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A GIFT THAT FOCUSES
OUR ALLEGIANCE
~Exodus 20:1-17~
In-person service at
Second Baptist Church
2412 Griffith Ave.
Los Angeles
William S. Epps, Senior Pastor
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The Ten Commandments
1And God spoke all these words: 2“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 3“You shall have no other gods before[a] me. 4“You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments. 7“You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name. 8“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. 12“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you. 13“You shall not murder. 14“You shall not commit adultery. 15“You shall not steal. 16“You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. 17“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
Exodus 20:1-17 NIV (New International Version)
Introduction
This is the third Sunday in Lent. Lent is the third season of the Christian Calendar Year following Advent and Epiphany. The first season is Advent the coming of the Lord into our lives with an example of what it means to be a child of the Lord, the creator made in God’s image and fashioned in the Lord’s likeness. The second if Epiphany, an awareness of the reality of the Lord’s presence in Christ. Lent, the third season is where you are tempted to determine whether your allegiance is to the Lord or something or someone other than the Lord. We follow the example of Jesus who was tempted in his appetite, ambition and allegiance. That is our life’s challenge making decisions about what we are fed, our appetite; making decisions about that for which we strive, our ambition and finally to whom or what we give our ultimate allegiance.
Lent as we know it today didn’t exist in the early years of the church, and it only came to be thanks to growing acceptance of Christianity toward the end of the Roman Empire. Early Christians practiced different forms of preparation leading up to Easter, a holiday that commemorates Jesus’s death and resurrection and which has been observed since at least the second century. This period of preparation served to remind Christians of what God has done for humanity in the life, teachings, death and resurrection of Jesus.
In its beginning the Roman empire viewed Christianity as a threat and treated Christians with hostility. Followers of Jesus observed their faith in secret, which led to the formation of a wide range of practices for Lent and other traditions of the church. That changed in 312 when the Roman Emperor Constantine I signed the Edict of Milan, which officially ensured religious tolerance for Christians. Constantine himself would later convert to Christianity. “Now Christians could come out from underground.” The Council of Nicaea, the first ecumenical council of the church, took place in 325 and further catapulted Christianity into mainstream life. For the first time Christians could openly discuss their practices and implement new, lasting traditions.
Lent, the 40-day Christian season is reminiscent of the 40 days of Noah and the flood; the 40 days Moses was on Sinai receiving the ten commandments; the 40 years of the Israelites' wilderness journey; and Jesus' 40 days being tempted by the devil. Jesus' record of being tempted in the wilderness for 40 days reminds us of the temptation we all experience. Jesus was tempted in His appetite, ambition and allegiance to God as we are tempted.
Consider what it means to practice Lent by realigning our appetite,
reconsidering our ambition and reprioritizing our allegiances.
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The scripture from the Old Testament for today is found in the book of Exodus chapter 20:1-17. This is that portion of the scripture when Moses was on Mount Sinai. It has been recorded that Moses received the commandments on Mount Sinai near where he experienced the presence of the Lord in the burning bush some six years earlier (Exodus 3:1). When God spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, Moses received some words which are guidelines by which the Israelites could live their lives in a way that is pleasing to God. We all live our lives pleasing whether it is our selfish desires and pleasures (our appetite) or that which drives us to fulfill what we want in life (our ambition), or that which claims our loyalty (our allegiance).
Bear in mind, the children of Israel had been in bondage in Egypt for 430 years. It is interesting to note that after the Lord assured Moses (about seeing the affliction, hearing the cries, and knowing the sorrow of the children of Israel) each time that Moses spoke to Pharaoh about letting God’s people go, there is a recurring theme.
In Exodus 4:23, Moses said the Lord says, let my son go, that he may serve me.
In Exodus 5:1, Moses said God says, let my people go that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness. The next six times in Exodus 7:16, 8:1, 20, 9:1, 13, and 10:3, Moses says to Pharaoh, God said let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness.
The recurring theme is that the Lord freed the people to serve the Lord. You see, the Lord wanted those who belong to him to focus their adoration, devotion, faith, gratitude, praise, reverence and worship in the right direction and to the proper source. The Lord has freed you to belong to the Lord and you depict that belonging by having no other gods, by making no graven images and bowing down to them, by not using the name of the Lord in a profane manner and by keeping the Sabbath day holy. These are signs that you are God’s people. And also the way you live out your relationship with the Lord is the way you treat your relationship with one another.
Consider what it means that the ten commandments (Decalogue) are a
gift from the Lord to focus our adoration, devotion, faith, gratitude, praise, reverence and worship, (the basic components of all our lives).
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The Israelites are miraculously liberated from their captivity and led into the wilderness. It is there in the wilderness that they learn to depend on the Lord and trust the Lord. Now Moses goes to Mount Sinai to receive how God’s people will serve and worship the Lord who freed them.
Walter Brueggemann, in his book Prophetic Imagination shares how God had done something completely new during the Exodus through the prophet Moses. Obviously Moses had certainly expected the end of captivity and the freedom of his people. In that sense he was working against the empire ruled by Pharaoh. Brueggemann asserts that Moses also intended the formation of a new community which would be centered on God’s freedom, justice and compassion. Moses directed his efforts toward a whole new social reality which rejected the practices of oppression and exploitation characterized by Pharaoh. Moses led a movement not simply aimed at the release of the captive but of a whole new social order.
Moses’ tactics included both criticism and energizing. Criticism should not be seen as akin to whining and complaining, but the critique he advocates is a robust public expression of the grief of a people who suffer oppression. The cries of the people constitute the complaint which is aimed more toward YHWH than toward the imperial ruler and has a dismantling effect on the empire. (i.e. “how long will you let this go on…). The energizing message envisions a new reality that does not yet exist. It is called into being through the freedom of God. Energizing names the new reality and provides a narrative which allows the community to imagine this new possible future.
