March 15, 2009

Two and a half weeks ago, we began this Lenten season with an invitation.  The whole church was asked into a period of self-examination and repentance.  We were urged to give 40 days to intentional prayer, reflection and self-denial.  The purpose of this time was to remind us exactly why God felt it was necessary to send His only Son into our world, to teach us clear lessons, then to martyr himself on our behalf.  In the weeks that follow that invitation, our readings from Holy Scripture encourage our thoughts of repentance as they point out the places we are likely to go astray. 

This morning, our appointed collect reminds us of dangers present in the world and our vulnerability.  “Almighty God, you know that we have no power in ourselves to help ourselves.  Keep us inwardly in our souls, that we may be defended from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul.”  Then the Old Testament passage from Exodus tells us where those evil thoughts are likely to arise.  After generations and generations of wayward humans, God sends Moses a cold stone list of expectations.  Ten rules for living in right relationship with Almighty God and in civilized community with his prized creation were set down.  These ten statements were not guidelines, good ideas or opening points for negotiations.  These were the Holy Absolute Commandments.  They came directly from God to his great prophet, to the people of the world.  The Lord God was serious about these expectations and they did not come with an expiration date.  He meant them to stand for all time.  The first four revolve around our life with the Creator.  The next six order our lives with one another.  They tell us how God means for us to treat each other as true brothers and sisters. 

Beginning with “I am the Lord your God; you shall have no other Gods before me,” the Almighty sets the standard high and clear.  Our hearts, our allegiance, and our first priority are to acknowledge and please God.  Nothing comes before that directive. Closely aligned with the first commandment is the second, “You shall not make for yourself any idols.  You shall not bow down to them or worship them.”  Nothing is equal to God in importance, in power, in love, in mercy, in care for us.  At the time these commandments were given, the world was a primitive, superstitious place.  Praying to rain gods and fertility gods and melting gold into sacred figurines was popular and believed to be efficacious.  Today, we are tempted by other idols.  We give our hearts and our energy to other “powers.”  We are consumed with building up security – in our homes, our neighborhoods, our bank accounts and our nations.  We follow after ambition, acclaim and honor.  We are a striving people.  We want more and more and more.  We look to others to have our worth noted and reaffirmed.  We look to other structures, other people and other diversions and in looking there, we look away from God.  We bow down and give our hearts to other interests.

Hoping to pull our attention back, God commands, “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.  You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord.”  God is mighty and above all else.  His name is the name of all power, all good, and all terror.  This law is not about bad language.  It is about dismissing the awesome nature of our Creator.  As cute as “OMG” is, stenciled on tiny t-shirts, “Oh My God” is not a synonym for “I’m so surprised” or “I can’t believe it” or “How weird is that?”  “Oh my God” is only ever appropriate when it is immediately followed by “thank you for this amazing blessing” or “Oh my God, thank you for saving me when that tractor trailer crossed over into my lane,” or “Oh my God, I am so sorry I said that hurtful thing, or did that ridiculous deed or forgot you with my prayers today.  “Oh my God” is only for direct communication with one’s Almighty Creator.

The next absolute is “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.  This is not an antiquated practice.  This is God’s law to us.  He intends that we should be about the business of supporting ourselves, educating ourselves, creating pleasing wholesome environments for ourselves, but then we are to rest – each week!  We are commanded to set time aside to rest in the Lord.  Our thoughts are to be centered on our blessings, on the care God gives us and on the places we need his saving help.  One day of the week, we make intentional time to give thanks and praise to the Lord.  We put down work and worries and frenetic activity and we take up being at one with our maker.  Sabbath means easy, thoughtful communion.  Keeping Sabbath means putting clothes out the night before and leaving the house anticipating hitting every red light on the way to church.   Keeping the Sabbath day holy has nothing to do with careening into St. Mark’s parking lot at 8:28 or 10:29.  God does not wait until the last possible moment to make himself present to us.  He expects and reasonable and timely commitment from his beloved subjects.  Giving a day over to God is antithetical to our current over-scheduled, overtly productive culture.  Committed time to worship and quiet time at home on Sunday is becoming less and less the norm. 

