The Ten Commandments
Some years ago, the Rev. Dr. Laurence A. Gipson, third Rector of St. Martin’s, gave a sermon on The Ten Commandments. He began by saying, “In 1623, in London, England, the printing firm of Baker and Lukas printed a new edition of the Holy Bible. In the seventh Commandment, they left out the little word, ‘not,’ so that in this Bible, the seventh Commandment read, ‘Thou shalt commit adultery.’ The High Commissioners of the English church fined Baker and Lukas a very large sum of money, and recalled all the editions of the Bible to burn them, but the English people did not want to give them up.” (As you can imagine)!
As we are aware, for the last 20 years or so, there has been much debate over the rightful place of the Ten Commandments in the public square. Should they be displayed in county courthouses across the nation? Should they be displayed on lawns of public buildings like our state capitol in Austin? These are important questions about the rightful place of the Ten Commandments in our public life. Yet, even more important is the question of the purpose of the commandments in your life and mine.
The purpose of the Ten Commandments, Dr. Gipson said, is to guide us to Christian maturity. When we keep these commandments, we are doing God’s will. We are becoming more what God created us to be. When we live by these commandments, our minds and characters are transformed to be more like Jesus. That is what Christian maturity is.
In a Gallup poll taken some 20 years ago, 85 percent of people in America believed the Ten Commandments applied to them. Yet, less than 30 percent of Americans could name even five of the commandments. To keep them you must know them. You also must know what they mean. On page 847 in "The Book of Common Prayer," in the “Outline of the Faith,” there is a brief description of the meaning of every commandment. You and I need to know the Commandments, and we need to learn them, to live them.
