03/03/2024 ~ Third Sunday in Lent ~ Exodus 20:1-17; Psalm 19; 1 Corinthians 1:18-25; John 2:13-22 ~ Communion Sunday ~ Used Lent Communion ~ VIDEO OF FULL SERVICE: https://vimeo.com/showcase/7960701/video/921473543

What Really Counts

“Then God spoke these words and said, / ‘I am Yahweh, God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage; / do not worship any gods except me.’” — Exodus 20:1-3.

I have no doubt about this. My late father was very smart, brilliant really. The editor of his class High School Year Book, he graduated first in his class.

He then entered Manhattan College and received a 4.0 GPA, all A’s, in his first semester. I don’t know if this is true but family legend has it he was the first Manhattan College student to ever have a 4.0 GPA in the first semester.

Dad graduated from college— again first in his class, again editor of his class year book, and became an English Teacher at Regis High School on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, a school run by the Jesuits. He was thought of by his colleagues as a master teacher and spent entire working career at that school. (Slight pause.)

I am ordained in the United Church of Christ. The title bestowed with ordination in the U.C.C. is Pastor and Teacher. People sometimes tell me I’m a good teacher.

If that’s right, I say I simply inherited the teaching gene; I got it from my Father. But I did not enter the teaching field. Aside from many other things, I was a writer in theater. Of course, I still write something each week. It’s called a sermon.

Now, as I said, my Dad was the editor of his High School and College yearbooks. In fact, he wanted to be a writer, not a teacher. But the truth is not many people earn a living exclusively as a writer, except perhaps writers who work for a corporation, newspaper reporters, television writers, and the stability of those positions can be quite precarious.

Another truth: many writers do freelance work, so they are in business for themselves, by themselves. Freelance writing is a hard, dangerous, risk taking way to make a living, often a hand to mouth existence. I know; I’ve done it.

A final truth— for my Father, married and in fairly short order with three children to feed, that situation did not line up well with the often perilous life of a writer. My parents never said this straight out but I think they were happy and proud when I embarked on my writing career. They supported me in any way they could.

I think they were even happier, more proud and maybe even a little surprised when I had some success. You see, I was fulfilling my Father’s dreams— dreams which he knew were less than practical given the circumstances of his life. (Slight pause.)

My father, the teacher, once said to me, “I never gave any student a grade. They gave it to themselves.”

Good grades have a cause, said he. If a student does the work, participates, success will happen. If they do not, the result will be obvious. Dad said all he ever did when it came to grades was record the result. (Slight pause.)

This what we hear in the work known as Exodus: “Then God spoke these words and said, / ‘I am Yahweh, God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage; / do not worship any gods except me.’” (Slight pause.)

In the Jewish tradition these words from Exodus are not known as the “Ten Commandments.” These are known as the Ten Words.

Also, in the Hebrew language the command tense does not exist. Given these two statements about Jewish tradition and the Jewish language, these words can, in no way, be thought of as commandments.

And there is also a societal tendency to think of this passage as a monolith— sacred, immovable. That is a totally secular, even irreligious, concept. (Slight pause.)

You have some inserts at the end of the bulletin today which refer to this passage. I invite you to turn to them. (Slight pause.) They are the long sheets.

There’s one insert listed with four traditions. The four traditions are Jewish; Anglican/Reformed; Orthodox; Roman Catholic/Lutheran. Where a number skips indicating a commandment, that tradition combines two of the commandments. As you can see on that chart, different traditions cannot even agree on how to number the so called “Ten Commandments.” [1]

Another chart has the three different versions of the Commandments” found in the Hebrew Scriptures. They are from Exodus, Deuteronomy and yet a second set from Exodus. [2]

I certainly wonder why people put up monuments with ten numbers— which ten, whose ten? Whose version, which tradition should take precedence? I would wonder why people put up these monuments, depictions with tablets and numbers, except I realize this is a totally secular, even irreligious concept. (Slight pause.)

Someone who tells you a translation can be taken literally does not know the first thing about either translating or language. And there is one more page in that bulletin.

That remaining page has six translations of this passage on it. [3] Please take it home and compare them. Each translation is different. Each has its own validity.

Society treats these words as immutable, etched in stone. They are not. There are even many ways to translate them. [4] (Slight pause.)

That leads to an obvious question. If our cultural image of the so called “Ten Commandments” is both monolithic but at the same time inaccurate, what are these words really about? (Slight pause.)

