God's Command for us

Rev. Harriette Cross First United Methodist Church of Wilmington October 8, 2023 Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20 God’s Commands for Us 19th Sunday after Pentecost Year A Prelude Welcome Call to Worship L: Welcome to God’s house, a place of faith. P: From our homes, we come seeking God’s word. L: Here you will find nourishment and hope. P: May we learn lessons of courage and peace. L: Here you will find rest from your struggles P: Lord, prepare our hearts to receive your words that we may leave this holy house of faith and return to our homes, encouraged and challenged to be your people. AMEN. (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Nancy Townley Opening Prayer Lord, from the mountaintop in ancient Israel, you gave your people ways in which to live in harmony with all creation. As time has progressed the power of those words seems to have faded in our lives and we often succumb to base temptations of power and greed. Bring us back to your words of compassion and hope, offered to all creation by your Son Jesus. Open our hearts to receive your love and your direction in our lives. AMEN. (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Nancy Townley Responsive Reading Psalm 19 UMH 750 Song My Hope is Built UMH 368 Children’s Sermon How many of you have rules at home? Do you have rules about when to eat? How to eat? How long you can watch television? How you should act? (no hitting, no spitting, no yelling?) Do you like the rules? I remember saying that I did NOT like some of the rules when I was little; especially at school. There were too many!! Let's think about rules and play a game called "I wonder." I'm going to ask you a question that starts with "I wonder" and you guys are going to use your imagination and help me answer. In our country, we have a lot of rules about food -- how it has to be made before we buy it and eat it. I wonder what would happen if we didn't have any of those rules? (do you think it would be clean? Taste as good? would restaurants be as clean?) We also have a lot of rules in sports and games. I wonder what would happen if our games didn't have rules? (people would cheat and lie, we wouldn't know how to play -- it wouldn't be as fun) And what about on the road -- we have tons of rules on how to drive or ride our bikes on the road. I wonder what would happen if we didn't have those rules? (You could drive anywhere, stop when you want -- there would be crashes all the time!) We have a lot of rules to live by, and most of them are good, and necessary. If we didn't have them, the world would be crazy! God also gave us some rules to live by. They are called the 10 commandments and God gave them to Moses. There are 10 of them and they are very important: 1. Don't worship any other gods. 2. Don't make anything in your life more important than God. 3. Don't use God's name in a bad way. 4. Rest one day a week 5. Obey your parents 6. Don't kill 7. Be faithful to your family 8. Don't steal 9. Don't lie 10. Don't be greedy It's important for us to learn these rules and to obey them! To help you, I'm going to give each of you a bookmark today to help you remember the 10 rules or commandments that God gave to us. (Sermons4Kids) Prayer for illumination (adapted from Psalm 19) O Lord, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen. (Presbyterian Outlook, Brian Christopher Coulter) Scripture Exodus 20: 1-4, 7-9, 12-20 Sermon God’s Commands for Us I would say that I am pretty good about honoring the sabbath. Usually for me, free time starts at about 3pm on Friday an lasts until 7pm on Saturday. During that time, I can do whatever I want to do. I just have a hard stop at 7pm on Saturday, so that I can start my sermon prep time. This week, I really needed that sabbath time. On Saturday, I washed my hair, and while sitting under the dryer, I not only got the read a book, I was able to finish it before 7pm. The book was called Rest as Resistance. It is about the importance of taking sabbath in your everyday life as a part of the civil rights movement. The lady who wrote it calls herself the nap bishop. She goes all over the country scheduling these event where people sign up to take a nap for 2 hours. She puts you to sleep and wakes you up after about 2 hours in the middle of the day. She calls this the nap ministry. Her message is the in a capitalist society, we are defined by our productivity. So each person owes it to themselves to step away from that and take some time to refresh. I really enjoyed the book, she talks about how her dad was a Church of God in Christ minister, who also worked a full time job. He died of a heart attack at 50 from exhaustion. She too grew up struggling to survive and move ahead, so she came up with the nap ministry while enrolled in seminary full time, working and taking care of a six year old child all by herself. I thought that it was interesting that she never mentioned the bible in the book – or the 4th commandment to remember the sabbath and to keep it holy. Even though remembering the sabbath is the 4th of the ten commandments, it is actually the oldest of all of the commandments. It goes back to the creation story when God, Godself tells us that God worked to create the world on 6 days and on the 7th day God rested. And that we should do the same. For the last few weeks – we have been reading the exodus story – following how God called the isrealites out of slavery in Egypt into freedom. They went on a journey into what was wilderness to them, they cried out to God, God answered, God provided. When God provided manna for them to eat, God did make arrangements for the sabbath. The manna would go bad if your stored it, except for when stored for the sabbath. If you were to track all of the places that the isrealites went while in the desert, the map will not make sense, and we don’t know all of he places that they stopped. As we are approaching chapter 20 – apparently they have been traveling for a while. Moses starts to see that they are starting to gel and come together as a community. God apparently realizes that they are going to need to ground rules for community. The Jewish community calls these the 10 words, not commandments. There is no penalty from God for breaking these rules, but there are consequences for each one. It is in everyone’s best interest to honor these commandments. And interestingly enough, each of these commandments is short and to the point, there is no explanation, just don’t do them. That is except the 4th commandment, which is a whole paragraph. Verses 8-11 - [8] "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. [9] Six days you shall labor and do all your work, [10] but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. [11] For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. Sabbath is not just about you, it is about your household and everyone that the interact with. Sunday used to be a day where nothing happened, nothing was opened. That has changed a lot now. The seventh day is to be kept holy, set apart, and different from all other days. Just as Israel was freed from slavery in Egypt, so we who have been set free by God's grace should not become enslaved by the demands of this life. For Christians, the holiest day of the week is not the seventh day, but the first day. Christ rose from the dead on Sunday, and Sunday became the Lord's Day. Gradually, Sunday merged with the Sabbath in Christian practice, until this Fourth Commandment came to be applied to it. Charlemagne, in A.D. 789, declared that all ordinary labor on Sunday was a breaking of the Fourth Commandment. Bishop Arthur Moore said, "Our great-grandfathers called it the Holy Sabbath Day. Our grandfathers called it the Sabbath Day. Our fathers called it Sunday. Now we refer to it as the weekend." We all know what Sunday means for each of us, but do we know what sababth means? How do you rest? How do you keep it holy? Where is God on Sunday. For me, once church is over I sleep on Sunday. My brain is mush on Sunday, and I can’t do anything else meaningful. But I don’t know that, that is about God, it is about being tired. That has been my practice for most of my ministry, for some reason worship on Sunday just drains me. Sometimes it is hard even for pastors to remember to keep sababth holy. A preacher friend of mine, Cecil Meyers – retired from Peachtree Road Methodist Church last year. He has written a number of helpful books, in one of those books, he talks about his own experience in relation to taking God