"You Shall Not"

 

"No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to us all. And God is faithful. He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it."

 

            These are the commandments that I think people generally are more aware of – the "Thou shalt nots." There is often a dismissing of them as religion once again telling me what I cannot do. The other reaction is to see the words "murder," "adultery," and "steal" and feel like a good person because "I don't do those."

            The commandments are given to a people in the wilderness. They have been freed from long slavery. They are in need of community, of order and protection, of a way to resolve conflicts. In a deeper sense they are in need of holiness, of a relationship with God. Now they hear the Word of the Lord, directly addressed to them.

            We are listening to these words during Lent. We are confessing the wilderness of our lives. We have needs not met. We have conflicts. We carry attitudes soured by experience. We long for community, relationship and holiness. In our season of renewal we move to the cross. These words shape our behavior in that journey, and also expose our failings, our sins, and our need for a savior. The Ten Commandments draw us to the cross and resurrection of Jesus.

            Kathy and I know a missionary couple in Chile. They have been writing regular updates since the earthquake, and in the midst of powerful aftershocks. Chile has the strongest economy in South America. Yet, in that land of prosperity, there was widespread looting after the earthquake. This included the looting of grocery stores as people panicked over the threat of lack of supplies. But it also included looting things that they really did not need to survive: consumer items like TVs and even a locksmith shop where all the blank keys were stolen. Why did that happen?

            After a few days, the government made it clear that looters would be arrested, and that people seen looting on security cameras in stores would be prosecuted. People kind of woke up, expressed sorrow for how their country had reacted, and much of the stolen merchandise was returned. To me, that said something about human nature. Our morality is not as deep or firmly rooted as we think. When something shakes us, we can act in a desperate way, and then wake up and feel badly about how we acted. We are people who need a Savior. We need a solid rock on which to anchor our lives. Conformity to cultural values is not enough to hold us in the storm. We need a deeper faith relationship with God.

            The last five commandments: five brief words or commands that come with tentacles. They seem simple, but when you reflect on them, they reach outward, and then, as Jesus taught us, they point inward. For example, "Do not murder." Some translations have "do not kill." Actually, there is not a good English word to use. Jim Bruckner says, "to 'murder' is too specific and to 'kill' is too general." The word refers to killing without proper authority, or outside God's law. It was given to bring an end to blood feuds and revenge killing. But you can see how it reaches out to many issues of our day: abortion, euthanasia, capital punishment, the degrading of the earth, pollution, and even issues with food supply. It is not just about shooting someone with a gun. And Jesus applies it to inward attitudes of hatred and anger.

            We live in a society where murder is more common than in years past. The value of human life is not held in high esteem by many. Movie, television and video games all show murder as a normal part of life. The commandment calls us to value life, to think clearly about issues of violence and death. We are not to allow ourselves to become de-sensitized to violence and killing. Rather, we are to think of the value of life in God's eyes, of the cost of our redemption, and the power of the cross to bring new life, to replace murderous intention with active love. The commandment shapes our thinking, exposes our failings and draws us to the cross.

            The commandment against adultery upholds sexual faithfulness in marriage. We find we live in a popular culture that largely disregards this commandment. Sexual relations outside of marriage are shown constantly in movies and television. Yet the culture pretends to be scandalized when its celebrities are caught in adultery. Rather than blame the fallen sports heroes and politicians, we should recognize that feelings of love do not come automatically with faithfulness. Faithfulness needs to be taught consistently, and also demonstrated and shown. Faithfulness is experienced in a relationship with God, who is faithful. If we are concerned with the breakdown of the family, we begin with helping people build a relationship with God. We give our children and young people plenty of stories of faithfulness in marriage to counteract the love stories portrayed in the culture. We celebrate faithful people. We demonstrate faithfulness in our homes. We find the faithful love of God in the cross of Jesus.

So much sexual sin, especially in men, is an attempt to feel alive, to counteract an emptiness or depression about daily life. If we are willing to pay attention to those underlying issues, we find that Jesus has much to offer. We find new life in the resurrection of Jesus. We find joy in the presence of Christ.

Paul wrote to a church in Corinth that was struggling in a kind of cultural captivity. So much that was ruled out in the Ten Commandments was actually commonplace in their culture. They were not even aware of what they were doing and thinking. The issue here is their participation in idol feasts, or at least their eating of food that had been sacrificed to idols. He does not begin with the "Thou Shalt Nots." He begins by helping them to identify with Israel in the wilderness. As Israel experienced God's provision of manna and water in the wilderness, so the Corinthians have experienced God's provision. But also, as Israel was very vulnerable to temptation, so were the Corinthians.

He says that as they were led by God by the cloud and pillar of fire, and as they walked through the Red Sea, they were baptized into Moses; that is, they came to identify with their leader, and gave their allegiance to him. They came to trust and follow the leader of their spiritual community. So, Paul says, the Corinthians were baptized into Christ. They had come into a fellowship in a body of believers. Now they need to live like it. Just as the Israelites received manna from God, and drank water from the rock, and in that actually experienced the presence of the pre-existent Christ nourishing them, so now the Corinthians needed to find their spiritual nourishment and their freedom, their redemption, in Christ alone. They could not continue to mix the sins of their culture with their faith. They needed to trust Christ and truly lean on him. The Israelites in the wilderness fell into the habits of complaining and grumbling and a lack of trust in God. That is the trajectory of sin. When we do not seek God in our lives and follow him, we develop a bad attitude. Nothing is ever right. We do not trust leaders. We become suspicious.

Paul says, "The wilderness is real." It is best to admit that life is hard. There are times when the ground shakes. There are times when we do not know if we will be fed. There are times when it does not seem like God's way is the best way. The wilderness is real. But in the wilderness, listen to God's Word. He desires to have a close relationship with you. If you listen to his word and obey his commands, he will lead you to the Promised Land. These are words of life.

These words will bring you to the cross, to the place where God saves us. Temptation to sin is common. There is nothing you experience that others don't. You are not unique in that sense. Temptation is common to all of us. God does not give us more temptation to sin than we can bear. He provides a way out. It is that way that leads us to Jesus, to the Savior. At the cross you will find life.

Amen.