Consider what it means to express your grief of the oppression that occurs
and then become energized to imagine and implement a new future.
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The Lord realigns your allegiances
2I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 3Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 4Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
The Lord reminds the children of Israel who God is and who God has been for them. “I am the Lord your God. I brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage (v.2).” Remembering who God is and who God has been for, to and with you is the place to begin. That makes you God’s people who act, behave and live so that your lives honor and respect the Lord to whom you belong.
Individuals develop allegiances of all sorts, whether familial, politically or socially motivated. We all have allegiance of some kind. The process of socialization has people aligning themselves to social groups, such as family, school, clubs, political parties and you name it. We align ourselves with labels that identify what we believe and how we think (liberals, conservatives, moderates, reactionaries, traditionalists and you name it).
Moses reminds us with what he received on Sinai that those who are freed by God are freed to have their allegiance to the God who freed them. You are a new community centered on God’s freedom, justice and righteousness. You are a whole new social reality which rejects the practices of oppression and exploitation characterized by Pharaoh. “But ye are an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, that ye may show forth the excellences of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:” 1 Peter 2:9.
Allegiance belongs to the Lord because of what the Lord had revealed about the Lord’s presence in their lives. The Lord liberated them from bondage, captivity and oppression. The Lord led them through the wilderness making provisions available to sustain them. The Lord provided direction on their journey through the uncertain terrain and dangers of the wilderness, with the protection they required and the resources they desired.
Consider what it means that the Lord realigns our
allegiances putting the Lord first.
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Reconsider your commitments
5Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; 6And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.7Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
Your commitment aligns with your allegiance. With all of the voices vying for your commitment you have to decide which ones get your attention and command your choice. Circumstance give us an opportunity to reconsider our commitments. On a personal level the pandemic made us aware of what is really important in life. We have been put in a position of missing so much that we have previously taken for granted. Some lost loved ones and were unable to have a proper opportunity to come to closure. Our societal norms have all been altered. The escalating social unrest and conflict coupled with the bitter divisiveness politically and socially, continues to make an already pejorative predicament worse.
Stanley M. Hauerwas and William H. Willimon, in their book, “The Truth About God, The Ten Commandments in Christian Life” make the observation that, “we cannot understand the ten commandments, the Decalogue (“Ten Words”) apart from the worship of the true God":
“The Ten Commandments are meant for those who are known by the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the God of Jesus Christ. The commandments are a way we learn to worship the true God truthfully, not the way we make American democratic pluralism work (p. 14).”
“We live by the Ten Commandments as a way of worshipping the true God. When we thus worship the true God, we show the world the sort of people the Lord is able to produce. Our little lives are caught up in the great purposes of God for the world. We become commandeered for purposes beyond ourselves. (p. 17)”
The commandments are a gift from the Lord that focuses our faith. Faith without the proper focus can misguide, misrepresent and can most assuredly be abused and misused creating behavior that is horrific, immoral, and selfishly destructive. So the Lord gave Moses what would become a standard for focusing on the true God who has freed you to worship Him.
Consider what it means to reconsider your commitments in light
of your allegiance to the Lord.
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Reorder your priorities
8Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 10But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: 11For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
You see what you are fed feeds your appetite for how you act, choose and decide what you do. Time needs to be set aside to be nourished and nurtured in an authentic biblical understanding of the practice of the Judeo-Christian Faith.
Jesus is the consummate expression of what God is like and the expression of what we are to be like with one another in relationship. The beginning verses of the Decalogue cite our obligation to God which finds expression in our relationship with one another.
12“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you. (Family solidarity is important therefore honor and respect for those who are the progenitors of life is commanded. Respect is a feature that is required for the establishment of a quality relationship).
13“You shall not murder. (Life is a precious commodity given by a loving creator. It is our privilege to have been given the opportunity to have a place in time and space. Each life is valuable and worthwhile. You cannot take what you cannot give or destroy what you did not create.
14“You shall not be unfaithful. (Exercising control, imposing restraints, and setting limits are required to be faithful. Infidelity breaches commitments and diminishes connections as it ruptures relationships and fractures friendships. Be faithful to your commitments as God is faithful to you).
15“You shall not steal. (Taking what does not belong to you is not acceptable. Robbing people is forbidden, whether breaking and entering, taking advantage of people in any way shape form or fashion).
16“You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. (Our inability to speak truthfully with each other has everything to do with our inability to speak truthfully with God).
17“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” (Covet, greed, envy, jealousy are all synonymous. They all deal with desire which is contagious. Containing our desires is what is suggested, without coveting your neighbor’s house or anything that is your neighbor’s).
Consider what it means to reorder your priorities by setting aside the time
to be nourished and nurtured by the word of the Lord and to let
that word find you practicing it in your relationships.
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Conclusion
Jesus, when he was asked about the greatest commandment, responded that
the first is to love the Lord with all of your heart, mind, soul and strength and the second is like to it, love you neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” (Matthew 22:36). In relation to our relationships, Jesus reduced it even further saying what we call the golden rule, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” In other words, treat everyone like you want to be treated.” (Matthew 7:12 and Luke 6:31)
Receive the gift of the commandments as a way of focusing your adoration, devotion, faith, gratitude, praise, reverence and worship toward God. Your faithfulness to God is found in your expression of being faithful to one another.
Consider what it means that your faithfulness to God is reflected
in your faithfulness to one another.
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