mySundaySermons

Then God spoke all these words: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me. 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. 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, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments. 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. 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. Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. 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. [NRSV]

Learning the Commandments (Commandment: This defines us, Chain link fence a school)

1. You shall have no other gods before me. (What about gods after, is it ok to have God number or but not exclusive, so we can have God’s cake and eat our icing?)
2. 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. 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, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments. (What if we use images made by nature that God has created, unmodified by human hands, can we worship a rock or natural formation?)
3. 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. (What name or names of God does this apply? What is Wrongful use? Is this limited to liable and slander but does it include thoughts or expressed?)
4. 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. (Is this Saturday or Sunday? Does Tuesday count if I keep the others days for work and rest on Tuesday? What is work? What about cousins, volunteers, pets and enemies?)
5. Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. (What if parents are not keeping the commandments? Son go steal? Daughter lie for me?)
6. You shall not murder. (What if I think about or talk about it but don’t carry it out?) BTW: I thought it was don’t kill, who changed it? What trimester? Is capital punishment murder or justice?)
7. You shall not commit adultery. (What if we are engaged? What if we use protection? What if everyone is doing it? What if you are intoxicated and don’t know what you’ve done?)
8. You shall not steal. (So God would rather we starve to death, than take food off the table of the rich?)
9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. (What about their neighbor, your enemies?
10. 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. (What about your neighbor’s neighbor, who is my neighbor? what about my enemy’s stuff?)

Short List

1. No Other Gods
2. Make No Idols
3. No Name Misuse
4. No work on the Sabbath
5. Honor your parents
6. No murder
7. No adultery
8. No stealing
9. No false witness against your neighbor
10. No coveting your neighbor and their stuff

Terse List

One God, No Idols, Defamation, Work on Sabbath, Honor Parents, No Murder, Adultery, Stealing, Lying, Nor Coveting

Back to One

One Rule in the garden

10 Commandments on the mountain

613 Laws of Moses

Over 40K Laws, Codes, Statutes, Regulations, Policies, Case-law, Executive Order, Standing Rules, Binders, Contracts, Covenants on Federal, State, County, City and HOA levels of legal action, intent and guideline that are ever growing

SO WHAT

Rather than look for loopholes, look for God

Rather than be constrained by laws, trust grace that completes the law

You and I are not worthy, we are not perfect, but Christ is Worthy and through him we move toward perfection.

Toward WHOLENESS,

Toward becoming most fully the people God created and hopes we will become in this and each day.

TAKE this time of JOURNEY, to memorize the ten commandment, to see how they DO apply to our lives and do provide the boundary.

Instead of trying to think how will we make it snow to get a day off of school, focus on learning how weather patterns work and make learning

Same with the big 10.

Keep them, don’t write them off has too few, too old or too incomplete..

Keep them, through grace of Christ, the power of the Holy Spirit and the love of God.