As we move forward in our reflection on the Ten Commandments, I’d like to briefly acknowledge where we have been and where we are going and maybe dig a little deeper into our history and tradition as followers of Jesus in the Reformed tradition. Having said that, I know there is not much more prosaic and sleep-inducing for most people than to say words like “history, tradition, and Reformed theology” when they have come looking for meaning and purpose and some sense that God is actually involved and that faith can help us find peace and meaning in an unstable world.
If you stick with me, I’m going to try to do just that. I say “try” because “try” is all any of us can do. Regardless of what you have heard from certain movie franchises that seek to plumb the depths of reality while discerning the nature of good vs evil, a life of faith is not about “do or do not.” It is about a series of faithful attempts to approach what is real and true. Sometimes we get it right and we say that “we did something.”
Yet these little successes are full of the wisdom my mother taught me – like hers before – when she said, “If at first, you don’t succeed, try and try again.” Trying again may even mean changing what we view as successful. It might mean using a window instead of a door. It might even mean giving up and giving in to something entirely different than what we had in mind in the first place, but it always involves trial and error until we find what we believe we have been called to do and become – or at least until we’ve moved the bar toward justice and equality as far as we feel that we can.
Experience bears this out to be true across cultures and histories and in my life and probably in yours, but what do we do with the binary expectations of “do and do not” that we receive from scripture in the midst of this world where we live by trial and error? For that matter, what do we do with the 613 commandments found in the Torah (the first 5 books of the Bible)?
I know, I said we were just dealing with 10 – and really we’re only going to be concerned with 5 of them today – but it’s important to note the way in which these 10 are expressed and interpreted through the life and witness of God’s people; and more particularly through Jesus Christ. In order to keep from reinventing the wheel, we look to those that have gone before us and we find that the early Reformers (John Calvin, Martin Luther, and John Knox to name a few) wrestled with these same questions.
Bear in mind that for them the first task was recognizing the authority of scripture above and beyond the doctrines of the church, and they would encourage us to do the same. Remember though, that they did not seek to break away from the church. They sought to purify it. If there were ever an institution that might resist being purified, then or now, it is the institution of the church – of which we are a part.
These Reformers looked at the text in a new light; one with the intent of elevating that which is of God and limiting that which is of people (or men, as they understood it – all others were subservient). They reasoned that the laws of Moses fell into three categories: ceremonial (priestly), civil (governance), and moral (ethical). While they agreed with 1 Timothy 3:16-17, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work,” they also realized that direct and literal application of Mosaic ceremonial and civil law was in many cases not reasonable or necessary in light of the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ. The moral laws, however, (which are found in the 10 Commandments) are a part of the very fabric of life itself. As Paul said to the church in Rome (2:14), “For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law.” Romans 2:14
What about us, then, who has it? What use is this list of do’s and don’ts to us as we wrangle over their placement on public landscapes and courtrooms? Well, our good old buddy John Calvin, a guy who demonstrated how problematic it was to attempt to construct a government based on a theocracy before getting run out of Geneva, Switzerland, gave us three uses for the moral law of Moses.
The first is to condemn us for those things we should know better than to do in the first place. The second is to encourage our faithful obedience to the will of God – which is for our benefit and God’s glory. The third, and really most important, is to make sure we know what is good and right and how to do and be good and right while we await the restoration of the creation that God is bringing through Jesus Christ.
Ok, that was a pretty deep dive into the nature and purpose of the law. If you need a quick breath before we go back in, just remember that the point here is to recognize that the law of God is a gift. God gave the law to God’s people so that we might not only know of God’s love but also be set free by it!
I want you to take a moment and think about that. Think about the first time you felt truly free. Think about the way a child giggles on a swing. Maybe that was it for you. Maybe it was when you went to camp for the first time. For me, it was when I bought my first car with hard-earned wages and I walked around with those keys in my hand feeling like I could go anywhere I wanted as long as I had $10 to fill my tank. That was when you could buy a used VW Bug for $550. Such freedoms are not as accessible to my children, but you get the idea.
The freedom afforded by the law of Moses, on the other hand, is not subject to such changes in economic or social status. It is intended to be above and beyond all of these concerns. It is the life raft that keeps us from harm, and yet so often it seems that we use this freedom as the millstone to draw us into the deep.
Laws that permit capital punishment, encourage the proliferation of firearms, limit the bodily autonomy of women and create social codes that limit the rights and privileges of some above and beyond others due to economic status, non-conformity to gender and sexual orientation norms, and neighborhoods with a concentration of non-white ethnicity are all justified in some form or fashion by the moral laws that God gave Moses which were interpreted by Jesus as loving God and loving our neighbor.
