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\u201cBe very strong; be careful to obey all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, without turning aside to the right or to the left.\u201d (Joshua 23:6)

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As I listened in to our devotion from yesterday, two things came to mind.\xa0 The invitation to remember, and the invitation keep the balance between work and grace.\xa0 Both of these are themes that flow throughout the biblical narrative.\xa0

The word remember shows up over 200 times in our bibles, and the allusion to memories, stories, and the ancient paths occur many times more. \xa0Our verse from today comes at the end of Joshua\u2019s life and ministry where he calls the Israelites together to remember everything that the Lord has done for them and to remember also the law and covenant they have promised to keep.

And as we enter into the New Testament, we find Jesus calling the church to the same.\xa0 Whenever you eat the bread or drink the cup, he says, \u201cdo this in remembrance of me.\u201d\xa0 And again: \u201cthe Holy Spirit\u2026 will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.\u201d

So, remembering is necessary. \xa0But at the same time, memory alone is not sufficient.\xa0 We also have to live this law, this story, and this identity that God has both given and reminded us of.\xa0 For that, we need to walk with balance.\xa0 We must \u201cturn neither to the right nor to the left,\u201d but rather keep to the wise middle of covenantal obedience.\xa0 This theme also runs throughout the Bible.\xa0

In the wisdom book of Ecclesiastes we find these words:

Do not be overrighteous, neither be overwise\u2014why destroy yourself?
Do not be overwicked, and do not be a fool\u2014why die before your time?
It is good to grasp the one and not let go of the other. Whoever fears God will avoid all extremes. (Ecclesiastes 7:16-18)

In the New Testament we find this same tension held in balance with word pairs like \u201claw and grace,\u201d \u201cgrace and truth,\u201d \u201cfaith and works.\u201d\xa0 Jesus\u2019 own incarnation keeps this balance perfectly between divine perfection and human limitation.\xa0 It is his example we are called to imitate, his way in which we are called to walk.\xa0 As we find male and female, Jew and Gentile, slave and free all reconciled together in Him.

In days of much polarization in society between those on the right and on the left: perhaps the church, remembering and following its Lord, is called neither to the right, nor to the left, but simply to hold the tension-laden space of the middle.\xa0 This middle space is a place where all the extremes still exist in all their colour and vitality, but rather than tearing each other apart in a zero-sum game: in the Christian middle, these extremes are reconciled together in Christ.\xa0

I think of this particularly in light of the human sexuality conversation happening in the churches across the Western world, including our own.\xa0 In a recent Banner article online, a CRC pastor who sits on one of the extremes in this conversation was quoted as saying: \u201cSynod needs to make a decision, \u2018all in\u2019 on one side or the other. Trying to make everyone happy has not worked. One side is in serious error. If we try to make everyone happy, no one will be happy.\u201d\xa0

It makes me wonder: is holding the tension in the messy middle where no one is happy really such a bad thing?\xa0 That seems to me to be exactly the place where God is doing his best work of reconciling all the extremes together in Christ as we remember and believe, walking out the meaning of His cross in confession, forgiveness, and loving one another well when it really counts.

This middle place is the place where grace and truth walk together.\xa0 Where justice and peace kiss.\xa0 Where we find the Jesus life by walking out the Jesus truth through the narrow middle of the Jesus way.\xa0 It is indeed good to grasp the one without letting go of the other as we seek to walk faithfully, turning neither to the right nor to the left.

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