seriously. He tells of experiences in a hospital ten years ago. His doctor was a Christian and very understanding. Cecil said he was over-worked or over worried or both - so the doctor put him in the hospital for some rest and some tests. One day the doctor came into the room and sat beside his bed awhile and talked, they’d always been close friends, but the doctor startled Cecil by saying, “You aren’t a Christian, are you?” While Cecil was gasping for his breath and stammering around to find an answer, the doctor went on, “You don’t believe in the Bible do you?” That really got Cecil. That’s what he proclaimed from Sunday to Sunday, the message of the Bible. Finally, when Cecil picked himself up off the floor and got him self together enough to ask for an explanation, the doctor said: “If you really were a Christian, and if you really believe the Bible, you wouldn’t be in here now!” You can imagine that he had Cecil’s total attention then, so he asked him if he had ever heard the passage from the Bible that reads: “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31). Of course Cecil had heard of it. He’d read it a hundred times, and had preached perhaps a dozen of sermons on it. But the doctor wouldn’t let him respond he asked, “Have you heard of the verse that goes, “believe, all thing possible to him that believeth?” (Mark 9:23) Of course, Cecil had heard that - but he didn’t have a chance to tell the doctor he had, for the doctor went on. “If you believed these things, you wouldn’t be here.” Cecil got the message. He’d been trying to run his own life, do it himself, handle his own affairs, and organize his life apart from God. I know what Cecil is talking about. I’ve been there too, and I suspect that many ministers who leave the church for various reasons primarily leave because they find their work impossible. They try to do it in their own strength. ChristianGlobe Networks, Inc., Collected Sermons, by Maxie Dunnam Perhaps that is why the most important commandment is number one – Put God first in everything that we do. We should set God as the foundation of all of our behavior. We should stay connected to God. 20:3: “You shall have no other gods before Me.” There is a Jewish legend that a certain leaf wanted to be free to fly like a bird. It struggled to separate itself from the tree and floated to the ground. But without the life-giving power of the tree, the leaf slowly withered and died. As it died, it cried to the other leaves, “Don’t do as I have done. It is death instead of freedom.” Freedom is the key to remembering the commandments. Envronmentalist/United Mehodist Bill McKibben – The turtle does what she does and magnificently. She can’t not do it, though any more than the beaver can decide to take a break from building dams or the bee from making honey. But if the bird’s special gift is flight, ours is the possibility of restraint. We are the only creature who can decide not to do something we’re capable of doing. That is our superpower, even if we exercise it so rarely. We are the only creature with the freedom to do or not to do – but we still have to be guided with how to use that freedom. John Wesley felt, as heavy as the Ten Commandments are, they could be kept. He was convinced faith established the law and made such good works possible. He felt the statutes were both law and liberty, and taught that the Law might actually be fulfilled in the believer's life. We have suspected these Ten Words were just too much, but we humans always have had more knowledge of what we are supposed to do, than the power and desire to do it. We need to reflect upon these standards and internalize their truth into ourselves. No sermon can adequately cover them all, but at least we can get an overview of their usefulness to us by looking at them, briefly, however hurried the glance may b Jesus sums up the 10 commandments into 2 commandments – first love the Lord your God with all of our heart, mind and soul. Second Love your neighbor just like that. If you notice, the first 4 commandments are about our relationship with God, the second are about our relationship with family and neighbors. Some of the other commandments are honor our marriage, watch our words, honor our parents, do not bear false witness. A young wife called her mother on the phone, crying, and said she wanted to leave her husband and return home. When asked why, she said her husband had been saying dirty words to her - four-letter dirty words! The mother, trying to understand, and at the same time encourage her daughter to stay with her husband, asked, "But what kind of four-letter, dirty words does he say to you?" "Oh, real dirty words, Mother," she cried. "He says words like 'wash, iron, cook, and dust'!" So Jesus summarizes the 10 commandments into 2 , but in reality the commandments can be summarized into 1 commandment, one 4 letter word – that word is love. All love flows from God and all love flows back to God. As Christians, we get the chance to live our lives within that flow. We let that flow determine our actions. We have the honor of receiving love from God and intentionally using it by giving it to others. G. K. Chesterton said years ago, "Good art and morality teach us the same lesson--it is wisdom to know where to draw the line." There it is, then. A practical, down-to-earth formula against which to measure the daily choices of our lives. Does it make good sense? Is it faithful to the rules in which I believe? Is it true to the person I want to be? Would I mind if other people knew? Could I be pleased if the people I admire did the same? Will the consequences really be what I want? If the answers to all of these are "yes," then it's probably the right thing to do. CSS Publishing Company, TIMES OF REFRESHING, by E. Carver McGriff The oldest candle company in the world is based in Dublin, Ireland. Rathbornes, which first sold candles made from tallow, or animal fat, was established in 1488 and is still in business today. The Irish government once considered candles to be absolutely essential to the safe functioning of society. In fact, in 1616 the municipal government in Dublin passed the “Candlelight Law,” which required that every fifth house keep a lit candle in the window during certain hours to guide passersby safely through the streets. (7) The Ten Commandments serve as a “Candlelight Law” for the Israelites and all the nations around them. They were intended to make the Israelites into a living embodiment of God’s character and purposes in the world. Song How Great Thou Art UMH 77 Morning Prayer We stand in awe of your creation, magnificent Lord. We gaze at the autumnal leaves and the indicators of change that is coming. We begin to think about the winter ahead and make preparations for the differences that come with changing seasons. Help us to turn our hearts to you, Lord. As we begin to settle down into more predictable routines, let us always be mindful of the needs of others. This morning we lift in prayer the names of loved ones who struggle with illness, grief, alienation, and sorrow. We share aloud in this congregation some of these names and their situations which weigh heavily on our hearts. Let us pray: [People may offer prayers of concern at this time.]. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayers. We also share those things which make our hearts and spirits dance with joy. Let us pray: [People may offer prayers of joy at this time.]