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St. Charles Episcopal Church - Saint Charles, IL
The Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost - Proper 22 RCL Year A
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20 – Psalm 19 – Philippians 3:4b-14 – Matthew 21:33-46
Rev. William R. Nesbit, Jr.
In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.
So what are we to make of God in our lessons today? One thing we might get out of them is that God has a bit of a temper. Now I know this is a simple thing and probably a little unsettling when you get right down to it, but it does have a purpose after all. I find it interesting that the lectionary folks edited the 10 commandments a bit so as to have time to include that little ending vignette: “When all the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking, they were afraid and trembled and stood at a distance, and said to Moses, ‘You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, or we will die.’ Moses said to the people, ‘Do not be afraid; for God has come only to test you and to put the fear of him upon you so that you do not sin.’ Then the people stood at a distance, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.”Sometimes we need to be reminded what this is really all about; that faith and behavior are not academic exercises, but the working out of salvation. . . Our salvation.
And it is important to remember that God is different. Different from us, and different from anything else we might put up in the place of God. That difference was laid out on Mt. Sinai after the Hebrews made their covenant with God, and God accepted them as God’s treasured possession out of all the peoples of the Earth. A kingdom of priests. A people set apart. As Christians we are heirs to that kingdom. We are tenants of God’s vinyard. Like our God, we too are different, or we should be.
I want to take one of the Ten Commandments, the second, and spend some time looking at it and looking at how it separates and defines God, and how it separates and defines us. How it sets us apart. I have chosen the second commandment because God spends more time and words explaining this one commandment than any of the other ten, so I suppose it might just be the most important. Or it could be that since it isn’t the first commandment and God still spends all these words explaining it, it just needs more explanation than any of the other commandments. Either way it’s a good choice.
Before I go into the details we should probably spend a little time reviewing the ten commandments as a whole. You want to remember that the ten commandments are the essence of the Law. All of the book of Leviticus and Deuteronomy are just the fine teeth of the comb of the ten commandments. And we also want to remember that the Hebrews see the Law in a different way than we do.“The law of the LORD is perfect and revives the soul.” They write poetry to the Law. “More to be desired are they than gold, more than much fine gold, sweeter far than honey, than honey in the comb.” They love the Law like they love God. Because they love God, and the law comes from God to them.
As Christians, when we get lazy, we are prone to think of the law as negative and inhibiting and that Jesus came to free us from this limiting, cold, hard, impersonal Law. We forget that Jesus came not to abolish the law but to fulfill the law. That in Jesus we see the ultimate incarnation of God’s law. The ten commandments on two legs. The love of God for his people found in the body of Jesus Christ is no less potent than the love of God for his people shown in the ten commandments.
Now back to the second commandment, the one I want to work with today. Let’s review the second commandment in it’s entirety: “You 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. You 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, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.” The Hebrews had come out of the land of Egypt, a land of many gods, and each one had its own shape or form. Some of them even had more than one. The land of Egypt was literally full of temples that were full of idols. On Mt. Sinai God made it clear that when the Hebrews left Egypt they were to leave the idols behind as well. God wanted to be sure that the Hebrews knew that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was not like any of the gods they had known in Egypt, or any of the gods they would meet when they entered the Promised Land. The Lord God made all the heavens and the earth and they are good, but they are not to be worshiped as gods, they are to be cared for because they are God’s. The glory is God’s and should remain God’s. As the story continues, you remember, the Hebrews forget this commandment fairly quickly when Moses leaves them alone to go up the mountain to talk to God. If you stop and think about it, you can’t really blame them. They had been praying to idols in Egypt for a long time, many generations, before Moses came along to free them. And you remember how frightening it was to even be near God on the mountain with all the fire and smoke and lightening and trumpet blasts and earthquakes. This one God thing was all pretty new to them and it is really no wonder that they ran back to the old comforting ways, the way it was always done before. It would be nice to think that that was what those foolish Hebrews did way back then and we would never do anything so stupid...but it wouldn’t be the truth. We do the same thing today, only we’re a little more subtle about it. A little, but not a lot.
So here is the hard question that God is asking us this morning. What are the idols that we have placed between us and God? Good things given to us by God, that we have chosen to idolize and thereby warp their goodness. What do we trust in before, or instead of God? Is it wealth, or health, or safety, or sex, or even life itself? All are good things given by God, but have we twisted them into ultimate ends; idols we bow to and sacrifice to and worship instead of God? If you are feeling a little uncomfortable, you should be, but do not be afraid. Remember that God loves you passionately and even irrationally. You need only turn and all will be forgiven. Remember... “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, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.” So it is not too late. It is never too late.
Take some time with yourself this week and look into your life for the idols that have slipped into the church of your soul. It is so easy for them to slide in the side door. What is the ultimate good in your life. What do you sacrifice your time, your money, and your energy for? Look closely and honestly. If it isn’t God, then bend the knee of your heart and ask forgiveness and then make the effort to rearrange your life. No one can do it for you. It is up to you. Do it now. Or you run the very real risk that “the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom.”
Amen.