First things first: this passage makes a claim about God Who is the One Who loves us. God loved the Israelites. God guided their rescue from bondage, led them to freedom.

So these words start with God’s love. Given that these words begin with and stem from love, the rest of them should not be thought of commands but as the result of God’s love. They are or should be simply a result of our participation in the love of God, the work of God, the result of a relationship with God.

Hence and especially when we get to phrases like “No murdering! No giving false testimony…!” — this is about our relationship with one another, about loving one another. God loves us and we participate in that love by practicing the love of God with each other. (Slight pause.)

A short time ago we shared bread and cup at the table. The symbolism embodied by the tactile, real experience of sharing the bread and cup says something about how we are to love one another. We are to love one another through sharing, respect and love.

If we share, respect and love then we will be enabled to live out the words of this passage in ways which will amaze us, transcend this passage, guide us to places we did not know possible, empower us to see the world as God sees the world. If we share, respect and love we will live out the result these words talk about.

You see, I think too often both we and the world sees these words as commands. If they are conceptualized as commands we will see them as the cause for our behavior. But I think God, the great teacher, sees these words not as a cause for our behavior but as a result, the result of participating in the love of God, the work of God.

I think God sees these words as an assignment, a homework assignment if you would, from the great teacher. Our assignment is to participate in the Realm of God. And if we participate in the Realm of God, sharing, respect and love are sure to result. Amen.

03/03/2024
Elijah Kellogg Church, Harpswell, Maine

ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Choral Response and Benediction. This is a précis of what was said: “We often take the word Torah, the Pentateuch, to mean the Law. But the deeper meaning of the word Torah is “the Teachings.” Let me suggest the elevation of the so called ‘Ten Commandments’ to an exalted status is about the culture, not about faith, not about a relationship with God. After all, when asked what are the great commandments the answer the Christ gave referenced Deuteronomy and Leviticus, [5] love God, love neighbor, not the ‘The Commandments.’ So the question for us is simple. When will we stop worshiping the culture as a god and worship the One Triune God, the God of relationship?”

BENEDICTION: This is the message of Scripture: God loves us. Let us endeavor to let God’s love shine forth in our lives. For with God’s love and goodness, there is power to redeem, power to revive, power to renew, power to resurrect. So, may the love of God the Creator which is real, the Peace of Christ which surpasses all understanding and companionship of the Holy Spirit which is ever present, keep our hearts and minds in the knowledge and care of God this day and forever more. Amen.

ENDNOTES:
[1] These 4 traditions do, indeed, use different numbers for different phrases. The four were listed on this chart with numbers assigned to specific “commands.” using abbreviated phrases for each.

[2] This sheet had Exodus 20:2-17, Deuteronomy 5:6-21 and Exodus 34:6-26 listed side by side to allow for comparison.

[3] The six translations lined up side by side are: The New Revised Standard Version; The Inclusive Language Version; The King James Version; The English Standard Version (British); The Message; The New International Version.

[4] When the passage was read the Inclusive Language Translation of Exodus 20:1-17 was read. This is it:

[1] Then God spoke these words and said, [2] “I am Yahweh, God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage;

[3] “do not worship any gods except me.

[4] “Do not make for yourselves any carved images or likenesses or anything in heaven above or on earth beneath, or in the waters under the earth [5] and do not bow down or serve them! For I, Yahweh, am a jealous God, and for the parents fault I punish the children, the grandchildren and the great grandchildren of those who turn from me; [6] but I show kindness to the thousandth generation of those who love me and heed my commandments.

[7] “Do not utter the name Yahweh or misuse it, for Yahweh will not acquit anyone who utters God’s Name to misuse it.

[8] “Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy! [9] Six days you will labor and do all your work. [10] But the seventh day is a Sabbath for Yahweh. Do not work on that day— neither you, nor your son nor your daughter, nor your workers women or men, nor you animals, nor the foreigner who lives among you. [11] For in six days Yahweh made heaven and earth and the sea and all that they hold, but rested the seventh day; that is why Yahweh has blessed the Sabbath day and made it sacred.

[12] “Honor your mother and your father, so that you may have a long life in the land that Yahweh, your God, has given to you.

[13] “No murdering!

[14] “No adultery!

[15] “No stealing!

[16] “No giving false testimony against your neighbor!

[17] “No desiring your neighbor’s house! No desiring your neighbor’s spouse or worker— female or male— or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor!”

[5] Deuteronomy 6:4-5 and Leviticus 19:18.