This is the sermon delivered by Rev. Don Van Antwerpen to the congregation of Unfinished Community on Sunday, March 3, 2024, drawing from Exodus 20:1-17 and 1 Corinthians 1:18-25.
Those of you who are here in person don't always get to see the online side of our church community, but believe it or not that's where a lot of the active ministry of our community happens, particularly because online is where our church first started. It's a little backwards for a church to start online and then grow into the real world I know, but that unique aspect of our congregational identity is what allows us to see certain things that other church communities don't often see. And one thing I have seen lately, in particular on Reddit, has been a great resurgence in people trying to understand their faith in terms of rules, or commandments.
We’ve all done this, of course; it's the most human thing in the world, to want to look for guidance in terms of easy-to-follow lists, step-by-step instructions which, if followed precisely, will allow us to be good with God. Christian or not, we all look for something, whether it’s the firm foundation of scientific theory, some wild amalgamation of traditions and practices from our culture, or the time-tested lists of rules and regulations that make up the backbone of most religions, almost all of us try to find something that gives us a sense of stability and guidance as we navigate the chaotic insanity of what we call life. And once we do find something, we hold on to it like a life preserver in a hurricane because without it we have to face the fearful difficulty and seemingly impossibility of having to adapt to a life of nuance, a life where the decisions we make don't always have clear-cut answers that we can pull straight from the Biblical equivalent of a BuzzFeed listicle.
We have to think about the people involved in our decisions and act with a risky, dangerous love that constantly changes to fit each, unique context and situation.
And that is really scary. What’s more, it is a LOT of work!
So we draw really close to things like the 10 commandments, and tell ourselves that wisdom itself is defined simply by how closely we align ourselves with these 10 simple rules. These commandments become to us, as they are for many of us, the absolute final word on righteousness, the epitome of divine wisdom, the essence of God's divine identity summed up in just a handful of bold, powerful commands that reach out through history and time telling all of us, each and every one of us, what we can, and cannot do.
Of course, this is why verse 1, the opening line of the 10 commandments passage, starts out saying with such strength and boldness, "Then God delivered unto the people these commandments."
That is what it says, right?
Well...no. It doesn't. Verse 1 just says, "Then God spoke all these words"
Huh. Kind of a soft opening for something so important, don’t you think? And lest you think that this might be a translation issue, the Hebrew word used here is הַדְּבָרִים ("ha-dvarim") which really does just mean "words." Not commandments. Not decrees, or precepts, stipulations, or anything like that.
Just "words."
In fact, one of the first things you learn about this passage in seminary is that despite what many of us have been taught, not only is this whole passage not laid out as ironclad dictates from Almighty God to the awestruck masses kneeling in submission before the divine presence, but it's actually written in the language of a legal contract. And because it’s written like a legal contract, it should be understood like on, where both parties are entering into the conversation with agency, willingness, and the understanding that this thing is not meant to be a complete catch-all for everything, but a structural framework within which - and beyond which - the relationship will continue to grow and flourish.
That is how contracts are meant to work, after all.
Consider this, for example. If you were to enter into an employment contract that specified an in-office workday running from 9:00am until 5:00pm, but decided to stick around an extra 5 minutes one day just to finish something up, would it really make sense for your boss to suddenly declare that you were in violation of the terms your employment contract, and punish you for that? Or would it make sense for your boss fire you immediately if you were 15 seconds late in the door? Would any sane, reasonable boss refuse to agree to even the tiniest wage increase after years of faithful service simply because your initial contract did not specify that amount? Or if a massive, world-changing plague struck everywhere at once, and we all needed to stay at home to prevent it from killing basically everyone, would your boss just immediately fire everyone because the contract didn’t say anything about working from home, or would they just change their understanding of what the contract meant to adapt to new, changing, and different times?
Ok...I'm just now remembering how much of our congregation is currently in the United States, and realizing that this might not be the best example!
