Only Ten?
By Rev Steven R
Mitchell
Mountain View
United, Aurora, CO 10/5/2014
Based on Exodus
20:1-4, 7-9, 12-2
Last evening I was
reminded by a very nice young Jewish couple that it was Yom Kippur, the most
sacred day of the Jewish faith, as it is the Day of Atonement. Adding this past Monday’s massive hail storm
– I think it appropriate to reflect on the Ten Commandments. In recent polls of the American public," Gene Tucker observes,
"…only a small percentage of Christians can name more than four of the Ten
Commandments". Preaching through the Christian
If we
see the Ten Commandments as important guild lines to live by, the question should be asked: If we don't even know what they are, how
can we obey them? So, I
thought we should have a little quiz to see how we as a group can name all Ten
of the Commandments.
In the progression of the story of the
Hebrew people, we can recall how they are the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob. It was Joseph, the son of Jacob, the
one sold off into slavery by his brothers who actually was able to provide a
place of refuge and safety for his family as a great famine occurred. So, the descendants of Abraham found
themselves in the land of Egypt, living in security with a loose understanding
that this was blessed by the hand of God.
Then a few generations down the road, once there was no more memory of
Joseph by the Pharaoh, the Hebrews became enslaved by the Egyptians.
Through a man named Moses, God rescued
these slaves and guided them through unknown territory, providing protection
and food. Eventually they found
themselves at the foot of Mt Sinai. It was
there that Moses went up to meet with God and received these Ten Commandments. It must have been something to behold for
scripture says, “When all the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the sound of
the trumpet, and the mountain smoking, they were afraid and trembled and stood
at a distance....”
We as a society really dislike the idea
of having rules and regulations. We
often look to rules, contracts, and covenants as being restrictive, rather than
being a freeing agent. When we talk about
the concept of “discipline”, our first thoughts are generally in terms of
punitive actions; something that takes place when we step outside of a set
boundary. Yet discipline is needed in
order to active a given goal. For
example, if we wish to be able to read we have to become disciplined in the
alphabet and in the learning of words in order to be able to read. The same is true in our career choices. We need to become disciplined in the skills
that are needed in order to perform in the field we have chosen.
My eldest grandson wants to be an
aeronautical engineer. According to his
mother, he has yet to understand the need for the discipline of studying and
the value of having at least a 3.9 GPA, so he can become accepted into the
University of his Choosing. In fact, he often
resists the boundaries that his parents place on him. Boundaries that will help him to succeed in
his life’s goals. God in many ways is
like a parent. We are made in God’s
image; therefore, God knows that we operate best with boundaries. In order for us to live life to its best, we
need to understand what is best for us.
I believe that is what the Ten Commandments are intended to active. We as Christians are lucky Moses only brought
down ten from Mount Sinai. By the time
Jesus was ministering, there were 613 laws to live by; the majority of these
laws centered around worship in the Temple.
With the destruction of the Temple in 70 A.D., there are only 271 laws
that can be followed and acted upon for a devote Jew.
I suspect that most of us feel that we
follow the Ten Commandments or rather that we probably don’t really directly
violate them. This might be true. But I wonder if we were to examine our heart’s
and our actions more closely, would we truly find that we don’t violate these
specific laws that God gave to us?
For example: the first commandment tells
us who God is. It is God who brought us
up out of Egypt. “What do you mean brought me up out of Egypt? I’ve never stepped foot out of this country,
let alone visited Egypt.” Egypt has
become a metaphor for the meaning of “enslavement.” For folks who have gone through any kind of a
recovery program, they will tell you what being a slave to alcohol, sexual
abuse, or drug is all about, and how their “higher power” has helped bring them
out of that slavery; bringing them up out of Egypt.
The next commandment is to have no
idols. In our affluence as a nation, we
are confronted daily with idols. Walter Brueggemann writes powerfully of
these temptations: “We have always lived in a world of options, alterative
choices, and gods who make powerful, competing appeals. It does us no good to pretend that there are
no other offers of well-being, joy, and security. In pursuit of joy, we may choose philosophy,
in pursuit of security, we may choose military might; in pursuit of genuine
love, we may choose sex. Clearly these
choices are not Yahweh’s. These are not
gods who have ever brought an Exodus or offered a covenant.” UCC Sermon Seeds,
Oct 2, 2011
We are told to
remember the Sabbath day. This is a word
that has become lost in our culture. How
many of you tell friends, “I go to church on Sundays?” How many of you say to friends, “On
Sundays, I go to worship” instead of using the word “church”? When was the last time you kept the
Sabbath? Or maybe more accurately, “what
does keeping the Sabbath mean?” Traditionally
it goes back to God working hard for six days and then resting on the seventh
day, reflecting on all that was created.
The Hebrew’s were delivered out of slavery which was a seven day work
week. Now God through the Ten Commandments
was asking them to take one day out of the week and keep it holy, so that they
could reflect on their relationship to the one who was not only their God, but
the one who freed them from their oppression!
The word Sabbath goes much deeper in meaning than just “doing church.”
Now
we come to an easy one – don’t commit murder!
Yet what happens if you are in the military and we as a country go to war? Does the killing of the enemy fall under the
definition of murder? Mae West during a
confrontation with the HAE’S commission on the topic of “immorality”,
specifically about her innuendo’s, spoke a great truth when she told them,
“Sending our boys off to kill one another is immorality!” And yet there are many ways to kill a person
without physically killing them. We can
kill a child’s spirit by demeaning them on a daily basis; we can kill someone’s
character with slander or malicious intent, or even with idol gossip.
Jesus when
questioned on which commandment was the greatest, his response was twofold: “Love
your God with all your heart, mind, and soul; the other is to love your
neighbor as you would love yourself.”
That sounds pretty straight forward.
Jesus has taken these Ten Commandments and brought them into two basic
groups. Four of these commandments deal
with our relationship toward God, the other six refer to our relationships with
other people. So, what happens if we
don’t know how to treat ourselves with respect, or kindness, or with honor, but
rather treat ourselves in negative ways that brings harm to ourselves. Are we supposed to treat other people the
same way? The truth is we will treat
people exactly the way in which we treat ourselves.
What the goal of
these commandments is about is to help us focus on life outside of
ourselves. It provides disciplines for
“best living” practices. We are to
remember, recognize, and then give over ourselves to the parent God. Once we have done that, we are then able to
relate to others in a healthier manor and look at the world through the lens of
how God sees each of us. If we can get
these Ten Commandments under our belt, I don’t think we would have need of
those 613 laws that the Hebrews came up with after the fact! My challenge to you this week is to reread
these Ten Commandments and take time to think about how we probably too often
offend them simply because we haven’t taken the time to examine them. Amen.
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