Exodus 20:1-17, Deuteronomy 5:6-22
Just south of Washington D.C you will find a church that George Washington built . Begun in 1767 and completed in 1774, Pohick Episcopal Church is located between the estates of George Washington and George Mason, just outside the gates of Fort Belvoir in Virginia. One of the things that I found interesting when I first visited the church was the posting of the Lord’s Prayer, the Apostles Creed, and the Ten Commandments just above the communion table. Later, as I visited other Anglican churches, I found that that this was not at all unusual.
The Lord’s Prayer, the Apostles Creed, and the Ten Commandments all played a prominent role in the life and worship of the churches of the Protestant Reformation, and of the Church of England in particular. The Church of England required parents to teach each of them to their baptized children.
In the church’s Book of Common Prayer, the communion service always began with a reading of the Ten Commandments. The leader would read each commandment separately, after which the congregation would say, “Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to keep this law.”
What did John Wesley, who remained an Anglican priest until the day he died, think of this? He thought it was terrific. When Wesley prepared a book of worship for the Methodists in America, he included this practice. Wesley expected the Ten Commandments to be read and – most importantly – prayed in Christian worship.
Have you ever thought about praying the Ten Commandments?
Of course, Protestant Christians did not invent this high regard for the Ten Commandments. The Catechism of the Catholic Church contains an extensive section on the Ten Commandments and their meaning.
Going back to Jesus’ own day, the Mishnah reports that priests read the Ten Commandments aloud in the temple every day, just before the recitation of the Shema Israel, Israel’s confession of faith.
Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.
Deuteronomy 6:4
In Qumran, the desert site where the Dead Sea scrolls were found, archaeologists have also discovered ancient phylacteries containing parchment with the word of the Ten Commandments. Phylacteries are small leather boxes worn on the left arm and on the head by observant Jews during morning weekday prayers as a literal fulfillment of Deuteronomy 11:18.
You shall put these words of mine in your heart and soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and fix them as an emblem on your forehead.
Deuteronomy 11:18
I should note that there is a general lack of agreement about how the commandments should be numbered from 1 to 10. Everyone just agrees that there are Ten Commandments because that’s what Moses called them.
He declared to you his covenant, which he charged you to observe, that is, the Ten Commandments; and he wrote them on two stone tablets.
Deuteronomy 4:13
Actually, that should read “Ten Words” not “Ten Commandments.” We’ll come back to that in the moment. For now, we’ll stick with the customary way of describing them.
Why the Ten Commandments are So Special?
The ancient rabbis counted 613 laws in the Old Testament. What made the Ten Commandments so special for the Jews and Christians who preceded us? Perhaps it would help, as Paul Harvey would have said, to know the rest of the story.
At the beginning of Exodus 19, the Israelites reached Mount Sinai. Moses assembled the people, who agreed to do what God told them to do. Moses told the people to wash their clothes and prepare to meet with God.
On the third day, there was thunder and lightning and thick smoke on the mountain. Moses led the people to the base of the mountain where God spoke these ten words to them. The people were afraid and said, “Moses, you go talk to God and tell us what he says. We are keeping our distance.”
God then gave Moses additional instructions and Moses wrote them down. When he read them to the people, they agreed to do what God said. Moses then told the people to offer sacrifices to God, and he sprinkled the people with the blood of the animals who had been offered to God. Moses said, “See, the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”
Then Moses and his brother Aaron and the elders of Israel went part-way up the mountain to meet with God. The Book of Exodus says that they beheld God, and they ate and drank.
God then called Moses to come up further, where he promised to give Moses tablets of stone inscribed with the words of the Ten Commandments, signifying the covenant between God and Israel. God called them, “the testimony.” The tablets would be a reminder of God’s special relationship with his people.
Moses went up the mountain, where he stayed 40 days and 40 nights with God. While he was there, God laid out how the people should worship him in the tabernacle. God told Moses to place stone tablets in the Ark of the Covenant, and to place the Ark in the most holy place of the tabernacle that would accompany the people wherever they went. When God had finished speaking, he gave Moses the two tablets of testimony. Exodus says that they were “written with the finger of God.”
When Moses came down the mountain with the tablets of testimony, he found the people worshipping a golden calf, with his brother Aaron right in the middle of it.
That’s another story for another day, but the answer to the question is simple. Why are the Ten Commandments so special? God wrote them with his own finger and placed them at the center of life and worship for his people.
What do We do with the Ten Commandments?
So what do we do with them? The Ten Commandments are, after all, part of the Old Testament or Old Covenant. Do we still need them?
We Methodists have an answer for that in the Articles of Religion John Wesley prepared for Methodists in America.
