THE LAWS OF GOD

Dr. Richard J. Henderson March 23, 2003

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John 2: 13-22
Exodus 20:1-17

Introduction

The Ten Commandments have been in the news quite a bit lately. There is a movement to post the commandments in schools, courthouses, and other public and government buildings.

For some people it is important to post these commandments where everyone can see them. Others say that doing this is a way of saying only the rules of Jews and Christians apply in this land, and that religions that don't include these ten laws will be left out.

For myself, I wonder if there is more interest in posting the Ten Commandments than in practicing them. If all of us who believe in the Ten Commandments worked as hard at keeping them as some people do at publicizing them the world would be a changed place.

I

Anyone who knows the Ten Commandments knows that they are direct, straightforward and terse. Let's face it, they're blunt. These laws that God gave us are not ten suggestions from God. They aren't ten helpful hints for daily living. They are commandments. They are laws, orders, rules and mandates.

Their approach is not, "You might want to try avoiding taking things that don't belong to you", it is "You shall not steal." This goes against the way we look at things. We see issues as depending on circumstances. So, if you tell a lie, that is wrong. But if you lie to someone about where you are going because you are taking him to a surprise birthday party, that's OK. If you lie to someone about where your husband is because you know he wants to hurt him, that is acceptable. So many of our decisions depend on the context; so many are affected by the situation in which they happen.

But here God gives us commandments. They are short, to the point and emphatic. They don't argue their case. They don't try to reason their point of view. They are just flatly stated - Don't kill. Don't steal. They are ten foundational laws for living as God's people.

These laws are part of our covenant with God. The context of God giving these laws is that God is forming a covenant with his people. These rules are part of the agreement between God and us. God promises to be our God, we pledge to keep God's laws.

This covenant is a promise, an agreement between two parties. Each one promises to give something, and each one will receive from it. It is a binding and solemn agreement. So when we take God as our God, we accept these laws as binding on ourselves. These are God's laws. If we are God's people, then these are our laws.

II

The people of Israel understood that these were the only commandments given to them directly from God. These laws came from God directly to Moses. They are succinct - all ten held on two tablets of stone - and given directly to Moses.

Because they are so short it didn't take long before people started interpreting them, applying them to everyday situations and explaining what they meant in different situations. They began to make them conditional. In the book that follows Exodus we get intricate rules and regulations from these Ten Commandments. Deuteronomy means literally, the "second law." Not satisfied with the terseness of the laws God gave us, religious leaders began to interpret, apply and adapt them. So later interpretations of the law explain, for example, how far you can walk on the Sabbath day before it is considered working.

III

Look at the situation in which God gives these commandments. The people of Israel have just been liberated from their slavery in Egypt and they are traveling to the Promised Land. God makes his covenant with them, and gives them these laws, as God is setting them free. In the act of liberation God gives them the rules for their life with God and their living with each other.

Look at the first commandment "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me." God sets them free, and then gives them the laws that will help them live at peace with God and each other. To remain free and at peace, these are the laws to live by.

IV

One of the laws God gives them is, "You shall not kill." In order to live in peace with one another, we cannot kill each other. It's pretty clear isn't it? Do not kill. And yet the chisel marks were still fresh on the tablets when people began adapting this rule. "Don't kill unless it's self-defense." "Don't kill your fellow countrymen, but enemies are OK to kill." "Don't kill unless you catch someone cheating on you."

Listen to this passage in Exodus 31:14 (just eleven chapter's later in Exodus): "You shall keep the Sabbath, because it is holy for you; everyone who profanes it shall be put to death." They wanted to enforce the fourth commandment by breaking the sixth!

V

We continue the same process today. We find exceptions for keeping the commandments - especially the one about killing. For years it was assumed to be the most simple-minded form of naiveté to believe that extremely difficult injustices could be resolved without resorting to violence. It still is mocked today, even though people should know better.

To believe that people could face ruthless evil, and overcome it without being violent themselves is thought to be childishly romantic. Several years ago one of our generals was testifying before the Senate and made the commented that, when you are dealing with harsh enemies you don't want Mother Teresa doing your negotiations. There was a chuckle from the gallery.

The person who related this account to me commented, "Maybe we should try her. She certainly couldn't do any worse than our experts."

The natural understanding has been that you can't send in love in the face of hatred, you have to send more hatred. You can't respond to violence with non-violence, you have to respond with greater violence.

That was the accepted truth in modern world until a short, thin Indian man, who knew the teachings of Jesus very well, toppled the British occupation of India without ever killing a soul. He set a whole nation of people free, and never took one life.

Following him was a young, African-American minister in Montgomery, Alabama, who led one of the most dramatic revolutions in history without ever taking anyone's life. Martin Luther King, Jr. overcame the president, the congress, and numerous state governments - he got laws changed and set people free - and the whole time did not kill one person.

We thought the only way to beat violence was with more extreme violence. We have been proven wrong. Some deeply committed people have shown us not to face violence with more violence, but to face force with a greater force.

Conclusion

God said to us, "You shall not kill." I may be wrong, but I think God really meant it. When you have people yearning for freedom behind you, when you have the power of truth behind you, when you have the power of God behind you, when you are willing to give your own life for what you believe in, but not to take the life of another, you don't have to break the laws of God.

When people are radically committed to non-violence they can change the world, and not kill anyone in the process.

Amen.

©Richard J. Henderson 2003