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Scripture Text (NRSV)
20:1 Then God spoke all these words:
20:2 I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt,
out of the house of slavery;
20:3 you shall have no other gods before me.
20:4 You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of
anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or
that is in the water under the earth.
20:5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the LORD
your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of
parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject
me,
20:6 but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those
who love me and keep my commandments.
20:7 You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the LORD your God,
for the LORD will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.
20:8 Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy.
20:9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work.
20:10 But the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God; you shall
not do any work--you, your son or your daughter, your male or female
slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns.
20:11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all
that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the LORD
blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it.
20:12 Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long
in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.
20:13 You shall not murder.
20:14 You shall not commit adultery.
20:15 You shall not steal.
20:16 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
20:17 You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet
your neighbor's wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or
anything that belongs to your neighbor.
Comments:
I am using this one. Sermon series on Covenant and commitment. 1.
Noah and sons 2. Abrahamic 3. Ten Commandments. Spoken Covenant to
Written in stone Covenant. Shouldn't have God's spoken confirmation
be enough? Yes. Did people take seriously? Is that why God wrote it
in stone? I Think about the words, of Judge Wampner...Verbal
Agreements with witness may hold up in court or may not. GET a
Written Agreement. Get it in writing! Well, was God tired of
pussyfooting around with people, so HE put it in writing... Covenant
moving to commitment (which I stressed in past two sermons) moving
the people to action, Just DO IT! God gave a promise and put it in
writing, what are you going do about it? (think COPS theme...what
cha you going DO ACTION Call to ACTION!!! Pastor Mary in OHIO
Pastor Mary
I normally don't come to the Old Testament section, as I'm usually
very late Saturday before I get to the wonderful comments in this
site. Today is an exception, but I'm looking for a new twist, rather
than preaching the obvious.
You have given me some wonderful ideas! In the Old Testament
covenants, God stated his wishes for us in rather simple terms (at
least they should have been regarded as simple! What did humans do
with it all? Redefined it all into thousands of rules and
regulations!!
In the Corinthians reading, we hear about God's foolishness being
wiser than the wisest of humans. In our 'wisdom' we redefined God's
simple commandments--and created a mess of unworkable laws.
Bringing in the Gospel, we get an image of all those laws in
action--to the detriment of the real purpose of the worship center:
worship! No wonder Jesus did what he did.
It's real simple -- worship and love God, and when you do that, the
rest falls into place and you love one another! That just leaves me
wondering -- why can't we keep it simple?
Blessings, Don in Ontario
I will use this passage and the Psalm to contemplate the paradox of
orderliness of God's law and the foolishness of the cross. The
primary question is, "How am I suppose to function in a world that
God intended to be orderly when life actually seems so illogical?"
We'll apply this question to the war in Iraq.
DSS
An interesting question, John. I think I would have to say "yes,"
but maybe more in the vein of a vision rather than absolute law. As
Christians, this Old testament Law is made easier for us to
understand because Jesus has condensed them into two commandments:
to love God with all our heart, soul and mind and to love our
neighbour as we love ourselves. Moira Laidlaw, from Australia thens
says for a children's time: "By loving God so fully, it follows that
we love all that God loves. In other words, we'll treat all people
as precious to God and we would also treat the whole world as
precious to God, we understand ourselves to be precious to God."
That seems rather timely when we consider the past 24 hours and what
lies ahead for a people that is also precious in God's sight. So,
yes, the 10 Commandments do have a place in what we believe today,
but not alone; they have to be taken into the context of what it
truly means to be a follower of Jesus Christ. It's been awhile but
blessings to you all. Rev. Tim, Southern Ontario, Canada
Another thought. I was just reading some material from Richard
Fairchild at Sermon & Sermon. He refers to the Ten Commandments as
"wisdom for all time." That makes me think, that rather than being
black and white rules, the 10 Commandments are wise boundaries,
common sense rules that we will live by simply because we are in
covenant relationship with God and with one another, something this
journey through Lent is all about. Rev. Tim, Southern Ontario,
Canada
John near Pitts asks if the Ten Commandments are binding on
Christians today. In Luke 18 there is a young man who comes to Jesus
and asks the all important question, "what must I do to inherit
eternal life?" The first thing Jesus reminds him of are - you
guessed it - the Commandments. When the young man says that he has
kept all of them, Jesus says that the man still has one more thing
lacking. But Jesus never says that the commandments are not binding.
In fact, I believe that in many places in the gospels we find where
Jesus said obey the Commandments and then go one step further.
Example; not only shall you not commit adultery, don't even think
about it. (Luke 5:27,28) One last personal note. Instead of thinking
that the Ten Commandments are "binding" me so that I cannot have a
life, I think the Ten Commandments are setting me free so that I can
have eternal life. As one who is always reading DPS, but seldom
writing, I appreciate everything folks have to say on this site. JM
in NC
I was using "binding" more in the sense of a legal term. Do we have
to keep the Ten Commandments in the New Covenant? Are we bound to
them?
My take is that no, we are not expected to keep the OT Law. If
that's the case we would be keeping Saturday Sabbath and following a
ga-zillion dietary laws.
I think a better question would be, if you love God with all of your
heart, mind and strength then why wouldn't you want to keep the T.C.?
Breaking or not obeying which one of these commandments would
disqualify me from loving my neighbor as my self? Can you love your
neighbor and want/take his possessions, those he/she loves?
We don't have to keep these commandments in order to be justified,
but rather, why not keep them as a response to the salvation that
God gives us?
Ever wonder how many folks who get bent out of shape because the T.C.
are removed from government buildings (court house here in
Pittsburgh) probably couldn't recite them let alone follow them? For
that matter, ever wonder how many pastors write about these people
not knowing the T.C. who can't recite them by memory either? (Blush)
John near Pitts.
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