March 04, 2018
RULES, RULES, RULES
Lent 3, 2018
Exodus 20:1-17
“Rules, rules, rules…”
Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Have you ever noticed how there are rules everywhere? When you start taking Drivers Ed in Illinois…you get a booklet called “Rules of the Road.” When you start playing sports each sport has different rules. Pick up a board game and there they are again…rules. Enter a classroom at the beginning of the school year…and there again…rules. Our government passes laws and we have law enforcement and a judicial system to make sure we follow the rules or receive punishment that fits the crime. Rules, rules, rules!
Our response is to summon our inner Gen. Douglas MacArthur who said: “Rules are mostly made to be broken and are too often for the lazy to hide behind.” Did you hear that? Rules are meant to be broken. (Who’s ready for the sermon to be over right here?) It’s okay to go five over the speed limit. You don’t have to stop at the stop sign unless there are other cars around. It’s okay to tell a white lie…they don’t hurt anyone. So I exaggerated a little bit…no big deal. It’s okay to cheat a little bit on my taxes…everyone does.
An interviewer once asked several people, “What do you think of the Ten Commandments?” One person just stared at the questioner and gasped, “Are you kidding?” Another said, “Well, I don’t take them literally.” One person replied with a laugh, “Well, I think rules were made to be broken.” Another said, “It’s fortunate we don’t have to keep them anymore.” How about you? What do you think of the Ten Commandments?
Many people think that God is just an outdated concept; a big bully that tries to stop people from having harmless fun. They don’t see any reason to have a god at all…they certainly don’t need him. So who cares who or what you call a god or what you think it should look like. Besides… my body my choice… love is love and if it makes me feel good…then leave me alone! I don’t covet what others have…it’s not that…it’s just they don’t deserve those things and I do. And in this dog eat dog world…I have to look out for myself and do what it takes to get the things I want… the car, house, income, status that I want and deserve.
Others believe that the Ten Commandments are some sort of checklist in living a good life. It resembles something between the honey do list and the grocery list. Don’t lie. Check. Don’t bear false witness. Check. Don’t murder. Check. Don’t steal. Check. And just like that once you’ve gotten something done, you can check it off the list and not have to worry about it again. Look at me. This Christian living is pretty easy!
The problem with the Ten Commandments as a checklist is that many people believe it to be a way to get on God’s “good side.” Of the Ten Commandments, two are positives. They tell us what we should do. Eight commandments are negatives. They tell us what we should not do. As long as these people do the two positives and don’t do the eight negatives, they can consider their quest to please God a success.
Don’t get me wrong the Ten Commandments are good. The Ten Commandments are right. The Ten Commandments are the best things we can do. They are important; they count for something; they matter. They can bring to those who heed and obey them temporal blessings; things can go well with you, and you can live long on the earth. The Ten Commandments are basic to the godly life. And the Ten Commandments are all of these things to the redeemed people of God. They are all of these things especially for you and me.
But there is a little problem. Actually a big problem. We don’t keep the commandments perfectly. Sure, we might occasionally keep the commandments… but not all of them and not all of the time. Do you have other gods? Do you ever put something in your life as more important than God? Have you ever used God’s name in vain… when the car wouldn’t start? When you hit your finger with the hammer? Are you in Church every Sunday? While on vacation? Do you keep it holy? When in Church… do you ever complain about the Pastor, the service, the preaching, or the other members? Do you always honor your father, mother, and other authorities? Do you always listen and do as your told? The first time? Have you ever murdered someone? In your heart? By thinking ill toward them? Have you committed adultery? In your heart? Lusting after something you shouldn’t. Desiring in your heart something you shouldn’t? Have you stolen something? Do you help your neighbor keep all that is theirs? Have you lied about your neighbor? Have you spread rumors? Gossip? Do you put the best construction on things? Do you covet what others have? And if you break any of the commandments 2-10 you have broken the first. Because whenever you sin… that action is more important than God.
God requires the Ten Commandments be kept perfectly at all times. And we fail. We fail often. In Chicago you vote early and often. In this world you sin early and often. So why did God give us the Ten Commandments? Especially knowing that we could never perfectly keep them. Earlier I told you about an interview conducted about people’s thoughts of the Ten Commandments. There was one more response. “One woman replied, ‘What do I think of the Ten Commandments?’ Then she paused a moment and mused quietly, ‘Well, I think God loved us an awful lot to give them to us–to protect us from ourselves.'”
In 1868 a Frenchman imported a few gypsy moths to this country to crossbreed them with silkworms. One night a few of them escaped from the cage at his home in Melrose, Massachusetts. He was terrified and notified the neighbors of his alarm. They laughed him to scorn. But 20 years later every bit of green foliage for miles around Melrose was devoured, and now they spend $75,000,000 every year just to keep the “gyp” under control in New England. Sin is like that. “Sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men.” (Romans 5:12)
BUT “the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.” (Romans 5:15-17)
God has given us the Ten Commandments by grace out of love. God knows what sin does to us…each and every sin…and how sin tears relationships apart between not only His people but between Him and us. God knows that the wages of sin brings suffering, death, and damnation. So God gave more than just the Ten Commandments. He gave us His Son to live the sinless life we couldn’t that we would receive the gift of eternal life we didn’t deserve through Jesus suffering and death.
So what do we do? We do our best at keeping God’s Commandments. And when we fail…we confess our sins to Him who forgives our sins and cleanses us through Christ. And we give thanks to God for his bountiful love…love that sent His Son to the cross to save us. Amen.
Now may the peace of God which passes all human understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior. Amen.
