Second Presbyterian Church

"The Ten Commandments,
or
The Ten Suggestions"
January 19, 2003

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Sermons Homepage » Sermons for 2003 » Sermons for January 2003

#1 in the Series on The Ten Commandments

The Rev. Daniel E. Hale, D. Min.

• Deuteronomy 6: 4-9
• Mark 12: 28-34

As a way of introduction, for the purposes of convenience I might sometimes refer to the Ten Commandments as the Decalogue (the ten words). So, if you hear me say, "The Decalogue" you will know that I am referring to the Ten Commandments. They are interchangeable. In addition you can find the Decalogue in two places in the Old Testament. The first place is: Exodus 20: 2-17. The second is Deuteronomy 5: 6-21. There is a slight difference in wording in the two versions. It is your assignment to find out where the difference is and I will let you know if you are correct.

The question I would like to bring up with you today, and indeed in all the sermons is this: Do the Ten Commandments have any relevancy or useful purpose in our day and time? And, what now would be its purpose? The way that I would like to explore this question with you is to first of all briefly point out how the Decalogue has been used in the past, especially for the ancient Hebrew, and during the 16 Century Protestant Reformation.

Let's begin with the Ancient Hebrews. What was the purpose of the Ten Commandments then? The first account of the Ten Commandments is placed in the context of the Israelites wondering in the wilderness and they have camped at the base of the holy mountain, Mount Sinai. Upon the mountain Moses goes to meet with the LORD, and the LORD writes with his own finger the Ten Words into stone. The LORD set down the details about what He expected of His chosen people, the Israelites. "I am the LORD, you God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery." The LORD, in other words, has delivered the Israelites from slavery; the LORD has freed them and is making a COVENANT with them, setting down the conditions with the Israelites what is expected of them now that they are THE PEOPLE OF GOD. And it is from this notion that we begin to understand how the ancient Hebrews used the Decalogue. In effect, the LORD was telling the Israelites what kind of moral behavior He expected them to have. Exactly what did the LORD expect from the THE PEOPLE OF GOD?

1. You shall have no other gods before me.
2. You shall not make for yourself a graven image.
3. You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.
4. Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it holy…
5. Honor you father and mother…
6. You shall not kill.
7. You shall not commit adultery.
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
10. You shall not covet…

Let me share with you another way to summarize the Ten Commandments, or the Law is to use the scripture lessons we read for today.

"Hear O Israel: the LORD our God is one LORD; and you shall love the LORD you God with all you heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart."

And also from Leviticus 19: 18,

"… but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the LORD."

The Children of Israel were expected by the LORD to behave in a way that was radically different from their neighbors, especially in terms of sexual morality. First of all, the Hebrews were monotheistic; they believed in only ONE God, YHWH is HIS name and one's devotion was to be solely for the LORD; the LORD shall not tolerate any competition in the worship department. What does this have to do with morality? Well, much of the pagan religions of the Israelite's neighbors was polytheistic - many gods. And there was a strong emphasis upon the power of reproduction, the power of life; plant, animal, human, to reproduce itself. The process of germination and coitus was held in high esteem, so high they worshiped sex by way of gods and goddesses of fertility.

The radical change in morality by the Hebrews can be more clearly seen in that the pagan temples were often built to worship the power of reproduction. They would have priestesses who were temple prostitutes. They would have priests who were temple prostitutes. And the followers were expected to worship by paying an offering and having sexual intercourse with the priest or priestess. What the LORD demanded of Israel was radically different: "You shall not commit adultery; You shall have no other gods before me; You shall make no graven images,' and so on.

In summary, the Israelites were to express their commitment as the People of God by placing the LORD first in their life and by manifesting this value that the LORD is first in their behavior with the LORD and with one another.

The Reformation, during the 15th and 16th Centuries, witnessed a revival of the use of the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments were widely used in the worship of the various Protestant denominations. And I want to not that there exists a LUTERAN emphasis and a PRESBYTERIAN/REFORMED emphasis of the use of the Ten Commandments in worship. Each expresses a purpose of the Decalogue. And, by the way, these two different emphases are compatible; they can actually go together in practical, everyday use.

Martin Luther understood the Ten Commandments' function as a means for exposing sin. All one had to do is to honestly examine his or her behavior in comparison to what the Ten Commandments state. If a person does this honestly he gets a pretty good idea of just how sinful he is. It can be a pretty realistic reality check that will tolerate no illusions of sinless ness.

