The Third Sunday in Lent

“Signs of the Times:

Living With God and With One Another”

GENESIS 17:1-20

R. TIM MEADOWS, Ph.D.

ASSOCIATE PASTOR

I hate being told what to do! I mean I really hate being told what to do! Especially when there is no apparent explanation for why I must do something in a particular way. So you can imagine that on the surface the Ten Commandments give me a lot of difficulty. All the “thou shalt nots” which I am just supposed to accept as the ways things must be.

However, a recent interpreter of the commandments has assisted me with another possible way of looking at the commandments that help them to make much more sense to me. His interpretation also poses a plausible understanding of why the commandments are given which assists my need for an explanation of why things must be this way. He says that the commandments really begin with the statement that God makes to the Hebrews of who God is, and what God has done for them. “I am the Lord, your God who brought you out of Egypt”. With this the interpreter says God then proceeds to give them the commandments as “statements of freedom” for how they can now live since God has delivered them. Statements that say “ Because I am the Lord, your God, you are free to do these ten things as a way of relating to me and to each other. Now, you may say that this suggestion is simply “linguistic gymnastics”, and maybe it is, but it also seems to help us understand the commandments as the means God provided for helping us to accomplish today’s “sign of the times”, the sign of community. We learn at least the following from the commandments about living in community:

I. We Were Created to Live in Community with God and One Another:

The first four commandments are intended for guidance in our relationship with God, and the last six are intended for guidance in our relationship with one another. These “statements of freedom will allow us to be free in the two essential relationships that make us human. From the beginning we saw God’s intent to be connected with creation. The Bible tells us that he walked in the garden with Adam and Eve in the cool of the day. From the beginning we also saw our need from community. The Bible records that God saw Adam in the garden and said something like “The boy needs help”. This is when God created Eve. Perhaps the Christian writer Donald Miller captured our need for community best when he observed “ I live in community because it is healthy, because people who live alone for too long are more likely to go goofy”. (From Blue Like Jazz.p.144)

Clearly, God has provided us this sign of the times because it is what is best for us as we relate to Him and to one another.

II. Living in Community with God is Accomplished by:

- Recognizing God’s Identity: In the command to have no other gods, God asks the Hebrews to give themselves to God exclusively. He promises that they are free to need no other gods.

- Affirming God’s Nature: In the command to make no images, God asks the Hebrews to recognize that He cannot be confined to our images and understanding alone. He promises that they are free to worship God in spirit, without image because no image could adequately capture God’s essence. When others say, “Here is our god”, and point to a limited depiction, the Hebrews can say, “Our God is everywhere, not confined by space, time, or activity”.

- Reverencing God’s Name: In the command to not take God’s name in vain, God asks the Hebrews to honor the value of the name. One’s name is a sign of their character and so God says to the Hebrews that they are free to use God’s name in meaningful and significant times, but they should avoid light, insignificant, or inappropriate uses of God’s name.

- Honoring God’s Day: In the command to remember the Sabbath, God gives the Hebrews this gift of community as a necessary time of rest and reflection, so they we will be renewed when they reenter their daily routines. The message that they are free to rest is difficult for them to hear, but God modeled it, as a necessity in their community with God.

Living in community with God is accomplished by recognizing God’s identity, affirming God’s nature, reverencing God’s name, and honoring God’s day. We should ask ourselves “ If this is how living in community with God is possible; how are we doing”?

III. Living in Community with One Another is Accomplished by:

- Respecting Life: In the commands to honor parents, and not to take life unnecessarily, God gave the Hebrews freedom to see the value of life from beginning to end. Life is the fundamental gift of community around which all others turn.

- Respecting Purity: In the command against adultery, God gave the Hebrews freedom to trust each other completely with the things that were most precious to them. When I can trust you with my wife, then I can trust you with everything else I possess. This is an essential freedom to a well-ordered community.

- Respecting Property: In the commands not to steal, and not to covet, God sought to free the Hebrews to “share their blessings” without envy. When I can trust you to respect my property, I can share it, for the good of the community without thought.

- Respecting Truth: In the command not to bear false witness, God sought to free the Hebrews to always tell the truth. When I can trust you to tell the truth, then I never have to question what you say.

Living in community with one another is accomplished by respecting life, respecting purity, respecting property, and respecting truth. We should ask ourselves “If this is how living in community with one another is possible; how are we doing”?

Signs of the Times: Community, the way God intended for us to live in God’s presence and with one another. Are the commandments freeing us to do that, or are we permitting ourselves to be bound, and miss the blessings of God and One another?

The truth is that this is a sign that cannot be reduced to abstract discussion. It is best seen in action, and I have witnessed it in my brief time among you. Community is happening when I arrive at a home to make a pastoral visit in a time of distress and find a passel of neighbors and friends already there. Community is happening when the people who are becoming a part of the Church are doing so because friends cared enough to invite them. This was the case with two of the families who were a part of our most recent new members class. So, let me encourage you to keep practicing community and to keep looking for ways to expand the reach of community. The hope in this “sign of the times” rests with you doing those things.

I hate being told what to do, I mean I really hate being told what to do, but for the sake of community with God and with you, I will accept the “statements of freedom” given in the commandments.