The Ten Commandments as Grace and Law
Exodus 19:1-6; 20:7; Matthew 5:33-37
This last week has been a little scary because of a health problem I have. But because of wonderful medical resources in Anchorage and the wonderful support of the people of this church, I am well and thankful.
The fundamentals of our relationship to God and neighbor are encapsulated in the Ten Commandments. Originally probably only one or two words for each, the commandments were simple enough to be counted on the hands and memorized by anyone. We have said that over the centuries there were elaborations on the commandments, the words around them in Exodus 20 and the other 603 rabbinic laws in the first five books of the Bible. We also said that elaboration was a necessary part of understanding how to obey the commandments in a particular time and place. What we are doing in this series of sermons is to better understand what it means for us to obey the commandments in our time and place.
In order to avoid confusion as we began, I didn't tell you that there are two versions of the Ten Commandments in the Bible. The one most often cited is from the twentieth chapter of Exodus. The second is found in the fifth chapter of Deuteronomy. You might want to compare them and see if you can find how they differ. And, there are different ways of counting the ten in Exodus; but we’ll talk about that on another day.
The last two Sundays we have reminded ourselves that the Ten Commandments are as much about "grace" as about "law." The commandments are not the whims of a capricious sovereign to make our lives miserable but rather the framework for full and meaningful living by a God who, as we are reminded in the prologue to the commandments, rescued this people from slavery in Egypt. We are to obey the commandments because they are given by God who created and loves us.
The first commandment, "You shall have no other gods," is about loyalty to one God amid the competing claims for our loyalty from other gods. We make a vow to be loyal to God when we are baptized and join the church. Loyalty is a choice that we have to make over and over, a choice we make every day.
The second commandment, "You shall make no idols," is a warning not to try to remake God in our image, something less than God really is. Once we have declared our loyalty to God, one of our temptations is always to try to remake God into our image. The second commandment is a warning not to attempt that with God. Counselors tell us who choose to commit to a life partner that it is not a good idea to do with them either.
The third commandment is "You shall not misuse of the name of the Lord your God." Of course, most of us who memorized the Ten Commandments when we were kids did not memorize this one in this form. Perhaps you memorized it from the old King James Version of the Bible: "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord your God in vain."
When I was growing up, this commandment meant, "no swearing." I understood that to include a whole variety of four-letter words, of which "love" was not one. I heard a story about a preacher who was riding his bicycle down the Old Glenn Highway when he met a kid pushing a lawn mower in the opposite direction. The preacher greeted the kid and asked him what he was doing. He replied that he wanted to trade his lawn mower for a bicycle. The preacher needed a lawn mower so he said, "How about trading for my bike?" The kid said, "Can I ride it first?" "Sure," replied the preacher. While the kid was riding the bike, the preacher tried to start the lawn mower. He couldn't get it started. When the kid came back with the bike, he said, "I'll trade." The preacher said, "I tried to start the lawn mower, but I couldn't get it started." The kid said, "You have to cuss a lot to get it going." The preacher said, "I don't think I remember how to cuss," to which the kid responded, "Just pull the rope a few times and you'll remember." I think it was the English author and critic, G. K. Chesterton, who said about swearing, "He knew not what to say; therefore he swore."
I was a bit older when I realized that the third commandment might be about more than loosely using the name of God when I was frustrated or at my wit's end. In his book, The Ten Commandments, John Holbert, who will be here at the Lay Academy next week, suggests another translation of the third commandment: “You must not raise up the name of YHWH your god for nothing…”[1] He says that the term “raise up” is key to understanding what this commandment intends. Just before Moses is given the commandments, in one of the passages read today, he is instructed to say these words for God: “You have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagle’s wings and brought you to myself.” (Exodus 19:4) The message is the same as the prologue to the commandments, but here the image is of being carried, like a mother eagle bearing her chicks aloft to teach them to fly. The image is one of love, support and protection. The same word is used in the commandment about “raising up” or “carrying” the name of God. Thus, in the way that God brought the people out of slavery on eagle’s wings, so the people who are to “raise up and carry” the name of God do it only in love for that God, in support for the ways of that God, and to protect the honor of that God.[2] This commandment is a warning not to “raise up” or “invoke” the name of God for trivial purposes. Or, as Andrew Greeley has suggested, the commandment speaks of the consequences of “frivolous and hypocritical religion.”
There seems to be a natural progression in the first three commandments. The first commandment warns us not to run after other gods but to be loyal to this God. The second commandment warns us not to try to remake God over in our image, which is idolatry. The third commandment is a warning to take care about how and for what we invoke God's name.
I want to suggest that obeying the third commandment entails at least three things. You’ll have to decide whether or not you agree with my three.
First, we don’t need to invoke God’s name to tell the truth. In the ancient world an oath invoked the name of a deity to guarantee the truth of what was said. Under oath, what was said or promised had to be true and what was vowed had to be done. This is somewhat analogous to the legal distinction made in the United States courts between statements made under oath and other statements that are not. In our legal system to testify falsely under oath is a crime. “Do you swear to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God?” If you knowingly don’t tell the truth you may be charged with perjury. However, when Jesus spoke about this commandment in the text that was read today, he abolished any distinction between words said under oath and words said without oaths. Persons were to speak the truth with all their words and to stand behind all that they said without any need for emphasis or validation by using the name of God. Jesus’ disciples were to be known as people who stood behind all they said without invoking the name of God.