. Lord, in your spirit of joy, hear our praises! The light of God shines on us as we offer these names in concern and joy, illuminating our way and guiding our lives. For in all things, we pray in the name of Jesus Christ. AMEN. (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Nancy Townley) Lord’s Prayer Stewardship Moment Jesus’ parables often draw pictures of God’s Realm. Matthew 21:33-46 (also told in Mark and Luke) describes a landowner who improves the land and leases it to tenants. Rather than responding as they had agreed to do, the tenants damaged two sets of the landowner’s servants, and killed his son, hoping to retain all the profits from the land. Jesus asked the crowds, “what will the owner of the vineyard do to the tenants when HE comes?” We, who have been loaned/leased this earth, may tremble when we hear the answer! Jesus teaches that the Realm of God will be taken away from those who’ve tried to steal, and given to those who produce the fruits of God’s Realm. Those who grab the goods and step on others to reach the top will be removed. We may not relish the words of Jesus as prophet, but Matthew, Mark and Luke all record these parabolic teachings. As we come to offer our gifts, what will you bring? As you consider all you have received, how can you live as a grateful recipient? Prayer of Thanksgiving God of all good gifts, we offer you a portion of what we have received. May the meditations of our hearts lead us to consider anew how best to use what we possess, for we do yearn to live in your Realm, both now and in the life to come. AMEN (Disciples of Christ, Center for Faith and Giving) Announcements Closing Prayer for Facebook Go forth to harvest fruit that impacts the world. Go forth with God’s love to share with all. Go forth with the peace of Jesus Christ and With the communion with the Holy Spirit to be the transformative agents you are being called to be. Amen! (United Church of Christ Worship Ways, Rev. Persida Rivera-Mendez) Community Time – Joys and Concerns Benediction May you follow the commandments. May you know Christ and his power. May you share with the heavens and proclaim with the firmament the glory of our God. And may go forth with the blessing of God — our Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer. Amen. (Presbyterian Outlook, Brian Christopher Coulter) Additional Illustrations It was Boxing Day, December 26, 1989. Romania was in turmoil. The previous day, President Nicolae Ceausescu, unable to quell the tide of dissent in Bucharest, had been tried and executed. Now no one was in charge. Western reporters flooded into the country from the south, searching for someone who could speak English. Finally they found someone, and in one sentence she summed up not only Romania's predicament, but the human condition: "We have freedom," she said, "but we don't know what to do with it."[1] That was God's gracious purpose in giving the Ten Commandments to Israel — they were free now. Here are Ten Words on how to handle the freedom. ________________________________________ 1. David F. Wells, "God Spoke These Words," The ChristianCentury, 3/15/00, p. 301. CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lectionary Tales for the Pulpit, by David E. Leininger That magnificent preacher from Georgia, Charles Allen, likes to tell about some American explorers who went to Africa. They employed some native guides. The first day they rushed to cover as much distance as possible. They did the same thing on the second, third, and every day. On the seventh day they noticed the guides sitting under a tree. "Come on," they shouted, "Let's go." One of the guides replied, "We no go today. We rest today to let our souls catch up with our bodies." For that purpose, God says, "Remember the Sabbath." ChristianGlobe Networks, Inc., Collected Sermons, by Bill Bouknight America's premier Protestant preacher of the early part of this century, Dr. Harry Emerson Fosdick, once told a story from his early days as presiding minister of the great Riverside Church in New York. It seems that Fosdick, liberal by theological standards of the time, was turned off by much contemporary preaching with its emphasis on sin and threat. He vowed he would place his emphasis on the love and forgiveness of God. One day a man who had attended Riverside for several months approached Fosdick to say that although he was not a church member, he had found great solace in the preaching emphasis of that church. Several more months passed and one day Fosdick realized he hadn't seen the man for quite some time. He made some inquiries and learned that the man was currently in prison for embezzlement. Dr. Fosdick said this was quite a shock for him and made him realize that the gospel was not complete without an emphasis on the moral basis of the Christian faith. We need this commandment, as we do all the others, for our own good. Jesus said that the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Sabbath-keeping was not meant to be a punishment, but a privilege. We need it for worship, reflection, stillness, meditation, relaxation, and recovery from the toil of the week past and as preparation and gathering of strength for the week ahead Jesus' Two Commandments Jesus did not destroy the Law written in the Decalogue; he simply boiled the ten down to two. "Thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind (Mark and Luke added, "and with all thy strength" This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." (Matthew 22:37-39) Colonel Sanders added the Extra Crispy to his Original chicken. Jesus did not do away with the Original Ten; he simply lets us know in this New Commandment that the relationship with God is not so much founded on obedience as on love. John Wesley wrote to Charles Wesley saying he had become convinced "the Law can be fulfilled evangelically by love." The religion of love," he said, "is the religion of the Bible. Moses, and the Prophets, and Christ and his Apostles, proclaim with one voice thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy soul, and thy neighbor as thyself. They all declare that love is the fulfilling of the Law." Do you love God with all of yourself? Who is the first person you think of when you win a victory, or when you face a crisis? Who hears your troubles first? Who carries the most weight in your life? Whose word is law? The Great Command of Jesus demands this be God. Whatever, or whoever, is first in your life is taking the place of God or is your God. The Second Commandment, the love of neighbor, is the other side of the same truth. If you don't love God and your neighbor, you don't love either. John says, "If any one says, 'I love God,' and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother ... cannot love God." (1 John 4:20) The judgment day will find a lot of us standing in the merciless light of God's condemnation and wrath as to what we have done with the stranger, the sick, the prisoner, the poor, the hungry, the disadvantaged. Jesus will say, "As ye have done it unto the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." (Matthew 25:4 If you think that’s a crazy notion, and has no meaning for you - that there’s no way for you to be a Christian in profession but an atheist in practice - will you perform a very serious experiment for me - no, don’t do it for me; do it for yourself and do it for God. Sometime during this coming week, will you set aside maybe thirty minutes - if you can’t give it 30, give it at least 15 - ask yourself, and honestly answer, three questions. What do I think about most when I’m not thinking about my work? Let me repeat it now if you’re making notes. What do I think about most when I’m not thinking about my work? Two, move a bit deeper. How do I spend my leisure time - the time not required for my job or my keeping the household going? How do I spend my time - the time not required by my job or by keeping the household going? The third question is this: How do I spend my money? Look at that closely friends, and don’t pass it off without studying the issue. Get beyond your normal complaints about big grocery bills, and high utility rates, and huge house payments, doctor bills - look at those things, but look on to the end - how do I spend my money? If you’ll answer these three questions, you’ll have an answer to whether or not you’re a practical atheist, though a professing Christian - you’ll discover whether you’re really taking God seriously or not, Now I want to give you a challenge. You are just like an automobile. Just like you can check gauges on your automobile to see if it is functioning properly, God has given us three gauges by which we can give ourselves a check-up. We have a mental gauge, a physical gauge, and a spiritual gauge. Now check yours - Mentally are you absolutely running on empty? Are you mentally exhausted or are you charged up and ready to do what God wants you to do with passion? Physically - are you rested? Are you fit? Are you as healthy as you can be? Spiritually - are you walking with the Lord? My challenge to you is for the next 90 days take one day a week just for the Lord to refresh yourself mentally, physically and spiritually and see how much more productive and peaceful your life will be. We need the Sabbath day. We need a change in our routine. We need a mental change. We need to take a break and think about what is really important in life. We need a physical change. We need to get out of the office, the school, the plant, the store and get into a new environment where we can be encouraged by other people. We need a spiritual change. We need to be in church where