The Place of the Ten Commandments
 
by Dr. Drake Williams, 
Minister of Spiritual Enrichment

We likely know that the Ten Commandments have been the backbone for Judeo Christian ethics and have influenced Western moral thinking for years. If you have grown up in a church setting, you likely have been taught the importance of them. If you have grown up in this church, you may remember being taught the Ten Commandments in Sunday School. I can remember being taught them many times during Sunday School in this church. When I was six or seven, I can still recall receiving a book at Christmas time from this church containing the Ten Commandments and pictures about each one. I still have memories of paging through that book.

While there is little doubt that the Ten Commandments have had a special place in the life of God's people for years, their place in American society is uncertain. This has especially been illustrated over this past year with so many discussions about the place of the Ten Commandments in our nation. Some of the discussion has centered on their place in the courts. Should the Ten Commandments be visible in our courts?

Alabama judge Roy Moore and others certainly believe that the Ten Commandments should be evident. In case you don't recall this past summer, Alabama judge Roy Moore had installed in the rotunda of the state judicial building in Montgomery, Alabama a 5,280-pound monument of the Ten Commandments. Some wanted the Ten Commandments out, so a federal judge ordered that the Ten Commandments that Roy Moore had installed be removed. This was the most noteworthy debate about the place of the Ten Commandments this past year.

This was not the only debate about their place in society. In Georgia and in our own state of Pennsylvania, the place of the Ten Commandments was questioned. Should plaques of these commandments be removed, should they remain, or should they remain but be covered up? The State of Wyoming was asking about the place of these commandments in a city park. In this park, there was a small monument with the Ten Commandments written on it. The question was could this small monument then remain in a public park.

I am very interested in what place the Ten Commandments have in our society as an American citizen. As a United States citizen, I am interested in a stable society and know that the Ten Commandments in the past helped American society prosper. It will be interesting to see how our government answers these questions.

Today on a Sunday morning and in church, however, I am more interested in other questions. What place do the Ten Commandments deserve within the life of the church? Do they deserve to remain as the focus of our conduct? Do they deserve to be removed in place of other principles of conduct? Or should they remain but be covered up?

To answer such questions we will need to look at a number of passages from the Bible. I hope that you will open your Bible to Exodus 19. It is one of a number of passages that we will survey today as we consider the place of the Ten Commandments in the lives of Christians.

I. The Ten Commandments were given to cause God's people to aspire to holiness. (Exodus 19:4-6, 10-11; Leviticus 11:44-45)

In Exodus 20, we will find the Ten Commandments. To understand the intention that God had for these commandments it will be profitable to consider Exodus 19, a chapter that shows how God introduces these Ten Commandments to his people. This chapter will be enlightening as we seek to answer what place these commandments have in the lives of Christians today.

In Exodus 19:4-6 we read, "You yourselves have seen what I [i.e., God] did to Egypt and how I carried you on eagle's wings and brought you to myself. Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant [that will be introduced with the Ten Commandments], then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation." Here we read of the purpose of the Ten Commandments from ages past. God gave them to his people so that his people would aspire to be pure and holy. This is why he introduced the Ten Commandments years ago.

Notice the manner by which God's people, the people of Israel received these commandments years ago in the time of Moses. Exodus 19:10-11 reads, "Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes and be ready by the third day, because on that day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people." Consecration, purity, holiness, these are the ways that God's people were to receive the Ten Commandments. From the way that God's people received them years ago, we can see once again the purpose of these Ten Commandments. They were to make God's people holy and pure. This was the original reason why the Ten Commandments were given years ago.

Now we ought to think about our perception of holiness for a moment. Aspiring to be holy is something that is often ridiculed in our culture today. Many are the movies and many are the TV sitcoms that make fun of people who are trying to be "holy." We even have sayings in our culture that degrade pure conduct. One can be called a "Holy Roller" or "holier than thou." Most times when holiness is spoken of in our culture, it is thought of negatively.

Many within our culture have degraded holy conduct likely because some have paraded their behavior for all to see. Some have worn their behavior on their sleeves, trying to show off. Some have also draw attention to their behavior for the purpose of trying to make others feel badly. When this is done, it is natural that people would be turned off by holy conduct.

