Outside In

The scriptures referred to are Exodus 20: 1-17 and John 2:13-22.

Judaism says God gave them two bodies of law. One is the written law, which is found in the Torah or first five books of the Bible. The second is the oral law, the tradition of commentary on the Torah and its application to specific situations, which was eventually written down in the Talmud. An example of how the two work is found in Exodus 23:19, where it says, “Do not boil a young goat in its mother's milk.” There is no explanation of why one would or shouldn't do this. Rabbis call such commandments for which there is no apparent reason chukim. Modern scholars think that this may have been a Gentile practice and so Israel had to be different. Over the years, rabbis felt the best way to avoid this was to never eat meat and dairy at the same meal. An observant Jew could never eat a cheeseburger. And to further prevent the mixing of the two, Orthodox Jews have two sets of dishes, one for dairy and one for meat.

When I was studying in Israel 50 years ago, a rabbi there jokingly explained to us Christian students how they got two sets of laws with this story: Long ago, God drew up his laws and went about trying to find a nation that would accept them. He went to one nation and asked, “Would you want my set of laws?” The people of that nation asked, “What's in your laws?” “Well,” God says, “they say, 'Thou shalt not steal.'” “Sorry,” said that nation, “but our whole culture is based on stealing. We stole the land we're on. We steal from the poor and defenseless and give it to the rich. We steal each other's ideas and take credit for them. We don't want your laws.”

So God went to another nation and asked, “Would you want my set of laws?” Those people asked, “What's in your laws?” “Well,” God says, “they say, 'Thou shalt not covet.'” “Sorry,” said that nation, “but our whole culture is based on coveting or desiring what others have. We have a consumer economy and to keep people buying more stuff we have to keep inflaming their greed. We don't want your laws.”

So God went to yet another nation and asked, “Would you want my set of laws?” Those people asked, “What's in your laws?” “Well,” God says, “they say, 'Thou shalt not commit murder.'” “Sorry,” said that nation, “but our whole culture is based on murder. One whole sector of our economy is based on devising ever more efficient ways to murder more and more people. We also export these devices to other nations. Our news is dominated by murder and much of our entertainment is based on simulated murder. We don't want your laws.”

God went to nation after nation but they all had reasons to reject his laws. So finally he went to the Jews and asked, “Would you like my set of laws?” And they said, “How much are they?” Surprised, God said, “They're free.” “In that case,” said the Jews, “we'll take two!”

Well, we got two doses of the Ten Commandments today. We recited them in the penitential order and heard them again in today's passage from Exodus. That's good because we don't hear all of them that much otherwise. For a supposedly Judeo-Christian culture, I doubt that out of a hundred people you could find even a handful who could recite more than three of them.

We pay lip service to the Ten Commandments and some people want them displayed in the courtroom and the classroom. But let's face it: we are like the cultures in the rabbi's story. We systematically violate all the commandments. We make idols out of politicians and singers and sports figures and movie stars. We worship material things, like when we line up for the latest smartphone. We misuse God's name, not only by swearing but by saying he endorses all kinds of terrible things. We disrespect mothers, fathers and all in authority. Of all of the rich Western nations, we are the most violent with a shockingly high murder rate. Adultery destroys countless families and our idolized celebrities and politicians regularly commit the act with very little censure. We have discovered that many of our wealthiest corporations have gotten that way by cheating, stealing and lying. Politicians and lawyers regularly triumph over their opponents by saying or implying false things about them. And, yes, much of our economy is based on coveting what others have: their homes, their possessions, their lifestyles, bodies and talents. Is it any wonder that other religions think that our so-called Christian nation is hypocritical?

And it doesn't help our cause if we point out their own inconsistencies. It simply makes it look as if our morals are no better than anyone else's. We are to be a light to the world. But we not only hide it under a basket but under a garbage can, overflowing with the rubbish of our lives. (Matthew 5:14-15)

We don't need the Ten Commandments on our walls; we need them in our hearts and in our lives. And if we wear crosses, they shouldn't be worn as magical talismans but as labels to identify our content and uses. We demand truth in labeling of food and yet people regularly wear crosses while doing the very things that caused Jesus to be nailed to his.

