These meditations were written by the Rev. Susan E. Ostrom as part of the devotional material produced for the E-Source - an electronic newsletter of the Toppenish United Methodist Church. This material is fully protected under international copyright law. Permission to reproduce and use within a local church setting as a devotional aide is granted, providing that no wording is changed, and that appropriate credit is given. Kindly send an e-mail statement about the use of the material to Rev. Ostrom.
MEDITATIONS ON THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
Today I want to begin a new series, this one looking at the Ten Commandments. I encourage you to read them in the Bible. There are actually two versions. One is found in Exodus 20, and the other in Deuteronomy 5.
Before we look at any of the individual commandments, we need to consider the opening phrase, found in both versions: "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of slavery." This sets the tone for the entire list. The 10 Commandments, or 10 Words as they are found in Hebrew, are not just rules: they are a revelation about God. This phrase is the root of that revelation. God is Liberator -- the one who brought the Hebrew people out of slavery. We don't normally think of rules as liberating. The rule that says I am to drive at 60 mph on Interstate 82 as it goes through Yakima restricts me. It is a speed limit after all. So these "rules" from God seem to some to limit: they are a series of do's and don'ts. And there is that sense to them. But deeper than the legalistic sense here is a revelation about God, made known first in this introductory line. The God who gave the Commandments is the God of history who stepped into the lives of an oppressed people to bring them to freedom. The do's and don'ts are actually a part of that freedom.
"You shall have no other gods before me."
This is usually regarded as the first of the Ten Commandments. It comes from a time when the Hebrew people acknowledged the existence of many gods. The cultures around them worshipped different gods, each of whom operated in its own sphere. It is interesting to note this commandment does not say "Those other gods are all fakes," or "No other god exists but me." It says, "You shall have no other gods before me."
The wording here always reminds me of the words in a wedding: "Sue, will you take Doug to be your husband . . . and forsaking all others, be faithful to him as long as you both shall live." The marriage vow recognizes that there are other men out there, some of whom may even be attractive to me, but I will be faithful to this one man.
This first commandment reveals to us the Covenant God who enters into relationship with people. The other side to this Covenant is that God remains faithful to us. This God, as is said in another commandment, is a jealous God, who asks -- demands? -- faithfulness and loyalty from God's people.
I suspect it is the most frequently broken of all the commandments.
"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.
The Second Commandment tees off the first. Historically, many of those "other gods" worshipped by the Hebrew people were idols made of wood or stone. The King James Version of this verse talks about graven images. Today our idols are more likely to be less tangible: success, security, status . . . . The words of this commandment reinforce the self-revelation of God in the first commandment: a jealous God who wants absolute commitment. Faith is not a halfhearted thing.
The other side to this commandment comes at its end: God’s love is eternal -- to the thousand generation. Again, God is faithful to us. Read on in the rest of the Bible and you will find that God is faithful to a stiff necked, stubborn, rebellious people, even when they fail to be faithful to God.
"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."
This commandment builds on the first two. Throughout the Bible we find references to the power of names. Bible people believed that names contained the essence of a person's power. They were cautious about revealing their names to others for to know another's name was to have access to that person's power. The closest we can come to a modern day equivalent is to think about telling someone your PIN number for your ATM card. To do so gives someone access to your financial assets and you only give that information to those you trust the most.
The amazing thing is that God reveals God's name to us! Read Exodus 3 where God tells Moses "I AM who I AM." It doesn't sound like much of a name to us, but it was as amazing a revelation to Moses as the coming of Jesus is to us.
Having been told God's name; we are to use that knowledge and the power it implies carefully and wisely. As Christians, we pray in the name of Jesus, accessing God's power to bring about our prayer. It would be well for us to think seriously about how we are using that name -- and what we are praying for!
Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. 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. 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.
This commandment regarding the Sabbath day is rooted in creation itself. We are reminded that God is both Worker and Rester. As we were made in God's image, so we too are to both work and to rest.
The word holy means to set apart. So the Sabbath is a day separated out from all the others as dedicated to God. The Sabbath was originally the seventh day of creation, and so is traditionally thought of as our Saturday. Thus various peoples, including Jews, Jehovah's Witnesses and Seventh Day Adventists believe the proper day for rest is Saturday.
As Christians we set aside Sunday as our day of worship because our worship celebrates the resurrection of Jesus, which took place on the first day of the week -- or Sunday. Even when we worship in the middle of the summer or winter our worship always celebrates that resurrection.
Does that let us off the hook regarding this commandment? Jesus said: "The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath." He healed on the Sabbath and allowed his disciples to harvest grain on the Sabbath, all in direct violation of Sabbath laws. Yet, from what we can observe of Jesus' habits, he attended synagogue services on the Sabbath.
