Exodus 20.1-17; John 2.13-22
Methods to prevent a railroad accident …
A stalled train would send a crew member back a mile or two to place a torpedo on the track - an explosive devise, if an approaching train passed over it, the explosion was loud enough to warn the
Another device, the common flare or a fusee, with a steel spike … planted beside the track …
Both of these tools have been replaced by radio communication … though the flare, or fusee is still used.
For sidings, the Derailer … a cast iron device fitted to the track … if a loose rail car or two should approach the main line, the derailer derails the cars before they can hit the mainline.
Now that you know such things, no doubt, your life is enriched.
But seriously, the information came from an article entitled, “Railroading Is a Violent Business” … everything is big, heavy, and dangerous … and sometimes, things need to be stopped!
Stopped in their tracks to prevent a disaster …
Who doesn’t need to be stopped, now and then? … whoa, settle down, take a deep breath, consider who you are!
The Ten Commandments are precisely that - stop; go no further …
How do the Commandments begin?
It’s a trick question …
The Commandments begin with a statement, a declaration of freedom:
I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery … Pharaoh didn’t do it, Moses didn’t do it, no one did it but me, says God … and that’s our guarantee, a guarantee of quality, purpose, and goodness. Whatever is at foot in the days ahead, remember, says God, I have you given life, and I will see you through.
Then, the First Commandment: You shall have no other gods before me.
The Commandments are a torpedo on the track, a burning fusee, a derailer … stop, go no further …
In the wilderness that day, before a mountain shrouded in cloud and smoke, the people receive the Ten Commandments …
Behind this moment of freedom, a huge story … Let my people go … from movie makers like Cecil B. DeMille, with Charlton Heston playing Moses … to the pressing realities of a Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. … this is a story for the ages: Let my people go.
Pharaoh refuses to grant freedom, a series of plagues come upon the land …
At every plague, Pharaoh digs in his heels …
Not until the last plague, the most terrible of them all … the Angel of Death pays a late night visit to take away the first born of every family, the first born of all the livestock …
The only escape: the blood of a lamb daubed on doorposts and lintels … upon seeing the blood of a lamb, the Angel of Death will pass over that home.
Passover …
To this very day, all around the world, Jews celebrate Passover!
Pharaoh calls Moses in the middle of the night and tells him to get out with his people - take anything you want, just get outta here, leave me alone; leave my people alone, and if you can, bring me a blessing.
The people leave Egypt … on their way, before the Sea, a dust cloud behind them … Pharaoh is hot on their heels, to take them back - Pharaoh doesn’t give up … he’s a powerful man, with untold wealth, and he’s going to take back the people.
You know the story … the waters of the sea are parted … Moses and the people walk through the waters on dry land … on the other side, they watch as Pharaoh’s army plunges into the gap, in hot pursuit, but the parted waters collapse, Pharaoh’s army is lost - every bit of it swept away in the waters of the Sea.
Free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty, free at last …
God says to the People, My mighty arm has set you free … and I invite you to celebrate your freedom, keep your freedom, share your freedom, every day of your life:
- You shall have no other gods before[ me.
2. You shall not make for yourself an idol.
3. You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God.
4. Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.
5. Honor your father and your mother.
6. You shall not murder.
7. You shall not commit adultery.
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
10. You shall not covet.
The Commandments are not impossible … they hold us accountable to the soul of life -
the vertical dimension, our relationship to the universe, to the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth, the final reality of all that is, and all that shall ever be … the moral arc of the universe … the ground of our being … the soul’s ultimate concern, the soul’s hunger for meaning and purpose.
the horizontal dimension, our relationship to the here and now, our neighbor, our parents, our spouses, homes and family, our communities and the day-to-day stuff of life … fairness and honesty, kindness and decency … justice and liberty …
The Commandments lack detail … we work them out like a piece of clay, to fit our time, our place, our circumstances.
We observe, judge, weigh up, decide and act … we examine our motives, the prospects, the value and purpose of our action … some things are very clear … other things murky …
There’s wiggle room in The Commandments … because God respects our intelligence, and expects some failure.
Maybe we’d like a little more information to feel safe -
An aside here: this is the temptation to autocracy, when people are tempted to go with a dictator, political or spiritual, when people cry out for “law and order,” safety and security … a would-be dictator says, “I’ll fix everything! I have all the answers!” …
Michelle Obama said it well: “The unknown is where possibility glitters.”
Our safety is found, not with a heavy-handed politician or religious leader, but in the very heart of God … our safety is found within our own determination to live well, love much, be brave and kind, put up with our mistakes, of which there’ll be plenty, and be tolerant of one another.
When God gives The Commandments, God says to us, I trust you …
When we take up The Commandments, we say to God, I trust you …
God deals with us like we deal with our very best friend … a compliment when something is well done … and when it isn’t, counsel and correction, patience and kindness.
I trust you, says God … and we reply with heart and mind, We trust you, O God … We trust you with all that we are, and all that we hope to be.
I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery … have no other gods before me.
Hallelujah and Amen!
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