A sermon from The Rev. Dr. David A. Marcus, Jr. preached on March 15, 2009. This sermon explores the Ten Commandments and their relevance for us today.
A sermon based on the following passage: Exodus 20:1-17
For several years I have had season tickets to UNC Charlotte basketball games. I am very thankful that their season which was disappointing to say the least ended this week. The year before they won 20 games, this year they lost 20 games! A couple of weeks ago while attending the final Charlotte 49ers home game I ran into a fraternity brother of mine. As we were talking about family he shared with me that this was his first year serving as a coach for one of his daughter’s basketball team. This particular fraternity brother was known to have a temper on the intramural fields—we didn’t often associate the word good sportsmanship with him. I asked whether this proved to be challenging for him—keeping his temper and frustration in check while being such a competitive person. He shared with me that he presented to each player on the team something that has helped him as a coach as well. This is called the Ten Commandments of Sportsmanship and I asked him to pass this along to me and it says the following:
• “Golden Rule”– Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.
• Enjoy yourself and promote enjoyment for others.
• Be responsible for your actions.
• Have an open mind to others’ weaknesses and have a forgiving attitude.
• Have pride in one’s performance and one’s team.
• Be a friend, not an enemy, and create a positive environment.
• Encourage others to do or be their best.
• Sportsmanship should be contagious.
• Remember it is a privilege to participate
• Practice sportsmanship in all situations at all costs.
I think those are good rules to live by on the athletic fields. When we think about rules, most of us are familiar with a set of rules from the Old Testament better known as the Ten Commandments. William Barclay, the great Biblical scholar in his book from 1973 entitled, The Ten Commandments for Today wrote:
It may well be that we should stop criticizing the Ten Commandments because they are a series of ‘Thou shalt not’s’ and begin recognizing that they are the necessary laws of nationhood and the charter of democracy.”
Three decades later I’m not sure if most Americans would agree with that statement. CNN.com reported in an article this week that America is a less Christian nation than it was 20 years ago and that Christianity is not losing out to other religions, but primarily to a rejection of religion altogether. This survey revealed that 75% of Americans call themselves Christian according to the American Religious Identification Survey from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. In 1990, the figure was 86%.
Every few years the subject of The Ten Commandments has been a focus in the news. For those who consider themselves to be Christians, learning these commandments is usually no problem for us. However, learning to live by and obey them can be a different story. Today’s lesson from the book of Exodus could be a difficult reading for someone unfamiliar with religion. One might conclude that being a faithful follower is nothing but a set of laws and that the main point in life is to keep a clean slate. The problem with people in Biblical times was that they placed too much emphasis on laws and not enough on the spirit of the law. For those people living during the time of Moses, they failed to comprehend what a covenant relationship with God really meant.
What exactly is a covenant relationship with God? Is a covenant relationship any different than what we know today as a contract? Certainly in today’s society many of our relations are bound by contracts. Contracts are binding agreements between two or more persons that is enforceable by law. Often contracts are for goods or services. Contracts are broken when one party fails to keep their promise or often when a better offer comes along. God however, did not establish a contract with Israel. God created a covenant and there is a difference. A covenant is an agreement between God and his people in which God makes certain promises and requires certain behavior from them in return. A covenant is more like ties of a parent to a child. If a child doesn’t follow through on something they were asked to do, the parent’s obligation is not canceled. The parent discovers why the child didn’t follow through on the task and offers assistance or sometimes punishment as the case may warrant. Our covenant with God is found through the life and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. A covenant is the unconditional commitment to love and serve others just as Christ did upon earth.
Loving and serving others is a challenge when we often can’t agree with each other. Sometimes I feel our society and culture suffers from such a battle between moral indifference and legalism that I question whether a middle ground can ever be found. The article from CNN which I mentioned earlier went on to quote William Donohue, president of the Catholic League who believes that a radical shift towards individualism over the past 25 years has a lot to do with why fewer people call themselves Christian. He said,
“The three most dreaded words are thou shalt not,”
He believes people do not want to be told what to do with their life. To combat this indifference among people other people will often become very legalistic in their viewpoints. The problem with legalism is that the focus is on following laws instead of following God. The people of Israel had taken the Ten Commandments and the first five books of the Bible and came up with over 600 rules and regulations that they determined had to be followed in order to please God. The thing that made it even more confusing, other than having over 600 laws to follow, was the religious teachers couldn’t even determine which of the laws were the most important to follow. Perhaps we have fallen into the same trap today. Many people look at the church and God as being solely concerned with keeping rules and certain regulations. When this happens, the rules and regulations become the focal point of our faith instead of God’s grace.
