Our Sermons

Bible Passage: Exodus 20:1-17
Pastor: Pastor Schlicht
Sermon Date: March 4, 2018

Have you ever noticed how two people can listen to the exact same words, but hear them altogether differently? A teacher says “You won’t be able to pass the test by only studying the night before.” but the student hears it and thinks “Challenge accepted.” The girl says “I think we should just be friends” and the boy hears “There’s still a chance!” A president says, “Make America Great Again!” but many hear something else. The same words are used but there are 2 different points of view on the message.

The same thing often happens when people talk about the Ten Commandments. Some see them as onerous burdens, which limit freedom and happiness, while others see them as the vital foundation of peace and harmony. Some hear God’s wise and loving statues, while others barely listen to what they perceive to be relics of an outdated religion. Why such a disparity in these viewpoints? After all, it’s the same 10 commands. What if I were to tell you that the difference was nothing less than freedom itself? There’s really only two viewpoints when it comes to understanding the 10 commandments: freedom or slavery.

Although we might usually think of them as a numbered list, there is a bigger purpose here than an inventory of do’s and don’ts. In fact, the Ten Commandments do not begin with a command, but a statement of grace. Exodus 20:2 says “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.” It must have been amazing to hear it. God had led his people out of Egypt with powerful plagues and a parted Red Sea. He had led them as a pillar of cloud by day and watched over them as a pillar of fire by night. They had come through the land of Rephadim and all the way across the desert to the foot of Mt. Sinai. There over two million people, that gigantic gathering of former slaves saw the mountain quake with fire and smoke. The earth shook and the Lord himself began to speak to them. And the first words that come out of the Lord’s mouth are not condemnation, not even a command, but “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.”  The God who gave the 10 Commandments presents himself as a God who first and foremost majors in freedom. Did you know that in many Jewish traditions verse 2 is counted as the first commandment? Which is interesting because, again, it is not a command. But it is a great place to start. Because from this beginning statement, from this declaration of God’s power to free his people, flow all the other commandments. What I’m saying is, God wants his Ten Commandments to be viewed through the lens of freedom.

Now, for people like us, living in a culture of extreme individualism, it might seem counterintuitive that a list of commands could have anything to do with freedom. Just ask your kid who wants more screen time. But it isn’t just an individualistic culture, it’s also because of our sinful nature. The sinful nature is selfish; it wants to be in control. It wants to be the legislative authority in our lives. So naturally, any commands will feel imposing. And certainly then, this leads to a negative view of the 10 Commandments.

When we view them through the eyes of our sinful flesh, we feel see nothing but imposing and burdensome commands. However wise and loving, we will not like them and we will certainly not be able to keep them correctly. As Paul writes in Romans 8:7 “The sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to his will, nor can it do so.” According to our sinful self, we are not free to follow God’s commandments. This is the viewpoint of slavery!

And it is so ironic because when we think that God is taking away our freedom, we are really caught in the chains of our sinful nature. The Devil whispers to us saying that God wants to keep us chained down and restricted from happiness, but in reality, he is luring us into the slavery of sin.

But thankfully our God is a God who excels in freedom. What did he say?  “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.” Freedom was God’s power for the Israelites and freedom is God’s goal for us as well, always and forever. That’s why he sent his Son. Jesus came to set us free! He died so that we could free from self-centered thinking, free from an incorrect view of God, free from the slave driver of sin itself! If you still view the Ten Commandments as a moral guide to pleasing a strict God, then rub your eyes and look a little closer. You’ll see that the one who gave these commands is our God who frees his people. Both in the Exodus and at the Cross, our God has set his people free. Free to serve him, free to say “no” to sin, and free to live with him in heaven. As John says, “If the Son sets you free, then you will be free indeed (John 8:36).”

This is the lense we need to use when viewing the 10 Commandments. Through faith, the ten commandments are a protective code of freedom. They categorize all the representative ways that you and I go about falling back into our preferred sorts of slaveries. “You want to make an idol out of an image of bird or snake or tree or pole or money or fame or pleasure?” Our God says “You shall not have any other gods,” because he is the only God who can bring you out of sin’s slavery. The rest are just the devil with a mask on. “Do you sometimes take the name of your Lord in vain?” God will have none of that because his name isn’t an interjection, it is the name which frees people, and as such a name to be respected and protected! “How about a little adultery, just a little pornography?” Our sinful nature asks. God responds saying, “No, it will enslave you, body and mind. You shall not commit adultery! “Do you feel tempted to hate someone, give them a bad name, or envy them? Our God says “You shall not” for those selfish, sinful actions are the chains from which he already set you free. Our God is a God who loves to set his people free. Every one of his commands is a call to freedom, for us and for our neighbors.

That’s the other part of the ten commandments that needs to be emphasized. Once you step outside of sinful viewpoint, you’ll see right away that the Ten Commandments are really the Laws’ echo of God’s gospel of love for all people. And we already see that in the way he first delivered them, some 3,500 years ago. To begin with, God speaks to all of the Israelites at Mount Sinai, over two million people were gathered there at the foot of the mountain. He wanted everyone to be involved. The Israelites, as a whole, were to help create and maintain justice in their society. The Ten Commandments and really the whole covenant at Sinai, outline a social and moral vision of an alternative community, set apart as God’s holy people. God freed his people and gave them 10 commandments to teach them how to live in their freedom.

The Ten Commandments then do not dictate an individual or private moralism; they aren’t meant for personal piety. They are given to show us how to love others. As we learn in Martin Luther’s small catechism, the first three commandments establish the relationship between us and God, but 4-10 speak to social relationships. It is a blessing to you that God gave his Ten Commandments to your neighbor. And it is a blessing to your neighbor that you have been given the Ten Commandments as well.

My friends, I think that we as Christians need to think seriously about what the Ten Commandments really are. They are a code of freedom. And we must be careful not to rip them out of the context of sacred history. The story of God’s redeeming grace in Christ must always be our viewpoint. God grant it for Jesus’ sake.

Amen.