Laws for Living
Exodus 20:1-17
March 19, 2006
One of the worksheets the Pastor gave Deb and I to do as we sat in his office for pre-marital counseling was to make a list of expectations that we had for each other and our upcoming life long marriage.
We were to fill out a sheet of paper listing the expectations I had for Deb and our relationship and she was to do the same. We were not allowed to show each other until our next time with the Pastor. At our next meeting the Pastor said exchange your papers and after each expectation write down, cinch, sweat or no way. In other words will it be a cinch/easy to live into that expectation, hard work/sweat, or is there no possible chance to do it.
I’d like to read a few of mine and with my wife’s permission some of hers.
What was the top one for me?
Do the majority of the cooking - cinch.
Pray together on a regular basis.
Live simply
Share in yard work.
Spend according to goals we have established.
Celebrate often.
Take a vacation.
Deb’s - you can tell where she was at.
Spend dad time with kids - take them out to eat/play.
Spend time with families.
Be the #1 evening driver.
Approach hospitality as a team.
Seek to be attractive - shower, clean teeth, floss.
It was a great exercise for us to do. We learned quickly and quite surprisingly that she and I had expectations of each other. The Pastor told us that our relationship would be healthy to the degree those expectations are communicated, and honored or negotiated, so when we named them, listed them, communicated them, I learned what would bless her, honor her make her happy and she learned the same. And we also learned what wasn’t acceptable. What wouldn’t fly?
If you find yourself in a healthy relationship as a husband and wife,
As a parent with your child.
As a coach with your athletes.
As a neighbor
As a boss with your workers,
you probably can trace the root of that health to knowing and living into the expectations of the other. Whether written down or unspoken.
If you know someone’s expectations, understand why that expectation is important and if that expectation contributes to your relationship, whether it is easy to do or hard to do you will pursue it for the sake of your relationship.
Now our text for today is Exodus 20, (p. 118). This text is a familiar one to almost all of us. This text is talked about in church, in schools, and in courtrooms. This text is called the 10 Commandments. Not the 10 suggestions. Not the 10 pointers. Not the 10 good ideas, but the 10 Commandments. These were the 10 expectations that God gave to his people.
What I’d like to do is to read through them and make 3 observations as to their relevance/importance for us today.
#1
When God spoke these words, he did so not out of the blue. God didn’t come to Moses and his 3 million followers in a police car and suddenly introduce himself and say "This is how it was going to be now that you are set free from being slaves for the past 400 years." God didn’t do that. These commandments are set in the context, into the story of what God had been doing for many, many years.
While most of us think God begins with "Commandment #1, "You shall have no other God’s before me" - He doesn’t. Instead this is where He begins, v.2 "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery."
God begins by identifying himself and his relationship with the people. I am the Lord. I am your God. I have a history, a track record with you. We have a relationship.
God also identifies his work, his involvement in their past.
"I brought you out of Egypt. Out of slavery." This God has been around. He knows their story, their faults, their feelings of their faith. And through all these, he has worked on their behalf, bringing them to the place of freedom.
God wasn’t like a substitute teacher, showing up out of no where, writing his name on the chalkboard - I am Yahweh - now these are the rules. Rules for today, until your real teacher comes back. That wasn’t the case at all.
Because it wasn’t because Moses and his people had experienced God’s mighty hand, had come to a place of having relationship with him, in their hearts and with their mouths they weren’t disagreeable to these. They didn’t go into negotiations. They were willing to live unto these expectations/these commandments of their God. 3 times the people said, "We will do everything the Lord has said." Exodus 19:8, and 23: 3, 7.
The people knew that God had rescued them from slavery and had brought them out for relationship with Him. Rescued from slavery, oppression and hard work and for freedom relationship life. They trusted that He knew that these commandments would do for them and in them. And so they were willing to obey.
Why is this verse, verse 2, so important? Why am I making a point about God saying, "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of slavery," before he gave the 10 commandments.
