This sermon was preached at Trinity Lutheran Church, using the texts for the third Sunday in Lent, Year B.
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Imagine you are constantly working,
constantly busy, constantly exhausted. Would the invitation to rest feel like a
burden? Or a gift?
Imagine you are chaotically placing
your trust in different things, desperate to finally find the one that won’t
disappoint you, the one that won’t leave you with a feeling of emptiness,
worthlessness, or shame. Would the promise of a faithful, trustworthy,
life-giving guide feel like a burden? Or a gift?
Imagine you’re caught up in a system
that tells you to do whatever it takes to get ahead - break promises, tell
lies, kill, steal. Would the promise of a different way, a better way, feel
like a burden? Or a gift?
Such is the setting we find as we
encounter the Israelites in our first reading, from Exodus. God’s chosen people
have been liberated from slavery, set free from the cruelty, the demands, the
exhaustion of bondage in Pharaoh’s Egypt. Called and strengthened by God,
Moses, Aaron, and Miriam led the people - young, old, men, women - out of
bondage, through the Red Sea, into the wilderness, toward the Promised Land.
When you’ve been in bondage for
generations, it takes some time to adjust to a new way of being. As the
Israelites wandered through the wilderness for forty years, they began to learn
about the wholeness and life found in God.
In the manna sent from heaven, they had
food to eat, to strengthen and nourish them for the journey ahead. And also,
they learned that great joy is found in “enough” - not too much, not too
little, but enough. They learned to trust God to provide for their needs.
In the midst of the wilderness, at Mt. Sinai,
Moses went up the mountain and God spoke these words: “I am the Lord your God,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” This is
covenant language - I am your God, you are my people. A sacred promise of
relationship between God and God’s people.
Having been reminded of who they are
and what grace and freedom they have already received, the Israelites received
another gift - Torah. Guidance. Teaching. The ten commandments. The ten best ways to live in relationship with God and in relationship with one another. On
two tablets they received the outline, the shape, of a way of life that
celebrates relationship, love, wholeness, and goodness.
The first tablet focuses on our
relationship with God. For Lutherans (because different denominations number
the commandments differently), these are the first three commandments.
Don’t have any other gods, because they’ll
just leave you feeling like a hollow shell. The idols of money, power, beauty,
popularity, self-righteousness - none of these are worthy of our fear, love,
and trust. None of these bring wholeness and life. Only the true God is
trustworthy and faithful. Only the true God is powerful and life-giving. Only
the true God loves us just the way we are.
Don’t make wrongful use of the name of
the Lord your God. God’s name is powerful, and we call on it in times of joy,
thanksgiving, praise, anguish, pain, and confusion. Wholeness and life do not
come from using God’s name to manipulate, scare, or threaten others.
Remember the sabbath day, and keep it
holy. Rest is sacred - our bodies need it! Our example for Sabbath rest comes
from God, who rested on the seventh day of creation and called this day “holy”.
On the Sabbath we allow ourselves to be freed from the hectic, frenzied pace of
life; to worship the God who loves us; to experience rest and renewal; to be
strengthened and nourished.
The second tablet focuses on our relationship
with one another. We are a people created to be in community, created to be in
relationship with one another.
Honor your father and mother. The charge
of raising children is a difficult one, and all parents are imperfect and make
mistakes. Honor your parents by praying for them, and for all parents and those
in positions of authority, that their words and actions come from the assurance
that they are dearly loved by God.
Don’t kill. Life is sacred. It is a
gift from God. We honor this gift when we, as Luther writes, “neither endanger
nor harm the lives of our neighbors, but instead help and support them in all
of life’s needs.”
Don’t commit adultery. Respect and
honor your body and the bodies of others. Keep your promises. People and
relationships are to be cherished.
Don’t steal. Be honest and fair. Work
tirelessly so that the justice that characterizes the dominion of God might
become visible here and now.
Don’t bear false witness against your
neighbor. Don’t tell lies, or destroy their reputation, or betray them. As
Luther writes in the Small Catechism, “instead we are to come to their defense, speak well of them,
and interpret everything they do in the best possible light.” Our call is not
to tear one another down, but rather to build one another up.
Don’t covet your neighbor’s house, or
anything that belongs to your neighbor. Jealousy has the power to suck the life
out of us. It robs us of joy and blinds us to the abundance of blessings we
have. Bitterness and resentment make it very difficult to love our neighbor and
love God.
We may not be in bondage as slaves in
Pharaoh’s Egypt, but we are in
bondage to sin. We are held captive by selfishness, and greed. We are enslaved
by the false promises that wealth, power, beauty, effort, and goodness will
save us and lead us to wholeness and life. They won’t. We are in bondage to sin
and we cannot free ourselves.
Just as God led the Israelites from
slavery into freedom, so too does God liberate us. The God who gives us freedom
and grace in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has freed us for wholeness and life in relationship
with God and one another.
And so we gladly receive these ten best
ways to live. Not as an additional burden for a people who are already carrying
a heavy load, but as a gift that liberates us from the way of life that is not
really life. The life God desires for us and for all of God’s people is abundant
and eternal. It is life shaped by the promise of God’s never-failing love, the
promise of relationship, and the gift of grace. Thanks be to God. Amen.
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