We are a community seeking to have open minds, open hearts, and open arms, building community in a fragmented world.
Prelude - “Teach Me Thy Way, Lord” [by Gene Clark] -Jan Green
Opening Scripture - Matthew 22:36-40 NIV
“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
*Response - Weave
Weave, weave, weave us together, Weave us together, in unity and love.
Weave, weave, weave us together, weave us together, together in love.
*Call to Worship - Aspen Baynes
ONE: Shout for joy to the Lord, our God,
ALL: who loves us with an everlasting love, as a father loves his children;
ONE: who gathers us together from the north and the south, the east and the west;
ALL: who leads us beside quiet streams, and shows us the way we should go.
*Opening Hymn - “When Morning Gilds the Skies” #100, v.1&3
1 When morning gilds the skies, my heart awaking cries, may Jesus Christ be praised!
Alike at work and prayer to Jesus I repair; may Jesus Christ be praised!
3 Sing, suns and stars of space, sing, all that see his face; may Jesus Christ be praised!
God's whole creation o'er, both now and evermore: may Jesus Christ be praised!
Invitation to Generosity
Invitation - Aspen Baynes
Offertory - “Gigue” [by G.P. Telemann]
The Doxology #46
Praise God from whom all blessings flow; praise God, all creatures here below;
praise God above, ye heavenly host: Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.
Offering Prayer - Aspen Baynes
Children’s Moment - Rev. Nancy Humes
Pastoral Prayer - Rev. Nancy Humes
Communion
Meditation - Beth Schabel
Communion Hymn - “Just As I Am” #339, v.1-2
1 Just as I am, without one plea, but that thy blood was shed for me,
and that thou bid'st me come to thee, O Lamb of God, I come, I come!
2 Just as I am, though tossed about with many a conflict, many a doubt,
fightings and fears within, without, O Lamb of God, I come, I come!
Prayer & Lord’s Prayer - Beth Schabel
Words of Institution - Rev. Nancy Humes
Music: Meditation on “Woodworth” [by Robert W. Thygerson]
Scripture - Exodus 20:1-11
Then God spoke all these words:
2 I 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.
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. 5You 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, 6but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.
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.
8 Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. 9For six days you shall labour and do all your work. 10But 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. 11For 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.
Sermon - Do or Don’t Do - Is That Your Final Answer?
Rev. Nancy Humes
The question facing us this morning is — are the commandments just a list of what DOS and DON’T’S? The rules of the game? Are they Laws? Regulations? Orders of how to please God and how to live?
In our scripture reading today we are receiving the 10 Commandments — or as our Jewish brothers and sisters would say — its Shavout – the celebration of the giving of the Torah – the Law – The 10 Commandments – at Mount Sinai.
Before we can gather at the foot of Mt. Sinai I want to give us a little reminder of what’s been happening to the Israelites so we’re all in the same place.
We know that Passover began their journey to the Promised Land – that land flowing with milk and honey. This group of folks — the scriptures tell us there are 6 hundred thousand men . . . children . . . livestock, flocks and herds - not counting we women, but who’s counting!
Anyway, this group sets out taking everything they could carry on a promise made by God.
And now, here we are – joining in their journey – becoming part of a rag tag band of folks wandering around in the wilderness. There’s no map, no map-quest and obviously no GPS! We’re following Moses – a man chosen by God to lead us. What are his qualifications? Does he know the way – have a map in his head? This man was the man who argued with God about leading us out of Egypt in the first place but here we are.
– Let’s take a deep breath. . . .
We’ve been traveling in the wilderness – it’s a bit different from the wilderness of Daniel Boone with hills, trees, forests and wild animals it’s more like the dry arid desert of sand, sand dunes, sand storms, maybe some camels and an oasis on the horizon. We’re just trudging along – not looking at the almost non-existent landscape – who can see above and beyond the group surrounding them anyway?
It’s been 50 days and 50 nights since we left Egypt. We’re a bunch of tired, hungry, thirsty, dirty and grouchy travelers. We’ve been camping – sleeping on the ground, packing up and walking, setting up camp, cooking over open fires, tearing down tents and walking again. There’s no end in sight. There’re no service plazas, no McDonalds, no Starbucks — no indoor plumbing or running water! We admit - perhaps grudging, yeah God provided the manna and foul for us to eat and water for us to drink. But — this is getting old. It’s no longer exciting — it work — hard, tiring work!