Of course it is hard to keep the commandments. Paul knew that. When he was a Pharisee, he tried to keep all 613 commandments found in the Torah. And he couldn't do it. Not because he couldn't remember them all but because something in his nature rebelled against them. His sinful nature even used the commandments to tempt him to new sins, the same way that telling your kids not to do something gives them ideas they didn't have before. In Romans 7, Paul gives us a raw and honest look at the psychological dilemma of the good person gone wrong. “I do not understand my own actions,” he writes. “For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate...For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind....” (Romans 7:15, 22-23)

Can you see yourself in Paul's portrait of his own predicament? Have you ever found yourself about to step into sin despite the fact that you knew better? Have you ever, knowing that you would hate yourself afterwards, nevertheless let yourself be drawn into an act, a statement or an attitude which was unChristian?

I found a certain documentary riveting in spite of the fact that it is just an old woman talking. It is a feature length interview of Hitler's secretary. With the camera unblinkingly focused on her face, she recounts what it was like to work for and even socialize with one of history's greatest monsters. And as she talks, she must confront her complicity in his evil. To her credit, she does not make excuses. But neither can she say why she didn't do what was right. The documentary ends when she is overwhelmed by the realization of what her unreflective subservience made possible and she can't go on. She died hours after the film's premiere.

There are many pressures that try to suppress the good in us: our own desires, our assurance of our own infallibility, the urge to belong and go along, the desire for approval, the fear of rejection and missing out. We each have our own Achilles' heel, our specific weaknesses that trip us up again and again as we try to follow in Christ's footsteps. What are we to do? Or as Paul puts it, “Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:24)

“Thanks be to God through Christ Jesus our Lord,” Paul answers. (Romans 7:25) The fact is that we cannot tread the path of Christ on our own. We need a guide, a rescuer, a trustworthy companion. And we find all those in Jesus. As the writer of Hebrews tells us, “Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.” (Hebrews 2:18) Our God is not up there, far above the battle. He lived here in this tempting and sinful world and was assaulted by its allures from infancy on. Again the book of Hebrews reminds us, “For we do not have a high priest incapable of sympathizing with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way just as we are, yet without sin.” (Hebrews 4:15) And now he is here among us, a divine presence in our lives, in our minds and in our hearts, not forcing us to do what's right but offering us help if we ask.

I am, of course, speaking of the Holy Spirit, who works unobtrusively around us and in us—if we let him. If we think about him less than the Father and the Son it is because he works backstage, so to speak. Anyone who has ever been in a stage play knows how invaluable the backstage personnel are. Without them there would be no play. The curtains would not open, the lights would not come on, the props would not be where they should be, the makeup would not be right, the costumes would not be good, the sound cues would not play when they should and no one would remind us of when to enter the stage. And yet most people do not realize how much is done by these hardworking, creative, invisible people. The Holy Spirit is like that. He is always at work behind the scenes to provide us with what we need when we need it. He even prompts us to say our lines. (Mark 13:11) Without God's Spirit, we would be stumbling in the dark, groping for what we must do or say next.

The Ten Commandments are really treaty stipulations. They spell out our part of the covenant God makes with us in return for freeing us from our self-destructive sins. Jesus summarized them in two commandments: to love God with all one's being and abilities and to love our neighbors with the same consideration we show ourselves. (Mark 12:29-31) And Jesus' definition of who is our neighbor is vast. It includes whomever we come into contact with, whether family, friend, stranger or enemy. (Luke 10:29-37; Matthew 5:44) That's a tall order and one we cannot hope to fulfill without divine help.

And just as we are always surrounded by people whom we should see as our neighbors, that divine help is also there. In fact, he is always with us. (Matthew 28:20) In today's gospel Jesus refers to his body as a temple, and we too are temples of the Holy Spirit. (1 Corinthians 3:16) The love that moves the universe lives in our hearts. (John 14:17) He helps us make God's laws a part of us. (Ezekiel 36:27; Jeremiah 31:33) And there is no end of the good we can do if only we access the power we possess from our gracious God. (John 14:12)

Originally preached on March 23, 2003. There has been some updating.