Grace Lutheran Church

A sermon is a manner of oral communication and therefore words and sentence structure/order would be added, altered, or deleted at the moment of delivery.

+ In Nomine Jesu +

The Rev. Evan Gaertner

Third Sunday in Lent                                                                      "How to use the Ten Commandments"

So I want to preach on the Ten Commandments today. But I have a problem. Another pastor said that preaching a single sermon on the Ten Commandments is like a writing a book report on Moby Dick or Gone with the Wind in twenty-five words or less. I suppose it can be done but one should not presume to completely understand those books based upon reading a twenty-five word essay. Nor should any of us be so bold to state that after learning the Ten Commandments we completely understand them.

Martin Luther said this about studying the chief parts of the Christian faith, the Ten Commandments, The Creed, and the Lord's Prayer. " I must still read and study the catechism daily, and yet I cannot master it as I wish, but must remain a child and pupil of the catechism—and I do so gladly." (Large Catechism, 380)

A student of science or anyone for that matter recognizes that whether you know it or not the law of gravity is working on you always. You can't pretend ignorance and so walk off a ten story building. Neither can we claim ignorance about the commands of our God. Whether we know them or not they are working on us everyday. You cannot ignore gravity or the law of God. (At this point I hope you have the sermon outline handy and find it helpful to fill in the blanks as we go along).

God's law is written across our human hearts. A little boy that is told by his mother to not eat another cookie, pulled his chair over and took the top of the cookie jar. He pulled a cookie out and ran under the kitchen table to eat it in secret. He couldn't help himself but new that he was breaking the command of his mother.

A recent survey found that the average American can accurately recite only 3 out of 10 of the commandments. Maybe you are counting in your own head and trying to figure out if you are above average.

The commandments were given very formally to the people after their release from slavery in Egypt. Moses on Mt. Sinai received from the Lord the two tablets and came down and found the people already violating the first commandment that they were to have no other gods before the face of the Lord. There they were worshipping a golden calf. Moses destroyed the two stone tablets and brought the Lord's judgment against those that had abandoned God. In Exodus 34 the ten commandments are given again by the Lord to Moses. The second time there was not any alteration or softening. These are commands, not opinions, principles for consideration, or just a few good ideas. These are the very truths of God and not the invention of any man. They cannot be altered by us because they get in the way.

A cartoon showed the people gathered at Mt. Sinai. In this cartoon they send a spokesperson to Moses saying, "With all due respect. Mr. Moses we had a little less structure in mind."

But these Ten Commandments are structured. The commands were given in the structure of a relationship. The Lord God, the one that had brought the people out of slavery gives the commands. This relationship and structure is not found based upon an angry or mean God but out of fatherly divine goodness. The Lord does not give us the Ten Commandments to cause us to live boring and dull lives.

The first three commandments deal with the structure of our relationship with God. Say them with me if you would like:

The first commandment: You shall have no other gods before me.

The second commandment: You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God.

The third commandment: Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.

Commandments four through ten deal with the structure of our relationships with our neighbors.

The fourth commandment: Honor your father and mother.

The fifth commandment: You shall not murder.

The sixth commandment: You shall not commit adultery.

The seventh commandment: You shall not steal.

The eighth commandment: You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

The ninth commandment: You shall not covet your neighbor’s house.

The tenth commandment: You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

Jesus said to a seeker, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment." (Matthew 22:37-38)

The commandments are about our love for God and our love for our neighbor.

The first tablet is commonly thought to contain the first three commandments and the second tablet the remainder. We don't know, but it is a good idea, a good way to remember them.

Christians you may have noticed do not agree on how to number the commandments. The scriptures simply state them as ten commandments and don't force how they are numbered. Lutherans and Roman Catholics number the commandments one way and the other Protestants, such as Baptists and Presbyterians, and Eastern Orthodox follow a different pattern.

The difference in numbering occurs with the very first commandment. Lutherans and Roman Catholics include command to make no false idols as part of the first commandment, while the other patter is to make that commandment. So therefore while we have 1-3 dealing with our relationship with God, the other patter is to make 1-4 deal with our relationship with God. The way we reconcile the ten is that we have two commandments on coveting. I suppose desire must be a bigger problem for Lutherans and Roman Catholics so we need them split up. I don’t know if you followed that. But no matter the way the commandments are numbered we agree that the commandments are structured to give us structure, which we need.

The structure the commandments provide allow us to soar higher in our lives. I don't know if you have ever tried to fly a kite high into the air without any string, it is not possible, even on a windy day. The law provides boundaries. The law provides curbs on the road of life that we are on. A high mountain road with no boundaries causes the driver to slow down, with a curb he is able to take the curves with a lot more confidence.

God knows you. He knows how dangerous you are. The law is not for the righteous, but for people like you and me, the law-breakers. We need boundaries. Within the boundaries of the law we find a freedom to act with confidence and boldness.

The law also acts as a mirror. Romans 3:20 declares that "through the law comes knowledge of sin." It must be that the mirrors in dressing rooms are altered because when I look at an expensive pair of pants they always make me look thinner and stronger and faster, at least as long as I am looking at the dressing room mirror. Then I get home and wear them again and it is not the same.

We don't want that kind of mirror. We may want to deceive ourselves every once in awhile, but I want to see the truth of what I look like. The law accuses us of our sin. With the accusation of the law we are forced to ask questions. How do I get out of this scrape? Is there hope? Is there any promise for me beyond the wages of sin that is death?

These questions lead us to look outside of ourselves and find our savior. The law lightens the room so we can see the dirt that had been hidden by the dark. When we see the darkness of our lives through the examination of the law the only hope we have is to look outside of ourselves and find our hope secured by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It was on the cross that he brought our sin to light and destroyed the darkness of death.

The third way the law operates is as a path. Psalm 119:105, “Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” The 112 verse of that psalm declares, “My heart is set on keeping your decrees to the very end.” The way of the faithful is to want to give thanks to the Lord by following him. Psalm 1:2 “But his delight is in the law of the Lord and on his law he meditates day and night.”

God wants you to live your life in praise to him, giving him honor and glory and praise.

Through the Holy Spirit the faithful desire to walk in the ways of the Lord. Because of Jesus Christ and his sacrifice we are free from having to keep the law to be saved. We believe that the accusation of the law was placed upon Jesus and no longer is a heavy burden we must carry. Jesus promised, “Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy burdened, and I will give you rest.” He takes your burden of obligation and frees you to follow the law of the Lord by love and not guilt. You are no longer guilty, you are redeemed child of God.

A girl asked me if a pastor ever gets to have fun. I am not sure what she meant by fun. But I know that I have fun. I have faith in Christ and live in his ways not out of guilt but out of love. I live and act not because of the burden of the law but because of the love of God I desire to love the Lord my God and my neighbor as myself.

Today’s sermon is the beginning of a three part sermon series. Today we looked at how to use the ten commandments. We talked about how the law curbs are behavior and gives us the confidence to boldly live knowing the boundaries that God has set in our lives. We talked about how law puts a mirror to our lives. Revealed as sinner we feel the accusation of God’s judgment and seek mercy from our Lord. Thirdly we talked about how the law provides a path for a child of God showing him the steps to take daily.

Next week we will look at the first three commandments and the call to love the Lord our God with all heart, mind, body and soul. The week after that we will look at the call to love our neighbor as ourselves. Please continue to join us at Grace.

Soli Deo Gloria

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