The first four commandments were all about our relationship with God, and they were sandwiched by a story about the people stopping and preparing themselves to receive God’s direction and again being told to take Sabbath rest. Don’t outpace yourself trying to outpace God. Stop – routinely – to recognize that God is God and you and I are not. Receive that space of holiness in your life as a gift, and then use that gift in a way that lets others know that they are valued and beloved and looked for and longed for by God – this is the invitation behind all of these commandments!
I want to talk a little more about that, but first I want to say that as simple as that sounds it can be near impossible to do some of these when you’ve been wounded or harmed by someone. I think that is why it starts with our parents. Even the best-intended most loving parents wound their children with our words and unintended neglect. Perhaps we are the first proving ground for forgiveness. Whether that is the case or not, I think it’s important to remember that these commandments were given to a people to encourage faithful living, but they are also invitations for the way that you and I might be in the world. As we explore this invitation a little further, I’m going to switch from a list of “do not’s” to a list of “do’s”
# 5 Love your parents. As I’ve told my own kids at times – though maybe not in these direct words – it’s not about the harm someone else has done, it’s about your capacity to love and to be open to what God is doing. Sometimes you have to protect yourself from harm, and that’s ok. In the end, we have this invitation from God: Love your parents (and those who may offer you parental guidance and love). It doesn’t mean you have to agree with them. Just love them with all of their brokenness and whatever polish they may have achieved on their sharp and beautiful edges.
#6 Respect life in all of its complexity. We can go all day on this one, so let us continue to pray and have conversations and seek God’s will as the mystery of life unfolds before us. Whether it’s gun violence or capital punishment or the medical necessity of abortions, we need to do more than shout about it. We need to seek God’s will together and demand care for the vulnerable.
#7 Be faithful to your spouse. Marital partnerships are the relationships that scripture affirms to be ordered and purposed by God, and what I often tell couples, both young and old, is that their relationship is a holy space and a sanctuary from the conflict of the world. Not only that, it is the foundation for hospitality in health and the invitation into the presence of the God who suffers with us when we suffer with and for one another.
I don’t want to shy away from the extreme position that Jesus took on this in Matthew 5:28, but we also have no record of self-mutilation as a practice in the early church. His point in context with his sermon on the mount is not that such things are called for. It is rather that we must always guard our hearts and remember how closely our actions can follow our intentions.
I would also add that this commandment is not just for married couples. It is a blueprint for fidelity in all covenant relationships. As members of the Body of Christ that is the Church, we are to be faithful to the one who is ever faithful to us. That means that we are to be faithful to one another in all things.
This is why #8 is respecting other people's property and #9 is to always be truthful, or as Jesus said, “Let your “yes” be “yes” and your “no” be “no.” Seems pretty basic, right? Don’t touch other people’s things without permission. Don’t deceive or manipulate. I think that’s why, if I’m being honest, I don’t like the phrase, “If I’m being honest.”
Although, if I am being honest, the reality of sin is that we all lie to ourselves when we seek to justify our behaviors and views with these moral positions that were given by God for our benefit and God’s glory. The invitation that they offer is not one of self-justification, but of encouragement to become less self-centered and more aware of the way in which we are created in the image of God.
Think of that. Think of all the styles of art that we’ve created in concert with the Creator – Polaroids and paintings, architecture and song, movement and words written and spoken and echoing into eternity! You, too, have the opportunity to echo through eternity as an expression of God. The good news is that we don’t have to measure up to any expectations to do this!
The good news is that the love and mercy of God flows through the one who says, “Get up on that hill and let your light shine!” The good news is that Jesus Christ himself cheers us on, for even as he holds us to a higher account that places lying and infidelity and our refusal to forgive on the same level as murder, he yet offers us the grace and mercy of forgiveness and invites us into a life where we are set free from sin and death.
Our Reformed faith reminds us that every day offers new opportunities to turn from sin and embrace the forgiveness of God. Scripture (particularly these 5 commandments) reminds us that we only recognize ourselves as forgiven through the eyes of others as they see us demonstrating the love and mercy that we have received. Friends of God, enjoy that love like you might enjoy the smell of a new car or the feeling of freedom that you’ve only felt in something known to you and God alone!
