Dee
March 22nd, 2006, 11:25 AM
There continues to be a lot of controversy about The Commandments. I learned recently that Judge Roy Moore has taken his five-ton rock on tour and he is campaigning with the rock to become the Governor of Alabama. We have plaques of the 10 Commandments hanging in most of the rooms of our church. That is because several years ago we had them placed in the schools, but then we had to remove them. More recently there was a big controversy in Ripley. All of this has caused me to wonder how many of us even know the Ten Commandments. Robert Phillips, a chaplain in the US Navy stationed in Norfolk, Virginia, tells about teaching a college course on Morals and Ethics at a military service academy. In the first lecture he sought to get a sense of what the 24 students from this highly selective school knew about ethics. He gave a brief quiz asking them to identify a few key names and terms from the field. The last question on the quiz asked them to name as many of the Ten Commandments as they could. One student named eight. Fifteen students named one to five. A full one-third of the class could not list with confidence a single one of the Ten Commandments. In conversation with the class after the quiz, he learned that those who drew a blank realized there was such a term and that they held vague respect for it. They just were not sure of the content of the Commandments and never consciously consulted them in making key decisions of life and conduct.
One problem many have with the Ten Commandments is the word, “commandment.” Something inside us bristles when we are confronted with laws, rules, and worst of all, “commandments.” We see a sign that says, “Don’t touch –Wet Paint,” and a little voice whispers within us, “I wonder.” Out snakes the hand, back comes the answer, and off we go to wash off the reply. We walk out of the side Meadowview Hospital door to the parking lot, a little sign says, “Keep off the grass.” The little voice says, “If they wanted me to keep off the grass, why didn’t they make the sidewalk straight to the parking lot?” Do you and I seek to follow the 10 Commandments or do we walk all over them?
The Ten Commandments come down to us as a rich heritage of faith and social order. No one knows for sure how or when they were compiled. In the Biblical account they appear on the scene just after the escape from the Egyptians at the sea. According to Hollywood, these laws were burned like a laser thrust into hard rock tablets which Moses delivered down from Mt. Sinai to the people. Yet no matter their origin, the destiny of these ten laws has been breathtaking. They have become foundation blocks for church, civil, and criminal law. They have not only guided the path of Judaism and Christianity over the centuries, but they have spilled over into the public to influence the behavior of nations and have become rooted deeply in the consciousness of the human race. We know instinctively when God is given honor and praise, then the neighbor will be treated with justice and respect. Is it too much to suggest that there is universal truth embodied in these laws, and this truth is confronted by every human being at one time or another.
But being confronted by the commandments either in writing or in one’s psyche, does not guarantee that a person will follow them. Indeed, life in our world seems to make a mockery of God’s laws. Everywhere you turn you notice loyalties far greater than God; carelessness in honoring the Lord’s Day and the Lord’s name; flagrant acts of murder, adultery, and theft; and the destruction of a neighbor’s reputation while gr***ing for his goods. This current national morass placed on top of a heap of problems mixed in with dark political agendas makes for a society in which we have lost our mooring and we scarcely know where to turn. Those on the far right seek in desperation to legislate religious principles, hoping to introduce public prayer in public schools, outlaw abortion, and, most recently, post the Ten Commandments in the courtroom and the school. Those on the left say that even if these sanctions might be commendable, they are unconstitutional and would smother the rights of non-Christians. If then a “moral majority” (which is actually a minority of the population) are not allowed to legislate morality in this land, where shall we turn?
The Bible tells us there is a moral majority and that moral majority is one and the one is God. God spoke the Ten Commands. These commands, taken as God-given, cause all of us to bend the knee and they challenge us to rise up and reconstruct our lives. In the end there is no political left or right that makes much difference. The real difference is God and God alone. God is our moral majority who grants us not only life, but the way to maintain a healthy balance throughout life. God give us laws, and we, like Israel, will learn at our peril if we do not follow them. Outside of these laws all is chaos and death.
