Wednesday, October 9, 2019

Re-embracing the 10 commandments


October 6th, 2019        “Re-embracing the 10 Commandments”    Rev. Heather Jepsen

Deuteronomy 5:1-21, 6:4-9

         This morning’s biblical text is probably familiar to most of us here.  This is the 10 commandments, well known by Jews and Christians alike.  What you might not know is that this is the second time Moses gives the commandments to the nation of Israel.  In Exodus chapter 20 Moses comes down from the cloud and fire upon Mount Sinai and brings this covenant to the people of Israel.  These were the same people who Moses led out of Egypt and out of the bondage of slavery.  But, as you may remember, the folks were not ready for such a covenant with God.  They were worshipping a golden calf at the bottom of that mountain, and they would continue to long after other gods and past lives. 

         And so, Moses and the Israelites wander in the desert for 40 years.  And as the wanderers begin to fail a whole generation of people dies off.  Where we find our story today, in the book of Deuteronomy, Moses is giving the Israelites a set of sermons right before they enter the Promised Land.  And included in this set of sermons is a fresh reading of the Ten Commandments.

         Moses begins by gathering the people together, “Hear O Israel” and then he says, “The Lord made covenant with us at Horeb.”  That makes sense right, God makes covenant with the people of Israel.  But as Moses continues on, things get confusing, “Not with our ancestors did the Lord make this covenant, but with us, who are all of us here alive today.”  Well, that sounds wrong doesn’t it?  God made the covenant with the ancestors and all of them are dead.  The people alive today, the people listening to Moses preach were not there the day the covenant was formed.  That was their parents and not them.  To end any doubt about his point Moses continues, “The Lord spoke with you face to face at the mountain, out of the fire.”  Clearly Moses wants the folks to think they were there that first day, the first time the commandments were read, even though they weren’t. 

         So, what is going on here?  What is happening is that Moses is trying to get the people of Israel to understand that the covenant God is making, the gift of the law, is for them as much as it was for their ancestors.  Even though it was their parents at the bottom of Mount Sinai 40 years ago, God is freshly making this covenant anew with them.  They now are God’s people, and they now are the ones the covenant is given to.  They now are party to this agreement, this set of promises, this law system that is built upon grace and love.

         Moses is clear that it is the job of this people to carry the covenant forward.  When we jump to chapter 6 Moses reminds the people that the following of these commandments comes from love.  The people are called to love the Lord their God with all their heart, soul, and might.  They are told to keep these words, to memorize them, to tell them to each other at home and at work.  This is a way of life that everyone is called to remember.  This is a covenant that will continue for the generations.

         As Christians, we often think of ourselves as belonging to this same family of faith, we certainly worship this same God.  Through our understanding of Jesus Christ and the words he speaks about being grafted into the family, as well as Paul’s theology of adoption, we have come to understand ourselves as included in this tradition.  Even though our ancestors were not literally at the bottom of Mount Sinai, still God has given us this covenant as well.  As Moses says, “Not with our ancestors did the Lord make this covenant, but with us, who are all of us here alive today.”  This includes all of us here this morning, all of us who are here alive today.  This covenant, this law, is a gift to us, you and me.

         It can be hard to preach about the 10 commandments, and this is one of my least favorite sermon topics.  In so many ways, this beautiful text, this gift of love, has been used as a weapon to crush people.  From signs displaying the commandments in courthouses that continue to thwart justice for the oppressed, to lawn signs declaring that this is a Christian nation as we continue to follow paths of greed and narcissism, these 10 commandments have been adopted by the religious right, the evangelical conservatives as a sign of identity.  They put them everywhere, but it is like they have never read them before.  I honestly hate when this scripture comes up because it turns my stomach to face this topic.  And like a minefield, no matter where I step this morning, I am bound to upset somebody.  So, fair warning, my friends.

         I see a real place for us in the setting of our reading for today.  This isn’t Exodus 20 where the first generation hears the word.  Rather this is Deuteronomy 5.  This is the second generations go at things.  This is a fresh chance to make the world better.  Just like the second generation of Israelites on the edge of the Promised Land, our parents before us were sinners.  The generations before us who have twisted and misused this good and generous law are in the wrong.  They have made God’s gift a weapon and not a freedom. 

         To hear Moses declare that this law is given fresh to us, the very us that are in this room this morning, can be liberating.  God makes this covenant with us, all of us here alive today.  What would it mean for us as modern neighbor-loving Christians to re-embrace these 10 commandments?

