{"id":6869,"date":"2021-06-29T04:56:55","date_gmt":"2021-06-29T11:56:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/?p=6869"},"modified":"2021-06-29T05:45:58","modified_gmt":"2021-06-29T12:45:58","slug":"what-about-the-ten-commandments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/?p=6869","title":{"rendered":"
What about the Ten Commandments?<\/div>"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Click here for a pdf version.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A sermon for the sixth Sunday after Pentecost.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve been doing a series, the baseline of which is John 8:36: \u201cIf the Son has made you free, you will be free indeed.\u201d Or quoting Romans 8:21: \u201cthe glorious freedom of the children of God.\u201d <\/p>\n

What does that mean with our feet on the ground? What is it like? How do we do it? We began with step #1: You always begin with the problem. The problem is: We are caught in sin and death. We don\u2019t think so. We think somehow we\u2019re going to escape death, and we think we\u2019re not really caught in sin. The basic sin is spiritual pride. It\u2019s the EGO moment: Eyes Glaze Over. It can\u2019t be; it doesn\u2019t exist. There\u2019s no problem with spiritual pride. <\/p>\n\n

Thus it\u2019s important to define what spiritual pride is. You remember the story in Genesis 3 about the original fall into sin. The original sin was to know the difference between good and evil. You and I fall into the trap of saying we know what sin is, we know what good is; I know how to sort them out, and I can manage it. At that point the evil one has got us.<\/p>\n\n

One of the verses that Luther quoted frequently is 2 Corinthians 11:14 where Paul writes: Remember, the devil appears as an angel of light. We may say that\u2019s true but of course, not to me! He may deceive others, but I manage that. Of course, right away he\u2019s got us. We are led to the error of thinking: We know what sin is and what goodness is. And when we quote again a very frequently quoted verse by Luther, Isaiah 64:6: \u201cAll our righteous deeds are filthy rags.\u201d That\u2019s another EGO moment. We think: Obviously wicked deeds are filthy rags but not good deeds! <\/p>\n\n

Sometimes you drive along and see a cow looking at a fence as if saying to itself: I wonder what that is? The fence shouldn\u2019t be there. No recognition. It\u2019s the same with us. No recognition. The basic sin is spiritual pride, and we are trapped in it. No way to get out of it, any of us. And of course: \u201cThe wages of sin is death\u201d (Romans 6:23). Thank God it doesn\u2019t matter. The only way we know what sin is is the cross. The cross tells us what sin is, but it also tells us that sin and death have been taken care of. That\u2019s Number 1.<\/p>\n\n

Then what do we do? How do we live the Christian life? Number 2 as we have sliced this up is worship. After all, as Christians we worship. But worship occurs in every religion. There is nothing in worship itself that is Christian. The particular matter of what worship is that what we do is no different than all the others. The illustration we used some weeks ago was in 1 Kings 18 about the priests of Baal and how they danced around the altar, and they yelled at God, and they even sliced themselves with knives to make God hear them, because they wanted to manipulate God. We do the same. If we go to church, we think that should count for points with God. If we go to church and we think nice thoughts about God, that should count, that should be on the extra credit side of what we\u2019re doing with God. <\/p>\n\n

Then we have the famous misuse of John 4:24, which says: \u201cGod is spirit and those who worship him worship in spirit and in truth.\u201d We say we\u2019ll do something \u201cspiritual.\u201d We\u2019ll really be true, not facing the fact that in the Gospel of John, when it talks about \u201ctruth,\u201d it means Jesus Christ. In John 14:6 Jesus says: \u201cI am the truth.\u201d It says in John 14, 15, and 16: The Spirit has one job: To point to Christ. Thank God the shape of worship doesn\u2019t matter. It doesn\u2019t matter if we always fail in worship, because it doesn\u2019t depend on us. He\u2019s taken care of things. <\/p>\n\n

Number 3: We came in the third place to talk about prayer. It\u2019s not news to point out that prayer occurs in all religions. The question then is: What is good prayer, proper prayer? The Lord\u2019s Prayer is our model, but when we pray it, we pray: My kingdom come, my will be done. It\u2019s all messed up.<\/p>\n

The most important place in the New Testament about prayer is Romans 8:26-27 (paraphrase): All our prayers are purely babbling, like little children, saying, \u201cMama\u201d and \u201cDada.\u201d We do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Holy Spirit takes this and translates it to be what it should be. <\/p>\n\n

Also in the Third Article of the Creed in Luther\u2019s Small Catechism: The Holy Spirit is the One who calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies. He takes care of it, and it\u2019s all taken care of. <\/p>\n

Number 4: When we came to the use of scripture, all religions have some kind of base, whether its written or a tradition which is their scripture. We have something we call scripture, but we get caught again, not facing the fact that the evil one appears as the angel of light. When we read scripture, we say: \u201cWell, that\u2019s clear, clear to me. That\u2019s plain. That\u2019s simple.\u201d Or: \u201cI feel it means this or that.\u201d And the evil one has got us right there. That doesn\u2019t mean that in using scripture we fall into the hands of the scholars. It doesn\u2019t mean we fall into the hands of church leaders. But we also have to be aware of the fact that in the Reformation we do not affirm the individual interpretation of scripture. What does scripture mean? It means what the gospel says. As Paul writes in Galatians 1:8-9: \u201cIf even I, or an angel from heaven, preach a different gospel, let him be damned.\u201d <\/p>\n\n