Yes, the Ten Commandments are God-given, a gracious gift of God. When we truly draw close to God so as to know God in a deep and personal way, then keeping the law follows naturally as a way to show gratitude to God and to maintain a just and Godly civilization. God gives, we respond. One writer has said, “Command is rooted in Revelation. That means we begin with an awareness of the holy and grace given God. Then we grow eager to embrace God’s laws for living.” “Obedience to the law, says Fred Craddock, “is the appropriate response to what God has already done. Obeying the commands becomes a life-style, a natural instinct, a joyous response in the context of our growing relationship with God.”
Jesus lived the commandments to the fullest, even reinterpreting some of them to make them crystal clear to the hearers. “You have heard it said, ‘you shall not murder’, but I say to you if you are angry with a brother or sister…Love the Lord your God…and your neighbor as yourself.” As Christians then we are not relying upon Judaism when we embrace the Ten Commandments, we are living as Christ wants us to live.
Perhaps a better way to put it is, the Ten Commandments give to Jews and Christians alike a shared vision of what a moral world is like. Christ fulfilled the law as we never can. And by his dying and rising, he invited us into his life, which is eternal. As we accept Christ’s invitation by believing in him, we turn our lives over to him and our life is renewed. How shall we maintain such a life? By conscientiously following the commands as best we can, day by day, drawing upon Christ’s life-giving spirit.
Willard Harstine tells that in the Bethlehem, Pennsylvania neighborhood where he has lived for the last 15 years, he has watched how his neighbors have tended to accumulate things. Down his street is a guy who now has several gorgeous antique cars plus a motorcycle and he proudly and noisily rides up and down the block. Across the street from him is a home besides which sits a large boat that must have cost the price of several automobiles. Right across from his house is a neighbor who has three expensive cars and a TV set so large that he can easily see it through the living room window. Out back is a young neighbor who told him once that he just wants more and more –all he can get. “Isn’t that what life’s all about,” this neighbor asked him. Harstine says he wonders if his neighbors have any concept of the primacy of God and how our attachment to things can cause us to forsake God and forget our neighbors in need. He says he has even noticed that there is one more car in his own driveway.
Have we forgotten the one true God? Von Rad, the great Old Testament Biblical scholar, says the whole Bible is contained in the first commandment. Thou shall have no other gods. To know this one God is to be drawn into God’s sphere and to be made holy by the divine presence living and dwelling in us. Living in this sphere we will remember the holy day and the holy name with reverence. We will honor our parents and grandparents. We will respect the property of others. We will not kill or covet or commit adultery. We will love the Lord our God and our neighbor. In short, we will be following Jesus taking up our cross and serving him. His is the way to life. There is no other way. Only he can lead us. Let us join him with our hearts, our wills, and our disciplined lives will follow. We can never prove the delight of his love until all on the altar we lay; for the favor he shows, for the joy he bestows, are for those who follow his way.
Let us read the commandments.
One problem many have with the Ten Commandments is the word, “commandment.” Something inside us bristles when we are confronted with laws, rules, and worst of all, “commandments.” We see a sign that says, “Don’t touch –Wet Paint,” and a little voice whispers within us, “I wonder.” Out snakes the hand, back comes the answer, and off we go to wash off the reply. We walk out of the side Meadowview Hospital door to the parking lot, a little sign says, “Keep off the grass.” The little voice says, “If they wanted me to keep off the grass, why didn’t they make the sidewalk straight to the parking lot?” Do you and I seek to follow the 10 Commandments or do we walk all over them?
The Ten Commandments come down to us as a rich heritage of faith and social order. No one knows for sure how or when they were compiled. In the Biblical account they appear on the scene just after the escape from the Egyptians at the sea. According to Hollywood, these laws were burned like a laser thrust into hard rock tablets which Moses delivered down from Mt. Sinai to the people. Yet no matter their origin, the destiny of these ten laws has been breathtaking. They have become foundation blocks for church, civil, and criminal law. They have not only guided the path of Judaism and Christianity over the centuries, but they have spilled over into the public to influence the behavior of nations and have become rooted deeply in the consciousness of the human race. We know instinctively when God is given honor and praise, then the neighbor will be treated with justice and respect. Is it too much to suggest that there is universal truth embodied in these laws, and this truth is confronted by every human being at one time or another.
