"Moses Stories For Our Time: The Ten Commandments, Pt. I"Dr.
James L. Mayfield
October 6, 2002 Text: Exodus 19:20, 20:1-11 The stories for today and next Sunday are about God giving Moses The Ten Commandments. Today's story begins with the writer of Exodus telling about God confronting Moses and the Israelites at the foot of Mt. Sinai. The story is told with dramatic detail. God's presence caused the earth to quake; there was an awesome cloud of smoke; the heavens thundered. It was all so awesome, it was unnerving - even somewhat frightening. Few of us have ever had such an experience of the presence of God. I do not think this is because in our time God is less awesome, but because we are so confident in our knowledge of the world, we are insensitive to the presence of God, and we have little awareness of the awesome holiness of God. If I had been among the Israelites, there is a good probability, I would not have been aware of being confronted by God at the foot of Mt. Sinai. To me it would have been merely a storm with a lot of thunder and lightening, and a volcanic eruption producing a lot of smoke and causing an earthquake. But Moses and many of the Israelites at Mt Sinai were aware of the presence of God. Then, Moses was aware God wanted him to climb to the top of the mountain for a conference. There, God told Moses what was expected of the Israelites and of all of us who follow in their footsteps. God laid down the law, and at the heart of it all is what we have come to call The Ten Commandments. First, Moses was reminded that God is a God of compassion and mercy. "I am the Lord, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage." This God who has clear expectations of us is the One who is at work in life, delivering us from various kinds of bondage that distort and destroy life. This God who expects us to serve His will gave us this good creation that in our sin we messed up -- each generation compounding the mess. God is the God, who is at work in life, delivering us from this mess we humans have made across the centuries. What God expects of us is loyalty and devotion. God said: "You shall have no other gods before me." God is God, not our nation. God is God, not our families. God is God, not our careers. God is God, not being comfortable and secure. God is God, and we are not to substitute anything else for God -- not even such worthy realities as nation, family, careers and the like. As worthy as these other realities are, they are not to be the organizing principle of our living. The truth is, each of these realities (nation, family, career and the like) are supposed to serve the purposes of God, not be gods that we center our lives on. God said: "You shall have no other god be a substitute for me." To make sure we got the point, God went on to command us not to try to manufacture gods to serve. "You are not to make for yourself any idols." But how tempting and easy it is to make idols we think will give our lives meaning and purpose. We may no longer carve graven images to worship, but we make idols in other ways. Some of us idolize being popular, thinking that being well liked is the highest goal we can achieve. Others of us idolize wealth, thinking our lives will be worth something if we have a large credit rating and own a lot of things. Others of us idolize power in the dream of having god-like-control of life. Or, we idolize our children, making great sacrifices so that our lives will be justified by the accomplishments of our children. God does not merely command us not to center our living around idols we have made; God warns us, that if we live with the wrong priorities, the destructive consequences will not only impact our lives but will also impact the lives of three or four generations that follow us. On a personal level, we have to look no farther than our family trees to see evidence of the ways that the sins of those who have gone before us set loose consequences that are still impacting our lives. On the national level, all we have to do is look at the consequences of slavery. On the international level, all we have to do is look at the consequences of 19th century colonialism in the Middle East and how each generation since then has compounded the mess. But it is not just the bad stuff that gets passed down; so does the good. God promised to show steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love Him and serve Him. The evidence of this can be seen in the ongoing legacy of compassion at work in us and in the world, and in the longings and struggling for justice that goes from generation to generation. Here again, we have to look no farther than our family trees, to see positive values, priorities, outlooks that have been passed from one generation to another generation after generation. We are not to make idols to guide our living. If we do there will be lasting negative consequences, but if we are obedient to God, the good consequences will last even longer. God also told Moses, the Israelites and us, not to misuse his name. This is not merely telling us not to use the word "God" as profanity. In Hebrew the name of a person and the person are inseparable. So, being told not to misuse God's name is about the same thing as being told not to try to misuse God. The third commandment is not merely telling us not to cuss using God's name, such as when we use God's name in such a way it appears we are claiming our agendas are the will of God. We are commanded not to use God's name in such a way that it appears God wants what we want or what our nation wants. Maybe God does, but maybe God doesn't. It is best for us to be very careful about claiming or even implying that our priorities are God's priorities. We are not to call on God to serve our sinful, selfish purposes. We are not to misuse the name of God. The fourth commandment is that we are to remember the sabbath day and keep it holy. When we examine what God told Moses regarding this commandment, what we discover is that the purpose of the sabbath is both to rest and remember who we are, who we are meant to be. This commandment is not merely a religious rule about going to church once a week. There is profound wisdom in this commandment, and if we ignore this wisdom we cripple our ability to live as God intends. A couple of weeks ago, I found myself being impatient and irritable in a staff meeting. Then it dawned on me, I had not really had a sabbath, a day of true rest and refreshment since late August. We humans need rest. God made us this way. And when we do not get the rest we need, we are unable to live as God intends. We need sabbath rest. We also need to set aside time on a frequent, regular basis to remember, to reflect on who we are and who God intends us to be. If we do not do this, we drift farther and farther from being the person God intends us to be. For us to live as God intends, we need to rest, and we need to remember who we really are. The Moses story for today reminds us God is at work in life, doing for us what God did for the Israelites. Through amazing grace God sets us free from the various kinds of bondage that prevent us from living as God intends. What God intends and expect of us is loyalty and devotion. We are to center our living on God, having no other gods, and not creating idols to claim our loyalty. We are not to misuse God and God's name. And it is only as we frequently and regularly rest and remember who we really are, that we will be able to live as God intends us to live. Let us pray, God, help us keep your commandments. Amen. Pastoral prayer: Let us thank God for the gifts and blessings we have received. We have come here with a variety of concerns and problems. Let us ask God for guidance and help. God, on this Worldwide Communion Sunday, help us be aware we are not only involved in communion with You but through this sacrament we are participating in Holy Communion with all our Christian sisters and brothers all around this planet. And God, with them we join in praying for peace. We pray that just as Christ calmed the storm on the Sea of Galilee, His presence will be at work in and through leaders all around this planet to dispel the storm clouds of war gathering in the Middle East. We especially pray for President Bush and his advisors. Enable them to be their best selves; give them insight, wisdom and courage to say and do what is pleasing to You. As we come to receive this sacrament, open our hearts to receive your grace so that we too will be able to live our lives, saying and doing what is pleasing to You. Enable us and all our brothers and sisters in the faith to be instruments of your healing and redeeming love. In the name of Christ, this is our prayer. Amen. |