         First off, the Lord our God is a Lord of love.  This is a Lord who brings people out of slavery.  Not just slavery in Egypt but slavery in the United States.  This is a Lord who brings black people out of bondage, who demands reparations, and who declares that the bondage of one person by another is always and forever wrong.  This is a God who demands that we worship no others.  No nation deserves as much adoration as our God, no ideologies or political parties, no sports teams or music groups.  This is the Lord, the God of love, who demands our loyalty above all others.

         We shall not make ourselves an idol.  Be it money or the American flag, be it our guns or our political ideologies, be it our Bibles or our denominations, be it our nationalism or our pride.  We shall not bow down to anything but our God.  We shall not be beholden to anything but out God.

         You shall not use the name of your Lord in vain.  You shall not display the 10 Commandments in public and ignore your neighbor.  You shall not put a Jesus fish on your business card and then engage in false or unfair business practices.  You shall not wear a prominent cross around your neck and then walk by the stranger in need on the street.  You shall not use religion as a cudgel for hate and oppression.  You shall not take this name, this faith, this God and form it in your own image to use for your own ends.

         Observe the Sabbath and keep it holy.  Do not succumb to the glorification of the 24 hour work cycle.  Do not buy into the theory that you are what you do.  Do not let yourselves be tempted by endless work and busyness for busyness sake.  Observe the Sabbath, rest and honor your God.  And not only that, but allow your neighbor to rest as well.  Remember that you used to work for minimum wage and allow those folks to rest as well.  Don’t go out to eat or go to the store, everyone deserves a rest one day a week.

         Honor your father and mother, they brought you into this world and they are the source of this covenant.  Even these folks on the edge of the Promised Land must remember that they are truly no better than the generation that passed away in the wilderness.  We are nothing without those who came before us, but at the same time we are the ones God is making this covenant with today.  We have a chance to live these promises anew, while honoring the faith of generations past.

         Those first five are the hard ones and the ones we like to forget.  The last five are the laws that have lasted through time.  Don’t murder, don’t sleep with someone else’s spouse, don’t take what’s not yours.  Don’t lie about people either in court or via twitter.  Don’t greedily stare at anything anyone has that you do not.  Basically, don’t be a jerk!  These five we are better at remembering, and truly they don’t ask as much of us.  Don’t murder, I got that.  Don’t have an idol, well that’s a lot trickier.  Rest on the Sabbath; don’t even ask me about that!

         This morning I want to invite you to consider what it would mean for us to really honor this covenant God is offering.  I want to invite you to hear these words as if they were spoken directly to you.  To take them back from generations that have misused and mismanaged this good law and to instead realize that God makes this covenant not with our ancestors but with all of us here alive today.

         Moses tells the people not to forget this word they are given.  At this point he has led the people of Israel for a long time.  He knows how stubborn and hard hearted they are, and more than anything he knows how prone they are to forgetfulness.  They will hold a grudge forever, but at the same time they will forget the God who has given them freedom.  Moses tells the people to put these words in their hearts, to recite them to their children and paint them on their doorposts, to make this law of love such an integral part of their day that they can’t help but remember.

         On this World Communion Sunday, we too are called to remember this law.  We are called to remember that it was given to an oppressed people, an enslaved people, a lost and wandering people as a sign of love and freedom.  We are called to remember that this law asks us to love our God and to also love our neighbor.  And we are called to remember that nothing, ever, no matter how important or big or good should become god to us.  Nothing deserves our worship and devotion except the one true God of freedom and love.

         We gather at this table with people from all times and places.  The communion table goes back in time to those ancestors at Mount Sinai and the next generation on the edge of the Promised Land.  It goes forward through time to the days of Jesus in the upper room and the early church breaking boundaries by fellowshipping together.  It includes us now, all of us here alive today, members and participants in this covenant.  And it goes on to our children’s children, into the future and days we cannot even imagine.  All of time meets us as this table.  And all of the world gathers together as the children of God.  This table of love, resurrection, and grace is for everyone, and like the law, this is a gift given to us from a God whose name is love.

         I want to encourage you today to consider re-embracing these 10 commandments.  In some ways we know them so well, and in some ways we really don’t know them at all.  I want to invite you to really consider what it is you worship in our world, what are you tempted to put before the Lord.  Where do you face the weakness of idolatry?  Take a good look at your values.  I also want to invite you to practice Sabbath, I know I need to.  What would it mean for us to live those first five laws and not just the last five?  Let us listen to these familiar laws as a fresh text, a fresh promise made to us here today.

         “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.  You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.”  Amen.

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