We’ve forgotten that doing no work on the Sabbath also means we do not create work for others.  That means just because stores are opened, we are not obligated to shop.  If enough people stayed away, they would close again as in former years and every one would get a day of rest with their families.  That means the lunch I planned at On the Border after church today with my kids would become a lunch at my house requiring actual pre-thought and preparation.  This wouldn’t be my natural choice, but there is this commandment to consider!

Let me also say that this directive like the other nine is not meant to be an onerous task or loathsome burden for us.  God means for us to take time for renewal, refreshment and re-engagement with our souls.  We need time with our God whether our minds and bodies recognize that truth or not.  And connection with God cannot occur in isolation, not only in isolation.  Of course, we meet God on our walks in woods, or on the golf course, or riding our bikes like the wind, or cruising with the top down and Springsteen blaring.  But our thoughts are only our thoughts and new understandings, new revelations, deeper encouragement, other perspectives and probing questions come from interactions with others.  Communal prayer, fellowship, study and service with one another helps us experience God in deeper ways.  Time designated as God’s time is critical and so participation in “the Body of Christ” is required. 

Dear friends, God does not call us into boredom and drudgery.  If your church life is not encouraging and engaging, you need to find another congregation.  The people in that church are not your people.  Your people are waiting and wishing for your arrival.  That is a scary statement to make from up here, but a very empowering one to hear from where you sit.  Sabbath time, when taken seriously, when honored, when shared in the company of energized, committed, loving believers, when not one more thing, but a better thing, rejuvenates our souls and psyches and makes us better for the week to come.  Sabbath makes us better in all the roles and activities of our lives.  This is why God ordained it “good!”

Turning from the commandments regarding our duty to God and looking to those laws concerning interactions between human beings, notice what the Lord sets before us first.  “Honor your father and your mother.”  When this statute came down to Moses, human societies were quite primitive and survival was an all-consuming concern.  There was no safety net, no social contracts, no governmental intervention or directives for the care of the aged.  When people grew older, they became expendable and, in some cultures, were allowed to die from neglect.  Because land, the most enduring and valuable commodity in that time, was handed down from father to sons, insurrections were not uncommon.  Any sign of weakness from the father could result in a coup from his children.  Faith, tradition and history survived only by their passing down from one generation to the next.  For the health of families, for the protection of his beloved children as they aged, for the orderly care of non-renewable property and for the survival of faith and knowledge of God, the Lord set down this commandment.  Respect, love and protect those who gave you life.  Pay attention to their teachings.  Listen to their directives.  Care for them when they need assistance later in their lives.  These were the demands of the fifth commandment. 

Today, the call to honor our parents has different implications.  It is a lesson in reciprocal loving.  When a child is born, the lives of its parents are changed forever.  Under the most natural and common circumstances, a father and mother instantly become dedicated to the well-being of the new human infant.  They are willing to sacrifice their own desires for the good of their child.  In fact, the health, peace, confidence and care of their son or daughter becomes their ultimate desire.  In most circumstances, parents love and guide their children with the very best intent and the greatest skills they possess.  In these cases, it is easy for offspring to recognize love and care and graciously return respect.  Even in times of disagreement, times of moving apart to establish their own identity and autonomy, they know the enduring love of their parents, and children, perhaps grudgingly, acknowledge the finer attributes and qualities of their father and mother.

But, in those families where fathers and mothers do not respond according to the natural order, maintaining respect and proffering honor is much more difficult.  God set us in families so we would have an earthly model for a divine relationship.  Parent-child love is meant to mirror God’s love for us and ours for God.  In a family plagued by parental detachment, selfishness and an inability to bond or nurture this happy, healthy model never takes root.  In such a situation, what does God expect from us?  God commands, “Honor your father and mother.”  But God does not hold us to corrupted covenants.  God does not order us into hurtful, abusive relationships.  In situations where our parents cannot or will not treat us in loving, affirming ways, our response to God’s law may be lived out from afar.  We can give thanks to them for giving us life.  We can ask God to watch over them and give them all that they need.  We can ask God to give us open and forgiving hearts, but we can also ask God to keep our hearts safe from the slings and arrows of those whose first job was to love us well.  God will hear these prayers and distribute great mercy accordingly.

So, here in the middle of Lent, we have examined five of God’s ten central laws.  Surely pondering their meaning and working out their observance will keep us out of trouble until we take up the next five.  May God bless your reflection and your renewed commitment to his Holy Commandments, 1-5, et al.   Amen.