God's word is preached and taught and where we can fellowship with other people who believe God is important too. Sometimes you will see on a tombstone these words, "Rest in Peace." There will be neither rest nor peace unto you find both in Jesus Christ. Remember He is the one who said, "Come to me all of you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28, HCSB) Jesus is the one that gives, not just your body rest and your mind rest, but your spirit the rest of knowing that when you know Him, you will spend eternity with God and that is the greatest Sabbath of all. 1 – (hold up 1 index finger) Number 1 is You shall have only one God. 2 – (hold up your index and middle finger, putting one behind the other) Number 2 is you will not make or worship idols, or you shall have no other Gods before me. This means God should be the most important thing in your life! 3 – (hold up your index, middle, and ring fingers, pointing out how they make the letter “w”) The third commandment Is do not take the Lord’s name in vain, and the three can remind us to watch our words 4 – (hold up index, middle, ring, and pinkie finger, motioning as if the four fingers are a family going to church) Number 4 is keep the Sabbath holy, which means give one day a week to God, like when you come to church on Sunday with your family 5 – (hold up all 5 fingers, then salute) Number 5 is honor your father and mother, and the salute helps us remember to listen and obey our parents 6 – (hold up all 5 fingers on one hand, then your index finger on the other; the single index finger becomes a gun pointing at the other 5) Number 6 is do not murder. 7 – (hold up all 5 fingers on one hand, then your index and middle finger on another, showing how the two are separate from the other five) Number 7 is keep your marriage promises, which means that when two people are married, they stay with each other and don’t mix with other people 8 – (hold up 4 fingers on each hand, hiding your thumbs) Number 8 is do not steal, and we can remember it with our hands like this because in some cultures in history, if you stole something, they would cut off your thumbs. 9 – (hold up all 5 fingers on one hand, hold up 4 on the other, hiding your thumb in your palm) Number 9 is do not lie. When we lie, we leave something out or hide something, just like our thumb is hiding behind our hand. 10 – (hold up 10 fingers, then turn your palms up and wiggle all 10 fingers like you’re trying to grab something or saying “give me give me”) The 10th commandment is do not covet, which is a fancy way of saying don’t be greedy or jealous of what others have. (From DeeprerKid Min)

Rules of Community

October 4, 2020 Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20 Year A 18th Sunday After Pentecost The Rules of Community Opening Song Welcome Opening Prayer Opening Prayer (Psalm 19) Almighty God, your word bursts forth into our lives like a glorious sunrise. You speak, and our hearts rejoice. You command, and our eyes are opened. The sound of your voice brings revival to our souls. Your words are purer than the finest gold. True and righteous one, living Word, light our way. As we listen to your Spirit, may the words of our mouths and the thoughts of our hearts be accepted in your sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer. Amen. Stewardship Moment Lord of grace and forgiveness, you who gave everything and spared nothing to make us your own, we offer back to you what you have so freely given to us. Let all that we say and do, all that we think and plan and consider, be pleasing to you, blessed Creator, Provider, and Savior, in whose name we pray. Amen. Offertory Prayer: Washed in your peace and love, O God, we bring our gifts to you. Bless the gifts and the lives that they represent, that all may be used in your service and to your glory. In Jesus’ Name, we pray. AMEN. Scripture The Ten Commandments 20 Then God spoke all these words: 2 I am the LORD your God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 3 You must have no other gods before[a] me. 4 Do not make an idol for yourself—no form whatsoever—of anything in the sky above or on the earth below or in the waters under the earth. 7 Do not use the LORD your God’s name as if it were of no significance; the LORD won’t forgive anyone who uses his name that way. 8 Remember the Sabbath day and treat it as holy. 9 Six days you may work and do all your tasks, 12 Honor your father and your mother so that your life will be long on the fertile land that the LORD your God is giving you. 13 Do not kill.[a] 14 Do not commit adultery. 15 Do not steal. 16 Do not testify falsely against your neighbor. 17 Do not desire and try to take your neighbor’s house. Do not desire and try to take your neighbor’s wife, male or female servant, ox, donkey, or anything else that belongs to your neighbor. 18 When all the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the sound of the horn, and the mountain smoking, the people shook with fear and stood at a distance. 19 They said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we’ll listen. But don’t let God speak to us, or we’ll die.” 20 Moses said to the people, “Don’t be afraid, because God has come only to test you and to make sure you are always in awe of God so that you don’t sin.” Sermon Rise with the sun to pray. Pray alone. Pray often. The Great Spirit will listen if you only speak. 2. Be tolerant of those who are lost on their path. Ignorance, conceit, anger, jealousy - and greed stem from a lost soul. Pray that they will find guidance. 3. Search for yourself, by yourself. Do not allow others to make your path for you. It is your road and yours alone. Others may walk it with you, but no one can walk it for you. 4. Treat the guests in your home with much consideration. Serve them the best food, give them the best bed and treat them with respect and honor. 5. Do not take what is not yours whether from a person, a community, the wilderness or from a culture. It was not earned nor given. It is not yours. 6. Respect all things that are placed upon this earth - whether it be people or plant. 7. Honor other people's thoughts, wishes, and words. Never interrupt another or mock or rudely mimic them. Allow each person the right to personal expression. 8. Never speak of others in a bad way. The negative energy that you put out into the universe will multiply when it returns to you. 9. All persons make mistakes. And all mistakes can be forgiven. 10. Bad thoughts cause illness of the mind, body, and spirit. Practice optimism. 11. Nature is not FOR us, it is a PART of us. They are part of your worldly family. 12. Children are the seeds of our future. Plant love in their hearts and water them with wisdom and life's lessons. When they are grown, give them space to grow. 13. Avoid hurting the hearts of others. The poison of your pain will return to you. 14. Be truthful at all times. Honesty is the test of one's will within this universe. 15. Keep yourself balanced. Your Mental self, Spiritual self, Emotional self, and Physical self - all need to be strong, pure and healthy. Work out the body to strengthen the mind. Grow rich in spirit to cure emotional ails. 16. Make conscious decisions as to who you will be and how you will react. Be responsible for your own actions. 17. Respect the privacy and personal space of others. Do not touch the personal property of others - especially sacred and religious objects. This is forbidden. 18. Be true to yourself first. You cannot nurture and help others if you cannot nurture and help yourself first. 19. Respect others religious beliefs. Do not force your belief on others. 