Second, we are to pay attention when we do lift up God’s name. Do you think about the words you say, the words that you sing and pray in worship? We say the words and sing the verses so often that we may not pay attention to what we are saying or singing. The Hebrew prophets are noted for their anger at people running after other gods and failing to practice justice. But what really got their blood to boil was when people were content to say all the right things in worship but ignored the implications of those words for their lives. More than anything else, perhaps, such failure to pay attention was “raising up” the name of God for “nothing.”
Third, we are to think twice about what we use God’s name to bless. Is it something that God really wants to bless? Sometimes it’s just little things. I once knew a woman who when she drove to the city to shop would always pray that God would find her a parking place. She said that God always found a place for her. I’m not sure but that might not be “raising up” the name of God for “nothing.” More than little things, God’s name has been invoked to bless some of the most ungodly acts imaginable, completely contrary to the God revealed in Jesus Christ. This commandment is a warning to think twice before you invoke God’s name for some cause.
The third commandment is not a commandment against invoking the name of God, but rather a call to be serious and intentional when we “raise up” that name. When we are known as people who speak truthfully, we are obeying the commandment. When we come to worship with a sense that we are standing on holy ground and that somehow the week ahead of us will be different because we were here, we are obeying the third commandment. When we are careful about what we invoke God’s name to bless, we are obeying this commandment.
Today, we remember how God has raised us up like a mother eagle teaching her young to fly. We also remember that we are called to “raise up” God’s name with care, love, and respect.
[1] John C. Holbert, The Ten Commandments (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2002) p. 37.
[2] Ibid. p. 41.
This last week has been a little scary because of a health problem I have. But because of wonderful medical resources in Anchorage and the wonderful support of the people of this church, I am well and thankful.
The fundamentals of our relationship to God and neighbor are encapsulated in the Ten Commandments. Originally probably only one or two words for each, the commandments were simple enough to be counted on the hands and memorized by anyone. We have said that over the centuries there were elaborations on the commandments, the words around them in Exodus 20 and the other 603 rabbinic laws in the first five books of the Bible. We also said that elaboration was a necessary part of understanding how to obey the commandments in a particular time and place. What we are doing in this series of sermons is to better understand what it means for us to obey the commandments in our time and place.
In order to avoid confusion as we began, I didn't tell you that there are two versions of the Ten Commandments in the Bible. The one most often cited is from the twentieth chapter of Exodus. The second is found in the fifth chapter of Deuteronomy. You might want to compare them and see if you can find how they differ. And, there are different ways of counting the ten in Exodus; but we’ll talk about that on another day.
The last two Sundays we have reminded ourselves that the Ten Commandments are as much about "grace" as about "law." The commandments are not the whims of a capricious sovereign to make our lives miserable but rather the framework for full and meaningful living by a God who, as we are reminded in the prologue to the commandments, rescued this people from slavery in Egypt. We are to obey the commandments because they are given by God who created and loves us.
The first commandment, "You shall have no other gods," is about loyalty to one God amid the competing claims for our loyalty from other gods. We make a vow to be loyal to God when we are baptized and join the church. Loyalty is a choice that we have to make over and over, a choice we make every day.
The second commandment, "You shall make no idols," is a warning not to try to remake God in our image, something less than God really is. Once we have declared our loyalty to God, one of our temptations is always to try to remake God into our image. The second commandment is a warning not to attempt that with God. Counselors tell us who choose to commit to a life partner that it is not a good idea to do with them either.
The third commandment is "You shall not misuse of the name of the Lord your God." Of course, most of us who memorized the Ten Commandments when we were kids did not memorize this one in this form. Perhaps you memorized it from the old King James Version of the Bible: "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord your God in vain."
When I was growing up, this commandment meant, "no swearing." I understood that to include a whole variety of four-letter words, of which "love" was not one. I heard a story about a preacher who was riding his bicycle down the Old Glenn Highway when he met a kid pushing a lawn mower in the opposite direction. The preacher greeted the kid and asked him what he was doing. He replied that he wanted to trade his lawn mower for a bicycle. The preacher needed a lawn mower so he said, "How about trading for my bike?" The kid said, "Can I ride it first?" "Sure," replied the preacher. While the kid was riding the bike, the preacher tried to start the lawn mower. He couldn't get it started. When the kid came back with the bike, he said, "I'll trade." The preacher said, "I tried to start the lawn mower, but I couldn't get it started." The kid said, "You have to cuss a lot to get it going." The preacher said, "I don't think I remember how to cuss," to which the kid responded, "Just pull the rope a few times and you'll remember." I think it was the English author and critic, G. K. Chesterton, who said about swearing, "He knew not what to say; therefore he swore."