I don't think Christians benefit themselves when we forget about the Sabbath. Rather, Jesus' teachings show us that Sabbath is to be a blessing rather than a burden. In our overscheduled, over-stimulated, overly busy society, many of us are in dire need of rest! Life gets so full that it is hard to remember to take time for God. I believe this commandment calls us to consider our priorities and God's place in them. Will there be times when other things get in the way of worship? Of course, and Jesus' example says that at times that is necessary and appropriate. But the norm for Jesus, and I believe for us, is to set aside one day each week as belonging first and foremost to God. As we dedicate our lives anew to God, we have the opportunity to be re-created, might I even say resurrected, by God! Honor the Sabbath day and keep it holy.
The fifth commandment marks a transition from commandments that deal with God (you shall have no other gods before me, make no idols, do not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, and honor the Sabbath day) to those which deal with other people (honor parents, don't murder, don't steal, etc.)
One way of looking at this is to think of our relationship with God as a vertical line and our relationships with other people as a horizontal line. Christianity lends itself to seeing those two intersecting in the form of a cross.
But even the Old Testament recognizes that one's relationship with God is clearly related to one's relationship with people. You can't separate the one from the other. So in the Ten Commandments we find discussion of how we relate to god and also discussion of how we relate to each other. Read on in the prophets and you will find that they nearly all concern two basic sins: idolatry and injustice. The two are usually linked.
So before I discuss the specifics of the next commandments, I simply lift this thought up to you. How does your relationship with God intersect with your relationships with other people? If there is a gap in either line, if there is no intersection, I believe the Bible would suggest there is a problem. Hmmm.
So now we come to the Fifth Commandment: Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
The first of the human relationships considered here is perhaps that most basic of all relationships, certainly the oldest of them: our relationship with our parents. I would suggest that it is no accident that the image we use most often for God is that of Father. In many ways, Mother is just as appropriate an image. As we are to honor God, both in the use of God's name and the keeping of the Sabbath day, so we are also to honor our earthly parents. Note that this is the only commandment to which a promise is attached. The Hebrew people received these commandments as they were preparing to enter into the Promised Land. Before they even get there, comes this commandments which suggests that there will be a connection between the way they treat their parents and the length of time they spend in that land of promise. God is giving that land to them, but their actions on entering it will determine their ability to stay there.
Jesus had harsh words for people who said, "Whatever support you might have had from me is given to God" (Matt 15:4). In other words, those who left their parents in need in order to give to God were not honoring God after all.
Those of us who were fortunate enough to have loving, kind parents learned much of God's love and kindness through their example. God the Life Giver gave us life through them. Honoring our parents honors the God who is the Truest Parent of all.
The next commandment for us to consider is "You shall not murder." Occasionally, Bible Study groups have wrestled with ways to restate the Ten Commandments in positive rather than negative terms. The best way I can think of to do that for this commandment is to say "Value life." As the Creator of life in the first place, God is indeed One who honors and values life. We see that value throughout the Bible. The Hebrew people were instructed not to eat the blood of any animal because the "the life of the flesh is in the blood." (Lev. 17:11) In offering sacrifices to God, the blood was given to God for God was the giver of life and all life belonged to God. The rules about all those sacrifices don't seem to have much to do with us these days, and in many ways that is true. But the sense that all life comes from and belongs to God, does have a lot to say to us. So with this commandment, we see God as One who values life and calls on us to do the same.
As was typical of him, Jesus carried this commandment to a new level. He said "You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, 'You shall not murder'; and 'whoever murders shall be liable to judgment. But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, 'You fool.' you will be liable to the hell of fire." (Matt 5: 21-22). The God who created life, also calls us to love each other.
The Ten Commandments regulate behavior -- like not murdering. Jesus moved them to a deeper level and looked at what goes on inside of a person as well as how they act. The truest valuing of life is one which addresses internal processes like the anger which then can lead to behaviors like murder. Murder is an extreme behavior committed by only a few people. Anger on the other hand is common. Does that mean that you are sinful any time you are angry? I don't think so, but I do think that our relationship with God calls us to seek to resolve anger as quickly as possible. The root causes of many behaviors are emotions, so if we can address the emotions themselves the behaviors will take care of themselves.
