The Gallup organization regularly conducts polls to
determine the religious beliefs and practices of modern
Americans. Despite new attitudes about morality, fluctuations in
church membership, higher levels of education, and so on, there
have been remarkably few changes in responses in recent years.
The polls generally show that about 95% of us believe in a God of
some sort. People may call God by different names, if indeed
they believe that God is callable at all, but they do believe
that a God exists. In reference to our lesson, over 80% of
America believes that the Ten Commandments are still valid for
today. Terrific. But of that 80+%, less than half can name even
five of them. Even those folks who insist on engraving them on
everything from coffee cups to court houses because they know
(and we should) that this will somehow straighten out all the
drug dealers, serial killers, pornographers and pedophiles out
there.
Sounds like the Ten Commandments are in trouble. Not
really. And the reason they are not is that the Ten Commandments
are the bedrock of justice. God did not pass these on to Moses
as a way to keep us in line; rather, these words were a gracious
gift to help us get along together in healthy society.
John Killinger tells a story about a village that, through
one tragedy after another, had land mines planted everywhere.
One night, one of the elders had a dream that showed where they
were all located. He drew a map that showed the villagers where
not to go. They cherished it and memorized it. That map is like
the 10 Commandments...they tell us what to avoid...those actions,
attitudes that would blow us and our world apart. (1)
So saying, a good deal of misunderstanding has burdened the
interpretation of the Decalogue. It starts with this word
Commandment - we do not like to be "commanded." But if we go
back to the very beginning of the text, we find God saying, "I am
the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land
of slavery." God does not start by giving the Israelites rules.
"I AM" starts by loving them, by freeing them from slavery and
getting them out of Egypt. Then and only then can the Israelites
know that this God deserves to be listened to. This God is on
their side and is helping them find the good life. (2) These are
not LAWS - they have no penalties attached for breaking them. In
the Hebrew Bible, they are known simply as the TEN WORDS - God's
words for the establishment of the kind of society in which we
would all like to live.
That misunderstanding continues when folks try to divide the
ten into two tables: the first group (1-4) for dealing with God;
the second (5-10) for dealing with one another. The truth is
that ALL of them are about creating a just society.
Take them one at a time. The first commandment: "You shall
have no other gods before me." On it's face, that sounds like
the plaintive cry of a god who is afraid of being ignored or
supplanted, like a teenage boy who is terrified that his girl
friend might dump him - a pretty wimpy god. But this is not
about God; this is about US and a just society.
Look at the "other gods" people choose in our day. There is
the great god MONEY that has caused so much dissatisfaction in
life because of the mad dash to acquire more and more, and these
days, the terror that comes in the mail with your 401K statement.
Money? It's gone. Or look at what the god BUSINESS has
done...family, friends, church, loving relationships all lost
because too much time and effort has to be expended to keep up
with the competition that has just moved operations offshore
anyway. Or good old Bacchus - the ancient god of PLEASURE...
thousands dead every year on America's highways because of drunk
drivers; thousands of young Americans hooked on drugs; a
world-wide AIDS epidemic. "You shall have no other gods before
me...not for my sake, but for yours; those gods can ruin you and
your just society."
The second command: no idols. What has that to do with
justice? Simply that people can be misled into thinking the
representation of god is the REAL god. Now, please understand
that the people of the ancient world were not stupid - as they
would sit down to carve the wood or stone, they knew that what
they were creating was a REPRESENTATION of deity, one that helped
them get in touch with something beyond "touch." If the crops
would begin to dry up for lack of rain, the people could come to
the idol and make their prayer. If an enemy were laying siege to
the town, they could come to the idol and call for deliverance.
Of course, those early theologians knew that the statue could not
answer prayers, but it was comforting to have something visible
and touchable there, to represent what they were convinced was
the larger reality.
But as with so many things that we human beings do that
start out in perfect innocence, it does not take long for that
kind of reverence to degenerate. Think of the idol-maker's
little children. When times were rough and the crops needed help
or the enemy was about to storm the gates, the youngsters saw
Daddy go in and talk to that statue. Hmm! To the immature young
mind, there would be no distinction between the idol and the god
it was supposed to represent - the image would BECOME God. "NO
idols." People become confused and are misled into trusting
things that are not worthy of trust. Ultimately, that is unjust.