Aspiring to be holy in a quiet and humbler way, however, is an honorable aim. God certainly encourages this from Exodus 19-20. Aspiring to do what is right and pleasing in God's sight is a very good thing to do as can be seen from the way that the Ten Commandments are introduced. For that matter, quietly doing what is right and good also makes life much simpler.

Let's take an example for a moment to consider how quietly doing what is right can be of great benefit. We all know that it is good not to lie, as the ninth of the Ten Commandments reminds us, "You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor." Think about how complex life can become when we perpetually tell lies. Many of us know the saying, "What a tangled life we lead, when we practice first to deceive." The saying reminds us of how when we tell one lie, then another lie, then another lie, how complex things become. Life can get very complex that way and people can get hurt, even ourselves.

Recently there has been a popular film that depicts this quite well. It is the film Catch Me If You Can. It is a film about the master con artist Frank Abegnale, Jr. who is played by Leonardo DiCaprio. He is pursued by the FBI agent Carl Hanratty who is played by Tom Hanks. It is an entertaining movie and has been quite popular.

The story begins with Frank Abegnale, Jr. who finds himself emotionally cut adrift when his mother leaves his father for another man. From this point Frank Abegnale, Jr. then begins to weave a perpetual amount of lies, one after the other. In school, he attempts to pass himself off as a substitute teacher. His small-scale success encourages Frank to impersonate others. He soon discovers bigger and more profitable ways of deceiving others, passing himself off as an airline pilot, a doctor, and an attorney. Along the way, Frank learns how to become a master forger, and uses his talent and charm to forge 2.5 million dollars in phony checks. It is an amazing story of a man who was able to trick and deceive so many, and seemingly benefit from it. It may appear in viewing this movie that choosing not to do the right thing is the more enjoyable way to go.

Yet in his deception, he made his life and others miserable. We see this in some of the scenes in the movie. For example, while posing as a doctor, Frank falls in love with Brenda Strong, a sweet girl working as a nurse. When Frank asks Brenda to marry him, he decides to assume a new identity to impress her father, who happens to be the District Attorney of New Orleans, Louisiana. While Frank wins Brenda's heart for the moment, he will later leave her life a wreck. Later on in the movie, we even see how Frank Abegnale's lies catch up to himself. The lies he tells eventually land him in a prison in France shivering in the cold.

After the movie was shot, real Frank Abegnale, Jr. was interviewed by Speilberg Films the maker of the film Catch Me If You Can. As the real Frank Abegnale, Jr. reflects on his life, he shares the problems of deceiving people over and over again. Speilberg Films asked him, "Do you have any regrets regarding your teen years as far as not choosing a different path in life?" To which he answered, "Yes, I have a lot of regrets. Though some people are fascinated with what I did as a teenager and find it very exciting, I lost my entire youth, age 16-21 running from the police and age 21-26 sitting in prison. Being on the run was a very lonely life. I never got to go to a senior prom, a high school football game or share a relationship with someone my own age . . . I wouldn't want to have to live it over again." Later in that interview Frank Abegnale, Jr. was asked by Speilberg Films, "During your criminal years, if you had wanted to go straight, could you really have without much danger, or was there enough evidence/trails to make any chance of a normal life impossible?" He answered, "Once I did the things I did, it was impossible to go back. I could have given myself up, but I knew I would have gone to prison. You keep doing things to stay one step ahead until one day you get too tired to run any longer." The real Frank Abegnale, Jr.'s life proves the maxim, "What a tangled web we weave when we first practice to deceive."

By far and away, it is much simpler and easier to do the right thing first. Once again, I am not advocating being prideful about it, yet, by far and away it is much easier to do what is right in a quiet and humble way. The Ten Commandments were created so that people would seek holiness, and that they would be blessed. The lyrics of our middle hymn certainly emphasize this. They are, "How gentle God's commands, How kind his precepts are! Come cast your burdens on the Lord, And trust his constant care." Indeed, God's commandments were first created for God's people to be holy, to be blessed, and to find God's kindness and care. This is why Ten Commandments were given to God's people initially many years ago.