20. Share your good fortune with others. These are some of the codes of ethics attributed to the Lakota Native Americans. Whenever I am teaching a class, I usually start out on the first day with having participants develop a classroom code of ethics, rules of understanding for how we will treat one another in class. Most classes come up with things like treat all with a sense of respect, all answers are important, to be positive with all people. The 10 commandments are a code of ethics of how we will treat one another when we are together in community. I know that I have preached a sermon with this congregation on the 10 commandments. That time I focused on each of the individual commandments. But today I don’t want us to think so much about what the commandments are, but why they were given to the community in the first place. We have been following the journey of God’s people as they are wandering in the desert. We hear of their concerns and of God’s response. As they journey they develop their identity. They start to form a solid community. With community, comes rules of understanding of how we treat one another. These particular rules come directly from God- the 10 words. Jesus Christ would have known these commandments – he summarized them down to 2 commandments – Love the Lord your God with all of your heart and soul, and to love the neighbor as you love yourself. The most important commandment – Love God. For God the unforgivable sin of the people was that they did not come to God when they needed something. And when they did come to God, they did not believe that God could do anything about it. Hence the most important commandment in life – Love God enough to have a relationship. The second, there is not anything in the world more important than God. In other words – do not have any idols. Martin Luther says that an idol is anything that occupies your mind and anything that determines your actions in life. I think under that definition, we all have some idols. In modern times we have also gotten away from wanting to be commanded to do anything. We want to rewrite, redefine and even forget about the 10 commandments. A little boy was once asked by his Sunday school teacher if he knew the Ten Commandments. "No ma'am," came the reply, "my dad said that I don't have to know them since they are doing away with them anyway." It is one thing to be ignorant of the Ten Commandments; it quite another to mock them with impunity. Millions dismiss them as mere platitudes fit for nothing more than a dusty old bookshelf. They disdain them because they are "religious." Instead of listening to Thou shalt not, we want to rewrite them into positive affirmations – things that should do. In reality there is no proof that the 10 commandments were intended to be positive affirmations. God always said, if you love me, this is what you won’t do. Even Jesus says that he did not come to take away the law of obedience, but to fulfill it. Setting boundaries around our behavior was God’s way of showing love for the community. They were never intended to be demands of behavior. God never withheld God’s blessings. As a matter of fact, God gave us grace and salvation first. Obeying the commandments was our response to God’s love, not a condition for it. Once, he was being interviewed by Bill Moyers, who looked at the new President of the United States of America and asked, "What is the most significant discovery Jimmy Carter has made?" President Carter flashed his famous smile and said, "This is embarrassing a little bit for me to talk about because it’s personal. But, the most significant discovery that I have made is my relationship with God through Jesus Christ." He was the most powerful man in the free world. Every day he made decisions that affected the destiny of our nation and the world. He was busy as he sought to move our country in a new direction. Yet, he had his priorities straight, because he recognized that his relationship with God was the most significant part of his life. Are you putting God first in your life? It so happened that several people from the church were going to both the uneducated bishop and the therapist for advice and counseling. Some of them felt that they were getting more help from the bishop than they were from the psychiatrist, and they told that to the psychiatrist. He was a little professionally troubled by this, so he went to the bishop and asked him what his secret was. What methods or teachings or counseling or therapy did he use which were so effective in helping people to improve their mental and emotional health? The bishop took the question very seriously and gave a typically blunt answer. “Well,” he said, “I just ask them questions until I figure out which commandment they are breaking, and then I tell them to stop it.” (5) Maybe he’s on to something there. There is no question that you cannot willingly violate any of God’s laws and have a completely satisfying life. The Ten Commandments were given to us by God for our protection. Have we strayed too far as a community away from the Bible for our own good? A couple of years ago, I was asked to serve on a panel to discuss the problems facing teenagers in our society. The panel included a school counselor, a Juvenile Judge, a drug counselor, a couple of other experts on teenage problems, and, I guess, I was the representative of the religious community. There were a variety of people in the audience, including the parents of several teenagers. During the question and answer period, there was one woman who acknowledged that she was at the symposium because her adolescent daughter had become a handful and she could no longer control her. Then, looking at me, she began to blame the church for the problems that her daughter faced and the problems that teenagers were encountering in our society. She stated that the problems of teenagers could be traced directly to the church which was no longer teaching "the basics." She talked about the failure of the church to give proper instruction and moral guidance to the younger generation. Her strongest and most self-evident point was that children were no longer required to memorize the Ten Commandments. Finally, when she had finished listing her complaints, I asked her, "Madam, do you know the Ten Commandments?" "Of course," she responded, somewhat insulted by the question. Looking directly at this woman in the audience, I challenged her by saying, "Name them!" She coughed and sputtered and looked embarrassed. Finally, she was able to name three or four of the commandments and a couple of quotes from Shakespeare before giving up and sitting down. While I can sympathize with that woman and her worry about her daughter, I think it is a mistake to attribute magical qualities to the Ten Commandments. Instead, I think it is more appropriate to look at them as rules for living. . I am probably a part of that sinful generation. I never had to memorize the 10 commandments. It would probably take me a minute to come up with all 10, and I don’t know the order from memory. But I do know that the most important is to put God first in all things. My relationship with God determines my relationship with all other people. And how we treat one another, determines the quality of our community. Who are we as a community? What are the rules that keep us together to do the work of God? Let us pray…… Prayer "Silence is a friend who claims us, cools the heat and slows the pace. God it is who speaks and names us, knows our being, touches base, making space within our thinking, lifting shades to show the sun, raising courage when we’re shrinking, find scope for faith begun." We are afraid of silence. So much of our world is claimed by noise and clamor. But here, in this place, we are called to let go, to let go of the noise, to let go of the anxiety and worry, to let go of our fears. Silence is truly a friend who claims us. Now for just a moment. Be in silence. Let the beating of your heart and the rhythm of your breathing be your focus. Put aside your worries. Focus on God. God of our lives, who offers to us peace in the silence, a moment apart from the demands and struggles of life, relax our spirits today. We have brought to you the names and situations which have claimed our worries and our attention. We come seeking healing for those who suffer, comfort for those who mourn, direction for the lost, and peace for all your people. We have brought our joys and celebrations to you, thanking you for the many ways in which you have touched our lives with your love. Give us peace and strength for our service to this world in your name. AMEN. Song for Reflection One Bread, One Body UMH 620 Communion Today is world communion Sunday. Day when we realize that the body of Christ is united all throughout the world. Community is not just who we are in this room, extends throughout the world – cant see each other but held together through love. I have been part of a lectionary group for about 20 years, participants from all over the world. We have a tradition that every World communion, we put together greetings from churches from all over the world. Some from ……. We are different people, with different ways of worshipping. See same God in different ways. Wilda Gaffney, womanist midrash (page 105), puts the words of the Isrealite journey in her own words. God gives the 10 commandments in person, not through Moses- wanted to make sure everyone saw