Arguments and quarrels are breaking out – and Moses tries to handle them all. It’s a wonder he just doesn’t wash his hands of the whole lot of us and take his family and go. But looking back a bit in the scripture we hear that Moses’ father-in-law tells him he can’t handle it by himself without wearing himself out and gives him this advice – gather up a group of “able bodied men” to help him. Taking Jethro’s advice, Moses calls the elders up and creates the “first committee” (so to speak) – to be judges to handle the small stuff. So Moses is no longer carrying the whole load of us by himself anymore. But it’s still a heavy load to carry.
And here we are — still following. The grumbling is growing louder. Do you hear it? The complaints — it’s been 50 days AND 50 nights! Why aren’t we there yet? How much longer? What’s taking so long? Who decided he should lead? It we’d stayed in Egypt wouldn’t be hungry and thirsty!
Now put yourselves in Moses’ shoes. Imagine the stress he’ under.
This group of weary travelers — 6 hundred thousand PLUS, wandering in the wilderness, we’re depending on him to find the way to what seems to be the elusive Promised Land. We’re grumbling and complaining that we haven’t gotten there yet. So Moses, carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders goes up the Mountain of God to “talk to the great’ I AM’”!
And here we are . . . at Mount Sinai waiting – waiting for Moses to return.
Look at it — just look at it — The majestic Mountain of God. Isn’t it awesome!
We look up but can’t see the top of that 7,497 foot mountain because it’s covered with clouds and smoke. Moses has walked up about a mile and a half up to get to the top and it’s not an easy 15 minute climb!
And, yep! We’re still here waiting — waiting for Moses to come back down.
AND, WE WAIT, AND WAIT, AND WE WAIT!
Suddenly we hear the murmurs – someone up front has seen Moses – we stretch on our tippy toes – trying to see. The crowd quiets in anticipation.
And there he is! He’s back.
Can you feel the excitement spreading through the crowd?
We finally get a peak and there stands Moses arms outstretched . . .
Anyone or anything seem to be missing? I see the Cecil B. deMille Moses standing - tablets in his arms - do you?
But there are no tablets mentioned in our scripture AND it simply says God speaks.
“Then God spoke . . . I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.”
Let’s read them together:
“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
- You shall have no other gods before me.
- You shall not make for yourself carved images, nor bow down to them or worship them
- You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain
- Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.
Here God is introducing himself to us — to us! It’s not Moses speaking! God is talking directly TO us! God introduces himself and establishes his source of authority by saying — I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. . . After this subtle reminder, God gives us the “commandments” – what seems like a set of rules.
They seem simple enough. Just follow these rules and we’ll be fine. But are they simply rules? If they are rules we are supposed to follow what happens if we do follow them? What happens if we don’t? What good are rules if there aren’t any penalties for breaking the rules? What good are they if there aren’t any rewards for following them?
But this is where this all gets tricky. And I thought that this was such an easy scripture to preach about!
So let’s roll up our sleeves, get to work and start at the very beginning.
First — What is a commandment? Is it just a rule – a law? Are they simply orders — a command to do something or not do something? How can things like belief be commanded? And here’s the chicken and egg question for you — if you don’t believe in God who is commanding you in the first place?
Second — Our English language is often a barrier to our understanding and I ask you – what language was The Old Testament written in? Hebrew – that’s right. So it seems like we should find out what commandment means in Hebrew.
Third — the Hebrew word that actually appears in the scripture is lo tissa. It’s been mistranslated when it says “commandments”– it actually means Statements — these are called the 10 Statements in the Torah – Hebrew Bible. It’s a bit different than commandments right? Subtle — but still different. Some of the Rabbis like to call them Mitzvot – good deeds.
Understanding them as statements or good deeds we discover how God wants our relationship with him to work. It’s not a simple reward and punishment system — it’s not a — you do this and I reward you or do that and I punish you. It’s about being in a relationship with each other and with God. Perhaps it would be better to call this list a list of expectations – this is the behavior God wants and expects – good deeds – mitvot. This creates a covenant — a contract between God and humanity.
Now I’m going to take us back to our Bible School Days and we’ll look at the version of the Commandments most of us learned – not the “extended” version read earlier this morning.
- You shall have no other gods before me.
God is not telling us we have to believe in him – he is not commanding belief. He is simply saying there are to be no other gods before him.