II. The Ten Commandments provide the basis for true love from the heart for God and others (Matthew 5:21-30; Romans 13:9-10)

Now as we continue to think about the place that the Ten Commandments have in our day, we need to come from the Old Testament and consider these commandments in the New Testament. The Old Testament presents God's word to his people, the Israelites years ago. But what about us as God's people who live following the time of Christ? How does the New Testament, the primary source for informing Christian behavior receive the Ten Commandments? What place do the Ten Commandments have in the New Testament?

By and large, the Ten Commandments are found in the same way in the New Testament, just as in the Old Testament. The one question may surround the observance of the fourth commandment. This commandment is "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy." God's people in Old Testament times observed the Sabbath by setting aside the seventh day of the week as a day of rest. They did not work on the day that we call Saturday. Christians have moved their Sabbath observance from Saturday to Sunday, in the light of Christ's resurrection. So, this indicates a change from the Old Testament understanding of the Ten Commandments to the New Testament understanding of these commandments. This is as far as I want to talk about this commandment this morning because it involves a much longer discussion. Aside from Sabbath observance, though, all of the other commandments are reproduced in the New Testament in one way or the other.

Let us focus our attention now on two places where some of those commandments are reproduced. First, let me draw your attention to Romans 13:9-10. Paul wrote the passage to a church that he had never met in Rome. It is interesting that he reproduces many of the Ten Commandments in this passage to a church that he had never met. It is also interesting to then note what he adds to the Ten Commandments. The passage reads as follows, "The commandments, "Do not commit adultery," "Do not murder," "Do not steal," "Do not covet," and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: "Love your neighbor as yourself." What does this passage tell us? First off, it reproduces the seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth commandment. This certainly underscores their importance for all Christians. They are for Christians in the New Testament and are to be followed as the Israelites were to follow them in the Old Testament.

This passage also provides a new addition. Love is introduced to these commandments, suggesting that love from the heart is now the summation of all of these commandments. Some of you do some writing as I do. Periodically, one gets to the place where one needs to summarize. When one summarizes, one does not do away with what has come previously, as if the fifteen pages that preceded the summary in the essay were invalid. Instead, one recounts what has come previously and tries to draw it together in a shortened fashion. Love from the heart for Paul is that short way of expressing the commandments. It does not do away with the other commands as if they were unimportant.

Indeed, this makes the most sense for understanding this passage in Romans 13, doesn't it? Can you really love your brother if you want to commit adultery with his wife? Can you really love your brother if you want to murder him? Can you really love your brother if you want to steal his wallet? Can you really love your brother if you are coveting or wanting his job, his car, or his house? The answer, of course, is no. Love summarizes, but does not do away with the Ten Commandments. Yet, true heartfelt love for others summarizes these commandments very well.

This is not the only place where a summary of the Ten Commandments can be found in the New Testament. The Ten Commandments with the focus on the heart is what is necessary from a passage such as Matthew 5:21-22 which says, "You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.' But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment." Notice what Jesus is doing here. Once again, he recites one of the Ten Commandments, this time the sixth one, do not murder. But then he takes that commandment and goes to the heart - not only do not murder, but also don't be angry with your brother. The sixth commandment remains but one's heart needs to be involved. Jesus will go on through Matthew 5, drawing attention to other commandments from the Ten Commandments but focusing on how one's heart needs to be involved.

Certainly, it is better to have the heart involved in obedience to commandments. I was reminded of that this year on the soccer field. I find myself coaching our son's soccer team, on an eight-year-old team in Montgomery Township. Once again, coaching was a real joy for me, and it was a real treat to coach with Bruce Rothenberger and get some assistance from his son Brandon. This year, Bruce and I spent a lot of time giving commands to our team. We did so because eight year olds enjoy playing soccer. They know plenty of things about the game already, and they have a lot of enthusiasm. But as eight year olds playing the game, they are just learning the big picture of the game of soccer. They are learning how to play positions. No longer does the big kid who can kick the furthest win out all of the time. Positional play is important.

So, to help our team learn the game better, we would yell commands to the players from the side of the field. We would call to the defense to clear the ball to the outside (rather than up the center of the field where the offense could take the ball and score). We would call to the left wing that plays on offense "You need to play on the left side of the field." We would call to the right wing to play forward on the right side of the field. It is amazing how well the team can do when commands are followed.