6. Of the Old Testament. The Old Testament is not contrary to the New … Although the law given from God by Moses as touching ceremonies and rites doth not bind Christians, nor ought the civil precepts thereof of necessity be received in any commonwealth; yet notwithstanding, no Christian whatsoever is free from the obedience of the commandments which are called moral.
Methodist Articles of Religion
Wesley copied this word-for-word from the Church of England’s articles of religion. Anglicans and other Christians arising from the Protestant Reformation have historically divided the Law into three categories: civil, ceremonial (or ritual) and moral. Civil laws are those that pertain to the governance of city or a state or a nation. The word “ceremonial” is a little misleading for the next category of law because it pertains to the ways in which Israel lived out its unique relationship with God. It pertains to worship in the temple (and the tabernacle before that), the observance of the great feasts, the initiatory rite of circumcision, the keeping of Kosher laws, and even the sabbath.
Some laws overlapped categories. The jubilee, for example, was at once a civil law, a moral imperative, and a unique way for Israel to maintain its covenant with the God who gave them the land of promise
John Wesley followed this same approach, and declared that the Ten Commandments were at the heart of God’s moral law.
The moral law, contained in the Ten Commandments, and enforced by the prophets, [Jesus] did not take away. It was not the design of His coming to revoke any part of this. This is a law which never can be broken, which stands fast as the faithful witness in heaven.
The moral stands on an entirely different foundation from the ceremonial or ritual law, which was only designed for a temporary restraint upon a disobedient and stiff-necked people; whereas this was from the beginning of the world, being “written not on tables of stone,” but on the hearts of all the children of men, when they came out of the hands of the Creator. And, however the letters once wrote by the finger of God are now in a great measure defaced by sin, yet can they not wholly be blotted out, while we have any consciousness of good and evil. Every part of this law must remain in force, upon all mankind, and in all ages; as not depending either on time or place, or any other circumstances liable to change, but on the nature of God and the nature of man, and their unchangeable relation to each other.
Upon the Lord’s Sermon on the Mount V
Wesley, of course, understood that even God’s moral law was more than a series of “thou shalt nots”. Thirteen of the forty-four standard sermons Wesley wrote to govern Methodist life were dedicated to explaining our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7. There, Jesus directed his followers to look at the law differently.
Jesus and the Law
Jesus established the permanent validity of the law and the prophets, at least until the arrival of the age to come.
Do not think that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I did not come to abolish them, but to bring them to completion. Truly I tell you: until heaven and earth pass away, not a letter, not a dot, will disappear until everything that needs to happen is accomplished.
Matthew 5:17-18
But, Jesus didn’t stop there. He looked beyond the letter of the law to its purpose. Speaking of the sixth commandment, Jesus said:
You have heard that people were told in the past, ‘Do not commit murder; anyone who does will be brought to trial. But now I tell you: if you are angry with your brother you will be brought to trial, if you call your brother ‘You good-for-nothing!’ you will be brought before the Council, and if you call your brother a worthless fool you will be in danger of the fires of hell.
Matthew 5:21-22
He also spoke about the seventh commandment.
You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery. But now I tell you: anyone who looks at a woman and wants to possess her is guilty of committing adultery with her in his heart.
Matthew 5:27-28
The ninth commandment said not to bear false witness, which is a legal matter. Jesus said that honesty was always the rule.
Let your “Yes” be “Yes” and your “No” be “No.” Anything more than this comes from the evil one.
Matthew 5:37
Jesus changed the questions about the law from “What is permitted” to “What does God intend?” It’s never a question of what I can get away with. The law shows us the goal to reach for, not the minimum score we must achieve. “Be perfect,” Jesus said, “just as your father in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). That’s the goal.
Martin Luther’s Small Catechism
One the loveliest applications of Jesus’ teaching is found in Martin Luther’s Small Catechism. Like the Church of England, Martin Luther required Christian parents to teach their baptized children the Lord’s Prayer, the Apostle’s Creed, and the Ten Commandments. Luther’s Small Catechism is a guide, in the form of questions and answers, for parents to use with their children to help them understand the meaning of these great texts. Let’s listen to Luther’s comments on these same commandments.
You shall not kill. What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not hurt or harm our neighbor in his body, but help and support him in every physical hardship.
You shall not commit adultery. What does this mean? We should fear and love God, so that we lead a chaste and modest life in word and deed, and that everyone should love and honor their spouse.
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. What does this mean? We should love and fear God, and so we should not tell lies about our neighbor, nor betray, slander or defame him, but should apologize for him, speak well for him, and interpret charitably all that he does.
