October 3 Sermon: The Ten Commandments — Exodus 20:1-17
And God spoke all these words: “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
You shall have no other gods before me.
You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You 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 fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses God’s name.
Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work,
but 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 manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but God rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.
You shall not murder.
You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not steal.
You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.
The biblical scholar Walter Brueggemann writes: “The Ten Commandments constitute the bottom line and reference point for all Old Testament thinking about ethics.” Are these commandments your bottom line?
Which commandment do you observe the most? Which commandment do you observe the least?
Hands down, the commandment that I observe the least is keeping the Sabbath holy and as a day of rest.
My husband John and I were just talking about that in our car this morning as we were heading to our son’s soccer game in Asheville It was actually the second time in a month that we have had to miss church because of his games. One game was actually scheduled at 11 am on a Sunday morning! We were commenting on how much society had changed, and about how so many people just don’t go to church anymore. That Sundays have become just another day to so many. On one hand, we don’t want him to participate in sports on Sunday because we do feel that we should honor that day, rest, and commune with the body of believers. We recall the life story of Eric Liddell with great awe and respect and yet we also think about the lives of our family friends Mike Minter and Collin Branch. Two wonderful, godly men who glorify God in their everyday lives, who praise God openly for all the gifts and abilities they have, and who both missed a lot of church on Sundays because of their NFL careers. God gave them their abilities, and through them and their profession, many peoples lives were touched. Our old preacher said one time that if he had kids who were scheduled to play on Sundays, he would take a stance and not go. The honest truth is that we are keenly aware of what we’re signing up for at the level of play our son competes at. So, what IS the right thing to do?