Rev. Cari Pattison

Woodstock Reformed Church

Sunday October 8, 2023

Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20

“Freedom in God: The 10 best ways to live”

1Then God spoke all these words: 2I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; 3you shall have no other gods before me.

4You 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.

7You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.

8Remember the sabbath day and keep it holy. 9Six days you shall labor and do all your work.

12Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

13You shall not murder.

14You shall not commit adultery.

15You shall not steal.

16You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

17You 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.

18When all the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking, they were afraid and trembled and stood at a distance, 19and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, or we will die.” 20Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid; for God has come only to test you and to put the fear of him upon you so that you do not sin.”

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Sometimes you don’t have an inclination to try something, until you know there’s a law against it. Anybody know this feeling?

The CVS poster…

My grandmother’s closet…

If you’re a certain kind of person, or in a certain kind of mood- maybe you understand:

Upon discovering there’s a rule against something, you kind of want to try it.

But is that what laws do? Just tempt us to break them?

How does the law function in our society?

And in the Bible- how does God’s law serve to shape a spiritual community?

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This is our 4th sermon in our series called “Freedom in God.”

We’re going through the book of Exodus together, in the Hebrew Bible- or what Christians sometimes refer to as the Old Testament.

The book of Exodus chronicles God’s freeing work of delivering the people out of slavery in Egypt- under Pharaoh- and guiding them instead toward the Promised Land- through God’s appointed leader, Moses.

And so far, what do we know? We know the journey through the wilderness is a lot harder than the Israelites bargained for. We know they complain. A lot. They keep insisting that Moses has just brought them out to the desert to die. And we also know, that every time they come up against an obstacle: the Red Sea, their hungry bellies, and thirsty bodies- God delivers.

God drops miracle after miracle, but do the Hebrew people suddenly transform into faithful trusting children of God?

Hardly.

So in today’s text, we don’t find a miracle. But do find something else essential for life in community- a set of laws.

Rachel Held Evans’ quote here- see front of bulletin. “The Law is an extension of God’s liberation of the Hebrew slaves, the continuation of their deliverance story.”

Chances are no matter who you are- you know something about the Ten Commandments. Maybe you know the movie with Charlton Heston. Maybe you recall some of the controversies around putting up Ten Commandments in courthouses or schools. Or maybe you even grew up memorizing these laws in Sunday school.

I think the challenge for us with a passage like this- is that it’s so familiar to us, we can assume we already know what it says. What it means. And we can tend to tune out.

One thing that can help with this is to hear it through fresh language- Eugene Peterson’s Bible paraphrase, The Message.

“Children in Worship,” godly play- that these are the 10 Best Ways to Live.

Rabbi Jonathan says that in Hebrew these are best translated- “The Ten Utterances of Life Unfolding.”

For each law, we’ll hear it in the Message, we’ll hear it in Rabbi Jonathan’s translation, and we’ll think about how to apply it in our lives.

Taking a self-inventory as we go- you can actually grade yourself if you want, or put a word down, or a picture.

Note how the first 4 center on our relationship with God, and the last 6 focus on our relationships with one another. This is going to be a 2-part series, because each of these really merits our attention and there’s so much to unpack! So I’m going to do the first 4 today, and the last 6 next Sunday.

***

I.

God spoke all these words:

I am God, your God,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt,
out of a life of slavery.

No other gods, only me.

I am Life Unfolding who brought you out of constriction and enslavement so that you might serve me and be in relationship to me. No one said this was going to be easy.

Professor Joy J. Moore notes about this verse: “God does, before God requires.”

So yes, the same God who has delivered them and provided for them, also now asks something of them. But these laws are not for God’s own sake! These laws are to help shape the Israelites into a community of order, neighborliness, stability, morality, and purpose.

Teachers don’t give their classes rules so the teacher can assert their power- they do it so the classroom runs well, and the children can learn in a safe and positive environment.

Parents don’t give their kids bedtimes and make them clean their rooms and brush their teeth and curtail sugar to punish them! They do it so their kids will be rested, healthy, and learn how to function responsibly in the world.

And all the research shows, that kids feel happier and more at ease, when healthy boundaries and limits are set.

And so it is with the people of God.

Have you noticed how much the Israelites have been grumbling these past 3 weeks? God knows they need something to focus on besides their own discomfort. God also knows that without some semblance of order, they might be unmanageable for Moses to keep leading.

So God’s first rule is this:

Worship me. Don’t put any priority in life ahead of me. Orient your life around me, as the Source of all Love.

*How might we practically do this?

Start each day acknowledging God.

So take a moment and check in- how are you doing in this area?

II.

No carved gods of any size, shape, or form of anything whatever, whether of things that

fly or walk or swim. Don’t bow down to them and don’t serve them because I am God, your God, and I’m a most jealous God.

You might think, “Ah, here’s an easy one. I’m good at this. No idol worship for me! I’m not bowing to any wooden parakeets.”

But listen to Rabbi Jonathan’s translation here:

Place no gods of your own making in between you and Life Unfolding. Do not make an image or a fixed concept of Life Unfolding and attempt to serve only that fixed concept. Life Unfolding is infinite and ever-expanding, and cannot be reduced to a static idea.

C.S. Lewis says your idol, is whatever you bow to. With your schedule, your spending, your thoughts, your energies.

It’s making good things, ultimate things.

Thus we can take a really good thing, like money, or sports, or food, or even family- and make an idol out of it, when we turn it into this area of ultimate significance in our lives.

*This is a tough one, because it often sneaks up on us. One way to find out what could be an idol in your life, is to take stock of what you spend the most time worrying about. Look at your bank statement- what do you spend your money on? Look at your calendar- what do you spend your time on?

