November 19, 2006 Sermon

The Ten Commandments
Exodus 20:1-17

What’s the big deal about the Ten Commandments? So they give us God’s laws, but should we care? After all, these commandments belong to the Jewish law. They are nothing but a summary of how God wanted the Israelites to act, correct? They are part of the old covenant, the Old Testament, in which God promised to protect and enrich the Chosen People, but only if they behaved themselves.

As followers of Jesus, do we not believe that God has promised us salvation when we believe in Him? Obeying the Law does not get us into heaven, believing in Jesus does. The Ten Commandments might have been important to the Jews, but what use are they to us? Quite a lot, it turns out. The Ten Commandments help turn us toward God, whose grace saves us through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. We must embrace anything that draws us nearer to Christ. The law of God certainly does so. Obey the law. Know Christ.

Some five hundred years ago, the great Reformers Martin Luther and John Calvin listed three critical uses Christians have for God’s Law:

1. The Law convicts us of our sin.

2. The Law orders human governments and society.

3. The Law teaches the Gospel.

Let’s see how each of these points works today.

First, the Law convicts us of our sin. God’s Law defines right and wrong and shows us how wrong we truly are. God’s Law is specific. In the Old Testament it stretches from our chapter in Exodus all the way through the end of Deuteronomy. Oh, some of those chapters tell part of the story of the Israelites’ wandering through the desert. And many of the laws no longer apply to us, since they have to do with Israelite worship, or with details from a culture that has nothing to do with us (how to deal with problems your oxen cause, for example). But for the most part, the next three and a half books of the Bible give us God’s Law.

The more we learn about that detailed Law, the more we must admit we cannot keep it. Even the Ten Commandments, an excellent summary of the whole Law, convict us of our sin. Commandment number seven: “You shall not commit adultery.” Jesus interpreted this law to mean that if a man even looks at a woman with lust in his heart, he has already committed adultery. Which man here has never looked at a woman with lust in his heart? Commandment number nine: “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” Which one of us has never lied? The Apostle Paul, one of the great heroes of Christianity, despaired of ever satisfying God with his conduct and called himself a wretched sinner. How can we hope to do any better than Paul?

We cannot. But why have a Law when we cannot keep it? God’s Law convicts us of our sin. It removes all hope of saving ourselves. God, in His infinite wisdom, has given us the Law as a way of scrubbing away our pride. West high school just finished a production of the ancient Greek tragedy, Antigone. Its central theme is that human pride creates terrible suffering. And how. Praise God, therefore, for showing us our sinful nature by giving us the perfect standard, the Law that uncompromisingly forces us to admit our imperfection. We sin. The Law proves it.

Second, the Law orders society. The Ten Commandments stand behind our entire system of western, republican democracy. It has become fashionable in certain circles to deny this. But that dog won’t hunt. Scholars have traced a direct link from the Ten Commandments, to the emergence of the rule of law in England in the 15th century, to the creation of the Constitution of the United States . Personal rights and responsibilities, a novelty in the world before our constitution, come straight out of the Ten Commandments. Respect for individual lives was not a big item in human government between Exodus and the founding of America , but it appears in God’s Law

The Law of God serves as the foundation not only of government, but of society. The Ten Commandments, as a summary of that Law, illustrate this point. How should we treat the elderly? Should we try to put them up on a shelf, keep them conveniently out of our way, coax them to give up some of the wealth they have accumulated over their years of work and saving? The Law says, “Honor your father and mother, that it may go well with you in the land.” As Christians we understand that through baptism all seniors become our mothers and fathers. Honoring them would mean listening to the wisdom they have gained and ache to share. It would mean designing buildings to accommodate their needs, and more. And the Law addresses the rest of life just as concretely.

The Law of God convicts us of our sin and it shows us how to organize society in a godly way. The Law also teaches us the Gospel.

But how can that be? In some branches of the Christian stream Law and Gospel have been kept strictly separate. The Law convicts us of our sin, sure. Of course the Law undergirds our society. But the Law does not save us. Only the Gospel can save us. Only the Good News—that Jesus died for our sins on the cross and rose from death to show us the Way to eternal life—only believing this can save us. How can the Law teach us the Gospel?

Jesus was and is God. Jesus, our Savior, therefore participated in God’s giving of the Law to humanity. The Law is part of God’s long-range plan of salvation. Obeying the Law does not save us, but the grace and purpose of God saturate it. The Law prepares us to receive the Gospel as Good News. Without the Law, we could never fully appreciate just what Jesus did for us.

A while ago I mentioned the tragic play, Antigone. The pride of its central male character, Creon, helps cause four suicides. This may seem overdone, a dramatic exaggeration for effect. Sadly, nothing could be farther from the truth. Humanity must constantly relearn this lesson. You want dishonesty, pride and pain? Check out the Nixon White House, circa 1970. In it you will find the President’s special counselor, Charles Colson. Ay the height of his power Colson bragged he would walk over his own grandmother to re-elect the president. But the Watergate scandal caught him; he was convicted of obstruction of justice and served time in prison.

At the time of his arrest, a friend gave Colson a copy of C. S. Lewis’ masterwork, Mere Christianity. As Colson read Lewis’ powerful words about human sin and salvation through Christ alone, he felt the Holy Spirit moving within him and became an evangelical Christian. Though the press ridiculed his conversion, in the thirty-five years since Colson has never stopped serving the Lord. He has created a powerful ministry for prisoners. Colson calls the Ten Commandments “the only rational, defensible, natural law.” He means that no other law makes sense when tested in the rough-and-tumble, all-too-sinful world. Colson ought to know.

We all suffer from pride. Even the lowliest, most self-defeating person must deal with the consequences of human, sinful pride. And most of us have a bigger pride problem than that. Most of us let our pride create destruction. Turn back to the law that leads you to Jesus. Learn the truth: God has taught us how to act. And when we fail to act as God wills, God has saved us anyway. Learn from the Law. Confess your sin. Rejoice that God loves you so much he has saved you—despite your status as a law-breaker. Join our confirmations classes in memorizing the Ten Commandments. They will turn you toward the God who saves you.

Obey the Law. Know Christ. Rejoice that God works to save us, for we could never save ourselves.