But still, the horrors of American capitalism aside, I think we can all agree that at the very least, the kind of contractual relationships where bosses behave like that are extremely toxic, damaging, and perverse, right? Like, as a society, most of us would quite rightfully look at any employer who would weaponize a contract in this way as being profoundly disturbed, and quite possibly criminal. An employer who would take the terms of the contract, ignore any of the surrounding context, completely ignore any changes to the employees life, the state of the business, or even the events of the world around them, and just beat them about the head and shoulders with its terms until they submit or leave…that employer would rightfully be called a monster.
Thinking like that, acting like that…well, it’s nothing short of foolishness, right?
So why do we think of God the same way?
Why do we assume that God is going treat us like this, forcing us to hold to the most literal, basic interpretation of these things as though we had no choice but to obey or perish? Why do we assume that our lives aren’t an ongoing consideration in the commandments, changing and growing with us as our lives, and the lives of all humankind, change and grows as well?
When you think about it, it's kinda silly, isn't it? God isn't some terrible, American, corporate-style boss who threatens to abandon their covenant with us because we didn't stick close enough to the letter of the law. God is kinder, more compassionate, more merciful than that. Let us not forget that it is the compassion of God which is the message of the cross, a message which is foolishness to all those who are perishing under the mistaken, legalistic belief that God only wants the narrowest, most limited version of ourselves, tied up in bondage under laws that keep us from nearly every possible human experience.
That's not who God is. That's not what these words - again, not commandments - are for!
So let's take a look then, real quickly, over these 10 “commandments,” and see if we can’t try to understand them less as brutal dictates from a distant, unfeeling, martinet of a boss, but as stipulations from someone who cares about us, and is giving us some structure, some tools to help us grow into our relationship with our Creator.
1-2: Have no other Gods/Idolatry
So, right away we have a two-for one, since “don’t have other Gods” and “don’t make idols” are basically the same core idea. But…why exactly does idol worship matter, especially today? I mean, we’re not exactly melting down all our gold into a giant calf statue and worshipping it like they did back then, are we?
Well…have you ever seen Wall Street?
A god is that in which we place our hope for salvation, our needs for safety and security, our desire to be protected and sheltered from the chaotic insanities of life in an ever changing world. It is the one to whom we turn when we don’t know where else to turn, when all other things have failed us it is to our deity that we draw near in search of comfort, support, and peace.
Now, if we’re being honest…how many of us really, truly, get those things from money, or the things that money can provide for us?
Idols, like money, pull us away from God, away from the act of surrendering these things, and lock us into pursuit of these things instead. We hold them above God, making ourselves safe and secure instead, drawing up walls to protect ourselves while outside, the weak and the vulnerable suffer and starve.
This is what idolatry looks like today.
3. Misuse of the Lord’s name
Oh, I love this one, because it’s such a very big deal today. And no, before you ask, the whole “do not use the name of the Lord in vain” idea has nothing to do with swearing. They didn’t even have swear words in Hebrew; trust me, it was my very first question in Hebrew class back at the seminary! I checked!
No, this is something much more sinister.
Wrongful use of the Lord’s name means attributing to God something which is fundamentally ungodly. Standing in this place, speaking about the word of God, it isn’t something to be taken lightly; that’s why proper pastors have to undergo so much education, training, and examination before being ordained. When you speak the Word of God, people tend to listen, and there is great temptation to take advantage of that audience for ones own gain, to bend, twist, even misrepresent the Word of God so that it says what is convenient for you, what is better for you; to attribute to God those things that give you power. And if you go down that road, pretending to speak for God when all you’re really doing is speaking for yourself, not only will you wind up drawing farther and farther away from God yourself, but you will drag with you anyone who mistakes your words for God’s.
We see this often today, from street corner preachers spewing hate about the poor, the immigrant, the prisoners, the LGBTQIA+ community, and more - all peoples who God’s word explicitly speaks love towards - to politicians who strip rights from women, terrorize immigrant communities, and start full-on wars while invoking the name of Christ.
Today this piece is more important than ever, because it tells us not only how to check ourselves against the twisting of our own faith, but how to identify those who are trying to twist the faith of others into dreadful, perverted weapons.
