Worship: Open or Closed? What is Your Access Code? Deuteronomy 23:1-8
“The Covenant: Access to the Assembly of the Lord” Deuteronomy 23:1-8
(a sermon preached by nathan lewis at Evergreen Church in Beaverton, Oregon, August 13, 2006)
In 1970 The Five Man Electrical Band sang:
Sign Sign everywhere a sign
Blocking out the scenery breaking my mind
Do this, don’t do that, can’t you read the sign
And the sign said long haired freaky people need not apply
So I tucked my hair up under my hat and I went in to ask him why
He said you look like a fine upstanding young man, I think you’ll do
So I took off my hat I said imagine that, huh, me working for you
woah!
Sign Sign everywhere a sign
Blocking out the scenery breaking my mind
Do this, don’t do that, can’t you read the sign
And the sign said anybody caught trespassing would be shot on sight
So I jumped on the fence and yelled at the house, Hey! what gives you the right
To put up a fence to keep me out or to keep mother nature in
If God was here, he’d tell you to your face, man you’re some kinda sinner
Sign Sign everywhere a sign
Blocking out the scenery breaking my mind
Do this, don’t do that, can’t you read the sign
Now, hey you Mister! can’t you read, you got to have a shirt and tie to get a seat
You can’t even watch, no you can’t eat, you ain’t suppose to be here
Sign said you got to have a membership card to get inside Uh!
Sign Sign everywhere a sign
Blocking out the scenery breaking my mind
Do this, don’t do that, can’t you read the sign
And the sign said everybody welcome, come in, kneel down and pray
But when they passed around the plate at the end of it all,
I didn’t have a penny to pay, so I got me a pen and a paper and I made up my own little sign
I said thank you Lord for thinking about me, I’m alive and doing fine
What do you think should be the rules for access into the church? Do you find, at first glance, these laws in Deuteronomy 23 to be strange access codes? Continue reading »