Next week we’ll finish up with what may be the hardest one of all, #10 - Be content with what you've been given. (Don't covet.) Until then, let’s just do our best to love as we have been loved by the One who is the source of all love. It’s just that simple, and it’s just that hard, but to God be the glory that we have been given some directions and the freedom they bring, even when we take a detour, even when we find that detour to be the place we were supposed to be all along. Amen.
If you stick with me, I’m going to try to do just that. I say “try” because “try” is all any of us can do. Regardless of what you have heard from certain movie franchises that seek to plumb the depths of reality while discerning the nature of good vs evil, a life of faith is not about “do or do not.” It is about a series of faithful attempts to approach what is real and true. Sometimes we get it right and we say that “we did something.”
Yet these little successes are full of the wisdom my mother taught me – like hers before – when she said, “If at first, you don’t succeed, try and try again.” Trying again may even mean changing what we view as successful. It might mean using a window instead of a door. It might even mean giving up and giving in to something entirely different than what we had in mind in the first place, but it always involves trial and error until we find what we believe we have been called to do and become – or at least until we’ve moved the bar toward justice and equality as far as we feel that we can.
Experience bears this out to be true across cultures and histories and in my life and probably in yours, but what do we do with the binary expectations of “do and do not” that we receive from scripture in the midst of this world where we live by trial and error? For that matter, what do we do with the 613 commandments found in the Torah (the first 5 books of the Bible)?
I know, I said we were just dealing with 10 – and really we’re only going to be concerned with 5 of them today – but it’s important to note the way in which these 10 are expressed and interpreted through the life and witness of God’s people; and more particularly through Jesus Christ. In order to keep from reinventing the wheel, we look to those that have gone before us and we find that the early Reformers (John Calvin, Martin Luther, and John Knox to name a few) wrestled with these same questions.
Bear in mind that for them the first task was recognizing the authority of scripture above and beyond the doctrines of the church, and they would encourage us to do the same. Remember though, that they did not seek to break away from the church. They sought to purify it. If there were ever an institution that might resist being purified, then or now, it is the institution of the church – of which we are a part.
These Reformers looked at the text in a new light; one with the intent of elevating that which is of God and limiting that which is of people (or men, as they understood it – all others were subservient). They reasoned that the laws of Moses fell into three categories: ceremonial (priestly), civil (governance), and moral (ethical). While they agreed with 1 Timothy 3:16-17, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work,” they also realized that direct and literal application of Mosaic ceremonial and civil law was in many cases not reasonable or necessary in light of the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ. The moral laws, however, (which are found in the 10 Commandments) are a part of the very fabric of life itself. As Paul said to the church in Rome (2:14), “For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law.” Romans 2:14
What about us, then, who has it? What use is this list of do’s and don’ts to us as we wrangle over their placement on public landscapes and courtrooms? Well, our good old buddy John Calvin, a guy who demonstrated how problematic it was to attempt to construct a government based on a theocracy before getting run out of Geneva, Switzerland, gave us three uses for the moral law of Moses.
The first is to condemn us for those things we should know better than to do in the first place. The second is to encourage our faithful obedience to the will of God – which is for our benefit and God’s glory. The third, and really most important, is to make sure we know what is good and right and how to do and be good and right while we await the restoration of the creation that God is bringing through Jesus Christ.
Ok, that was a pretty deep dive into the nature and purpose of the law. If you need a quick breath before we go back in, just remember that the point here is to recognize that the law of God is a gift. God gave the law to God’s people so that we might not only know of God’s love but also be set free by it!
I want you to take a moment and think about that. Think about the first time you felt truly free. Think about the way a child giggles on a swing. Maybe that was it for you. Maybe it was when you went to camp for the first time. For me, it was when I bought my first car with hard-earned wages and I walked around with those keys in my hand feeling like I could go anywhere I wanted as long as I had $10 to fill my tank. That was when you could buy a used VW Bug for $550. Such freedoms are not as accessible to my children, but you get the idea.
The freedom afforded by the law of Moses, on the other hand, is not subject to such changes in economic or social status. It is intended to be above and beyond all of these concerns. It is the life raft that keeps us from harm, and yet so often it seems that we use this freedom as the millstone to draw us into the deep.
Laws that permit capital punishment, encourage the proliferation of firearms, limit the bodily autonomy of women and create social codes that limit the rights and privileges of some above and beyond others due to economic status, non-conformity to gender and sexual orientation norms, and neighborhoods with a concentration of non-white ethnicity are all justified in some form or fashion by the moral laws that God gave Moses which were interpreted by Jesus as loving God and loving our neighbor.