Commandment #3: "You shall not make wrongful use of the name
of the Lord your God." Or in the language of the King James
Version, "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God IN
VAIN." More misunderstanding here. No, despite what your
grandmother told you, this is not a rule about not using God's
name as an expletive. And no, that billboard we see occasionally
that purports to have God saying, "If you keep taking my name in
vain, I'll make rush hour longer," is not right either. Once
more, this is a justice issue. In the old days, people would, in
the conduct of normal business, swear by the name of God that
they would do this or not do that. Such swearing was the
equivalent of a guarantee that this verbal contract would be
carried out. Unfortunately, people being people...and egregious
sinners at that...folks would be tempted to engage in such
promises knowing full well that they had no intention of
following through. Fraud. God says NO. The command could have
just as easily read DO NOT DEFRAUD as DO NOT MISUSE MY NAME.
Number 4: "Remember the sabbath day and keep it holy." No,
this has nothing to do with being in synagogue on Saturday or
church on Sunday. It does not mean no ball games, no picnics, no
fun, as some of us were taught. This is not an insecure deity's
way of insisting that we set aside some "God" time. Again, the
issue is social justice, and the point is a just society does not
oppress it's work force. "Six days you shall labor and do all
your work." Then TAKE A BREAK! And not only you, but everyone
who works for you - your children, your slaves, your day
laborers, even your livestock.
I am sure you noticed in that list of all those who are not
supposed to work on the sabbath, there is no mention of mother.
For the one who has had to get the breakfast, the kids, the
dinner, and herself ready to try to make it to church almost on
time, this is hardly a day of no work. But then, the scripture
never said it would be...not for Mom. The Bible never expects
the impossible.
Commandment #5: "Honor your father and your mother." Does
that mean be nice to them? Don't talk back? Keep your room
clean? Never let them have reason to complain, "You never write;
you never call?" Again, God's concern is justice. As you have
heard before, the ancient world understood children to be the
basic providers of social security. When parents got too old to
manage, the children (who were all living there anyway - several
generations would be under the same tent) would provide the care.
If that system broke down, a crucial underpinning of a just
society would be removed and ALL generations would be at risk.
Number 6: "You shall not murder." This one is difficult to
misunderstand. No just society can tolerate the willy-nilly
taking of life.
Strange as it may seem, Number 7 covers a social justice
issue too: "You shall not commit adultery." Illicit sex is not
the concern here; rather, who owns the property. Please
understand that the biblical definition of adultery is very
narrow - it does not paint with the broad brush of meaning any
sex outside of marriage. The biblical concept of adultery refers
to a man having sex with another man's wife. The problem comes
from subsequent children this woman might have: whose kid is it?
That becomes a major concern when passing on property from one
generation to the next: it is harder to keep the property in the
family when there are conflicting claims about who fathered the
heir. The commandment is DO NOT ADULTERATE THIS FAMILY UNIT by
introducing some "foreign" element into it, and creating a mess
in determining who is family and who is not. Justice.
Number 8: "You shall not steal." Another no-brainer. Under
the category of the things I learned in kindergarten. Social
justice demands that people respect one another's property.
Nine: "You shall not bear false witness against your
neighbor." No, this has nothing to do with simply telling lies
about someone or gossiping across the back fence. This one is
about the court system. If you go into court, God says tell the
truth. A just society is dependant upon a trustworthy legal
system to resolve disputes.
And finally, Number 10: "You shall not covet." Huh? How
can we not? Isn't this asking the impossible? Not really. At
least not if we read the whole commandment. It mentions some
specifics...house, wife, slaves, ox, donkey, property in general
(and, yes, back in those days, wives were considered property).
The prohibition is not all-inclusive. It does not say that we
are not to want things - food for our babies, a decent home for
ourselves, the money to pay for school for our kids. It is FINE
and even NOBLE to want all that, but it is NOT fine, and
certainly not noble, to set our hearts on what rightfully belongs
to someone else. That leads to problems, and none that a just
society can tolerate.
It intrigues me that our Lectionary on this third Sunday in
Lent joins this lesson with its concern for justice to the gospel
account of Jesus running amok in the temple. Jesus starts
kicking over tables, smashing cages, yelling, screaming even.