Because God bond himself to his people, saved his people, rescued his people, delivered his people before he asks for anything from them.
God did not give the 10 commandments as a way for his people to earn or win His favor. God doesn’t work that way. He didn’t say, "If you follow these/do these, then I’ll be your God." He acts first giving us his favor, before the law.
#2
These words of God were reason for celebration, leading the people into the life they were created to live. What kind of life is that? A life with a focus on two things:
Relationship with God.
Relationship with others.
Commandments 1-4 all deal with God’s expectations of us toward him and others.
Have no gods before me.
Have no idols.
Don’t speak God’s name in vain.
Honor the sacred rhythm of life - 6 days work/1 day for Sabbath.
God says there are other options out there that may claim your allegiance, promise you rewards, offer momentary happiness, demand less of you, but they are idols, false gods. Don’t cheapen me, by running after other alternatives. I am the Lord your God. I have a track record. I brought you out of slavery; you saw it, now worship me along.
Commandments 5-10 protect and enhance our relationship with others.
Honor parents.
No murder.
No adultery.
Do not steal.
Don’t give a false witness.
Don’t covet.
In these God warns us about our heart. Telling us that our hearts have a tendency to disrespect, pursue, claim, covet that which isn’t our own.
Instead love your parents. Don’t pursue sex out of the marriage relationship. It will destroy your marriage. Don’t steal, lie, or covet.
As Psalm 23 says in verse 1: "The Lord is my shepherd I shall not be in want."
#3
It was our God’s strategy to give these 10 words, as they are sometimes called, to lead people and us into life. It seems contradictory at first to think that rules, laws, commandments, expectations lead to life, to freedom, to contentment. But it is true.
Driving rules and laws were needed for you and me to get here safely. Laws like, you stay on that side, stop on red lights/go on green, go faster on yellow enable us to drive safely.
Sports: I hated playing sports when the rules were being broken. Ever play a board game with a cheater. It takes all the fun away.
God isn’t out to do that. He wants us to live. He knows what is best for us.
Laws are connected with life!
Deuteronomy 4:1--God says, "And now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the
judgments which I am teaching you to perform, in order that you may live…"
Deuteronomy 5:29--God says, "Oh, that they had such a heart in them, that they would
fear Me, and keep all My commandments always, that it may be well with them and their children forever!"
Deuteronomy 30:15-16: Moses says, "See, I have set before you today life and good, and death and evil; in that I command you today to love Yahweh your God, to walk in His ways and to keep His commandments. . .that you may live."
"Love Yahweh: keep His commandments so that you may live." Love. Keep. Jesus also connects the two verbs: "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. John 14:23
We see this close connection between Law and life in Psalm 19, the Psalm we read together earlier in the service. The Psalm is composed in two halves. The first half celebrates the goodness of God’s Creation; the second celebrates the goodness of God’s Law.
Life through Creation: "The heavens are telling of the glory of God. And their expanse is declaring the work of his Hands." (19:1)
Life through the Law: "The law of Yahweh is perfect, restoring the soul; . . The precepts of Yahweh are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandments of Yahweh are pure, enlightening the eyes. . . They are more desirable than gold, yes, then much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb." (19:7-10)
And as we obey God’s commands, we will find ourselves growing in relationship with him and find that relationships with others are enhanced.
Let me close by reminding us that these 10 truths are true for each of us here and everyone around the world. To be fully human created by our God and in his image, these words are our road map. We are fortunate that our country at its roots recognize this.
That is why the Statue of Liberty in New York City was and is such a powerful emblem. In one hand she holds the torch of freedom and in the other the tablet of law.
You can’t have freedom without rules.
You can’t drive without red lights and greens.
Can’t play basketball well without refs.
I can’t honor my wife well without flossing my teeth.
Thanks be to God that God didn’t leave us on our own to figure out what would bless him and us. But instead spoke into our story giving us these 10 Commandments because He was and is the Lord our God.
Amen
This sermon has parts influenced by Darrel Johnson.