In a novel that Sarah Jewett wrote in 1896 about life in Maine entitled, The Country of the Pointed Firs, she described the journey of a female writer that eventually led to the home of a retired sea captain named Elijah Tilley. Along the way to his home as she was traveling across his property, she noticed a number of wooden stakes. These stakes were scattered throughout the property and each stake was painted white and trimmed in yellow just like the sea captain’s house. Curious, she asks Captain Tilley what they meant. He shared with her that when he first plowed the ground, his plow would hit so many rocks beneath the surface that he set out stakes where the rocks lay in order to avoid them in the future. In thinking of this analogy, in a real sense this is what God has done for us through the Ten Commandments. God has shown us where the trouble spots in life will be and has offered us a way to avoid them through following the commandments. God as our sermon title shares has given us principles for a quality life. Today we need laws just as the people of Jesus’ time needed laws. But we need “laws” which are supported by a kind spirit, by care about the welfare of other people. We need guidelines by which to know what will accomplish such worthy ends. To help us during our Lenten journey I would like to offer six rules for decision making which hopefully will help us to better follow God’s commandments in our lives.
Rule # 1 The Rule of Your Best Self
The Rule of Your Best Self is trying to model the teachings of Jesus in our daily lives through our words and actions. When I think of this rule, I am reminded of a former member from the Covenant congregation. This person passed away last week and I had privilege of being able to lead her memorial service yesterday in Huntersville, NC. She passed away at 93 years of age. At the memorial service one of her children shared that his mother spent 7 1/2 years of her life pregnant. If you’re math is like mine, it much easier to say that together she and her husband raised ten children! As if raising such a large family were not enough responsibility, she began a private kindergarten in Mecklenburg County that operated for nearly 40 years which was very Christ centered. She was someone who was active in her church, someone who was a real pillar of strength and faith. She taught her children about this rule of your best self, through the teachings of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Her children also taught their families this rule and this legacy is continuing on in powerful ways. She was someone who followed this rule in her life, of always trying to be more Christ like in her life and so should we.
Rule #2 The Rule of an Admired Person You Know
Many of us have mentors and role models in our life. In the Moravian church upon your ordination as a deacon you are linked up with a presbyter partner who serves as a mentor in your beginning years of ministry. Our Bishops in the Moravian tradition are known as “pastors to the pastors” and they too are someone who we can turn to when we are in need of prayers and support. The Bible is filled with illustrations of mentoring. Moses mentored Joshua helping to equip him to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land. Jesus spent three years of ministry training the twelve to take the gospel from Jerusalem into the world. Paul took Timothy, Titus and Silas under his wing teaching them evangelism, doctrine and “caring for all the churches.” (2 Corinthians 11:28) Barnabas and Peter had great influence in the life of John Mark. I have to conclude that I am a better pastor because I had the opportunity to grow under the careful shaping of mentors. Before doing something, ask yourself whether these people would approve of what you are doing.
Rule #3 The Rule of Sportsmanship
Many golf fans are following the progress of Tiger Woods and his comeback from a knee injury this season. I look forward to following the progress of J. P. Hayes, who will be playing this season on only sponsor exemptions. In late 2008 during the second stage of the PGA tour qualifying tournament in Texas, Hayes discovered after his round that for a couple of holes he used a prototype golf ball, not yet approved for use by the United States Golf Association. At stake was a spot on the PGA tour. No one would have known he used that golf ball, so you wonder whether perhaps some players might not have reported this violation. But Hayes, honoring the tradition of a game where the players police themselves, turned himself in and was disqualified. I believe the game of life should be played the same way, with the same type of honesty and integrity as Hayes displayed in that moment.
Rule #4 The Rule of Publicity
Think about your spouse, children, parents, friends even God for a moment. Would you want your actions known to the people who admire you? Thomas A. Kempis, author of Imitation of Christ said that in life we should determine a plan of action in the morning, and then evaluate this plan at night. Each day we should ask how we have behaved today. What were your words, your deeds and your thoughts? If we are living as God calls us to live, we will want to publicize this to those we know and more importantly for those who don’t know Christ.
Rule # 5 The Rule of Common Sense
Determine whether what you are about to do or about to say is sensible? Too often in life we are quick to point out the faults of other people. The faults of others are like the bright headlights of an approaching car. These faults always seem more glaring than our own. Using common sense can keep us out of the dark and allow us to let the light of Christ shine forth in everything we do and say.
Rule #6 The Rule of Consequence
An old proverb says you cannot unscramble an egg. With that said what kinds of effect will something you say or do have upon you and others close to you? In thinking of this rule of consequence we need to think not just in the present, but long term. As Christians we are exposed to temptation everyday in our life. In confronting temptations remember these words from Martin Luther who once said: “God delights in our temptations and yet hates them. He delights in them when they drive us to prayer; he hates them when they drive us to despair.”
The easiest rule of decision making is for us to remember the words of Jesus Christ, who shared with us the greatest commandment to follow:
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
How do we love God with all our heart, soul and mind? Anyway and every way we can. Each of us has been given a choice on whether or not we live under the law of God. When we choose to live under God’s law, we can expect God’s blessings to come to us in a variety of ways. Though these ways are not identical to those promised and delivered to Israel, they are more desirable. Instead of home upon earth, we are assured of a heavenly home. Living under God’s law assures us the promise of everlasting life through Jesus Christ. Simply stated, the principles of quality living are before us, we must decide whether to follow them.
Finis
The Rev. Dr. David A. Marcus, Jr.