Exodus 20:1-17
John 2:13-22
March 15, 2009
Year B
Third Sunday of Lent
A Command, a Promise or a Way of Life?
Memorizing the 10 commandments is a rite of passage or all Sunday school students. Who can remember them by heart?
(I can’t)
Teach you a short trick to remember them….
Start with your hands together in prayer. This reminds us that God heard the
prayers of the Hebrew people when they were in slavery in Egypt and freed them
(Exodus 3:7, 20:2). The commandments are a way for us to show our gratitude for
God's love in our lives and to further just and peaceful relationships in God's
world.
1. "I am the Lord your God; you shall have no other gods before me." Hold up one
index finger for the number one. We worship one God.
2. "You shall not worship idols." Idols, false gods, are not only things like
statues, but anything in which we place our ultimate trust and allegiance-- for
example, money, possessions or weapons. Hold up two fingers. Should we worship
more than one God? No, two is too many! One of them must be an idol, and we
should not worship it!
3. "You shall not take the Lord's name in vain." Use three fingers to form the
letter "W' which stands for "words." Watch your words! God wants us to use his
name in loving, caring ways, as we pray and as we talk about him, not in
swearing or in anger.
4. "Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy." Hold up four fingers, and fold
your thumb under to let it rest. The thumb has the right idea. It's the Sabbath,
and the thumb is following the commandment to take a day of rest. God does not
want anyone to overwork or be stressed, so we need a day to rest, to be at
peace, and to worship with others. God also gave us the Sabbath so that working
people would not be taken advantage of by their employers (Deut. 5:14)
5. "Honor your father and your mother." Hold up all five fingers on one hand as
if you are taking a pledge, to honor your parents. God wants there to be peace
and love in all our family relationships.
6. "You shall not kill." Pretend the index finger on your second hand is a gun,
shooting at the first five fingers. God's sixth commandment teaches us not to do
anything that would hurt another person unfairly.
7. "You shall not commit adultery." Hold one hand out flat. The five fingers and
hand become the floor of the church. Two fingers on the other hand are the man
and woman to be married, standing in the church, making
promises to each other. This seventh commandment calls for couples to keep the
marriage promises they make.
8. "You shall not steal." Hold up four fingers on each hand, for the eighth
commandment. If you stretch out your fingers slightly, these become the prison
bars, which hold someone who was been arrested for stealing. Our Study Catechism
says "God forbids all theft and robbery, including schemes, tricks or systems
that unjustly take what belongs to someone else."
9. "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor." Hold up all five
fingers on one hand and four on the other. Fold your second thumb under and turn
your hand around, so the thumb is hiding. It is secretly going around telling
the other four fingers on that hand lies and rumors about the five fingers on
the other hand. It is "bearing false witness," as it talks behind people=s
backs, spreading gossip, criticizing others without talking directly to the
people involved. Again, our Study Catechism teaches us "Negative stereotyping is
a form of falsehood that invites actions of humiliation, abuse, and violence as
forbidden by the commandment against murder."
10. "Do not covet what belongs to your neighbor." Hold out your hands, palms
up, and wiggle all ten fingers to show that they've got the "gimmes." Your
fingers are saying, "Gimme what belongs to my neighbor. I want all those things
my neighbor has." This is not the way God wants us to live.
I bet you didn’t know that catholics, Lutherans, other protestants, and jews have different ten commandements. There are actually 15 commandments that have been grouped in different ways.
A preacher was depressed that he lost his bike…..In a small town there were two preachers, one Methodist and one Baptist.They both liked to ride bicycles around town, and they would greet eachother when they met on their way somewhere. Well, so one day when they met, the Baptist preacher was on foot. Methodistpreacher asked him, "What happened to your bicycle?" Baptist preacher said, "I don't know. I put it somewhere, and can'tremember where. I hope somebody didn't steal it." So the Methodist preacher said, "I know what we can do to get your bicycleback. This Sunday we'll both preach on the Ten Commandments. When we getto 'Thou shalt not steal,' we'll dwell on it long and hard. I'll betthat'll get your bicycle returned." So they proceeded to do this, and one day the next week they met up again,and the Baptist preacher had his bicycle back. "Hello, friend," said the Methodist preacher. "I see one of our sermons didsome good." The Baptist fellow hung his head and said, "Yeah, but not how you'd think.I preached on the Ten Commandments, just like we said, and when I got to'Covet not thy neighbor's wife,' I remembered where I'd left my bicycle!"