The next commandment for us to consider is "You shall not commit adultery." God calls us to faithfulness in our marriages. The strictest definition is sexual faithfulness, though it seems to me that real faithfulness in marriage has also to do with many other things, including the ways a person spends time and money and thought. Unfaithfulness in one area is connected to unfaithfulness in other areas as well. I was struck yesterday as I listened to reports on the news about the spy Robert Hansen. Turns out he was not only unfaithful to his country, he was unfaithful to his wife. Perhaps this should not surprise us, because it is all indicative of the same personality trait. In the same way, it seems to me that this commandment calls us to faithfulness in all of life. Above all else, we are called to be faithful to God, but if we choose not to be faithful in other areas, including our marriages, we are unlikely to be faithful to God. The prophet Hosea used the image of an adulterous wife to talk about how the people of Israel were unfaithful to God.
Jesus, true to his pattern, moved this commandment to a deeper level than behavior, just as he did with last week's commandment about not murdering. Matthew 5:27-28 says, "You have heard it said, "You shall not commit adultery." But I say to you that anyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart." Jesus, I think, is saying that indeed, faithfulness begins in our thoughts. Behavior grows out of those thoughts. We have to be willing to offer up our thoughts to God as well as our actions.
You shall not steal. is the eighth commandment. Honesty is a basic value, which is reflected in the next two commandments as well. I said at the beginning of these meditations on the Ten Commandments that they say as much to us about who God is as they do about how we are to behave. That was clearer with some of the earlier commandments. It is not so obvious with this one, and yet I think, even this one is reflective of who God is. Jesus said he would come like a thief in the night, but God will not steal from us. That seems so obvious as to be unnecessary to say, and yet I think it is helpful to think about for a bit. God has given us the gift of free will and that means that God will not take away from us anything without our being willing to give it. Just as we are not to take our neighbor's car or a candy bar from the store without permission or payment, so God will not take anything from us without our permission. Whether that is our love for Jesus, our tithes and offerings, or our prayers for another, we must choose to give them because God will not take them from us without our say so. If I choose to keep to myself my energy and my love, God will respect that choice, even though those things might be helpful in the healing of another were I to offer them up to God. We may be surprised by God (the real point of the thief in the night image, I think), but never will God rob us.
Unlike the commandments about murder and adultery, the Gospel of Matthew does not record Jesus giving a deeper interpretation of the commandment not to steal. But I wonder, if maybe we could imagine one. "You have heard it said, 'you shall not steal' but I say to you, 'give then freely of your gifts to others.'" Just a thought.
The ninth commandment is "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor." This commandment demands telling the truth in a lawsuit involving your neighbor. The Bible has harsh words for those who do not tell the truth. Read I Kings 21:8-14, the story of how Queen Jezebel frames Naboth so King Ahaz can take Naboth's vineyard.
Certainly honesty in a legal setting is crucial, but it doesn't take much imagination to transfer that basic value to all other arenas of life as well. Several of the commandments call, in one way or another, for honesty: adultery usually involves deception, as of course, does stealing. It seems entirely logical that these three commandments come as a set.
Not many of us are called on to testify in a legal court, but all of us face situations on a daily basis which call for basic honesty. In the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus taught that our neighbors are not just those who live next door or who are familiar and comfortable to us, but any who are in need. So, we are called to honesty in our dealings with all people, from the next door neighbor to the person you encounter on line in a chat room.
Why is this commandment even necessary? People generally lie because it looks like the lie will benefit them in some way. But the commandment demands honesty even when it does not benefit me, even when it will cost me in some way. That's true outside of legal settings as well. In all of my relationships, be it with the person who buys my used car, with my family, even with myself, I am called to full and complete honesty. Precisely because such honesty is not always easy or automatic, God calls us to truthfulness.
The Tenth Commandment is "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." The Hebrew word for covet comes from the word "to delight in". It seems to me this is not to say that one cannot admire one's neighbor's house. Rather it has to do with taking such delight in something that belongs to someone else that one desires it for one's own. This commandment takes us back to the commandment against stealing. Coveting comes first and can lead to stealing in extreme cases. For many of us, I suspect it is not so much a matter of stealing the neighbor's new car as it is of so longing for a car like the neighbor has that we end up going out to buy a new car just so keep up with the neighbor! This commandment calls us to be content with what we have. My neighbor may have a snazzy new SUV, but I am called to be satisfied with my 7 year old Honda Civic. Most of the time, most of us in this culture, have all that we need and the vast majority of what we want anyway. When we spend a great deal of time taking delight in other people's property we fail to take delight in, or even to appreciate, our own things. My little car gets me where I need to go and that is enough. If I can be satisfied with what I have, I can then put my energies into caring for those who have even less, and into spreading the good news of Jesus Christ. In the long run this takes us back then to the very first commandment, to have no other gods before God. Having a new car, or whatever the latest new "toy" is, can become a god which we worship and place before God in our lives. Be content with what you have, most of all with the love of God given to you in Jesus Christ!