Jeremy L. Berg

Lectionary Reflection: Exodus 20:1-17; Psalm 19

Today’s lectionary reflection comes from Mike Fox.

The lectionary texts for this week tell a story, a story of God’s laws and how we relate to them. The Old Testament reading comes from Exodus 20. In this passage God gives us 10 simple laws…

1) Follow God and no other, 2) Don’t create your own gods, 3) Don’t misuse God’s name, 4) Remember the Sabbath, 5) Honor your parents, 6) Don’t murder, 7) Don’t commit adultery, 8) Don’t steal, 9) Don’t lie, and 10) Don’t covet. 

Our job is to follow these laws to the best of our ability. Simple, right?!

Humans have a complicated relationship with rules. Adam and Eve broke the first rule God ever gave us, “See that tree over there, don’t eat the fruit from that tree.” And as they say, “The rest is history.” 

I figure that there are basically five ways in which we humans handle rules. 

First, some people are just not rule followers. These people are intent on their own ‘freedom’. Their attitude is “I’ll do whatever I want whenever I want and you can’t tell me what to do.” The problem with this is that, not only are we inviting trouble, we have nothing to help us when things do fall apart. 

Second, some people will follow the rules until they become inconvenient – “I will follow you God, just don’t ask me to go to church on Sunday, because I want to sleep late; don’t ask me to give money to the poor, because I’m try to save money for a boat; or don’t ask me to volunteer at the soup kitchen, because I’m way too busy.” We have a thousand excuses and a thousand things that are ‘more important’. Following the rules doesn’t build a bank account full of good ‘karma’ which then allows us to break the rules with impunity. Stopping at a stop sign five times in a row doesn’t prevent you from having an accident the one time you to fail to stop. 

Third, some people really want to follow the rules, but don’t understand how. Take the rule about lying. Everyone knows what a lie is or at least we think we do. But… Is it a lie if I tell the truth but do it in a way that misleads? Question: “Did you eat all of the cookies?” Answer: “I had one. (Thinking…I had one and another and another and another.).” Is it OK to lie if the truth would be hurtful? “I’m just telling it like it is. You are really fat!” Is it OK to lie if nobody finds out? You get the picture, so maybe lying isn’t as simple as we first thought. Judaism has entire books devoted to explaining the rules. It is impossible to list every possible situation. This leads us to the next scenario, understanding the true meaning of the rule. 

Fourth, some people follow the rules without truly understanding why they are following. This can lead to following the letter of the law, but breaking the spirit of the law. In Mt 5 in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus says, “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment…“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.“ In Mt 2 Jesus says “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.”

Lastly, there are people who do their best to understand the rules AND to follow them. 

In Romans 8, Paul reminds us that we are sinful creatures and unable to follow all of the rules. Paul says that the Law is unable to save us. So, if we can’t follow all of the rules, maybe we can follow the most important. Are there some rules that are more important than others? Is there a summary of the rules? In Matt 22, Jesus is asked that very question. He says that the two greatest commandments are to 1) Love God with all your heart, mind, strength, and soul and 2) Love your neighbor as yourself. 

Many people think that Christianity is all about following rules and our lives are boring drudgery devoid of any of the fun things life has to offer. In another of our readings this week Psalms 19 says,  “The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes.”

How can following God’s rules be refreshing or joyful or light giving? Here is an example that might be helpful. 

Think of a car. If you buy a new car, you will spend $30k, $40k or more. Most people who spend that much money want to take care of their investment, so they read the owner’s manual. The manual contains a number of ‘rules’ like “change the oil every 5k miles”, “get new tires every 50k miles”, and “get new brake pads every 30k miles”. When you take possession of your new car, it smells new (Did you know you can buy an aerosol can with the “new car” smell. One spray and your car will smell new even if it has 200k miles).

It is exciting to own a car that looks, feels, and smells new. If you follow the rules found in the owner’s manual, your car will serve you well for many miles and many years. If you ignore the rules – don’t change the oil, don’t replace the tires, and don’t replace the brakes pads – your car will, at the best, stop working. At the worst, it could result in an accident resulting in serious injury or even death.  

The rules found in the car manual may seem unnecessary or expensive. It may be inconvenient to get the oil changed. It may be expensive to buy and mount new tires or replace the brake pads. It will be tempting to ignore the rules, but the consequences of ignoring them can be severe. 

When my car is working properly, I don’t think about it. When it isn’t working, my life is in turmoil. I have to find alternative transportation. I have to schedule a trip to the repair shop. It is inconvenient and expensive. Without my car I might miss scheduled appointments or have to postpone trips or rely on others until the car is repaired. When I get the car back, there is a sense of rightness and the world returns to normal. 

That new car is a decent metaphor for life. Following God’s rules isn’t about preventing bad things from happening, it is about how to navigate life when bad things do happen. We know that, no matter how well we take care of our car, sometimes it still breaks. When that happens it is comforting to know a car repairman that we trust. When relationships fall apart, when we lose our job, when things break and our lives are thrown into chaos, we need a trusted confidant, someone who will always be there to help us regain our balance and keep our perspective. 

Know that our God is trustworthy. Our God is faithful. His rules, rather than expensive and inconvenient, are there to help us navigate life when things break. 

Praise God! 

Peace.