it - In her words she says, the people of Israel gazed upon God on the mountain. They saw smoke and fire. Within the flames and of the flames some say flames, some say great wings, some saw a mountain, others saw the tree of life, some saw lightening, some saw rainbows, some saw a robe of many colors, some saw stars, all of them saw God. Yet none of their descriptions alone, nor all of them together were sufficient to convey the majesty of the fire of sinai. As we come together in communion today – in the midst of a world crisis, a church crisis, a community crisis – we are all in different places, literally some of us our outside, some are inside, some are at home, some are not. We are in different places politically, we believe different things about who God is, we believe different things about the church. None of us have the final say on who God is and What God is doing. But in this moment we are called to together – to be witnesses to God – to show love to one another, but to be love to the world. In this moment, God has provided for us all. Jesus has given us all of special place in the kingdom of God. The Holy Spirit binds us together. Jesus we ask for your blessings upon the communion elements. We ask for your blessing upon the work of this church. We ask for your blessing upon each of us. Let these blessed elements lead us to a deeper relationship with you and one another. I invite each of you – take the body of Christ, the blood of Christ, and to feel Christ’s salvation in our soul at this moment. Dear Lord we thank you for your body blood, we pray that we truly in this moment be the body of Christ redeemed by your blood. Give us the strength to go forward in the world to transform it and to make disciples of Christ. Amen. Announcements October 18th is Laity Sunday – the theme of the day will be the ministry of all Christians. The work that we all are called to do on behalf of the church Benediction Hear the voice of the Creator, the mighty God, the One who built the vault of heaven, who set the sun on its blazing course through the skies! Hear the words of life, declared not by speech or language or voice but written on the heart! Go forth in the name of the living Word, the One whose words bring forth the fruit of the kingdom in your own lives! Amen. Children’s Sermon Object: Something listing the 10 Commandments Exegetical Aim: To understand that the Ten Commandments are God’s gift to us and guide the way we should live our lives. Lesson: Good morning! Some of you have been in school or preschool for a while now. I have a question. How many rules did your teacher set for your class? (Response. Hopefully this will range quite a bit.) When I was your age, I had a few teachers who had lots of rules. I think my second grade teacher had a separate rule for every occasion. Sometimes it felt like I couldn’t turn around without breaking a rule! But other teachers only had one rule. Can you guess what it was? (Response) That’s right, to treat others like you would want to be treated. We call that the Golden Rule because it is so important. Do you know why we have rules? (Response) That’s right, to tell us how to act. Sometimes we need a guide to help us figure out the best way to act. What if I told you that God gave us 10 rules to help guide us through life? Application: In today’s reading, we learned about 10 big rules. Can anyone tell me what we call these rules? (Response) That's right. These are the 10 Commandments. Moses and his people, the Israelites, were wandering in the desert after escaping from the Egyptians. The 10 Commandments are the rules that God gave to Moses to guide how God’s people should live. I’m going to read the Ten Commandments to you and I want you to listen. This is very important because these are God’s rules to you, too. (Optional: Instead of jumping into reading the list, you might want to ask the kids to list some of the Commandments. Also, you could carefully choose a few Commandments which might be especially meaningful for them to define, i.e. Honor your mother and father. Ask the kids to elaborate on what these Commandments mean. This would be very appropriate for a group including older children.) First, You shall love the Lord with all your heart. (Deuteronomy 6: 5) Second, You shall not worship false idols. That means that you won’t worship anything other than God. Third, you shall not use the Lord’s name in vain. That means you should not curse with the Lord’s name. Fourth, remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. Sunday is the Sabbath and we should worship God and rest on Sunday. Fifth, honor your mother and father. This is a biggie for you guys. This means you should respect and love your mom and dad. Sixth, you shall not murder. Seventh, you shall not commit adultery. Eighth, you shall not steal. Ninth, you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. This means you should not lie. Tenth, you shall not covet your neighbor. This one means that you should not get jealous over what other people have. If someone has a really great toy, you should not get jealous over the toy. Instead, you should be happy your friend has such a great toy. These are the big rules that God has given us to help guide us through life. If you have any questions, I want you to feel free to ask your parents, grandparents, your Sunday school teacher, the preacher, or even me. We would be happy to answer your questions about these big rules. Let’s Pray: Dear God, thank you for the Ten Commandments. We know that sometimes we need a little guidance and help in living our lives. Thank you for helping us out. Help us to always remember your rules. Amen. ChristianGlobe Networks, Inc., ChristianGlobe Children's Sermons, by Mary O Additional Illustrations God’s Patience Robert Ingersoll, that great agnostic of a day gone by, once said to a contemporary, "I will give God five minutes to strike me dead for the things I have said." After five minutes and nothing had happened, Ingersoll's friend remarked, "Did you think you could exhaust God's patience in just five minutes?" Jerry L. Schmalenberger, When Christians Quarrel, CSS Publishing Co., Inc., hrough these commandments, God was calling his people back then and today - to share a covenant relationship with him. This covenant relationship simply means that we learn to give God a prominent place in our lives. Not long ago, I was reading a book about the presidency of Jimmy Carter. He was the Democratic president of the United States from January 1977 to January 1981. During that time he dealt with many difficult issues. He was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in his efforts to bring peace between Israel and Egypt. He dealt with an oil embargo crisis and the crisis of the hostages in Iran. But, one thing that Jimmy Carter will be remembered for is the influence of his religion in his life. In, James Mitchener’s novel The Source, he describes an ancient family. The father of the family sacrifices his son to Malek, an ancient God. The mother grieves while the father then goes and visits the temple prostitutes. She is deeply grieved at what her husband is doing in the name of religion. She laments: “With a different god, he would have been a different man.” We are shaped by our god or gods. Martin Luther once wrote: “whatever you confide in, that is your god.’ Whatever we count on to give us meaning and value in life, that is our god. G. K. Chesterton said years ago, "Good art and morality teach us the same lesson--it is wisdom to know where to draw the line." Leland Gregory, in his book Stupid History, tells of a colossal error that once occurred in transmitting the Ten Commandments. In 1631, King Charles I ordered 1,000 Bibles from an English printer named Robert Barker. Printing was not an exact science in those days, and sometimes mistakes were made and usually overlooked but not in this case. Barker inadvertently left out a single word in the Seventh Commandment in Exodus 20:14 the word “not.” Readers were shocked to find out that God had commanded Moses “Thou shalt commit adultery” as opposed to “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” King Charles was not amused by this mistake and ordered all the Bibles destroyed, fined Barker 300 pounds sterling (a lifetime’s wages in those days), and revoked his printing license Barker was out of business. Not all the Bibles were destroyed; there are eleven known to still exist. Because of the infamous mistake, this printing of the official King James Version is referred to as “The Wicked Bible.” (1) I don’t have to tell you that many people would like to rewrite the Ten Commandments. In her autobiography, My Life So Far, actress Jane Fonda reveals some interesting details about dating and marrying media mogul Ted Turner. On one of their first dates he bragged about replacing the Ten Commandments with what he called The Ten Voluntary Initiatives, which included caring for the earth, having no more than two children per family, etc. He assured Fonda that in the modern world people just couldn’t stomach being commanded to do anything. First: The Rule Of Common Sense. Second: The Rule Of Sportsmanship Third: The Rule Of Your Own Best Self. Fourth: The Rule Of Publicity. Fifth: The Rule Of The Most Admired Person You Know. Sixth: The Rule Of Foresight

