Rules for Life
Text: Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20
They are perhaps the ten best known rules out of the entire Bible… or at least in name they are anyway. They have two epic films named after them. They have been a source of recent controversy in the United States, as a touchstone in the debate around the separation of Church and State. They have been used inappropriately as a theological battering ram by some, dismissed as ancient and irrelevant by others. These days, any mention of them provokes a reaction in people, be it positive or negative… but when they come up people’s teeth are sure to be set on edge. Fortunately, living north of the US border, Canadians are somewhat removed from the politics of it, but as Christians, they are very much a part of our faith tradition. On this World Communion Sunday, it seems appropriate that the Ten Commandments come into focus, even if only briefly.
This may come as a bit of a surprise to some, but the Ten Commandments appear twice in the Bible: first in this morning’s reading from Exodus, and the second is in the early part of Deuteronomy. They are considered to be the cornerstone of the first five books of the Law, central to Hebrew Scripture. Even in the English language, they have their impact. Any time we say something is or isn’t “carved in stone” we are reminded of the stone tablets that are often associated with the Commandments. Yet as much as another cliché comes from them, the Ten Commandments didn’t simply drop out of the sky. They did not arrive intact, completely outside of any sort of context. They arose from a promise fulfilled, and a new relationship with God. As much as we have learned to hear “Thou shalt not…” and the foreboding tone that it carries, these are words that speak of freedom, and opportunities for life.
Everything about the Ten Commandments flows from its preamble; it’s the most important part! Unfortunately, they way we have been raised simply leaves it off:
“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery;” –Exodus 20:2
The whole reason for these commandments is a reminder of what God had done for Israel… that God had freed them from slavery in Egypt, and brought them into a land where they could live in freedom. “You were once slaves, now you are free people.” Once you were subject to the whims of another human ruler, subject to the will of another people, and your destiny controlled by another hand. You are no longer slaves, I have brought you from there to live lives of your own.
It is immediately after this statement that we find ourselves in the midst of the commandments:
God says, “Write this down. First, you will have no other gods before me. I bought you; I own you. You’re mine. Second, don’t make idols. You’re not free to give yourself to anything - your spouse, your job, your nation - but me. Then don’t lie, don’t steal, don’t have sex with other people’s spouses, don’t envy what others have, even their SUVs.”
Moses thinks, “Um, rules… but didn’t you just set us free?”
God says, “Well yes… but I’m a funny sort of God… I freed you, but I want you to say that way… I’m into justice, righteousness, and I want you to live as free people… Anyway… keep writing this down. Honor your parents, because you’re not the first to walk this earth. Did I mention stealing? Don’t do that either.”
It’s there that Moses learns why Israel was freed from slavery in the first place.
It would seem to be contradictory… “you are free people, but you shall not do this!” Shouldn’t we be free to do whatever we want? Isn’t that what freedom means?
Hardly.
“Now that you are free people,” we hear the voice of God say, “I want you to stay that way… this is what you need to do… or rather not do if your society is going to work and thrive.”
These Ten Commandments were not simply arbitrary, pulled from the air kinds of rules; they are about relationships and about building a healthy society. If we are to live as free people, then these are lines that we do not cross… why? because if we do, then we do violence to our relationships with one another, and with God. If we want to stay as free people, then we need to respect the integrity and dignity of those around us. These commandments are how you achieve that.
We have learned even recently, in the chaos that followed Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, that human nature, left completely without boundaries, is not freedom. It becomes anarchy, a free-for-all where brute force becomes the only authority… and only until someone with a bigger gun arrives.
During my time in seminary, I had the opportunity to visit a maximum security youth prison. A group of us came in to do some recreational stuff with some of the better-behaved inmates. That having been said, there were some very clear boundaries that we were briefed on ahead of time… the one that was stressed the most was “don’t ask them why they’re in here.” The chaplain on duty told us that at this point in their incarceration most of the inmates didn’t feel that they had done anything wrong, except maybe the fact that they got caught. I had expected to see maybe those who had low self-esteem, or had experienced some sort of trauma in growing up. Maybe elsewhere, but in this maximum security place, this was not the case. What struck me was how intelligent these young men seemed… The duty chaplain who had been there for years told us that most of the people who were there were not in jail because they thought too little of themselves, but because they thought too much of themselves. They were brilliant kids with lots of potential… but to them, everyone else who has a job, or follows the law, is a loser. Most of them got here because of the arrogant idea that the rules are made for everyone else but them.
In the aftermath of the financial scandals in the US following the collapse of both Enron and Worldcom, someone once observed: “When you’ve got a bunch of arrogant people who think they are just a bit too smart for conventional accounting practices, that the rules are made for uncreative dummies, you've got disaster.”
Martin Luther once observed that the strength of the Ten Commandments is their simplicity. God didn’t make things overly complex for us… “You want to live free… these are the lines that you don’t cross, and you will remain free.” God loved us enough to make it easy to understand.
The Commandments were Israel’s way of freeing its children from enslavement to gods more cruel and demanding than the Trinity… those demanding idols of our own creation: alienation, self-absorbed bias, and the relentless quest for self-fulfillment. Israel loved its young enough to show them the way, to reassure its youth that they need not always reinvent the wheel of morality, decency, and the good life. Thank God, not everything is up for grabs. The good news is that God loved us enough to give us a means to maintain our freedom. God loved us enough to give us the rules for life.
Amen.