Martin Luther, The Small Catechism
The Ten Commandments as Revelation
The Ten Commandments are signposts of the moral law we must obey, but they are more than that. They are part of God’s revelation about himself and the world he created. Exodus 20 doesn’t begin with “These are the commandments that God gave” but “these are the words that God spoke.” So also in Exodus 34:28, Deuteronomy 4:13, and Deuteronomy 10:4. These are the “ten words.” These are God’s words. God is saying something. We should listen.
Of course, they are also commandments (mitzvoth). That’s what Exodus 24:12 calls them. It also calls them torah, which is usually translated by the English word “law.” The word “law,” however, has a much narrower meaning in English than torah does in Hebrew. Torah might better be translated as “teaching” or “instruction.” It is a word that is applied to the whole story of the Pentateuch, including the narrative parts, not just the commandments.
Andrew Judd is an Anglican priest who teaches Old Testament and Biblical Interpretation at Ridley College in Melbourne, Australia. The torah, he says, is not a “law” in the legal sense for Christians. Rather, he says, it “provides precious revelation about what God is like, and how life works best for us as human beings. Many of its commands reveal principles that are urgently relevant for thinking through how to love God and love our neighbour today.”
There is a “rest of the story” behind each of the law’s commands. There was a divine purpose for each of them within the life and history of Israel as God’s chosen people. When we read the Ten Commandments – and all the commandments in the Old Testament for that matter, even those that no longer literally apply to our situation – we need to ask what they are telling us about God, our world, and ourselves. As the Apostle Paul wrote, “all scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.”
What would it mean, then, to take the Ten Commandments as part of the whole Biblical story of Israel that comes to its fulfillment in the life, death, resurrection, ascension and coming again of Jesus the king.?
It’s About a Relationship Between God and His People
First, there is a relationship before there are rules. Exodus 20 begins with a reminder of God’s relationship with Israel. “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” The scriptures refer to tablets of the Ten Commandments as a testimony or witness of the covenant that exists between God and Israel. Covenant is another word for a solemn relationship, like marriage. Indeed, the scriptures describe the relationship between God and his people as something like a marriage. The church is the bride of Christ.
And, just as in any relationship, there are norms that govern behavior and expectations. Moreover, there are ways that we express our love and commitment to each other.
Living in accordance with the word of God is our part of that relationship. It is our way of loving and honoring God in all of our words and actions and even thoughts. The Ten Commandments were the foundation for Israel’s life with God, and they still speak to us today.
God Protects His People
Second, the commandments reveal that God takes care of his own. He protects them from those who would abuse them or take advantage of them or do them harm. I touched on this in my sermon on How God Provides for his People. The commandments were one means that God used to form a community in which his people were safe.
Perspective is everything. When I pass a police cruiser parked by the side of the road, I can feel my body react. Am I doing something wrong? Am I going to get caught? But when some idiot flies by me and endangers everybody on the road, I wonder where are the police? The law I fear might penalize me is actually there for my protection, and for the protection of everyone else. And, when necessary, it protects other people from me.
Through the commandments, God protected the innocent from evil doers. This is what the Reformers called the civil use of the law. And though our situation is very different from that of ancient Israel, the church should still be a place where people find shelter and safety.
What it Means to be Made in the Image of God
Third, the commandments reveal some of what it means to be created in the image of God. In them, we see some of what God is like. We are called to be faithful because he is faithful. We are called to be honest because God keeps his word. We are called to value human life because God gives life. We are called to keep the peace and welfare of our families and communities because God is the God of shalom. The Ten Commandments show us some of what it means to embody the character of the God who made us.
God’s word not only tells us what not to do and what we should be doing, but who we are as men and women created in the image of God, redeemed by the Lord Jesus Christ, and filled with the Holy Spirit.
God has a Plan for this World
Finally, at least for our purposes today, God has a plan for this world. God created us so that we could live with him and each other in peace and happiness. The commandments give us a snapshot of that kind of world. They begin to describe our proper relationship to our holy God. And they start to show us what a healthy relationship with our families and our neighbors looks like. Jesus showed us that God’s plan for this world is far beyond the letter of law.
God really and truly intends for people to live in peace with him and with each other right now He truly intends for the marriages of men and women to endure, and for each partner to be faithful to the other in every respect. He truly intends for family members to respect each other and support each other. He truly wants people to be honest and truthful with each other. He truly wants us to find our satisfaction in him, to know him, to honor him, and to love him.
Jesus fulfills the commandments, not just because he kept them – which he did – and not just because shows us more fully what they mean – which he does – but because his life, death, and resurrection ultimately bring the world they envision to pass.
