you shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments. You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name. Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it. (Exodus 20:3-11, NRSV)
How many commandments did you count here?
And is it really about keeping rules?
Don’t do this, don’t do that…
Don’t, don’t don’t.
I heard another pastor recently talk about the 10 Commandments as Godly Play does, as a better way.
You see life is happening all around us and sometimes the crap of life gets in the way and we want a better way to live and to do things.
And here, after God brought the people out of slavery, God gives them a better way. A better way to think about how they should live.
These 3 commandments in our Lutheran understanding are all about the vertical relationship with God.
And what they really say is focus on God and let nothing get in the way of that. God needs to be first and we need to love God. And if money gets in the way that is bad.
If possessions get in the way that is bad.
If religion gets in the way that is bad.
if anything gets in the way of loving God, then that is bad.
So do you love God above all else? and put God first?
aSacredRebel 