Chances are there are plenty of good things on there. But is there something that’s crowding out your ability to come to worship? Squeezing out your ability to give? Dominating your time so there’s no window for serving?

Rabbi Jonathan’s words go even deeper- do you have an idol of your fixed image of God? Annie Lamott says, “You know you’ve created God in your own image, when he hates all the same people you do.”

Are you worshiping your own idea of God, rather than the God known to us in Jesus?

How are you doing with this whole idolatry thing? Take a moment…

III.

No using the name of God, your God, in curses or silly banter; God won’t put up with the irreverent use of his name.

Again, another one we might pat ourselves on the back for. We may hear others around us taking the Lord’s name in vain, but we make sure to say, “Oh my gosh!” and “Sheesh” instead of using God and Jesus in our phrases.

But again, what if there’s more to this one?

You are as good as your word. Beware: if you invoke Life Unfolding as a witness to the truth of your words, you will be held to account for them. Do not overestimate your own power to speak and fulfill.

Be careful how you use the name of God- not just in cursing but in what you promise, or what you attribute to God.

Story: PTS, and my classmate who was telling the story of “You can break up with me- God’s not breaking up with me. God and I are good!”

But on a more serious note- think about religious leaders who attribute a natural disaster to God’s wrath upon a certain population of people.

Even seemingly innocent comments- like saying to someone after they’ve lost a loved one, “Well, God must’ve wanted them up in heaven.”

Really? Are you sure?

Maybe it’s better not to presume we know exactly what God wants, if it’s not written in scripture or lived out in the life of Jesus.

*How to apply? Maybe just check yourself before using God’s name and think about how you’re using it.

How are you doing in this area?

IV.

Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Work six days and do everything you need to

do. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to God, your God. Don’t do any work—and don’t make other people work for you.

Make one day out of seven holy, a Sabbath, in which you relinquish illusions of control

over Creation. Remember on this day that you are creature, not creator. Humbly and

joyfully take your place in the chorus of Creation. On this day, you may not lord it over

any person or creature under your temporary authority. Rather, stand side by side with

them in gratitude for Life Unfolding.

Now for most of us, this is where it gets hard.

Isn’t keeping the sabbath holy just going to church? And not going to work?

Does it really mean not doing any work at home, either? And not going to any stores or

restaurants where others have to work- essentially, for you?

This is one where our Jewish brothers and sisters have a lot to teach us. Many of them

truly do finish all their tasks by sundown before the sabbath, so they can just rest and

enjoy life on Saturday – their Shabbat.

The Bruderhof community also take this one to heart. Other than basic cooking and

cleaning for meals, they cease all work on Sunday so they can hike, play games, and

spend time with family and friends.

*I can’t tell you exactly how to apply this, because people’s circumstances are different.

Medical professionals and emergency workers, along with clergy, often need to take a

day of the week for Sabbath rest, that’s not Sunday.

But I’m challenged by this passage to reconsider whether I really need to run errands or

eat out on whatever day of the week I take for sabbath. If I am living into my role as

“creature,” I can rest in God and not go out and do things that require others to work.

On my sabbath, even if I’m not in church, what would it look like to spend some time in

silence with God, instead of catching up on household tasks?

What would it look like to do things I enjoy on that day, in a spirit of delight, that I

might be a kinder gentler happier person the other 6 days of the week?

So here’s your sabbath inventory. How are you doing when it comes to rest? Setting

aside this day as holy?

V.

Honor your father and mother so that you’ll live a long time in the land that God, your

God, is giving you.

Honor your parents, for however imperfectly they fulfilled their task, they have been

the vessels and agents of bringing you here- which was my purpose- to bring you into

the world as a new expression of Life Unfolding.

One friend of mine in Kenya interpreted this commandment- honor your father and

mother- as meaning, if you model for your children, honoring and caring for your

parents as they age- they will see this example, and also take care of you- which leads

to what this commandment ends with: “You’ll live a long time in the land that God is

giving you.”

If you’re lucky enough to have your parents still alive:

Check in with them, take an interest in them, celebrate their birthdays and mothers and

fathers day, but also let them still be useful in your life- seek their advice, let them love

you and care for you in the ways they can now- that might be different from how they

did when you were a child. Did you know parents can grow and change? Give them a

chance to teach you new things! To love you in new ways! (My mom and Sunday

texting)

No parent is perfect. Except those of us who are not parents, and observe other people

parenting and thus have very definite ideas about how parenting should be done right.

Tell them what they did that really blessed you!

Honoring your parents is one way of thanking them for all that they did for you, that

you’ll never even know about. It’s also a way of forgiving them for what did or didn’t

do, that hurt you- because maybe they didn’t know better and that’s all they’d seen

modelled for them. It’s trusting they were doing the best they could at the time.

Now I say this one with some hesitation, because it’s likely that at least a few of you

have had very troubled parents. Even abusive ones. And I don’t think “honoring”

them means forgetting that, or pretending it never happened, or restoring a

relationship where it’s not good for your health and well-being.

Also for many of you, your parents are no longer alive.

So “honor thy father and mother” can take a lot of different forms.

*I can’t tell you exactly how to apply this. But I think if you pray about it, God will show you what it means to honor them. Even they’re deceased, you can speak well of their strengths and gifts, and seek to pass those on to the next generation. You can carry on some of their legacy by tending to the things that mattered to them- a garden, a charity organization, a favorite hobby.

I bet that a lot of you were raised by your parents to go to church. To love God and help others. And one of the best ways you’re honoring them, even if they’re long gone from this earth, is the fact that you’re here today. That you value making time for God and Christian community.

Take a moment…

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Note at the end- don’t be afraid

End with illustration of Ollie on the leash