Exodus 20:1-5, 7-17
1 Then God spoke all these words, 2 "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; 3 you shall have no other gods besides me.
4 "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. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them…
7 "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.
8 "Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work. 10 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. 11 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.
12 "Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.13 "You shall not murder.
14 "You shall not commit adultery.
15 "You shall not steal.
16 "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
17 "You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, male or female slave, ox, donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor."
• The Ten Words in Deuteronomy 5:1-21. The lectionary schedules this passage for Epiphany 9B. but Easter almost never happens late enough for nine Epiphany Sundays.
Ten Commandments / Sinai Covenant / Ten Words
Backtracking:
A few chapters and years before today's event, Moses and Aaron went to the Egyptian Pharaoh and said, "Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: 'let my people go, so they may celebrate a festival to me in the wilderness.'" Exodus 5:1
In Exodus 7:16, a reminder and a threat to Pharaoh. And finally, after plagues, passover, and deaths of firstborns, Pharaoh finally told Moses and Aaron, "Take all your people and get out of here right now." Exodus 12:31-32 Pharaoh also asked for their blessing!
Most times the Apostle Paul refers to law, he means ceremonial, ritual, sacrificial law (including circumcision) and not the commandments. However, when magisterial Reformers Martin Luther and John Calvin talked about the uses of the law, they meant the commandments. The Reformers' Third Use of the Law is about the neighbor, about the other, about those we need to consider in order to maintain community and freedom.
Freedom
Out of Egypt, still far from Canaan, yet after God quenched their thirst and filled their hunger in surprising ways, Israel received the commandments as gifts that would help them stay free.
The desert intermission between imperial slavery and promise landed liberty became a time and a place to trust God for everything. Everything. In the desert you can't plan or plant, produce, create, administer, or stockpile. In any wilderness you only can receive life as gift.
We keep sabbath to help us remember bondage, to help us appreciate freedom. In a world full of political and commercial empires, Sabbath reminds us to make life as gift a possibility for others, before life necessarily becomes a task
• Joseph Brodsky: "Freedom is when you forget the spelling of the tyrant's name."
• George F. Will: "...a free future must begin with the right to talk freely about the past."
Where We Live
They tested God in their heart by demanding the food they craved. They spoke against God, saying, "Can God spread a table in the wilderness? Even though Moses struck the rock so that water gushed out and torrents overflowed, can God also give bread, or provide meat for the people?" Psalm 78:18-20
With manna, quail, and water, God provided and Israel received food at the crossroads of empire and covenant.
Don't we all "test God in our hearts" and demand everything we crave, even ask for basics we need? Even though we've seen the grace of God, it's hard to trust in a future?
But most of us have known wilderness feasts. Some of those have been a simple meal. Others have been fabulous festivals of food, drink, conversation, and music. Do you remember some of yours? Do you talk about them? Try to duplicate them? Do you dare hope for more?
• Can God spread a table in the wilderness?
• What does grace taste like?
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