3 Lent B March 4, 2018
Luther Memorial Church Seattle, WA
The Rev. Julie Hutson
Exodus 20: 1-17 + Psalm 19 + 1 Cor. 1: 18-25 + John 2: 13-22
Grace and peace to you from God, who creates us; Jesus who saves us, and the Holy Spirit who walks with us. Amen.
The heavens are telling the glory of God and the earth declares its maker’s handiwork. While this is very true, and in our beautiful corner of creation, it is often easy to see…..as those who seek to worship God, and follow God, and walk with God….we often think we need more than this testimonial from the Creation to learn how to be God’s people together. What we need, we imagine, is some sort of divine instruction manual.
In the reading from the Older Testament today we have the first ten commandments that YHWH gave to the people of Israel. Specifically, that YHWH gave to Moses to give to the people of Israel. It’s important to remember that these were the just the first ten. There were a lot more after these. A lot. And it’s complicated a little bit, whenever we as Christians take what was intended for the Hebrew people and apply it to twenty first century Jesus followers. These commandments stand on their own and aren’t to be seen through a Jesus lens. And yet, as those who follow Jesus, it’s hard to do anything else.
Whether we are talking about the Israelites or whether we are talking about the community of faith at Luther Memorial Lutheran Church in Seattle, one thing is certain: life together can be complicated. It can be messy. We have to pay attention to it. We have to take care of it. We have to love it and tend to it. This is true of any community of people.
This portion of Exodus, which is known as the Decalogue, is more than a list of rules, it is a covenant, a relationship between God and God’s people, Israel. God begins by reminding them who God is: Then God spoke all these words: I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. This means that the people can trust God. They know God. God knows them and cares enough for them to bring them out of bondage.
It’s worth noting that the language of the Decalogue is singular, as opposed to plural. So, while these commandments are offered to an entire nation of people, they are highly personal. One on one. You and me. God looking us right in the eyes and saying: I am the Lord YOUR God. Not the Lord, y’alls God. Your God. Singular. One. This is no far off God we worship from down at the bottom of the mountain while Moses goes up to do all of the hard work. This is the God we know. And by whom we are known. These commandments that God is gifting to us are not a rule book, they are about relationship….about who we are because of who God is.
This is deeply personal. This is about how God expects people to be individually even as they exist in community.
A couple of weeks ago, Payton and Gavin sat with Vicar Laura and with me as we talked about these first ten commandments in confirmation class. We went through them and noted the things that maybe you remember from confirmation class. We learned that the first of the commandments are about our relationship to God and the later ones are about our relationship to one another. We read what Luther’s explanations of the commandments were. And then, as so often happens when the students are wise and thoughtful: they asked these two questions. I even wrote them down.
- I guess this isn’t a perfect system, then?
- Is there going to be an updated list?
Because it’s not a perfect system. Like many things in Scripture, the relationship of these commandments to 21st century Jesus followers is necessarily different than it was to the Israelites.
So we wrestled. We wrestled with what it means to take the name of God in vain. Is it ok to type OMG in a text? Isn’t saying something hurtful to a person worse than that?
And what about keeping a Sabbath day? When is the Sabbath day? Can it be any day?
And when we got to the one about adultery, they asked : but what about our president?
Nothing gets past them.
You shall not murder. Oh, this was one we wrestled with. Does this apply to animals? What if you were kidnapped and held hostage and you saw an opportunity to get away by stealing your kidnappers gun and shooting them?
What about war? What about killing our enemies? What about capital punishment?
And what is this talk of slaves? I mean, the commandment is that you shouldn’t covet your neighbor’s slave, so does that mean that it’s okay to have slaves?
Confirmation is not for the faint of heart, especially if you’re the teacher.
What would it be like if we each took the time to sit with these commandments and imagine God looking at us eye to eye or heart to heart and saying: I am the Lord your God….and here are the boundaries of the relationship we are going to have together. Here’s how you and then all of you together are going to exist together in ways that honor the promise I am making to you as your God. And then, what if we actually did what Martin Luther did and what Payton and Gavin did: what if we went through them, one by one, and really thought about what it means to live as God’s people. What if we imagined….in new and creative and faith filled ways….how we might live more fully into what God intended for us when God made us, by living into these commandments.
Because God didn’t give the commandments as punishment; like a mother offering guidance to her children, God gave these commandments as wise counsel. To increase our joy and the joy we have in our life together.
The Psalmist put it like this in Psalm 19 today:
The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the decrees of the Lord are sure, making wise the simple; 8 the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is clear, enlightening the eyes; 9 the fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever; the ordinances of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. 10 More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey, and drippings of the honeycomb. 11 Moreover by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.
Eventually, our confirmation class undertook the task of writing ten commandments or instructions for living together as individuals and community today. Well, Payton and Gavin wrote them. I share them with you today, with their permission.
Love God and try to do the right thing.
Have a day of self care, because God cares for you.
Listen to understand (applies to listening to God, too)
Use language that honors God and empowers your neighbor.
Don’t pressure yourself or your friends into doing what you/they aren’t
comfortable doing.
Honor the people around you.
Don’t gossip.
Don’t kill.
Don’t steal – things or ideas.
You shall not covet your neighbor’s cell phone or other property.
Treat your friends, family, neighbors, and people you don’t know with respect and kindness.
Beloved community, living together as God’s people can be complicated. It can be messy. We have to pay attention to it. We have to take care of it. We have to love it and tend to it. This is God’s commandment and God’s promise.
Thanks be to God. Amen.