We need to remember that the Israelites lived among groups of folks that worshipped a multitude of other Gods. Here God is establishing that there is ONE GOD —— The Great I AM!
- You shall not make for yourself carved images, nor bow down to them or worship them.
God is not commanding us to not make images but is warning us that the images themselves can become a “god” and become the focus of worship and one’s life. This is the only statement that lists a punishment (in the extended version) which helps us with our understanding.
There are no details as to what the punishment is but it says it will carry on to the children to the third and fourth generation. This is not a case of God transferring the guilt onto the younger generation — the sins of the father thing. But rather placing the blame where it belongs — on the parents for not teaching them and showing them how to have a relationship with God. It’s about the cycle — parents teach their children – children learn what they live and are taught. They teach what they were taught to their children and on and on. It’s like the abuse cycle – and God wants the cycle to be used for good to teach them to have a loving relationship with God and with each other! In some ways, not teaching them this is a punishment in and of itself.
- You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
This one is really sticky and again we need to look at what the Hebrew word lo tissa — “in vain” means. According to the Hebrew dictionary it means and I quote here: “You shall not carry God’s name – {in other words] use it as justification in selfish [evil] causes. If one does this [he/she] discredits God.” Unquote. WOW! Discrediting God. That hits ya right where we live doesn’t it. This is a very different understand of what we typically think of as “in vain”— that of using God’s name as a swear word isn’t it? It means doing “evil” to others – which hurts them and God. Now it doesn’t mean that our understanding isn’t valid — and that we should go out using God’s name as a swear word because we shouldn’t — that discredits God too, and it’s not showing respect to God. This different understanding goes deeper and creates a richer relationship with God and others.
- Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.
Again according to our Jewish roots the scripture simply says to “make the [Sabbath] day holy, and refrain from labor.” Our culture tends to focus more on the no work than making the day holy. Yes, a lot of people go to church on Sunday but lots of folks simply call it a day of rest – take the day off and participate in other activities.
Remembering the Sabbath is not just simply attending a worship service. The Sabbath is a reminder of the creation — God worked for 6 days and rested on the 7th. It’s meant to be a whole day — 24 hours! For our Jewish brothers and sisters, the Sabbath begins at sundown on Friday evening and ends at sundown on Saturday evening. Yes, it’s a time of worship and rest but as the rabbis say and I quote “it’s also a time to create wholeness – making peace with everyone and focusing on what is right in the world. Unquote. Yes, Sabbath services are held at the synagogue but there is also a lot of ritual going on at home – eating together, lighting candles, saying blessings, and telling stories and playing games. Sabbath is about much more than just going to synagogue – it a time to be with family and friends — to have fun and re-establishing our relationship with God our Creator.
So, here we are — all gathered around Mount Sinai and Moses. We’ve heard God speak to us. But now it’s time for us to leave our fellow travelers on their journey to the Promised Land.
So what seemed so simple when we started — a recitation of the 10 rules really isn’t simple at all. Our language barrier and mistranslation has often created misunderstanding because the Hebrew words don’t have exact translations into English. And, at times we have even been led to misunderstand what God was saying and doing.
When God introduced himself to the people Israel – God was saying this is who I am – this is what I have done for you. And, these are statements of what I would like to have with you – my expectations for a loving relationship between you and me – a covenant – a contract. These 10 statements outline how the relationship/covenant is gonna work. It clearly states what I’ll do for you and what you’ll do for me and each other. I will be your God and you will be my people.
SO, my final questions to you this morning is — are the “commandments” simply rules to do or not do, or are they something more? Each of us has to decide for ourselves. Take time to think about what you have said and heard today before you make your final answer.
And God’s people said AMEN!
If you want to know how the stone tablets — how the written covenant came to be — explore Exodus 24:9 & 31:18.
God will finish speaking statements numbers 5 – 10 next week – brought to us by Liz Meeker.
*Closing Hymn - Wonderful Words of Life #323, v.1&3
1 Sing them over again to me, wonderful words of life;
let me more of their beauty see, wonderful words of life.
Words of life and beauty, teach me faith and duty:
[Refrain:]
Beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life.
Beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life.
3 Sweetly echo the gospel call, wonderful words of life;
offer pardon and peace to all, wonderful words of life.
Jesus, only Savior, sanctify forever.
[Refrain]
Benediction - Rev. Nancy Humes
Postlude - “The Love of God is Steadfast” [by Colin Curtis] - Jan Green