“A LITTLE DIALOGUE ON THE DECALOGUE”
EXODUS 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20
20:1 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;
3 you 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.
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,
6 but 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.
9 Six days you shall labor and do
all your work.
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.
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.
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.
13 You shall not murder.
14 You shall not commit adultery.
15 You shall not steal.
16 You shall not bear false witness
against your neighbor.
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.
18 When 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,
19 and said to Moses, "You speak to
us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, or we will die."
20 Moses 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."
It’s
one of those things where you’re either for it or against it. It’s a question that evokes strong opinions on both
sides of the issue. What do you think? Is it okay to display the Ten Commandments
in public buildings?
There
are all kinds of arguments. Those in favor will remind you that this is a nation that was founded under God. Those opposed will remind you that the Constitution prohibits the establishment of any one particular religion. Those in favor will insist that the Constitution guarantees freedom of religion, not
freedom from religion. Those opposed will insist that you have to be careful
in a pluralistic society where not everyone is Christian; where you have Jews and Muslims, Buddhists, Hindis and people of
no faith.
When
it comes to the Ten Commandments I would say that I’m in agreement with Mark Twain.
One day a friend told him that he was going on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. The friend went on to say that he was looking forward to climbing Mount
Sinai while he was there and seeing the spot where Moses received the Ten Commandments. “Really,” Twain replied. “I’ve got
a better idea. Why don’t you just stay home and keep them instead?”
That’s
the real question that needs to be looked at when it comes to the Ten Commandments.
How are we, as a people under God, doing when it comes to obeying those Ten Commandments? Would you give us an A or an F or something in between? When I look at the newspapers one thing is obvious. There’s a big gap between what we profess and what we practice.
Back
when “All In The Family” was a big hit, a Methodist minister by the name of Spencer Marsh wrote a wonderful little
book called God, Man and Archie Bunker. It’s
not a deep theological book. Instead, it’s a book that takes a down to
earth look at some of our religious beliefs and behavior. It looks at them through the eyes of America’s beloved bigot Archie Bunker.
At one point the author and Archie have a little talk about the Ten Commandments. They
talk about taking the Lord’s name in vain. Archie admits, “I’m
guilty. But if you worked with the clowns I work with and had a meathead for a son-in-law you’d be guilty too.” They talk about keeping the Sabbath holy. Archie’s decides that the best defense
is a good offense. So, he accuses the minister of being a fanatic. “Are
you one of these guys who think we shouldn’t do anything on Sundays but go to church?” Then they talk about bearing false witness. Archie rationalizes and decides that, “little white lies
is OK.” They go through each of the Ten Commandments and Archie does his best to water them all down. The only one he really gets is the one about adultery. At
that point in the conversation Archie says proudly, “With Edit’ it’s Archie only and with me it’s
Edit’ only.” The conversation ends though with Archie making a familiar
excuse. “So,” he said, “I don’t keep all the commandments, exactly. But who does?” (pp. 91-98)
It’s hard to see how we’re doing
a great job keeping the Ten Commandments when the malls are open on Sundays now and our kids have all kinds of sports on Sunday
morning. Take a walk through some of our nursing homes and then let me know how
you think we’re doing when it comes to the commandment about honoring our fathers and our mothers. That commandment is also in question when you look at the way children are being raised these days. Sometimes it makes you wonder who’s really in charge. It makes me think of the young single minister who decided to preach a sermon on parenting. He called it, “Rules For Raising Children.” After he got married and had children of his own,
he changed the title of the sermon to, “Suggestions For Raising Children.” Then when his children got to be teenagers,
he stopped preaching on the subject altogether. If you think that commandment
has been kicked to the side of the curb then you might want to put the one about greed and coveting on life support.
If things keep going the way they’re going we might
just find ourselves in the same situation an unemployed cleaning woman out in St.
Louis found herself in one day. It all started when she noticed a few bees buzzing around the attic
in her house. Since there weren’t that many, she didn’t worry about
it. Over the summer though, the bees continued to fly in and out of the attic
vents. The woman ignored the problem though.
After a while the whole attic became a thriving hive with thousands of bees making honey; lots of honey, hundred and
hundreds of pounds of honey. So much honey that eventually the ceiling collapsed
on top of the woman.
If we keep ignoring
the Ten Commandments the ethical framework of our society is going to come crashing down on us. Some would say that the moral meltdown is already happening.
That’s
why it’s so important to keep the Ten Commandments in their proper perspective. They’re not a bunch of hoops that
we have to jump through so God can feel important. They’re not something
God cooked up a long time ago to show us who’s boss. In fact, the Ten Commandments
aren’t for God’s benefit. They’re for our benefit. If you look at them closely you’ll see that what they really do is cultivate in us what I like to
call the three R’s.
Reverence
for God.
Respect for others.
Responsibility for yourself.
The Ten Commandments are there for our benefit. They’re
a moral compass that will bring you a little closer to the kingdom
of God here on earth. Following
them puts you in synch with God, leads you into harmony with the people around you and brings you an sense of peace with yourself.
When you
take the Ten Commandments seriously instead of life being a free for all where it’s the survival of the fittest, it’s
closer to the way a class of first graders behaved when the time arrived for their long awaited field trip. All the children had been looking forward to the field trip for several weeks. Notices had been sent home with instructions about the bus, lunch and time of departure. When the big day finally arrived though, one of the boys began to cry.
Unfortunately, he had forgotten his lunch and wouldn’t be able to go. In no time at all, the other children put
a lunch together for him by contributing sandwiches, fruit, desserts and drinks. Now
with tears of gratitude he grabbed his coat and climbed onto the bus with the other children.
That’s
the way God wants things to work. That’s why it’s so important for us as a people under God to be faithful and
follow the Ten Commandments. When you look at it that way, maybe putting the Ten Commandments on display in our public buildings
isn’t such a bad idea after all. Amen.
Rev.
Dr. Richard A. Hughes
October
2, 2005