The first four commandments were all about our relationship with God, and they were sandwiched by a story about the people stopping and preparing themselves to receive God’s direction and again being told to take Sabbath rest. Don’t outpace yourself trying to outpace God. Stop – routinely – to recognize that God is God and you and I are not. Receive that space of holiness in your life as a gift, and then use that gift in a way that lets others know that they are valued and beloved and looked for and longed for by God – this is the invitation behind all of these commandments!
I want to talk a little more about that, but first I want to say that as simple as that sounds it can be near impossible to do some of these when you’ve been wounded or harmed by someone. I think that is why it starts with our parents. Even the best-intended most loving parents wound their children with our words and unintended neglect. Perhaps we are the first proving ground for forgiveness. Whether that is the case or not, I think it’s important to remember that these commandments were given to a people to encourage faithful living, but they are also invitations for the way that you and I might be in the world. As we explore this invitation a little further, I’m going to switch from a list of “do not’s” to a list of “do’s”
# 5 Love your parents. As I’ve told my own kids at times – though maybe not in these direct words – it’s not about the harm someone else has done, it’s about your capacity to love and to be open to what God is doing. Sometimes you have to protect yourself from harm, and that’s ok. In the end, we have this invitation from God: Love your parents (and those who may offer you parental guidance and love). It doesn’t mean you have to agree with them. Just love them with all of their brokenness and whatever polish they may have achieved on their sharp and beautiful edges.
#6 Respect life in all of its complexity. We can go all day on this one, so let us continue to pray and have conversations and seek God’s will as the mystery of life unfolds before us. Whether it’s gun violence or capital punishment or the medical necessity of abortions, we need to do more than shout about it. We need to seek God’s will together and demand care for the vulnerable.
#7 Be faithful to your spouse. Marital partnerships are the relationships that scripture affirms to be ordered and purposed by God, and what I often tell couples, both young and old, is that their relationship is a holy space and a sanctuary from the conflict of the world. Not only that, it is the foundation for hospitality in health and the invitation into the presence of the God who suffers with us when we suffer with and for one another.
I don’t want to shy away from the extreme position that Jesus took on this in Matthew 5:28, but we also have no record of self-mutilation as a practice in the early church. His point in context with his sermon on the mount is not that such things are called for. It is rather that we must always guard our hearts and remember how closely our actions can follow our intentions.
I would also add that this commandment is not just for married couples. It is a blueprint for fidelity in all covenant relationships. As members of the Body of Christ that is the Church, we are to be faithful to the one who is ever faithful to us. That means that we are to be faithful to one another in all things.
This is why #8 is respecting other people's property and #9 is to always be truthful, or as Jesus said, “Let your “yes” be “yes” and your “no” be “no.” Seems pretty basic, right? Don’t touch other people’s things without permission. Don’t deceive or manipulate. I think that’s why, if I’m being honest, I don’t like the phrase, “If I’m being honest.”
Although, if I am being honest, the reality of sin is that we all lie to ourselves when we seek to justify our behaviors and views with these moral positions that were given by God for our benefit and God’s glory. The invitation that they offer is not one of self-justification, but of encouragement to become less self-centered and more aware of the way in which we are created in the image of God.
Think of that. Think of all the styles of art that we’ve created in concert with the Creator – Polaroids and paintings, architecture and song, movement and words written and spoken and echoing into eternity! You, too, have the opportunity to echo through eternity as an expression of God. The good news is that we don’t have to measure up to any expectations to do this!
The good news is that the love and mercy of God flows through the one who says, “Get up on that hill and let your light shine!” The good news is that Jesus Christ himself cheers us on, for even as he holds us to a higher account that places lying and infidelity and our refusal to forgive on the same level as murder, he yet offers us the grace and mercy of forgiveness and invites us into a life where we are set free from sin and death.
Our Reformed faith reminds us that every day offers new opportunities to turn from sin and embrace the forgiveness of God. Scripture (particularly these 5 commandments) reminds us that we only recognize ourselves as forgiven through the eyes of others as they see us demonstrating the love and mercy that we have received. Friends of God, enjoy that love like you might enjoy the smell of a new car or the feeling of freedom that you’ve only felt in something known to you and God alone!
Next week we’ll finish up with what may be the hardest one of all, #10 - Be content with what you've been given. (Don't covet.) Until then, let’s just do our best to love as we have been loved by the One who is the source of all love. It’s just that simple, and it’s just that hard, but to God be the glory that we have been given some directions and the freedom they bring, even when we take a detour, even when we find that detour to be the place we were supposed to be all along. Amen.
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