Exodus 20:1-17
“God and Everyone Else”
March 4, 2018
Don’t be a jerk! That thought must pop into my head at least a half dozen times a day when listening or watching events unfold around the world, our country and locally and it seems to be increasing in frequency. I know this thought does not necessarily speak well of me but I can admit that most of the time I don’t say it out loud – sadly it is my husband and/or our cats that are the most likely to be the witnesses when I do start voicing my opinion aloud toward the television or radio. It seems that there is a daily recurring voice in my head when I hear of folks with little or no thought for others, whose compassion for people who are struggling appears non-existent or for those folks who are so self-absorbed that the very real suffering and hardship of so many is pushed to the side while they throw their very own pity party.
Some of these “jerks,” as I have taken to thinking of them, are folks who’ve lived pretty charmed lives and have plenty of privilege and resources which is what can make it even more infuriating. But then I must take a step back and realize that I have no idea what battles they are fighting and how fragile their lives might be and it is then that I’m hit with the realization that I, too, can be a jerk, even if mostly internally, with the best of them. That is the human condition. We all have freedom of thought even if some of us are freer than others. And within that freedom is the need to determine right from wrong and how we are to live in relationship with God and God’s people. What choices will we make with our freedom?
Freedom was the groundwork on which the Ten Commandments or the Ten Words, as translated from the Hebrew, came into being. The Israelites have escaped Egypt, come through a parted sea and along their wilderness journey there have been any number of challenges. When they were in Marah and were so thirsty they thought that death was near, they were given sweet water to drink. When they were near starvation in their hunger they were provided quail and manna but they had to learn to listen to God so that it wouldn’t go bad and that there would be enough but not too much. Through these difficult times they began to figure out what God is made of and what they were capable of.
This time is different, though. God is speaking directly to the people and they are so terrified to receive these words that Moses has to act as the go-between. This is an event that is worthy of putting in writing on the tablets that were to be kept safe and treasured. Sure, God has appeared in visions before to others but not to a whole people with words that spell out what this covenant that was entered into with Abraham is going to look like. The words of these teachings are not a big surprise, though, to the Israelites. These prohibitions and encouragements can be found throughout the book of Genesis. They know they’re not supposed to cheat their brother, that one shouldn’t be messing around with their neighbor’s wife and that lying and murder are big no-no’s.
We do, too, but that doesn’t make them any easier for us to live into. Of course, murder is easier to steer clear of but how about Sabbath keeping? How many of us take a full day each week and really rest and steer clear of work or chores or running errands? And sorry to say but if we remember that to covet is, according to the dictionary, “to wish for longingly” then we have our work cut out for us since most consumer driven economies like ours here in the U.S. and the advertising that goes with it are built on the notion that we will want what others have. Does that mean we’re doomed to live a life of sin? Maybe not if we embrace the words of one of the great scholars and teachers on the Hebrew Bible Rabbi Joseph Telushkin who explains, “It is not wrong to want more than you have. What is wrong is to want it at your neighbor’s expense.” (Biblical Literacy)
That, too, is where the concept of relationship is so important. These commandments are pointing us toward a relationship with God that affords us the opportunity to live with dignity and respect. So often over history they’ve been used as a way to stop folks from doing things that those in charge of a particular culture or community didn’t like. Instead we might reconsider them as a way to protect our community. The first four commandments speak to how we are to attend to God and this will then shape how we are to attend to our neighbors that make up the other six. Guidelines for living are ever present in every culture. The Ten Commandments over history have been used as the basis for how countries have set up their laws for better or worse.
Relationships involve work and respect and a level of trust. It’s true between a boss and an employee, it’s vital between teachers and students and it is at the heart of what happens in congregations and most especially in families. To view these commandments as a road to better relationships makes them building blocks instead of punitive rules. And so we come back to “Don’t be a jerk.” None of us needs to make the lives of others worse. We do not need to pile on more garbage on top of the walking wounded among us. As Rev. John Pavlovitz puts it, other people “need you to not contribute to their grieving, not to compound their sadness, not to amplify their fear, not to add to their adversity.” Instead what they do need is for “you to embrace the vow of doctors and caregivers, of trying to do no harm to them.” (https://johnpavlovitz.com/2018/01/20)
To allow these words, these Ten Commandments from our loving God to seep into us as a way to live and be with each other and God can be a starting point. These are not all that it takes to live lovingly and respectfully with others but they are a beginning. Moses received the words on our behalf so that our shared lives might be joyful and fruitful. We can embrace them, knowing that with some we will fall short but that does not break the everlasting covenant we have with God. The loving God of grace and mercy will not abandon us and always wants us back. Instead let us consider them as tools for relationship building with God and God’s people. Hear then what these words are capable of meaning from a poem called, “The Ten Words:”
…words that are the beating heart of a covenant,
words of requirement, words that are gift,
words that are bones in the body of a people,
words that are blood flowing into their veins,
words that are power, spoken to weakness,
words that are freedom because they are fence,
words that challenge us, words that summon us,
words that are song for a life-long dance,
words that are dwelling place, words of foundation,
words that are law, given in grace,
words that are signposts, words that are journey,
words that are a pathway pointing to peace.
This is a moment of new creation:
blast of a trumpet and fire and smoke
and we are the people at the foot of a mountain
and we have these words, our heart for their home.
Copyright © 2014 by Andrew King
Amen.