Now in the game when there is a lot of commotion on the field. The ball may be coming to a player, and then there are a lot of voices from parents, grandparents, and friends to add to the distraction. As coaches, it is so much better when we can trust someone who does what is right from what they know inside of them, that is from the heart. When they know what the command is and what the right play is, and can do it inherently by nature, the team does much better. As a coach, it is wonderful to have such players who do what is right inherently. When you have a lot of kids who inherently do what is right, well then, you have a pretty good team.

This is what our Lord is asking from us, I believe as Christians from considering the Ten Commandments in the Old and New Testaments. Firstly, they were given to God's people so that they might be pure and holy. Secondly, they are to be followed in a loving manner. Thirdly, they are to be followed in every way from the heart.

So now, let us return to the questions that we asked from the beginning of this message. What place do the Ten Commandments deserve to have in the church's life? Do they deserve to remain as the focus of our conduct? Do they deserve to be removed in place of other principles of conduct? Or should they remain but be covered up? From my perspective, since the Ten Commandments are found in both Old and New Testaments so that God's people would be holy and pure, then they still deserve to remain the backbone of Christian morals. They do not deserve to be removed from the life of the church, be covered up, or treated as a historical relic. They deserve to be set forward as a standard to which we as Christians should aspire. If we follow them, then as individuals and as a church, we will benefit.

III. The Ten Commandments and other laws show our need for God. (Romans 3:7-8; Galatians 3:24-25)

With all that said, however, following these Ten Commandments is a very difficult thing to do. The standards are exceptionally high, which is not surprising from a God of complete perfection. This brings us to the third and final point that I wanted to make about the Ten Commandments today. Not only do they provide the encouragement to do what is right, but they also drive one to Jesus Christ for mercy. Nobody completes them perfectly.

Well-known Christians in history knew the difficulty in keeping the Ten Commandments. Consider Saint Paul. The very way that many think of Paul today as a saint reveals that he is known for his holy conduct. Despite his holy conduct in many places, notice how keeping the Law was a difficult thing for him. He says this in Romans 7:7-8, "I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, 'Do not covet." But sin seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire. For apart from law sin is dead." How did Saint Paul know that there was a great need in his life? He knew that from the laws found in the Ten Commandments. The Law as viewed from the Ten Commandments revealed to this man that he could not measure up to these standards.

But Paul is not alone. Throughout the centuries, other well-known Christians who knew the Ten Commandments well also knew their great need for God's mercy. Saint Augustine, a man whom we know had a great influence on Caspar Schwenckfeld's writings, had this to say about how the Ten Commandments reveal our need for God. He said, "The law (i.e. the Ten Commandments) was given in order to covert a great into a little man - to show that you have no power of your own for righteousness; and might thus, poor, needy, and destitute, flee to grace." Martin Luther, the great Reformer from the 16th century, a contemporary of Caspar Schwenckfeld, also knew the Ten Commandments well. He strove for perfection as a monk but agonized over the Ten Commandments. Martin Luther, the great Reformer said well, "No saint on earth (by following the Commandments) can be fully perfect and pure." And certainly he tried. Then finally, C. H. Spurgeon, the renowned Baptist preacher in London had this to say about drawing close to the Ten Commandments. "The heart is like a dark cellar full of lizards, cockroaches, beetles, and all kinds of reptiles and insects, which in the dark we see not. But the law (i.e., the Ten Commandments) takes down the shutters and lets in the light, and we see the evil."

Understanding the Ten Commandments drove these men to God for mercy. It should have a similar effect on us as well. How good it is to know then that we have a merciful God who is willing to accept us as we are and work in us. How good it is to know that we have a forgiving God who is willing to cleanse us from unrighteousness. How good it is to know that we have a God who can empower us to overcome and even aspire to meet the standards that he has given us.

May God then grant us grace and mercy to find forgiveness when we need it from falling short of the Ten Commandments. May he also, too, give us the strength to aspire to the great and holy standards that he has set for us, and may he even write them in our hearts so that we might be more pure and be blessed as a result. Amen.

A Sermon delivered by Rev. Dr. H. H. Drake Williams, III
Minister of Spiritual Enrichment
November 16, 2003