The reading
Exodus 19:3-7; 20:1-17
19:3 Then Moses went up to God; the Lord called to him from
the mountain, saying, "Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell
the Israelites: 4 You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you
on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now therefore, if you obey my
voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession out of all the
peoples. Indeed, the whole earth is mine, 6 but you shall be for me a priestly
kingdom and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the
Israelites." 7 So Moses came, summoned the elders of the people, and set
before them all these words that the Lord had commanded him.
20:1 Then God spoke all these words: 2 I am the Lord your
God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; 3
you shall have no other gods before me. 4 You shall not make for yourself an
idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on
the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow
down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God,
punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth
generation of those who reject me, 6 but showing steadfast love to the
thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments. 7 You
shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will
not acquit anyone who misuses his name. 8 Remember the sabbath day, and keep it
holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work. 10 But the seventh day
is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or
your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident
in your towns. 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and
all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the
sabbath day and consecrated it. 12 Honor your father and your mother, so that
your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. 13 You
shall not murder. 14 You shall not commit adultery. 15 You shall not steal. 16
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. 17 You shall not covet
your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or male or
female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.
The message
Over the past Summer, we spent 4 weeks with a series on the
10 commandments. It was one of several series including weeks on Stewardship
and 1st John. Today is a little different. We are hearing the
commandments in their proper place, in context, in the story of God’s
revelation to the world with a message of love, forgiveness, faithfulness,
promise keeping and welcome. During the
Summer, the 10 commandments were isolated from their original context. Today, we see where they fit into the
narrative of God’s love for all people.
The 10 commandments are given to Moses to be shared with the people of
Israel. They had just escaped slavery in Egypt through God’s supernatural
interference with the laws of nature and society. A man who stutters and
refuses to obey God’s instructions becomes the hero, a group of beaten down,
hopeless slaves with few weapons defeat the Egyptian empire, fire and hail come
down from the sky like rain, plagues of locusts and frogs appear suddenly and
unseasonably, an entire sea is parted so the people could walk through like it
was a highway, a group of people who consistently fail to keep their promises,
a group of sinners who look for help in all places but God, receive forgiveness
and blessing.
To this group that had just seen the plagues, walked through
the sea, watched the Lord devastate the mighty Egypt and was slowly remembering
God’s promises to their fathers, Abraham, Issac and Jacob, to them, God gives
the 10 commandments. God has to give
them twice. The first time Moses goes up
to the mountain top, the people are scared, they are stranded in the wilderness,
apart from anything they knew and anxious.
All they could do was trust in God and they were not very good at doing
that. While Moses is gone, the people complain bitterly, convince themselves
that they have been abandoned and talk Aaron into constructing a golden calf
that the people celebrate, worship and give credit to for rescuing them from
Egypt. For this, the community is punished severely and Moses smashes the first
set of the commandments. Moses great return to the people with the
commandments, an event that was expected to be a celebrated triumph, turns out
to be a very bad day.
We can think of the 10 commandments in different ways, as a
set of rules, a code of living for an ancient, chaotic and wandering community,
a constant reminder of what God has done and what God could do, God’s
organizing principles for human society good in any time or place or as Luther
interpreted them, a way that God exposes sin and drives us to God’s grace. We can think of the 10 commandments as
promises as well. Promises that we make to God and promises that we make to
each other.
We have already heard several important promises as we start
our long Advent, our wait for Christmas, the time when the word of God is made
flesh and dwells amongst us. We have
heard God’s promises to Noah, to save his family from the flood, and to never
again send a flood to destroy all life (a promise marked by the Rainbow). We heard God’s promises to Abram, later
Abraham, that he would be a blessing to others and the father of a great
nation, with their own land. We heard the promises to Moses, that he would set
the people of Israel free from slavery in Egypt, that God would walk with him,
allowing, empowering him to do the impossible again and again. We have seen
these promises go from one sided and unconditional to conditional, with God and
people both making commitments. The first promises to Noah and Abram, have no
conditions, there is no part that people have to do, these blessings are given
as gift. Over time, because of sin, the
promises become conditional, I will be you God becomes If you keep my covenant,
I will be your God, You will be my holy
people becomes “if you obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my
treasured possession out of all the peoples.
At the time, just power and grace was not enough to shape a community
and keep sin out. People had to work at it.
Our promises in the 10 commandments, our part of the
covenant can be divided into two, promises that we make to God and promises
that we make to each other, the people we live life around. The first 4 are about our relationship with
God. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of
the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery you shall have no other gods
before me.
You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form
of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that
is in the water under the earth. You shall not make wrongful use of the name of
the Lord your God Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy. Six days you shall
labor and do all your work. But the
seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work These
4 govern or guide our relationship with God. They say, show and give us ways to
remember God is all powerful, active and listening. In keeping these 4 rules, we remember what
God has done. Words and times, the name
of God and the Sabbath are set aside as holy, gifts given to keep people
faithful, keep God in the center of the community and individual. Each Sabbath,
as you rest, you will think of why. People have done a bad job with that
without the Sabbath,
The last 6 commandments are about our relationships with
each other. Honor your father and your mother, You shall not murder. You shall
not commit adultery. You shall not
steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not
covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or male
or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor
The first 4 establish our relationship with God. To keep
them, we must know our place, We are beloved, beneath and cared for. The last 6 focus on our relationship with
each other. To keep them, we must see
each other as loved, as cared for by God, as sinners in need of grace. These are the promises that Jesus summarizes
as you shall love God above all others, and your neighbor as yourself. Jesus also uses the law to establish
relationships, we are beloved by God, given great gifts and entrusted to both
trust and share them, Knowing that we would obey, honor God, avoid idols, we
are all sinners, law breakers in need of grace. Knowing that, we would not lie,
cheat, abuse or dishonor.
For us today, keeping God’s law does not necessarily remind
us of the exodus, the escape from slavery in Egypt. We are reminded that God
keeps promises, we are reminded of God’s saving work through the death and resurrection
of Jesus, we are reminded of God’s action throughout history, interference with
the laws of the world and participation in our lives. The commandments are an
invitation to relationship to community, not necessarily a group that follows
rules but one built on people knowing God’s love.
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