But being confronted by the commandments either in writing or in one’s psyche, does not guarantee that a person will follow them. Indeed, life in our world seems to make a mockery of God’s laws. Everywhere you turn you notice loyalties far greater than God; carelessness in honoring the Lord’s Day and the Lord’s name; flagrant acts of murder, adultery, and theft; and the destruction of a neighbor’s reputation while gr***ing for his goods. This current national morass placed on top of a heap of problems mixed in with dark political agendas makes for a society in which we have lost our mooring and we scarcely know where to turn. Those on the far right seek in desperation to legislate religious principles, hoping to introduce public prayer in public schools, outlaw abortion, and, most recently, post the Ten Commandments in the courtroom and the school. Those on the left say that even if these sanctions might be commendable, they are unconstitutional and would smother the rights of non-Christians. If then a “moral majority” (which is actually a minority of the population) are not allowed to legislate morality in this land, where shall we turn?
The Bible tells us there is a moral majority and that moral majority is one and the one is God. God spoke the Ten Commands. These commands, taken as God-given, cause all of us to bend the knee and they challenge us to rise up and reconstruct our lives. In the end there is no political left or right that makes much difference. The real difference is God and God alone. God is our moral majority who grants us not only life, but the way to maintain a healthy balance throughout life. God give us laws, and we, like Israel, will learn at our peril if we do not follow them. Outside of these laws all is chaos and death.
Yes, the Ten Commandments are God-given, a gracious gift of God. When we truly draw close to God so as to know God in a deep and personal way, then keeping the law follows naturally as a way to show gratitude to God and to maintain a just and Godly civilization. God gives, we respond. One writer has said, “Command is rooted in Revelation. That means we begin with an awareness of the holy and grace given God. Then we grow eager to embrace God’s laws for living.” “Obedience to the law, says Fred Craddock, “is the appropriate response to what God has already done. Obeying the commands becomes a life-style, a natural instinct, a joyous response in the context of our growing relationship with God.”
Jesus lived the commandments to the fullest, even reinterpreting some of them to make them crystal clear to the hearers. “You have heard it said, ‘you shall not murder’, but I say to you if you are angry with a brother or sister…Love the Lord your God…and your neighbor as yourself.” As Christians then we are not relying upon Judaism when we embrace the Ten Commandments, we are living as Christ wants us to live.
Perhaps a better way to put it is, the Ten Commandments give to Jews and Christians alike a shared vision of what a moral world is like. Christ fulfilled the law as we never can. And by his dying and rising, he invited us into his life, which is eternal. As we accept Christ’s invitation by believing in him, we turn our lives over to him and our life is renewed. How shall we maintain such a life? By conscientiously following the commands as best we can, day by day, drawing upon Christ’s life-giving spirit.
Willard Harstine tells that in the Bethlehem, Pennsylvania neighborhood where he has lived for the last 15 years, he has watched how his neighbors have tended to accumulate things. Down his street is a guy who now has several gorgeous antique cars plus a motorcycle and he proudly and noisily rides up and down the block. Across the street from him is a home besides which sits a large boat that must have cost the price of several automobiles. Right across from his house is a neighbor who has three expensive cars and a TV set so large that he can easily see it through the living room window. Out back is a young neighbor who told him once that he just wants more and more –all he can get. “Isn’t that what life’s all about,” this neighbor asked him. Harstine says he wonders if his neighbors have any concept of the primacy of God and how our attachment to things can cause us to forsake God and forget our neighbors in need. He says he has even noticed that there is one more car in his own driveway.
Have we forgotten the one true God? Von Rad, the great Old Testament Biblical scholar, says the whole Bible is contained in the first commandment. Thou shall have no other gods. To know this one God is to be drawn into God’s sphere and to be made holy by the divine presence living and dwelling in us. Living in this sphere we will remember the holy day and the holy name with reverence. We will honor our parents and grandparents. We will respect the property of others. We will not kill or covet or commit adultery. We will love the Lord our God and our neighbor. In short, we will be following Jesus taking up our cross and serving him. His is the way to life. There is no other way. Only he can lead us. Let us join him with our hearts, our wills, and our disciplined lives will follow. We can never prove the delight of his love until all on the altar we lay; for the favor he shows, for the joy he bestows, are for those who follow his way.
Let us read the commandments.