Third Sunday in Lent

Exodus 20:1-17 (p.58)
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1Then God spoke all these words:2I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery;3you shall have no other gods before me.4You 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.5You 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,6but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.7You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.8Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy.9Six days you shall labor and do all your work.10But 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.11For 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.
12Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.13You shall not murder.14You shall not commit adultery.15You shall not steal.16You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.17You 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.

1 Corinthians 1:18-25 (p.926)
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18For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” 20Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe. 22For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, 23but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.


Foolish Words

We call them the Ten Commandments. Jews call then the Ten Words. But no matter what you call them, they are a central teaching that Jews and Christians share. So important are the Ten Commandments, we hang them on plaques in our houses. We post them on our church walls. Some towns down south put them in front of their courthouses though not without controversy. There’s even a depiction of Moses and the Ten Commandments in the US Supreme Court building, though not in any place that gives them special prominence.

There was a time when we could recite the Ten Commandments from memory. We taught them to our children. In confirmation class, they would explore them further as part of studying the catechism. Today, I’m not sure how many of us could list the Ten Commandments, let alone in order. I won’t quiz you, but do you know where else one can find the full Ten Commandments besides Exodus? If this were Jeopardy, the correct response would be “What is Deuteronomy?” By the way, that book’s name means second law – kind of a hint.

It may surprise you that there are slight differences between the two lists of commandments. In Exodus, the reason given for observing the Sabbath day is because God created the heavens and the earth in six days, then rested on the seventh. In Deuteronomy, the reason given is that in Egypt they were slaves brutally treated and without any rest. Now freed by God, they are to take a day of rest and to offer Sabbath to their servants and even their animals.

It may also surprise you to learn there are three different schemes for numbering the commandments. Jews tend to follow one method, Catholics and Lutherans a second, and the rest of us Protestants a third. Upon hearing of a movement to post the Ten Commandments in a courthouse, a rabbi asked “Which Ten?”

Regardless of numbering, all agree they are divided into two tables. One set of commandments describe how we are to live before God. The other set describe how we are to live with others. And both sets are connected. When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment is, he answered: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. And the second is like it. Love your neighbor as yourself.” You cannot love God without also loving the neighbor. And you cannot really love one’s neighbor unless that love is rooted in the love of God. Love is the key.

We tend to see the Ten Commandments as a list of “Thou shalt nots.” Perhaps in thinking about them, we have an image of God wagging a finger at us, taking all the fun out of life. And frankly, in describing the three uses of the law, John Calvin said one of those uses was as a bridle to restrain us. He did understand the law to have a civic function. Perhaps that’s the reason some in this country insist on posting them in our courthouses as the answer to America’s problems. But Calvin considered the law as a restraint to be the least important use of the law. Better is the law as a mirror – by showing us how we are to live before God and with our neighbor, the law reveals some of the ways our lives are not what they are supposed to be. The law functions to turn us back to God as our only help and hope. But Calvin said the most important use of the law is as a lamp. They guide us as we travel in our life before God and with our neighbors.

The Ten Commandments aren’t just about ethics and moral living. You can’t really understand what they are about without remembering the history of Israel and their covenantal relationship with God. God didn’t tell the people enslaved by Egypt “Follow these laws and then I’ll free you.” God freed the people first, brought them to Mount Sinai, and then gave them the law.

The law is first of all a gift from God to a people chosen by God. By following this law, the people of Israel were set apart from all the religions and cultures around them. The law also reveals something about the nature of God. Walter Brueggemann writes, “These commands might be taken not as a series of rules but as a proclamation in God’s own mouth of who God is and how God shall be ‘practiced’ by this community of liberated slaves.” The law describes the practices of those in covenant with God. The law calls the people to live all aspects of their life before God, not just the time they are in worship. And it calls the people to live in a way that reflects love and care for their neighbor. The law is about the community of faith. But we also discover following the law is the way to life. When we teach this as a Sunday school lesson, we call it “The 10 Best Ways to Live” - to live with God, and to live with each other.

