Homily – 3/4/18
What better time than Lent to hear again God’s Ten Commandments to us? They should sound familiar to you, I hope, but how often do we think about them? I suspect you are looking at your shoes right about now, as the answer, at least for me, is not as often as I should.
Let’s get the easy ones out of the way first. You shall not murder. Well, that one makes sense and I am sure we can all agree that we try keep that one. You shall not steal. That too is one we can agree on and most of us can say we uphold that too. You shall not commit adultery. I think that we all know that one and, despite what you may see on HBO or Netflix, this is one that we work to uphold. Honor your father and mother. This too makes sense, even if your folks are somewhat less than perfect. It is about showing respect for those who came before us and remembering where we come from.
The rest, well, they may be a bit murkier. You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God. Oops. That may be the most broken of all of the commandments. How many times a day does that one slip through your lips? We all do it. But if you stop and think about the meaning behind it, using God’s name as a swear is the polar opposite of its meaning and it profanes the love that God has for us. So, can we make a pact to try to not do that? You try, and so will I.
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. Wait you say, I never do that. Well, should we take a look at your Facebook posts? Or how about listen while you gossip a bit with friends? Bearing false witness is not only limited to court proceedings, it also includes anything we say about someone behind their back. Looked at from that perspective, this commandment gets a great deal harder, doesn’t it? While we are talking about our neighbor, you shall not covet your neighbor’s house, or wife, or belongings. Oops, that’s another tough one. I think it is safe to say that we all have looked at our neighbor with envy from time to time. It seems to be a part of the human experience. But this commandment is a reminder that we should keep our focus, not on our neighbor’s blessings, but our own. For each of us has been blessed by God with life, and being thankful for what we have will keep us in a clear relationship with God.
If you are keeping score, we have discussed seven thus far. The remaining three are: I am the Lord your God, you shall have no other gods before me; You shall not make for yourself an idol, and Remember the sabbath day and keep it holy. We can take those as a package deal I think, at least for this conversation. These three are about our relationship with God and the place he has in our lives. You may be thinking to yourself, OK, I have this one. I know God is God and I don’t have some golden idol in my closet at home. I come to church most Sundays; more or less; so I have these three in the bag!
I read an interesting book this week that said, we worship what we love. That makes sense, especially as we sit in a worship service this morning. But I want to ask you, what else do you worship? Jesus tells us where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. So where do we put our heart? We spend an hour a week here in church, but where do you invest your heart in the other 6 days and 23 hours? Do you engross yourself in your work? Do you spend your time looking at your phone? Do you anesthetize yourself from the challenges of the world in alcohol or drugs or sex or food? Perhaps it is binge watching TV on Netflix. You may not have a golden calf idol in your closet, but we create idols all the time that are just as distracting to our lives.
Where is your heart? That is what these commandments are about. God reminds us that we are called to invest our heart in him because that is what he does for us. Each of us, every single one of us, is beloved of God and He holds each of us in his heart.
That is the true power of the ten commandments. They are not restrictions intended to make our lives difficult. Rather, they are instruction on how we should live our lives in a way that reminds us who we are, but far more importantly, whose we are. So, during this Lenten season, ponder God’s laws. See how you are doing and where your heart is. If you heart is not in the right place, turn to God. For God is always ready to help you come home.