03-08-25

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
March 8, 2025
In the fifth chapter of Deuteronomy, we have another version of the Ten Commandments. It begins with the words,

“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. You shall not make for yourself an idol…” (5:6-8a). 

The Ten Commandments are frequently invoked as a set of rules to impose upon individuals, particularly those whose lives do not reflect the expected behavior. Lots of religious folks act as if bringing down the image of some heavy rock tablets onto the heads of misbehaving people will change them. While threats and intimidation have occasionally been effective in altering certain behaviors, they rarely lead to genuine positive change in a person’s character. 

But here is what so many miss in regard to the words from Deuteronomy. It begins with a statement of identity, "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery…” At no point in scripture is this section or the other two versions of the Ten Commandments defined or titled, “The Ten Commandments.” Instead, we have a people remembering who they are, as the ancestors of those who were liberated from slavery by the love of God. The rest of the so-called Commandments are, in fact, the joyous response of thankful people. You remember who God is and how God acts, and you want nothing less than to align your life with certain values that God seems to celebrate. By making these beautiful ideals into rules that are used as threats or as a way of intimidating people, we misplace their power. Even more importantly, if you do not identify yourself with the God who liberated your clan from slavery, then these ideals are not for you. They are a way of living together that honors God, providing a hint of God’s beloved community, and the community’s gracious, merciful, and respectful way of living will serve as an invitation to others. It is about becoming a community that represents God’s dream and allowing that way of living to inspire others. At the end of the day, it begins with gratitude to the God who seeks to set humanity free, and only then will people choose to live differently. You can’t demand it. You can’t force it. You can’t hang rules on a wall, make people recite them, and think it is going to change anything. That’s a whole lot easier, but the God whose liberating love changed a people, forming them as a Covenant community, is simply inviting us all into a relationship where we meet that liberating love. You won’t meet liberating love by following rules, but after meeting the God of liberating love, your gratitude may change how you live.

I am thankful for you, O Lord God, who has and continues to liberate people from all kinds of  slavery and bondage, and I pray that my gratitude takes the form of a commitment to be a part of your beloved community. Your grace doesn’t impose rules; instead, it presents an entirely different way of living. Jesus demonstrated this to me, and I’m striving to emulate him. Amen.