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Sermon - March 1st, 2009
Back to the Basics I
Rev. Gwen Drake
Scripture: Mark 1:9-15, Exodus 19:1-9
For three Sundays, I’m preaching on the Ten Commandments. I will address the relevancy of the Ten Commandments in today’s world. Are they a set of rules or a way of life? Are they all we need to live together in the world?
We will begin with how they came about—the story behind the Ten Commandments. It happened in the wilderness in an unusual and mysterious way.
The 19th chapter begins “It was the third moon.” In other words it was about ninety days after Moses had delivered the Hebrew people from slavery. He convinced the Pharaoh with the help of several plagues to let his people go. They packed up quickly and took off toward the Promised Land. They escaped through the Red Sea and then spent 90 days wandering around in the wilderness.
When the third moon came they set up camp in front of a mountain. The mountain-- a holy symbol for them. God was on that mountain, El Shaddai, God of the Mountain. God was traveling with them in the wilderness. The wandering Hebrews camped at the foot of the mountain, keeping their distance.
It was Moses who dared to get close to the awesome and terrible holiness of the mountain. Moses made three treks up the mountain to commune with God. God said, “Turn right around and go back to tell the people this: You have seen what I did to the Egyptians. I bore you on eagle’s wings, and I brought you to myself. Obey my voice. Keep my covenant. You shall be my people; my treasured possession, a kingdom of priests, a holy nation.”
So Moses made his way back down the mountain. Moses was supposed to be in his eighties, so climbing up and down that mountain was no small chore. Not only that, the last three months had been miserable. The people were not at all grateful—they complained about being hungry, tired, and unhappy. They whined about not knowing where they were going. Moses spent too much time listening to their grumbling and settling their quarrels. Morale was low. Yet God had not given up on them. So, Moses couldn’t give up on them either. Back at camp, Moses summoned the elders together. He said, “God had made a covenant with you, you are a holy nation, a kingdom of priests.” They responded, “All that God has spoken, we will do.”
But they didn’t really know what they were promising. They had promised to be the covenant people. No one asked, “And how are we supposed to live as this holy nation of priests?” Everything was vague. There was some comfort in that vagueness, but not much.
Moses trudged up the mountain a second time, to take the people’s reply to God. “Moses,” God answered, “I will come to you in a thick cloud in public view so that the people may hear when I speak with you, so that they will trust you always. Go back and tell everyone of my arrival. Spend today and tomorrow preparing, and I will be there on the third day where everyone can see. This is how you and the people are to ready yourselves: Wash your clothes. Set a boundary around the mountain and forbid anyone to touch it, oh, and stay away from women.
For two days they prepared themselves carefully then waited apprehensively through the last long, silent night. Their wait was over when dawn broke with peals of thunder and flashes of lightning. A dense cloud hovered over the mountain. Relentless blasts on the ceremonial horn, the shofar, reached an earsplitting crescendo as Moses led the trembling people toward the foot of Mt. Sinai. The summit of the mountain was covered in smoke. Looking up, they saw the Lord God coming down from the mountain in fire. The whole mountain shook violently; the sound of the shofar pierced the dense, smoke-filled air. Bravely Moses spoke into the dissonance while the people stood awestruck. In a thunderous voice God called Moses once more to the top of the mountain.
When Moses arrived, God again ordered him to warn the people not to come any closer, not to touch that holy mountain for fear of death. Not even the priests, the designated holy people, were to approach the mountain unless they were first ceremonially sanctified and purified.
Moses responded impatiently, “Lord, you have already told them not to come too close. They will obey.” They were clearly too terrified to do otherwise. Unsatisfied, God ordered Moses to return and repeat the warning just in case there was any misunderstanding. God seemed to need to make sure that all would be well. God also asked Moses to make yet another ascent, this time with Brother Aaron accompanying him. Moses did so, and when he finally reappeared at the foot of Mount Sinai, he read the law that was to be their covenant commitment forever, the Ten Commandments.
It is said that the history of Israel began at that moment, at Mt. Sinai. It could be said that the first real chapter of the Hebrew Scriptures, of their faith history, is Exodus, chapter 19. Before Sinai, before Exodus 19, the Hebrew people were merely an escaping band of slaves. After Sinai, they were a holy nation, a people of destiny, a nation of priests ordained to serve the world, identified by their covenant.
It was after Mt. Sinai, when the people of Israel looked back at Egypt and saw that it was the hand of God who brought them out of captivity and into being. It was then that they developed the stories of their ancient heroes—the stories of Abraham, Jacob, and Joseph—an oral tradition that demonstrated that the Hebrew people’s ancestry was NOT slave but noble, and connected since Abraham to the Promised Land
You see, Mt. Sinai is the fulcrum of Israel’s history, and whatever preceded it is the remembered and passed-on oral tradition that served to bring the Hebrew people to this defining moment. After Sinai they began their self-conscious and intentional life as the covenant people of God.
Also, at this point, a tension was felt that marked the historic life of Israel. This tension has framed the Hebrew Scriptures. The tension is defined by the question: “How could a people believe themselves chosen by God without also thinking of themselves as superior to all other people?”
Throughout history this tension has never been resolved. The theology of divine election can easily err on the side of exclusiveness—exclusiveness that fragments and isolates the “privileged chosen” from the rest of the world. God’s chosen people have struggled in the world, at times feeling as though the covenant was a curse rather than a blessing.
It was within this tension that Jesus was born. He flung the doors open wide and called his disciples to service. He talked about giving life and love away. He removed barriers between people. The covenant, according to Jesus was open to He was tempted in the wilderness, tempted to work magic and power, rather than love, tempted to break covenant rather than keep covenant. But Jesus chose over and over again, the way of love and relationship and openness, “Come to me,” Jesus said, “All…”
Yet the Church has also been exclusive. We have had too many religious wars—with each side claiming its rightness, its religious authority claiming that God is on our side. Each side quotes the Bible to justify their position. Each side interprets history to show they are right. This is not the action of a covenant people. This is the action of people grumbling and complaining and fighting among each other in the wilderness. This is the action of people who are striving for status and position and whenever we do that—our God is not being served.
The commandments were given to a community so they could survive together, be bonded together, get along together in service to God. The commandments were given as the basics to relationship—relationship to God and to each other. The law was a gift from God. The law defined the very basic duties of every human being toward God and neighbor. They are brief and succinct. In their biblical form they are blunt and straight forward. Being ten in number lends itself easily to the memory aid of one commandment for every finger. The number ten is frequently associated with unity. To the Hebrews they were the “ten words,” the Decalogue, the touchstones and foundation of the covenant.
At Mt. Sinai, the God of the covenant laid claim to the people of the covenant, inviting them to a new life and a new destiny. The escape from Eygpt, the crossing of the Red Sea was an act of grace. Through no fault or merit of their own, the Hebrew people were chosen. Before Mt. Sinai, they were not a people, they were slaves, the dregs of society, yet they were elected, delivered, and given value by God. All because of God’s grace. At Mt. Sinai those who knew the grace of God responded in gratitude. The people of God agreed to live in obedience to the one who had delivered them. God called. The people responded. God and God’s people were bound to each other forever.
What the Ten Commandments tell us is that we are to be passionately committed to our God and we are to be passionately committed to one another. We are called to live life fully, love generously, and be all that God created us to be. We are the covenant people.
Amen.