Bluntly put, Jesus has a temper tantrum, a hissy fit. I know how
you would react if I started overturning the pulpit, dumping the
font, upsetting the communion table, and hurling offering plates
and flowers at you. SHOCK! Just like the disciples, no doubt.
First, they would try to calm Jesus. Then to restrain him.
Finally, as cattle and merchants stampede for the exit, they
would cower in the corners, expecting an attack helicopter to
come roaring around the corner with missiles firing. The chaos
probably resembled Wall Street after the Dow-Jones takes another
500-point beating (which, by the way, is probably another place
that would have infuriated Jesus). (3)
If there were ever any question what that scene meant,
joining these lectionary passages together should clear it up.
The issue that day in Jerusalem at the beginning of Passover was
justice. Jesus saw serious INjustice being perpetrated on
innocent worshipers.
People were needing animals and birds for sacrifice,
"without spot or blemish," and the only place they could get them
so they would pass inspection would be within the Temple
precincts. No problem...except for price. For example, a pair
of doves (heavily involved in the sacrificial system), outside
the Temple, might cost the equivalent of about a day's average
wage. INSIDE the Temple, the doves could cost twelve-and-a-half
times as much...two weeks wages instead of one day's. Airport
prices writ large. Unjust? Obviously!
As to the moneychangers, their function was to change the
coin of the realm into the shekels used by the Temple. For
ordinary purposes, the coins of Greece, Rome, Syria, Egypt or
other countries might be used. But for the annual Passover tax,
only the shekels of the sanctuary were valid. The moneychangers
made the conversion...for a fee. And the fee could amount to
another half-day's wage, an exorbitant amount under any
circumstance for just making change, but even more so when we
remember that the worshipers were, for the most part, poor
people. And they were being grossly ripped off in the very place
they should have been the most safe...God's house. Unjust!
The message in all this is that our God cares about justice,
and if the example of Jesus is to be emulated, righteous
indignation in the face of INjustice is our duty as disciples.
Our ministry is not only to comfort the afflicted. We are also
called to afflict the comfortable - to kick tables and butts, to
free doves and prisoners, to dump ill-gotten gains and outdated
dogmas. Even if it makes some people cower in the corners.
Can we be angry?
Can we be angry that a nation which prides itself on
providing "equal justice under law" provides it depending on the
color of a person's skin or how much money he or she can afford
to pay a decent lawyer? Remember, God cares about justice.
Can we be angry about the perpetuation of a system that
offers medical treatment, not on the basis of need, but on the
basis of how much money someone has? The people who have no
money and the people who have a lot of money get care - those in
the middle may not. Washington is talking about that lately, but
they have been talking about it since Harry Truman. Should we be
angry about that? Remember, God cares about justice.
Can we be angry about a society which allows a ready supply
of deadly weapons to almost anyone with the result that, of all
the technically advanced nations of the world, we have an
exponentially higher murder rate than any other? Remember, God
cares about justice.
Can we be angry when women, though working every bit as hard
as any man, still face discrimination, abuse, harassment, and
unfair pay? Remember, God cares about justice.
Can we be angry when white collar criminals in corporate
board rooms pay themselves fat salaries and bonuses, looting
companies into bankruptcy, and leaving workers and retirees to
fend for themselves? Remember, God cares about justice.
One final caveat: in the midst of our righteous anger, we do
well to remember that, of all the places where Jesus could have
pointed out injustice, he did it among those involved in
"religious" endeavors - people like you and me. God cares about
justice.
Can we be angry? Angry enough to take up a whip, if needed,
to try to bring some cleansing? We should be angry enough to do
something about it. Jesus was and Jesus did. Remember, God
cares about justice.
Amen!
1. John Killinger, To My People with Love, (Abingdon, 1988) quoted by Bass Mitchell, via
Ecunet, "Sermonshop 1997 03 02," #71, 2/26/97
2. John Alexander, "God's Love" in the journal The Other Side quoted by Jane Flaherty, via
Ecunet, "Sermonshop 1997 03 02," #149, 2/28/97
3. From Ralph Milton's RUMORS, 3/8/09, a free Internet 'e-zine' for Christians with a
sense of humor.
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