I was a bit older when I realized that the third commandment might be about more than loosely using the name of God when I was frustrated or at my wit's end. In his book, The Ten Commandments, John Holbert, who will be here at the Lay Academy next week, suggests another translation of the third commandment: “You must not raise up the name of YHWH your god for nothing…”[1] He says that the term “raise up” is key to understanding what this commandment intends. Just before Moses is given the commandments, in one of the passages read today, he is instructed to say these words for God: “You have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagle’s wings and brought you to myself.” (Exodus 19:4) The message is the same as the prologue to the commandments, but here the image is of being carried, like a mother eagle bearing her chicks aloft to teach them to fly. The image is one of love, support and protection. The same word is used in the commandment about “raising up” or “carrying” the name of God. Thus, in the way that God brought the people out of slavery on eagle’s wings, so the people who are to “raise up and carry” the name of God do it only in love for that God, in support for the ways of that God, and to protect the honor of that God.[2] This commandment is a warning not to “raise up” or “invoke” the name of God for trivial purposes. Or, as Andrew Greeley has suggested, the commandment speaks of the consequences of “frivolous and hypocritical religion.”
There seems to be a natural progression in the first three commandments. The first commandment warns us not to run after other gods but to be loyal to this God. The second commandment warns us not to try to remake God over in our image, which is idolatry. The third commandment is a warning to take care about how and for what we invoke God's name.
I want to suggest that obeying the third commandment entails at least three things. You’ll have to decide whether or not you agree with my three.
First, we don’t need to invoke God’s name to tell the truth. In the ancient world an oath invoked the name of a deity to guarantee the truth of what was said. Under oath, what was said or promised had to be true and what was vowed had to be done. This is somewhat analogous to the legal distinction made in the United States courts between statements made under oath and other statements that are not. In our legal system to testify falsely under oath is a crime. “Do you swear to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God?” If you knowingly don’t tell the truth you may be charged with perjury. However, when Jesus spoke about this commandment in the text that was read today, he abolished any distinction between words said under oath and words said without oaths. Persons were to speak the truth with all their words and to stand behind all that they said without any need for emphasis or validation by using the name of God. Jesus’ disciples were to be known as people who stood behind all they said without invoking the name of God.
Second, we are to pay attention when we do lift up God’s name. Do you think about the words you say, the words that you sing and pray in worship? We say the words and sing the verses so often that we may not pay attention to what we are saying or singing. The Hebrew prophets are noted for their anger at people running after other gods and failing to practice justice. But what really got their blood to boil was when people were content to say all the right things in worship but ignored the implications of those words for their lives. More than anything else, perhaps, such failure to pay attention was “raising up” the name of God for “nothing.”
Third, we are to think twice about what we use God’s name to bless. Is it something that God really wants to bless? Sometimes it’s just little things. I once knew a woman who when she drove to the city to shop would always pray that God would find her a parking place. She said that God always found a place for her. I’m not sure but that might not be “raising up” the name of God for “nothing.” More than little things, God’s name has been invoked to bless some of the most ungodly acts imaginable, completely contrary to the God revealed in Jesus Christ. This commandment is a warning to think twice before you invoke God’s name for some cause.
The third commandment is not a commandment against invoking the name of God, but rather a call to be serious and intentional when we “raise up” that name. When we are known as people who speak truthfully, we are obeying the commandment. When we come to worship with a sense that we are standing on holy ground and that somehow the week ahead of us will be different because we were here, we are obeying the third commandment. When we are careful about what we invoke God’s name to bless, we are obeying this commandment.
Today, we remember how God has raised us up like a mother eagle teaching her young to fly. We also remember that we are called to “raise up” God’s name with care, love, and respect.
[1] John C. Holbert, The Ten Commandments (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2002) p. 37.
[2] Ibid. p. 41.
2 comments:
I really appreciate your series of sermons about the Ten Commandments; I am learning a lot spiritually and intellectually. The most meaningful commandments to me are the first four about our relationship with God. The last six seem more like social laws for communal living. Further, the last six are very similar to parts of Hammurabi’s Code, written about 2000 B.C., or 700 years before Moses. It contains several hundred specific laws about communal living. The following are some examples: “if anyone steal a water wheel . . .“ (# 259), “if a man be guilty of incest . . .” (#155 and 157), “if she is not innocent . . . “ (#143), and “if he kill a man’s slave he shall . . .” (#252). The code follows the basic law of “an eye for an eye.” Hammurabi’s Code contrasts with the later Golden Rule of “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” and the Spartan Code of Law (discipline). However, these other early codes do not help us define our relationship with God—our belief--as the Ten Commandments do.
Tom
I have really enjoyed both of your sermon series, thank you Milo.
This sermon resonated with me for the following reasons. The three points in support of the third commandment you share remind me an indigenous or Native American way of thinking that some call the "Way of the Heart". For each chamber of the heart there is a "principle" to live by. These are some principles I have been working at living by for some years now.
1. Show up
2. Pay attention
3. Speak truth without judgment or blame
4. Be open and unattached to the outcome
Numbers 2 & 3 above seem to me to be along the lines of two of the things you lift up as how to be respectful of God's name - paying attention (when lifting up the name of YHWH) and truth telling. As I work toward living by the Way of the Heart you have given me yet one more reason to live by these principles, thanks.
Dave
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