminds the people of how through judges in each family group and through priests like Aaron, God has provided them with legal and worship leadership. In answer to the people’s continued refrain, “What’s going to happen to us when you are gone? Moses assures them that God will raise up prophets from among them. Not seers who tell the future—but faithful listeners who speak God’s word to the people. Prophets who will call the people back to God when they forget to whom they belong. Prophets who will refocus the people’s vision on the mission God calls them into. God will provide for the visionary leadership of the people just as God will provide for their legal, political, and worship leadership.
The book of Deuteronomy is a reminder to listeners throughout the ages of God’s provision for and promise to his people. Recalling God’s presence with them throughout their wilderness wanderings, Moses encourages his audience to embrace a hopeful future there at the edge of the promised land. Six hundred fifty years later—at the time of King Josiah, this book was discovered during a temple remodel project. Hearing the history and the law as if for the 1st time, King Josiah, the priests, and the people re-dedicate themselves to the God who had promised to make their ancestors and thus them his treasured people. One hundred forty years after King Josiah, the Jews exiled in Babylon encounter the book of Deuteronomy. Listening to the words of Moses, they find hope for their own reconciliation with God. Reminded of God’s faithful provision of manna and water in the wilderness, of God’s promise of homes and land in Canaan, and of God’s direction for leaders in Israel to come, they find hope for their own return to Jerusalem. The book of Deuteronomy reminds us who we are and whose we are. We are God’s treasured people—set apart by God to do his work. Deuteronomy encourages us to reflect on our past—the past God has guided us through. And it invites us to look to our future—the hopeful future God has planned for us, a future in which we continue to live and work for our God.
Reflecting on the past and looking to the future . . . hmm . . . In the past, who has God called as prophets in this congregation? Sharing your stories with me, several of you talked about Miss Berenice Boyd Wallace. In 1937, she was asked to teach the junior high Sunday school class—which she did until 1962.
Listening to your recollections of Miss Berenice and of your experiences in her class, and reading her own written recollection of that time, I concluded she was a prophet, raised up by God to speak God’s word—to her students and through them generations to come. For you see Miss Berenice did not just come to church on Sunday morning and teach a lesson from her leader’s guide. Instead, she put together a Bible study which was developmentally and intellectually appropriate for her particular students here.
Recognizing that our faith is deepened through worship, Miss Berenice led herclass using elements of worship, and she arranged the space in which they met to look like a worship space.
Miss Berenice also connected what her students learned in the Bible with how they were called to live their lives. She gave them opportunities to serve and she shared with them a pledge to guide their daily lives:
I pledge to do for others such work as Jesus would do if he were here in person. Anything, however simple, that brightens even an hour of another’s life; that relieves pain or poverty, or sickness or distress; that makes the world a happier place to live in; that teaches others to know more; and especially to love more. That is my pledge.
Miss Berenice was a prophet. She spoke and acted on God’s word—how important it is to develop our faith and to deepen our discipleship.
About the same time Miss Berenice handed over the junior high Sunday School class to a new generation of teachers—a generation she had prepared—God raised up another prophet in this church. Actually it was a group of 5 people speaking as 1 prophetic voice. 5 women in our Presbyterian Women’s group began to wonder about people in this community who needed clothes but who could not afford to buy them. Realizing they shared a common concern, these 5 came together. Having no local model to emulate, they consulted a Presbyterian Women’s group in Lawrence which had successfully begun a Thrift Shop. Modifying their ideas and practices, this group of 5—with the support of the PW leadership—presented their thrift shop idea to the Session. Patiently the 5 listened to and addressed concerns that were expressed. And there were concerns expressed—selling in the church building? people we don’t know, people we don’t know anything about—wandering in our space? This group of 5—these prophets—spoke God’s word calling this church to a new mission. Then they prayed and waited for God to make the way clear. Over 40 years later, this mission continues. During these 40 years, not only has our PW Thrift Shop provided clothes to people in this community and this county, but it has also provided funds with which other missions in Paola, in Heartland Presbytery, in the United States, and in the world have benefited.
Reflecting on our church’s past, we see God indeed raised up prophets to speak God’s word and to offer visionary leadership. From this perspective, we look for the prophets God will raise up in this generation. Through them God will speak a word about reclaiming our rich tradition of faith development through Bible study and worship. Through them God will speak a word about deepening our discipleship through mission.
Unlike the people Moses addressed, unlike the teachers at Westwood High School, we need not be anxious or fearful crying out “What’s going to happen to us?” Reflecting on our church’s past, we see God’s provision in every generation. God has a good track record. So let us move forward into 2012—prayerfully listening for God’s word— confident that He will raise up prophets from among us—and courageously and faithfully stepping out to do God’s will.
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