March 11, 2012 - Yes, We DO Like the Law

God spoke all these words: ²I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; ³you shall have no other gods before me. ⁴You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. ⁵You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, ⁶but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments. ⁷You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name. ⁸Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. ⁹Six days you shall labor and do all your work. ¹⁰But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. ¹¹For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it.

¹²Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. ¹³You shall not murder. ¹⁴You shall not commit adultery. ¹⁵You shall not steal. ¹⁶You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. ¹⁷You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

            In Gettysburg, there used to be a civil war chapel.  It was a wooden structure on the main road in town and it was led by people in Civil War era clothing.  This was intriguing to me, and before it burned down, I had the opportunity to go and worship there.  I was really looking forward to the sermon, since I am always curious where someone is going to take the text and show their theology.  The sermon was on the Ten Commandments, and I knew we were in trouble when he started proclaiming that the Ten Commandments were the 10 don’ts.  No matter how we look at the commandments, there is no way to reasonably call them the 10 don’ts, since they don’t all have the word don’t, or shall not, or any other variation upon that phrase.  So I was already a little bit peeved.  Then he continued on about how if you don’t follow the 10 don’ts, you are going to be smited with God’s righteous fury…  Um yeah, that part is not in the text either.The commandments are not a set of rules or obligations, but rather they are a way of life that is fulfilling, a way of life that brings about healing and makes us a blessing to one another.  They are a way of life that gives us joy and comfort, instead of pain and sorrow.

  If we do not have God in our lives, if we bow down to fake gods such as money or popularity, we lose because we do not get to experience the joy of God or the comfort of God’s love, compassion, and mercy.  If we do not honor the name of God, and instead use it to curse others or to gain our own profit, we lose that connection to God which gives us that joy and comfort.  If we dishonor our mother and father, we have broken families and we suffer.  When we murder or steal or commit adultery, we break relationships with others and we are left alone and we diminish the lives of others as well. When we forget to take care of ourselves, to take that Sabbath day to rest and rejuvenate, our bodies break down and we can become depressed.  When we covet our neighbors things and refuse to be content with what we have, we fail to find fulfillment and satisfaction.  When we break these commandments, it is not God who punishes us, but rather we punish ourselves and our loved ones with our actions and our broken relationships.  Breaking these laws are like trying to break the law of gravity.  If we leap off the Empire State Building, we hurt ourselves and those around us, since not only do we get squished like a grape when we hit the ground, but also anyone underneath of us does as well, and our families and their families have to mourn our losses.  All of this is a natural reaction to our jumping, just as the destruction left behind when we break the commandments is also a natural reaction.

These commandments are not a set of rules that we must follow in order to avoid punishment, but rather they are a gift to us from our loving Creator, a gift that helps guide us in life, in order that we may live in harmony with one another and that all people may be respected and have fulfilled lives.  We are blessed by God with these commandments, for they are guide our lives and show us how we are to live in a way that is not only congruent with God’s will, but also in a way that will bring joy to not only our own lives but to all those that we come in contact with.

In the Jewish faith, the Torah, which is the first five books of the Bible so includes the 10 Commandments and indeed many of the Jewish laws, is seen as a means of grace, a way in which God reaches God’s people and touches their lives and gives us all power and forgiveness.  These commandments are seen as a way that God helps us to define our lives and live better ones, just as we treat the Sacraments of Baptism and the Eucharist, and just as we see the entirety of the scriptures.  In a way, the commandments are much like the frog prince of legend.  They may appear to be ugly and difficult, they may not appear to be what you want, but when we give them a chance they prove themselves to be the prince that is so desired and enrich our lives beyond what we could have imagined.

The same is true for the rest of the law.  While we Lutherans have been accused of ignoring the law, just as Paul was accused before, it is simply not true.  If we did ignore it, Luther would not have written his explanation of the commandments in his catechisms, and he definitely wouldn’t haven’t followed Christ’s lead and added to their meanings.  Such as, we do not simply say “Do not steal” but rather we say that we should also help people keep what they have, and not only “do not bear false witness” and defame others, but also speak well of all people and put the best possible spin on their words and actions.

  We as Lutherans embrace the Law, because it not only sets boundaries for ourselves, but it also forces us to see our sinfulness when we break the law and forces us to see our need for God’s grace.  Without the law, we would wander adrift, believing ourselves to be perfectly fine without God, but with it we see that we are not perfect and we are in need of God and God’s mercy and love.  The law makes the hearing of the gospel all the sweeter to our ears and in our lives.

For we know that we are forgiven of our sins, we know that we are forgiven of the trespasses that we have committed against those boundaries set for us by the law.  We are given the peace that comes from God, who says I love you, you are my child and I will comfort you and guide you and be with you through all of your life, even past the point of death I will care for you. 

Amen