The Final Commandments
Exodus 20:14-21
You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor. 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.
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We've come to the end of our series on the Ten Commandments. Of course, we could have continued for another four weeks. However, it seemed right to end our study of the Ten Commandments with a look at the final four commandments; commandments that hammer home three essential components of what it means for us to live in a community: trust/ assurance, truth, and desire. Assuming we understand the importance of our relationship to God and ourselves, holy rest, and life that come from the previous commandments, the final four commandments round out our understanding of communal living. It's a lot to process, and one might ask themselves, "How do I faithfully live out the Ten Commandments?"
Previously I've mentioned that the Ten Commandments are not a limiter or a set of prohibitions. Instead, the Ten Commandments are a set of guides that show us what could be if we only set aside our pride and selfishness. Adultery, lying, stealing, and coveting, are only four restrictions that reveal a much broader world view of how we can do and live better in accordance with the heart of God if we focus our positive energies. What these final four commandments do is take us outside of our individual spheres and show us how our actions impact the people around us. At the time, we may think our self-interest outweighs the needs of others, but God reminds us today that such deeds lead to nothing but hurt and disappointment.
I typically avoid talking about things that do not fall within my realm of knowledge, so as we look at the Seventh Commandment (you shall not commit adultery), I'll stick to what I know, which is trust. Trust can also apply to the Eighth Commandment (you shall not steal). These commandments show us what a privilege it is when we can trust someone, and what pain can arise if we take the trust for granted or misuse it to gratify ourselves. Trust is an essential piece of living together and one that sadly is overcome by ill intent. Again God presents us with an example of everything else that is possible when we uphold the trust others have placed in us and honor it as a life-giving fit.
The same is also true for the Ninth Commandment (you shall not bear false witness). Truth is a critical component to any group of individuals. However, the truth can be twisted and mangled to the point where the guilty party can manipulate others. To live out this commandment faithfully means that sometimes, actually we always should, we need to call out falsehoods that could endanger the community or perpetuate dangerous narratives. When we corrupt truth or fail to call out corrupted truth, we fail to uphold the Ninth Commandment. Truth that has been turned to self-preservation or tools of abuse of power have no place in God’s kin(g)dom.
And of course, we can't forget the Tenth Commandment (you shall not covet). What does it mean to covet? It's a little more than longing for something else. It's a type of avarice or greed that fuels a desire to take destructively. We should be clear in saying that there is a difference between setting goals for yourself, because you aspire to reach a certain point or model someone else, and sinking deep into a state of wanton madness because you won't be happy until you have what other people possess. That kind of mentality is what leads to a path of despair, the mentality of only caring about ourselves.
The opposite of such hurt and disappointment comes out of our obedience to God's will for our lives. A healthy community that counteracts such things begins with an understanding of the divine or the universal truths, then turns to an understanding of the self, and then takes us into the wider realm of interacting with people who are grappling with the same issues that plague our lives. It makes sense, doesn't it? How can we live with one another and live in harmony if we let fear take root, distrust each other, express greed, and let hate prevail? The mending and caring for relationships is vital to countering the hurt and disappointment inflicted by our selfish desires. The Ten Commandments take it as far as to say that we should even be concerned about the microaggressions we initiate because it may lead to something more down the line.
Of course, as we look at the final commandments, we are not going around every day committing acts of adultery, stealing, bearing false witness, or coveting our neighbor's property. Yet how many times have we engaged in variations of these acts in our daily lives? There are ways that we can cause harm in relationships, even if we don't act on adulterous feelings. There are ways that we can steal and bear false witness, and ways in which we can covet in an unhealthy manner. There has to be a driving force behind these temptations that cause us to break the sacred bonds of the community. There has to be something that makes it difficult to faithfully live out the Ten Commandments, and I believe that the answer lies in the question of, "What if?"
"What if?" is one of those questions that come back to haunt us if we aren't careful. It very well may cause us to act selfishly and in our self-interest. I mean, we aren't sure what is going to happen next or even worse, don't care, then why does it matter what I or you do? That is what this question of “What if?” asks. And this question is especially dangerous when we consider the impact it has on the final four commandments. Not only is a question that we use to justify our wayward actions, but it is also a question we use to try and put God into a box. I know it sounds crazy, but that is what a tenacious sense of self does, and it is exactly what the final four commandments are warning us to avoid!
An American Trappist monk by the name of Thomas Merton once said, "Our idea of God tells us more about ourselves than about God." (Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation, 15) Something extra for us to chew on this morning, and it speaks to how we justify our actions and desires even when we know they will damage the people we love, the community we belong to, and our relationship with God. We cannot contain God with our question of, "What if?" and we cannot try to limit God or make God in our image by conducting ourselves outside the life-giving pathway God has set in front of us. God cares for us every one of us, and God cares about who we have invited to the table and those whom we have pushed aside with our words and actions or displays of intolerance.
The good news is that we do not have to be afraid. As Moses tells the people, God only desires what is good for our lives. God wills that we avoid a life of sin so that instead, our lives may be a true reflection of the heart of God. There is grace to be found, and there is more than enough for each of us. We should walk away from our time with the Ten Commandments with a deeper appreciation of what it takes to live in the complex systems that make up our daily lives. And as we've seen, it takes a lot of blood, sweat, and effort to keep us on track. So may we all continue to contribute to the ways of life God has modeled for us, as we maintain, grow, and cultivate this sacred sense of love for God and one another. Amen.