The Ten Commandments

October 8, 2017 Exodus 20: 1-4, 7-9, 12-20 The Ten Commandments Children’s time: 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 becomes 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 Presbyterian Church (USA)'s Study Catechism says "God forbids all theft and robbery, including schemes, tricks or systems that unjustly take what belongs to someone else." (Question # 112) 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." (Question # 115) 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 "gimmies." Your fingers are saying, "Gimmie what belongs to my neighbor. I want all those things my neighbor has." This is not the way God wants us to live. Exodus 20:1-4Common English Bible (CEB) The Ten Commandments 20 Then God spoke all these words: 2 I am the LORD your God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 3 You must have no other gods before[a] me. 4 Do not make an idol for yourself—no form whatsoever—of anything in the sky above or on the earth below or in the waters under the earth. 7 Do not use the LORD your God’s name as if it were of no significance; the LORD won’t forgive anyone who uses his name that way. 8 Remember the Sabbath day and treat it as holy. 9 Six days you may work and do all your tasks, Exodus 20:12-20Common English Bible (CEB) 12 Honor your father and your mother so that your life will be long on the fertile land that the LORD your God is giving you. 13 Do not kill.[a] 14 Do not commit adultery. 15 Do not steal. 16 Do not testify falsely against your neighbor. 17 Do not desire your neighbor’s house. Do not desire and try to take your neighbor’s wife, male or female servant, ox, donkey, or anything else that belongs to your neighbor. 18 When all the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the sound of the horn, and the mountain smoking, the people shook with fear and stood at a distance. 19 They said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we’ll listen. But don’t let God speak to us, or we’ll die.” 20 Moses said to the people, “Don’t be afraid, because God has come only to test you and to make sure you are always in awe of God so that you don’t sin.” Footnotes: a. Exodus 20:13 Or murder Common English Bible (CEB) Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible I didn’t make it to the football game this Friday. But last week sitting in the stands, I remember thinking – what would the game be like if there were no referees. It seems like every play that are blowing their whistle and throwing out a flag. Would the game be harder or easier if their were no rules, and the players were allowed to do what they wanted? What would our world be like if there were no rules. Would it be more fun or less fun. Ted Turner, a multimillionare – does not believe in God. Since we as modern American don’t like to be told what to do – he actually invented his own rules. Instead of calling them the ten commandments – calls them the to voluntary inititives. Here are his Big 10: 1. I love and respect planet Earth and all living things thereon, especially my fellow species, mankind. 2. I promise to treat all persons everywhere with dignity, respect and friendliness. 3. I promise to have no more than two children, or no more than my nation suggests. 4. I promise to use my best efforts to help save what is left of our natural world in an untouched state and to restore damaged or destroyed areas where practical. 5. I pledge to use as little non-renewable resources as possible. 6. I pledge to use as little toxic chemicals, pesticides and other poisons as possible. 7. I promise to contribute to those less fortunate than myself to help them become self-sufficient and enjoy the benefits of a decent life, including clean air and water, adequate food, health care, housing, education and individual rights. 8. I reject the use of force, in particular military force, and back United Nations arbitration of international disputes. 9. I support the total elimination of all nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, and, in time, the total elimination of all weapons of mass destruction. 10. I support the United Nations in its efforts to collectively improve the conditions of the planet. He totally does not get what it means to live life in relationship to God. He totally does not understand the significance of the 10 commandments. Ronald Reagan once wondered that the10 commandments would be like if congress had designed them – would we have the same concerns. If there were no 10 commandments there would be no congress. Legal experts, historians, theologians all agree that the ten commandments were the cornerstone to people living in community. These are the 10 rules which are legal system is based on – that is why you can find them in so many courtrooms. They are known simply as the 10 words – you can find them in exodus and also in Deuteronomy 5. If you think that all of my sermons are about how we live in community – you are right- the bible is all about how we live in community. How we order ourselves in order to have peace and justice in our lives. – how we become the shalom community. The shalom community is a community that lives in concentric circles. God is in the center, then the family, the community and the rest of the world. The ten commandments give you rules about how to live in community. How to relate to each of those rings in the circle. – rule number 1 – there is only one God, and God always comes first. The next two are about how to have a relationship with God. Number 4 – is about creating a calendar and establishing holy time. Five is to honor the family – which your parents are the backbone. And the last 5 are about how to live in relationship to other people. A mother and her two small boys were having a serious discussion about stealing and why it was wrong. “Tell me,” she said, “Why do you think stealing is wrong?” Five-year-old Luke said that stealing was against God’s laws. He had learned about the Ten Commandments in Sunday school. Mother asked the boys if they knew any of the other Ten Commandments. Luke remembered two others: “You shall not murder,” and “Honor your father and mother.” But the boys couldn’t think of any other commandments, until little Patrick piped up, “I know one: “Pick up your toys!” It could be there somewhere – but the 10 commandments is about how we order ourselves in the world. A world where god always comes first. As a United Methodist elder – the book of discipline says that I have 3 main jobs - word, order and sacrament. I am supposed to give a sermon every Sunday, chase you down and make sure that you turn in your charge conference reports, and preside over the Lord’s supper. Of course there is a lot more that goes into the second job of keeping order. We are called Methodist – because there is a defined method for doing everything. John Wesley founded a religious club in college – they got the nickname Methodist and it stuck. Our method is contained in the book of discipline. It orders the way we are a church in everyway. It is unfortunate that we live in a world where we think we are supposed to be free to do anything. We have been conditioned to think that the law is bad – and the ten commandments represent the law. The quickest way to tell if a stick is crooked is to sit it next to a straight stick as a standard of measure. The law is our standard of measure to see how crooked we are. How crooked are we in our lives. What do we need to straighten out in order to get right with God? Someone has said that there was a reason why the Ten were written on stone instead of parchment. They were written in stone so that people could only keep them or break them -- they cannot bend them. We need to be disciplined in our living. The