Scripture does not mean what you and I think we might mean or somebody else does. Scripture means: What points to Christ. Luther points this out in his introduction to the New Testament: If it\u2019s Caiaphas or Pilate who says the gospel, then it\u2019s the gospel. If Peter or Paul says something different, then we don\u2019t follow that, we follow the gospel. But thank God we\u2019re not in the hands of the scholars. We\u2019re not caught in our own thinking. It doesn\u2019t depend on our thinking. He\u2019s taken care of it, and so our thinking doesn\u2019t matter.<\/p>\n

Number 5: What can we do? What should we do as Christians? We don\u2019t worship right. We don\u2019t pray right. We don\u2019t use scripture right. It doesn\u2019t matter. But at least it would generally be said, we should lead a decent life and follow the Ten Commandments. <\/p>\n

A confirmation class spent a whole year on the Ten Commandments. At the beginning of the next year, the Pastor gave a quiz on the previous year, asking them to name the Ten Commandments. Only two students could name even two of them. The two they named were: \u201cThou shall not steal.\u201d And: \u201cThou shall not kill.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n

Let\u2019s look at the Fifth Commandment: \u201cThou shall not kill.\u201d In the New Testament it is interpreted and understood in I John 3:15: \u201cWhoever hates his brother is a murderer.\u201d <\/p>\n

The Sixth Commandment: \u201cThou shall not commit adultery,\u201d is interpreted in the Sermon on the Mount by Jesus in Matthew 5:27: \u201cEvery one who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.\u201d <\/p>\n\n

The Seventh Commandment: \u201cThou shall not steal\u201d is interpreted within the Ten Commandments by Commandments 9 and 10: Coveting is stealing. <\/p>\n

Then we come to the Eighth Commandment: \u201cThou shall not bear false witness against thy neighbor.\u201d In a previous generation\u2019s translation of this commandment in Luther\u2019s Catechism it says: \u201cWe should fear and love God so we do not belie, betray, back-bite, or slander our neighbor, but apologize for him, think well of him, and put the most charitable construction on all that he does.\u201d <\/p>\n\n

The Fourth Commandment is about honoring your father and mother. It says in Ephesians 6:4: \u201cParents are not to anger their children.\u201d It\u2019s not just that children are to honor their parents. <\/p>\n\n

The Third Commandment about the Sabbath. Whatever one says about Saturday (the Sabbath) or Sunday, basically this commandment indicates very clearly that the priority is to hear God\u2019s Word. You and I know what kind of priorities people have. <\/p>\n

The Second Commandment about taking the Lord\u2019s name in vain is a joke. In the Sermon on the Mount it says (Matt 5:37): \u201cLet what you say be simply \u2018Yes,\u2019 or \u2018No\u2019; anything more than this comes from evil.\u201d Yet every one of us uses expletives and takes the Lord\u2019s name in vain.<\/p>\n

Finally we come to the First Commandment which sums them all up: \u201cLet God be God.\u201d Well, that\u2019s too much. I mean I\u2019ll work together with God. We can work it out together, but let God be God, let life be about the Lord and his will rather than me and my will? That\u2019s too much. <\/p>\n

When it comes to the Ten Commandments, someone has said they are the Ten Suggestions. Anyone who says: I keep the Ten Commandments is just lying to himself. Thank the Lord it doesn\u2019t matter because we are not saved by keeping the law. In fact, of the many places, here are two examples: Paul writes in Romans 10:4 (5-6): \u201cChrist is the end of the law.\u201d By \u201cend\u201d he means \u201ctermination.\u201d In Romans 7:6 he uses the analogy of someone who is married: \u201cWhen the spouse dies, one is no longer bound to the marriage.\u201d That\u2019s the same, as he says, with the law. The law is over. <\/p>\n

\u201cWell,\u201d you say, \u201cI thought that the reason for being a Christian is that then you get power to keep the law, power which you couldn\u2019t get otherwise and didn\u2019t get otherwise.\u201d What that really means is that you throw the law out the front door only to sneak it in the back door, so that once again salvation is by the law. No. Salvation is through the cross alone, and he has taken care of it. <\/p>\n

C.S. Lewis, the famous Anglican writer, put this in a nutshell by saying: \u201cThe Lord does not want nice people; he wants new people.\u201d Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:17: \u201cIf anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old has passed away.\u201d That\u2019s the theme for this season of Pentecost: \u201cIf the Son has made you free, you will be free indeed.\u201d It is all taken care of. <\/p>\n

How then are we to live? We live in \u201cthe glorious freedom of the children of God.\u201d Amen<\/p>\n <\/p?if><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A sermon for the sixth Sunday after Pentecost. Read more as a pdf document here<\/a>, or in blog format here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6869","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6869","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6869"}],"version-history":[{"count":28,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6869\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6905,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6869\/revisions\/6905"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6869"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6869"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6869"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}