When I (Nancy) was a teacher with Head Start, we had classroom rules. We had them posted on the wall, and because my children could not yet read, we had them in picture form—pictures of how to line up, how to wash your hands. We practiced how to ask a friend to play, how to take turns on the playground, how to ask for more mashed potatoes at lunch, how to say thank you when being given something. We had rules—about how to live together. And I was passionate about those rules, because I was passionate about those children, and their families, and their future success. It gave order to their life, and to our common life. I knew that if they could learn those rules, internalize those rules, those principles, and learn how to live as a community, those children would be on their way to a good future. (In a way this wasn’t just about learning to live ethically, but about a covenant. I had a covenant with these children and with their families. I was passionately committed to their future and to a way of living that was life-giving.)

The Ten Commandments give us the shape, order a life lived out of gratitude – gratitude for the gift of life, and redemption, and freedom that we receive from God in Christ. In some churches, the Law, or a summary of the Law, is recited by the congregation AFTER the assurance of pardon as a way to say, “with the help of God and as a forgiven people, this is how we will live.” The Westminster Catechism, written in Scotland in 1647, and part of the PCUSA’s Constitution, expands on the 10 commandments. The Law is not just a list of “thou shalt nots” but is an exploration of all the ways we are to live, positively, as God’s people. For instance, in the portion about “Thou Shalt not bear false witness”, we read that we are called to “a charitable esteem of our neighbors, loving, desiring and rejoicing in their good name, freely acknowledging their gifts and graces, and studying and practicing those things that are true honest, lovely and of good report”. (BOC 7.254)

What is remarkable about the Ten Commandments is how well they have stood against the test of time. Perhaps one summer we may preach a sermon series on the Ten Commandments, one per week. For now, consider how radical and foolish they are compared to the wisdom of the world:
1. The world says “You are your own boss. Do whatever you want to do whenever you feel like it.” God says “Serve only the one true God” (not yourself or other people or things).
2. The world says “Decide who and what is important to you. Pay attention only to those people and things.” God says “Make no idols to serve.”
3. The world says “It does not matter when or how you say God’s name. You can use it to swear or cuss or to get what you want (as in “God is on my side” statements).” God says “Do not speak God’s name lightly or for you own purposes.”
4. The world says “It doesn’t matter if you worship with God’s people on Sunday. If there are other things you’d rather do, go do them.” God says “Keep the Sabbath holy to rest and remember the gifts of creation.”
5. The world says “Parents don’t get it. Ignore them whenever you can.” God says “Honor your father and mother.”
6. The world says “Kill whatever or whoever gets in your way. The strongest live longest.” God says “Do not kill.”
7. The world says “Don’t worry about your family. Think only about yourself and what you want.” God says “Be faithful in your marriage.”
8. The world says “Finders keepers! Toddler’s Rule of possession: I see it, I want it, it’s mine! If you want it, figure out how to get it.” God says “Do not steal.”
9. The world says “Lie if you have to get out of trouble. Lie to get what you want. Lie to make yourself look good – even if it makes someone else look bad.” God says “Do not lie.”
10. The world says “The one who dies with most toys wins. The world is full of wonderful things. Get your share.” God says “Do not even want what others have.”

Following the law of God may seem foolish, even burdensome. But following the law is a joy for in the law we gain a sense of life in God’s kingdom, and a revelation of who God is. And for Christians the story does not end there. The fulfillment of the law and the fullest revelation of God is Jesus Christ. If you want to know what it means to love God with all your heart and soul and might, look to Jesus’ obedience and prayer life. If you want to know what it means to love your neighbor as yourself, look to Jesus’ ministry, suffering, and death on the cross. Pretty foolish.

But that is the God revealed in the law, the God revealed in Jesus Christ. We worship a God who brings us out of slavery, to freedom. A God who travels with us through the wilderness of our lives, a God who loves us enough to give us ways to act out being God’s own people, and a God who comes to us, and dwells with us, a God who went to the cross, to death- for us and for the world. We serve a foolish God. We worship a God who loves us and wants us to have life and to have it abundantly.

So I have to ask you, and ask myself: what shape will your love, your passionate love for God, and for God’s creation, take? In this Lenten time, as we prepare for Easter, and the gift of new life in Christ, what form will your life of gratitude, and freedom, and obedience, take? How will we act, and how will we order our lives as the people of God, who have already received such this gift?

(The “World’s Ten Words” are from http://worshipingwithchildren.blogspot.com/ and “God’s Ten Words are adapted from “Young Children and Worship” by Stewart & Berryman)