laws of the United Methodist Church, for example, are included in a document known as the Book of Discipline. It seeks to tell what United Methodists can and cannot do. Rather than a curse, it is a blessing because of its clarity. A Jewish Rabbi was addressing his congregation where the high school graduates were being recognized. He used an illustration of water. He stated that water which is allowed total freedom, soon loses its power and becomes still, constituting a swamp, breeding harmful insects. Water, on the other hand, that is totally free, but is confined by two banks, never loses its power and is called a river, generating power for electricity that will light up the whole town. We are to be like the water, disciplined by two banks so that we will never lose our power. The ten commandments give us the freedom to live our lives and to move forward as individuals and as a body. And not to destroy ourselves. The new testament does not negate the Hebrew testament. Jesus does not supercede Moses. Without the ten commandments – Jesus words mean nothing. Jesus' Two Commandments Jesus did not destroy the Law written in the Decalogue; he simply boiled the ten down to two. "Thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind (Mark and Luke added, "and with all thy strength" This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." (Matthew 22:37-39) Colonel Sanders added the Extra Crispy to his Original chicken. Jesus did not do away with the Original Ten; he simply lets us know in this New Commandment that the relationship with God is not so much founded on obedience as on love. John Wesley wrote to Charles Wesley saying he had become convinced "the Law can be fulfilled evangelically by love." The religion of love," he said, "is the religion of the Bible. Moses, and the Prophets, and Christ and his Apostles, proclaim with one voice thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy soul, and thy neighbor as thyself. They all declare that love is the fulfilling of the Law." Dr. Graham Scroggie was a well-known preacher of another generation, a powerful and forceful orator. One day, while preaching in England on the Lordship of Christ, he saw, when the crowd had left, a young college student who had stayed behind. He went to her, and asked if she needed any help. She replied, "Dr. Scroggie, your message was so compelling, but I am afraid to truly make Christ the Lord of my life. I'm afraid of what he might ask of me!" The preacher opened his Bible, turned to the story of Peter at Joppa, and began to read to her how God had taught Peter about his racial and cultural discrimination. Three times God brought down a sheet laden with animals which were unclean to the orthodox Jew, and said, "Rise, Peter; kill and eat." Three times Peter replied, "No, Lord." Then the wise minister said to the young lady, "Do you realize it is possible to say 'No,' and you can also say 'Lord,' but it is not really possible to say, 'No, Lord.' You have to decide if you will say one or the other, 'No' or 'Lord'." He then left the young lady to think about it and to pray, and he went into another room to pray for her while the struggle went on. When he came back he found her with a pad and pencil in front of her, and on it she had written the word "No" and the word "Lord." As he looked over her shoulder, he saw that the word "No" was crossed out. Softly she was saying, "He's Lord, He's Lord, He's Lord." One Commandment is enough; if you can say "I will have no other gods before him; I will love him with all my heart and soul and mind and strength; he is Lord, all other rules will fall neatly into their proper place." Ultimately, there is only one commandment – love God, if you put God first, the rest of your life should fall into place, without the 10 voluntary initiatives. One Sunday school teacher asked her class if they knew what the last commandment was. One little girl proudly stood and said, “Thou shall not take the covers off thy neighbor’s wife.” Not quite thou Shall not Covet – But it can remind us order our steps in the name of God, our families, our church and one another. Amen. Additional illustrations…… One of our advanced students at Lutheran Northwestern Seminary, motivated by what he had learned in a missions class, went to Haiti a couple years ago with a local church group. Assigned to work at an orphanage, he was involved in the construction of a building. He was repairing a ladder one day when he noticed a young dark-skinned boy watching him. The boy spoke some English. The student said, "Hi," and asked the boy about himself, seeking information about why he was in the orphanage. The young boy answered, "My mother and father are dead. I live here with my older brothers and sisters." The orphan asked the seminarian about his family: "I have a mother and father and a sister," he was told. "No brothers?" the boy inquired. "No brothers," answered the seminary student. There was a pause and then the orphan replied, "But you do have brothers. Jesus is your brother," and adding after another pause, "And I am your brother, too." Recently, I read a little fable about a young girl who was walking through a meadow. She saw that a beautiful butterfly had one wing impaled by a thorn. Very carefully, so as not to further damage the wing, she released the butterfly from the thorn and it began to fly away. Then, the butterfly came back and changed into a beautiful fairy princess right before the little girl. "For your kindness," the fairy told the little girl, "I will grant you your fondest wish." The little girl thought for a moment and replied, "I want to be happy." The fairy princess smiled and leaned over and whispered something into the girl’s ear. Then, the fairy princess vanished into thin air. But, as the girl grew older, there was no one in the kingdom who was happier than she. Whenever anyone asked her for the secret of her happiness, she would only smile and say, "I listened to a beautiful fairy princess." As she reached the last years of her life, her friends and neighbors were afraid that her fabulous secret of happiness would die with her. "Tell us, please," they asked. "Tell us what the fairy said!" The little girl, who was now a lovely old lady, smiled and said, "The beautiful fairy princess told me that the secret to happiness is to realize that everyone, no matter how secure they seem, has need of me." One of the great secrets of life is to realize that everyone has need of us. And the willingness to give ourselves to others ... the willingness to develop a relationship with others the willingness to love others, is one of the rules of living ... which leads to a happy life. A young fellow answered matter of factly, “Adultery is when a kid lies about his age.” And, of course, there is that central commandment to all boys and girls, the fifth commandment: “Humor thy father and thy mother.” Sometime back the little newsletter of Christian humor, The Joyful Noiseletter carried what it called, “A Cowboy Ten Commandments.” I thought you might enjoy hearing how a cowboy might interpret this ancient code. It goes like this: First commandment: Just one God. 2. Honor yer Ma and Pa. 3. No tellin’ tales or gossipin’. 4. Git yerself to Sunday meeting. 5. Put nothin’ before God. 6. No foolin’ aroun’ with another fellow’s gal. 7. No killin’. 8. Watch yer mouth. 9. Don’t take nothin’ what ain’t yers. 10. Don’t be hankerin’ for yer buddy’s stuff. (2) here is a silly little story about Moses. It seems that Moses wasn’t feeling well and was very upset. He decided he would go up on the mountain and see God. “You know my life has not been easy. First my mother put me in a basket and floated me down a river,” Moses said. “Then I left Egypt for 40 years. You remember the burning bush, the plagues, and then the Passover.” God allowed that, yes, He remembered. “There’s a lot more,” Moses continued. “You remember everything, so I don’t have to tell you the rest. But I really can’t handle much more, and I have this splitting headache.” God looked at Moses and said, “Here, take these two tablets. That should help.” (3) The 10 Commandments List, Short Form 1. You shall have no other gods before Me. 2. You shall not make idols. 3. You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain. 4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 5. Honor your father and your mother. 6. You shall not murder. 7. You shall not commit adultery. 8. You shall not steal. 9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. 10. You shall not covet.