The commandments point beyond this age to their ultimate fulfillment in the age to come which Jesus both proclaimed and inaugurated. Jesus reigns at God’s right hand, pours out the Holy Spirit, and promises to come again in glory. His kingdom is one of perfect peace and love.
Those who belong to Christ live with one foot in this age, and one foot in the age to come. Wouldn’t it be nice if we leaned a little more in the direction of the age to come in our relationships with God and with our neighbors? And with the power of the Holy Spirit, we can.
Lenten Repentance
You will notice then, that regarding the Ten Commandments as revelation, and not just law, doesn’t diminish their demand on our lives. It intensifies it.
So let me close with a call to renewed repentance in this holy Lenten season. The very first word we hear Jesus say in the Gospel of Mark is “Repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15). We cannot do one without the other. Christian repentance and belief always walk hand-in-hand.
I like to think that everyone in church does what is right, but I’ve been around long enough to know that people hide the parts of their lives they don’t want others to see. I could tell you stories … but I won’t.
So while I assume the best about everyone I meet, I will say this. If you are grossly violating God’s commandments in any way, stop it. Please, just stop. The Apostle Paul declares that those who do these things have no inheritance in the Kingdom of God. Because of such things, God’s wrath is coming on those who are disobedient (Ephesians 5:5-6, cf. Galatians 5:21).
In the words of the prophet Isaiah, “Cease to do evil. Learn to do good.” (Isaiah 1:16-17).
But this might be easier said than done, especially when it comes to the subtle, inward sins that cling to our thoughts, words, and actions. As the apostle Paul told us, sin has the power to enslave us. We need a God who can lead us out of the land of bondage. Fortunately, we have one. Christianity is not just a “try harder” religion. It is a “God has come to conquer all his foes” religion, and one of those foes is the sin that remains in you and me. Jesus died to make you holy. This battle belongs to him.
United Methodist pastor John Meunier, writing on John Wesley’s sermon, The Scripture Way of Salvation, contrasts repentance prior to faith, with repentance in believers. We use the same word, he says, but they mean two different things.
According to Wesley, repentance in believers is a work of the Holy Spirit by which we become aware of the sin that remains in us, all the while knowing that God loves us and has made us his own. This sets us free to see the sin that remains in our hearts. Wesley described repentance in believers this way:
It is a conviction of our proneness to evil, of an heart bent to backsliding, of the still continuing tendency of the flesh to lust against the spirit. Sometimes, unless we continually watch and pray, it lusteth to pride, sometimes to anger, sometimes to love of the world, love of ease, love of honour, or love of pleasure more than of God. It is a conviction of the tendency of our heart to self-will, to Atheism, or idolatry; and above all, to unbelief; whereby, in a thousand ways, and under a thousand pretenses, we are ever departing, more or less, from the living God.
With this conviction of the sin remaining in our hearts, there is joined a clear conviction of the sin remaining in our lives; still cleaving to all our words and actions. In the best of these we now discern a mixture of evil, either in the spirit, the matter, or the manner of them; something that could not endure the righteous judgement of God, were He extreme to mark what is done amiss. Where we least suspected it, we find a taint of pride or self-will, of unbelief or idolatry; so that we are now more ashamed of our best duties than formerly of our worst sins: and hence we cannot but feel that these are so far from having anything meritorious in them, yea, so far from being able to stand in sight of the divine justice, that for those also we should be guilty before God, were it not for the blood of the covenant.
John Wesley, The Scripture Way of Salvation
The whole Methodist movement began as a way for Christians to meet together to pray for each other and help each other and encourage each other as they sought to be set free from the sin that still clung to their thoughts, words, and deeds. They shared their struggles and what God was doing in their lives as they pursued holiness, what Wesley called sanctification or perfection in love. Methodism, at least as Wesley first envisioned it, was a holiness movement that bore a striking resemblance to an AA meeting.
It is as if we are in the hands of a physician we know and trust. When he tells about our sickness, we know that he can heal us. Because we know the love and mercy of God, we are free to look honestly at our lives and see where we fall short, not only of the law of God, but of the image of God. Because God loves us, we can let him show us what remains broken inside, and what he wants to heal by the power of the Holy Spirit.
This kind of repentance takes a lifetime. Nearly two hundred years before Wesley was born, Martin Luther, wrote, “When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, ‘Repent’ (Mt 4:17), he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.” That sentence started the entire Protestant Reformation.
Call out to God, then, to set you free. Again and again, if necessary. God knows that we fall over and over and over, but he sticks by us nonetheless. Do you remember how the Ten Commandments begin?
And God spoke all these words: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.”
There is no other who can lead you out of bondage into the way of life.
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Mitchell Lewis 