Note: Preached on World Communion Sunday, 2005
They are perhaps the ten best known rules out of the entire Bible… or at least in name they are anyway. They have two epic films named after them. They have been a source of recent controversy in the United States, as a touchstone in the debate around the separation of Church and State. They have been used inappropriately as a theological battering ram by some, dismissed as ancient and irrelevant by others. These days, any mention of them provokes a reaction in people, be it positive or negative… but when they come up people’s teeth are sure to be set on edge. Fortunately, living north of the US border, Canadians are somewhat removed from the politics of it, but as Christians, they are very much a part of our faith tradition. On this World Communion Sunday, it seems appropriate that the Ten Commandments come into focus, even if only briefly.
This may come as a bit of a surprise to some, but the Ten Commandments appear twice in the Bible: first in this morning’s reading from Exodus, and the second is in the early part of Deuteronomy. They are considered to be the cornerstone of the first five books of the Law, central to Hebrew Scripture. Even in the English language, they have their impact. Any time we say something is or isn’t “carved in stone” we are reminded of the stone tablets that are often associated with the Commandments. Yet as much as another cliché comes from them, the Ten Commandments didn’t simply drop out of the sky. They did not arrive intact, completely outside of any sort of context. They arose from a promise fulfilled, and a new relationship with God. As much as we have learned to hear “Thou shalt not…” and the foreboding tone that it carries, these are words that speak of freedom, and opportunities for life.
Everything about the Ten Commandments flows from its preamble; it’s the most important part! Unfortunately, they way we have been raised simply leaves it off:
“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery;” –Exodus 20:2
The whole reason for these commandments is a reminder of what God had done for Israel… that God had freed them from slavery in Egypt, and brought them into a land where they could live in freedom. “You were once slaves, now you are free people.” Once you were subject to the whims of another human ruler, subject to the will of another people, and your destiny controlled by another hand. You are no longer slaves, I have brought you from there to live lives of your own.
It is immediately after this statement that we find ourselves in the midst of the commandments:
God says, “Write this down. First, you will have no other gods before me. I bought you; I own you. You’re mine. Second, don’t make idols. You’re not free to give yourself to anything - your spouse, your job, your nation - but me. Then don’t lie, don’t steal, don’t have sex with other people’s spouses, don’t envy what others have, even their SUVs.”
Moses thinks, “Um, rules… but didn’t you just set us free?”
God says, “Well yes… but I’m a funny sort of God… I freed you, but I want you to say that way… I’m into justice, righteousness, and I want you to live as free people… Anyway… keep writing this down. Honor your parents, because you’re not the first to walk this earth. Did I mention stealing? Don’t do that either.”
It’s there that Moses learns why Israel was freed from slavery in the first place.
It would seem to be contradictory… “you are free people, but you shall not do this!” Shouldn’t we be free to do whatever we want? Isn’t that what freedom means?
Hardly.
“Now that you are free people,” we hear the voice of God say, “I want you to stay that way… this is what you need to do… or rather not do if your society is going to work and thrive.”
These Ten Commandments were not simply arbitrary, pulled from the air kinds of rules; they are about relationships and about building a healthy society. If we are to live as free people, then these are lines that we do not cross… why? because if we do, then we do violence to our relationships with one another, and with God. If we want to stay as free people, then we need to respect the integrity and dignity of those around us. These commandments are how you achieve that.
We have learned even recently, in the chaos that followed Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, that human nature, left completely without boundaries, is not freedom. It becomes anarchy, a free-for-all where brute force becomes the only authority… and only until someone with a bigger gun arrives.
During my time in seminary, I had the opportunity to visit a maximum security youth prison. A group of us came in to do some recreational stuff with some of the better-behaved inmates. That having been said, there were some very clear boundaries that we were briefed on ahead of time… the one that was stressed the most was “don’t ask them why they’re in here.” The chaplain on duty told us that at this point in their incarceration most of the inmates didn’t feel that they had done anything wrong, except maybe the fact that they got caught. I had expected to see maybe those who had low self-esteem, or had experienced some sort of trauma in growing up. Maybe elsewhere, but in this maximum security place, this was not the case. What struck me was how intelligent these young men seemed… The duty chaplain who had been there for years told us that most of the people who were there were not in jail because they thought too little of themselves, but because they thought too much of themselves. They were brilliant kids with lots of potential… but to them, everyone else who has a job, or follows the law, is a loser. Most of them got here because of the arrogant idea that the rules are made for everyone else but them.
In the aftermath of the financial scandals in the US following the collapse of both Enron and Worldcom, someone once observed: “When you’ve got a bunch of arrogant people who think they are just a bit too smart for conventional accounting practices, that the rules are made for uncreative dummies, you've got disaster.”
Martin Luther once observed that the strength of the Ten Commandments is their simplicity. God didn’t make things overly complex for us… “You want to live free… these are the lines that you don’t cross, and you will remain free.” God loved us enough to make it easy to understand.
The Commandments were Israel’s way of freeing its children from enslavement to gods more cruel and demanding than the Trinity… those demanding idols of our own creation: alienation, self-absorbed bias, and the relentless quest for self-fulfillment. Israel loved its young enough to show them the way, to reassure its youth that they need not always reinvent the wheel of morality, decency, and the good life. Thank God, not everything is up for grabs. The good news is that God loved us enough to give us a means to maintain our freedom. God loved us enough to give us the rules for life.
Amen.
Note: Preached on World Communion Sunday, 2005
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