4. The Sabbath
Ok, to be clear…I’m saying this as much to myself as to everyone else, but…
TAKE A FREAKING BREAK!
Seriously though, there’s a reason this one clocks in at number 4 on the list, higher even than actual murder. Rest is important, and even though what we’re called by God to do may be desperately important, we were not made to be constantly productive, and this is vital for us to remember in a world dominated by the harsh realities of late-stage capitalism. Even the God, the Almighty Creator of the heavens and the earth, still needed a day off, and you do too!
RESTING IS NOT A SIN!
5. Honor your father and your mother
So, as much as I might really want it to mean this sometimes, this does not mean you have to blindly follow absolutely everything your parents say without question. The truth is, some parents are terrible people who should not be listened to, and for God to insist on this would be putting some people in actual danger.
So that just can’t be what God means with this.
What number 5 here is telling us is that our parents - good or bad - are our starting point. Everything they are is included in the makeup of who we are. Like it or not, we carry the imprint of their traumas and their wisdoms within us, just as they did with their parents. We honor our parents by understanding them, knowing that they are a part of us, and then trying to be better versions of them, not just blind copies.
6. You shall not murder.
In the interests of time…I think we can write this one off as pretty self-explanatory, right?
7. You shall not commit adultery.
There is a long history of people stretching this verse in a lot of different ways, and a full discussion of this one would probably be a bit weird for Sunday morning. However, it is important for us to understand that the word for adultery isn’t sexual; it’s relational. In fact, the Hebrew term here can also be used to describe apostasy; the abandoning of ones faith. It means to violate a covenant, and the boundaries of consent that go with it. To break faith with someone else.
And nothing else.
8. You shall not steal.
Once again, this one is pretty straightforward. As I often tell my children, don’t take something that doesn’t belong to you!
9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
This is another one we struggle with, particularly because it’s easy to reduce this to “don’t lie.” And yeah…you shouldn’t lie, but “bearing false witness” is so much more than that. It’s not only lying, but lying about someone else, telling the community false information against another person for your own benefit. Much like taking the Lord’s name in vain, it means taking another person’s name in vain, and with similarly disastrous results.
As many of us here know all too well, it is terribly easy to promote yourself, to make yourself look better by simply tearing down another person with lies and falsehoods. Some people, even Christians, even pastors, advance themselves through the world for their whole lives doing just this one thing, tearing down others so that they might look good by comparison. Some people do this with entire communities; see Trump, Donald J., for example. And I don’t think I really have to tell any of you just how destructive that can be.
10. You shall not covet your neighbor’s…well basically everything.
Lastly, we have coveting. It’s easy to just kinda write this one off as “greed,” and not really think much more about it. But covetousness is so much more than simple greed. That by itself isn’t good of course, but coveting isn’t just a desire to have, it’s the reorientation of ones own life to the pursuit of what others have rather than faithfully and lovingly growing what you have been given instead.
But that might still seem abstract, right? No one actually chooses to focus the whole of their being on pursuing the things that others have. Nobody in their right mind would construct an entire social and economic system based the constant, unending desire for “things that other people have which we want,” redefine those things as something innocent sounding like “capital,” then spend decades convincing the world that it was the only truly ethical way to exist?
Would they?
This one might be the most important out of the 10 today, because our entire cruel, exploitative, free-market capitalist system cannot operate without covetousness. Covetousness is the engine driving the capitalist system; without it, the whole thing ceases to function, but it is ultimately unfulfillable. We can never truly get our neighbor’s stuff, so we wind up stuck in a hamster wheel, running for something just out of reach. But when we release ourselves from that pull we stop being afraid that others might have more than us, and start seeing all the people who have less. We may never be able to get our neighbors house, but we can absolutely do something about getting one for the homeless folk in our community!
And there we have it - ten sermons in one! Of course, this is where I would usually tie it up with a single, over-arching lesson, but the truth is that there isn’t one, besides the fact that we need to keep trying to grow into the structures God has provided for us, rather than binding ourselves to oversimplified “commandments” instead.
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