That is how we usually use the ten commandments – as a set of rules that we are supposed to obey, with a realization that we will be punished if we disobey. And there are times when it is justified that we are punished. These are social boundaries where there should be consequences if we violate them. These are the basic rules of how we should live in community.
These are the first known rules of community. The story goes that the people did not want to talk with Moses on their own, so they ask Moses to go on the mountain and to bring back those rules to live by.
Today, even with all of the controversy of separation of church and state, they are the basis of our legal system. And play an important in our modern societal boundaries.
I told you that during lent we would be dealing with the 6 promises of God. At first thought, this hardly seems like a promise. It seems more like a list of rules to follow or else.
That is because no matter how well we may remember all of the commandments, we are not told of the first words o Exodus 20:2 – Where God says, I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me.
I brought you out of the house of slavery – the promise for us is not a demand a demand of obedience, but a request of obedience. The first promise for us is that we would not be destroyed. In spite of out bent toward sinning. The second promise is that the world would be blessed if we live out of our faith. The promise for today – is that even though we are sinners, even though there are always consequences for our sin, - we have been set free. We are free to be in relationship with God and with one another. Without freedom, there is no relationship – because you are not giving out of your heart.
Without God, where would be be? Without God’s love for us where would we be? Without God opening doors and providing a pathway for us – where would we be? So why would we put other gods before God?
The first 4 commandments teach us how to have a relationship with God, the next six teach us how to have a relationship with one another.
Jesus reminds us that we should love the lord our God with all of our heart, all of our mind and all of our souls. And to love one another as God loves us. To treat one another, as God treats us.
Perhaps that is why Jesus got so upset in our gospel. Because people seemed to get so caught up in following the rules, that they forgot to be in relationship with one another, and with God.
This is another story which is told in all of the gospels. In John’s story – this is the beginning of Jesus ministry – when he comes to the temple – and finds money changers in the temple. He is not so much upset that they are selling worship materials – it is okay for us to have bake sales, and fundraisers in the church. That is not the problem. He is upset because of their attitude in selling products. They don’t care about the people that they are serving – many who can’t afford the prices that they are being charged. Also, they have set up shop in the gentile section of the temple, which means that there are people who are not allowed to come to worship while all of this is going on.
They have turned worship of God into a mockery of all that God stands for. A relationship of love.
Jesus ties some rope together and starts to destroy what they are doing by upturning everything. I love the response of the religious leaders in this story – who gave you the authority to do this?
When I was in Israel, one of the leaders said, it is not that Jews don’t like Jesus, they just don’t understand. It was like he made a mockery of the whole point of Jewish tradition. like he is doing in this scene.
Jesus is reminding us that we are free – we are not bound by tradition, or by circumstances, or by rules. The Lord our God has set us free. And all that God asks of us in return – is to obey – to never forget our relationship with God and to live out that relationship with one another.
The temple in which we worship is not a building (as important as it is), the temple is our relationships with one another and with those in the world. Without a relationship with who we are, what we are doing, and how we affect others – we don’t have anything.
I want to leave you with these words from Meister Eckhart
“as long we look for some kind of pay for what we do, as long as we want something from God in some kind of exchange, we are like merchants. Do all that you can in good works, solely for the praise of God. Live as you do not exist. Expect nothing in return. Then the merchant inside of you shall be driven out of the temple. Let God alone dwell in the temple. This is how the temple is cleared: when a person thinks only of God and honors him alone. Only such a person is free and genuine.
Worship no God but God
Don’t use the lords name in vain
Remember the Sabbath
Honor your parents
Don’t murder
Don’t commit adultery
Don’t steal
Don’t lie
Don’t wish for anything that belongs to another.
No matter what you do – always remember that you are loved, so you are free.
Amen.
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