Stone Foundations & Glass Houses

A sermon based on Exodus 20:1-20 and Psalm 19
by Rev. Randy Quinn

There are those who claim that the Ten Commandments should be posted in the courthouses throughout our country. They claim the Commandments are the foundation upon which our legal system is based, and therefore have an inherent historical value to them.

Some of you may believe that as well.

I don't.

I don't for two separate reasons.

First of all, the Ten Commandments are not a historical document. To suggest that any part of scripture is relegated to history is to suggest that God no longer speaks through it – and I don't believe that. I believe that scripture – all of scripture – is a living document in which and through which God still speaks to us. I refuse to consider it an historical document.

Not only that, I don't believe our legal system is based on the Ten Commandments. It may be based on the last six commandments, it may be based on the Rabbinic tradition of using case law to interpret the original document, but our legal system overlooks the most important aspects of the Commandments – our legal system overlooks the fact that the Ten Commandments are part of an on-going relationship between God and the people of God.

In fact, I tend to agree with those who believe there really is only one commandment, the "preface" to the Ten Commandments: "I am the Lord your God" (Ex 20:2; Dt 5:6). Everything after that is commentary. The Ten Commandments that follow this "preface" simply describe what it means to accept God as Lord of our lives.

In that understanding, the Ten Commandments really are the foundation upon which our lives are to be built. They are the cornerstones of our faith as they define the boundaries of our relationship with God.

Several years ago, when I was assigned as the Chaplain to a Marine Corps Reserve unit, I saw a modern parallel to that. There was a new Commandant of the Marine Corps that year, and one of the first things he did was to speak to his staff about his expectations – for them and for all Marines. The speech was video-taped and sent to Marines around the world.

It wasn't stated, but it was implied that we would all find time to watch this particular video.

Now, I've seen military training films before. Some are worse than others, but few are so interesting that we don't want to miss a minute of them (sarcasm is intended to be heard here).

This was the worst film I've ever seen. The camera operator must have been a rookie. It was poorly edited. The sound track was difficult to follow at times. I was not surprised to see a few heads bobbing up and down as the General's speech went on and on – sometimes touching on subjects that were so particularly related to his office staff that it was difficult to apply it to our own circumstances.

That all changed when the unit Commanding Officer screamed at one Marine who had walked to the back of the room to stand for the rest of video.

It was – and is – a commonly accepted option for military personnel in training sessions to stand up rather than fall asleep. In fact, I did that yesterday during a Reserve training session. What was surprising was to have the CO chew him out for trying to stay awake.

So later that day I asked the CO about the event. "I don't care how bad the video is," he said, "this is the Commandant of the Marine Corps. What he says is important for us to hear, so important that our attention should not be taken away from the video by anything, not even sleep."

I had forgotten about the essential part of being a Marine – discipline and order. If a senior Marine is speaking to you, you listen. If a senior Marine tells you to jump, you jump. You don't question authority. You act.

And when the Commandant of the Marine Corps – a four star general who is the most senior of all Marines – speaks, you pay attention with every fiber of your being.

It's that kind of total devotion that God is demanding. "I am the Lord your God." And that means you will not have other gods. You will not create graven images of those gods. You won't use God's name in vain. You will keep the Sabbath. You will honor your parents. You will not murder, commit adultery, steal, or lie. Nor will you desire things that are not your own.

All because "I am the Lord your God."

Curiously, all of the commandments are stated in the second person singular. Either God is speaking to Israel in a poetic form that includes all descendents of Jacob or God is speaking to each individual Israelite – and by inference each person of faith who is a spiritual descendent of Jacob.

These Commandments are about the unique relationship God has with each of us – God's desire and God's claim to be our God and our response to that claim. They were carved in stone, but they really serve as a stone foundation upon which our lives are to be built (not our legal system).

The temptation, however, is to tell someone else how to build their lives with them rather than building our own. The temptation is to look around and see how and where others have violated the Commandments rather than using them to examine our own lives.

That's what Jesus is suggesting when he says, ""Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?" (Mt 7:3). All-too-often, we prefer to use the stone commandments to throw at others, rather than use them as the foundation of our lives, all the while forgetting that we live in glass houses.

God gives us the Commandments as a gift intended to enhance our lives.

They are not to be used as weapons of destruction.

That should be evident since we cannot always determine if someone else is meeting the requirements of the Ten Commandments.

How do you know if I have been worshipping another God or not?

How do you know if I have been honoring my parents?

How can you determine if I have been coveting things that do not belong to me?

You can't know. The Ten Commandments are given as a tool for me to examine my own heart, to see if there is any fault within me and to test whether or not I have been faithful in my relationship with God. They are given in the second person singular, not third person singular.

In that sense, the Law is a gift, a gift that brings life and brings joy to life.

If we have failed to understand the pleasure the Commandments are intended to bring us, perhaps we need to hear it from the perspective of the Psalmist:

The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul.

The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple.

The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart.

The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes.

The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever.

The ordinances of the LORD are sure and altogether righteous.

They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold;

they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb.

By them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.

Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults.

Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me.

Then will I be blameless, innocent of great transgression.

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart

be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.

Psalm 19:7-14 (NIV)

There is no sense in the Psalm that the Law or the Commandments are to be used as a tool for judging others. They are given as a gift to provide joy and richness to the recipient as we use them to judge our own actions and allow God to use them to reveal our hidden faults.

They are the foundation upon which we build our glass houses. We cannot afford to throw them at others without the risk of breaking our own windows and destroying the foundation of our own lives.

God has given us the Ten Commandments as a gift.

Thanks be to God.

Amen.