Now, because Luther understood the Decalogue's function as a means for exposing sin, he would have the worshipers read the Ten Commandments BEFORE the confession of sin. This gave the worshipers a clear idea of what they needed to confess. It was a constant reminder that our right relationship with God depended upon the Grace of Jesus Christ; not how well Christians behave themselves. The Ten Commandments can keep us from deluding ourselves into thinking we are good in our own right.

John Calvin, one of the founders of the Presbyterian/Reformed Protestant tradition, understood the function of the Ten Commandments as a moral behavior guide for Christians who have already received Christ. If you take seriously the fact that you are a Christian, Calvin would say, then you will study the Ten Commandments to gain a clear understanding of how God expects you to live and behave. It becomes a direction, a guide; something to which we can turn for clear moral direction.

The result of the Presbyterian/Reformed understanding of the Ten Commandments is that it would be read in the worship service immediately following the Declaration of Pardon! Now that we have been saved by Grace, received Jesus Christ, we have a set of moral instructions that give us guidance in how we are to behave as Christians.

Personally, I like both the Lutheran and Presbyterian methods to understand how we can use the Ten Commandments. It is a reliable set of categorical laws that clarify where and how we sin (Luther). It is a reliable set of categorical laws that clarify the expectations of behavior that God expects from Christians. I personally recommend BOTH ways.

So, we have a sense of the Ten Commandments' use with the Ancient Hebrews; we have a sense of how they were understood during the Protestant Reformation, especially Luther and Calvin. But what about today? Do the Ten Commandments have any purpose for Christians in the 21st century? Or, as some have noted, tongue in cheek, are they really now just Ten Suggestions?

Dr. William Carl, in an article in The Interpretation stated the following:

The Decalogue is simply spelling out manifestations of original sin. What The Decalogue does not spell out it that when individuals, communities, and humanity look into themselves and not to God and others, there is hell to pay. It is not so much that you are going to hell if you break (The Ten Commandments), as you will feel like you are ALREADY IN HELL NOW.

The natural result of ignoring these laws result is community disorder and chaos. People spread rumors about people; they tell lies about their neighbors - even when under oath. People are murdered, both literally and figuratively. Marriage vows are violated; families are not honored and taken care of. People focus upon acquiring things, even when it means taking necessities from others. Society deteriorates into becoming EVERY PERSON FOR HIM/HER SELF! And today's congregations are not exempt. The exact, same deterioration can occur within a congregation that is ostensibly expressing charity and generosity. Dr. Carl is correct; we have hell to pay when these categorical laws are ignored.

There is one thing that the Ten Commandments and our two scripture lessons imply. God, through our Lord, Jesus Christ, demands our TOTAL DEVOTION. God demands our total dedication. All that we have and all who we are belong to God and when we confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, we publicly confess our loyalty and praise to God. You shall love the Lord you God with all your heart, and with al your mind, and with all your soul and with all your strength. And you shall love you neighbor as yourself. This is the Great Commandment given to us by our Lord, Jesus Christ. Nothing is held back. Nothing.

Let's face it, we are afraid of that kind of fanatic, radical devotion. It feels as if we have nothing left for ourselves. If we, as a congregation, start living as if this is the case, we fear that we will scare people away. They won't want to have anything to do with such fanatic, radical Christians. It will scare them away, we fear, and we shall end up dying on the vine. This kind of devotion is just too risky. Yet, listen to this. Again, I quote Dr. Carl:

The only problem with that argument (i. e. the demands for discipleship) is that the churches that are really growing in members here in America and in Africa and Asia are the ones that are really challenging people to obedience and growth. Why? Because there is a so little emphasis upon obedience and discipline in our culture any more.

Isn't that interesting! If you don't expect very much, then you don't get very much. If we demand too little from our membership, then perhaps our membership ends up not getting very much from the church. When we make it easy to enter, we make it easy to not have much devotion and loyalty to Christ.

The Ten Commandments outline what God expects from us as Christians, in terms of our attitudes and in terms of our behavior. Our right relationship with God is a gift; it is free. Our response to God's free gift of love is total devotion and repentance, the turning around of our lives toward faithfulness to God.

This concludes my introduction to the Ten Commandments. It is my hope that it inspires us to remember how much God loves us; that He demands the best from us, to behave and to live in ways that serve Him, and not serve ourselves. God is demanding us to be Christ centered, something that we can only do with the active guidance of His Holy Spirit. Amen.