The Ten Commandments – “The Real Thing”

You shall have no other gods before me (#1)

You shall not make any graven images (#2)

Scripture: Exodus 20:1-20; John 13:34-35

INTRODUCTION

When the Coca-Cola Company launched its highly successful advertising campaign in the early 1970’s, all of America was singing those familiar words to the catchy tune “It’s the Real Thing”:

“I’d like to teach the world to sing

In perfect harmony

I’d like to buy the world a Coke

And keep it company

That’s the real thing.

What the world wants today

Coca-Cola

Is the real thing”

(Words found by Sibyl Meek and Louise Sparks at Home Office)

Without doubt, Coca-Cola has been near and dear to the hearts and to the financial health of Atlantans for many generations. Some key individuals and families, including members of our congregation, have played a major role in the history of this dynamic corporation which has helped to create the vision and the vitality of this great city, and for all of that, we are truly grateful.

But as all of us know, a liquid refreshment, even with a worldwide influence and an international identity, has never been and cannot claim to be ultimately “The Real Thing.” Because what we human beings are searching for is a deeper meaning in life – we’re looking for a spiritual refreshment and a renewal of our hearts, minds and souls that can draw us closer to the Lord and help us to be the kind of people that God has called all of us to become.

As Christians and as Presbyterians who stand firm on the foundation of the Protestant Reformation, we believe, together with our sisters and brothers in the Jewish religion, that God has given to us the authentic and authoritative guidelines for living in right relationships with Him and with one another – The Ten Commandments.

Those commandments, recorded in Exodus 20, the 5^th chapter of Deuteronomy and reaffirmed over and over again in the Christian New Testament – those Ten Commandments constitute “The Real Thing” for each of us and all of us as people of a Judeo-Christian faith tradition which has existed for more than 3500 years.

If we agree that the Israelite Exodus out of Egypt happened sometime around 1340 – 1250 B.C., then it was Moses, one of the great patriarchs of the Hebrew people, who led them through the wilderness to the foot of Mt. Sinai. The Bible says that the mountain was surrounded by thunder, lightning, thick clouds and holy smoke (Exodus 19:16-19). Out of that awesome display of dazzling power, God spoke to all the people, saying I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me…and you shall not make for yourself any graven images…nor bow down to them or serve them (Exodus 20:1-5).

Those are the first and second commandments upon which we will focus our attention today, leaving the other eight for the remaining Sundays of Lent and Good Friday, leading us toward Easter. It is my hope and prayer that this series of sermons will help us to explore these ancient laws more deeply than we ever have before, and that step-by-step as we make this journey together, each commandment will draw us closer to each other and nearer to the Lord.

We have a lot of ground to cover, so let’s begin where the Holy One began long ago, speaking to Moses, to the Hebrew people and to all of us since then, saying You shall have no other gods before me (Exodus 20:3).

We know, because historians tell us so, that there were other gods in those primitive times. The Egyptians worshipped Nut, goddess of the sky; Geb, the earth god; Re, the Sun god; Ma’at, the goddess of truth and justice; Sobek, the crocodile god; and the kings – those pharaohs themselves who claimed divinity, to name just a handful (From “The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, Egypt,” pages 56-62).

And the Bible tells us that as the Hebrews entered into the land of Canaan, they encountered a whole host of other gods, especially one called Baal, who ruled over a vast fertility cult which encompassed most of that region (Ibid., “Baal,” pages 328-329).

So coming out of Egypt and entering into Canaan, the chosen people were commanded to stay away from those pagan deities and to pledge their lives, their love and loyalty to the one God who had called them to be set apart and holy. The Lord said to them You shall have no other gods before me.

II.

You say, “Well preacher, we don’t have to worry about those primitive gods and goddesses today. Nobody bows down to Baal anymore, and other than some folks flirting with astrology, those ancient pagan religions have died out and gone away.

That may be true, but as the second commandment now comes into view, think again about something Martin Luther once said: “Whatever your heart clings to and relies upon, there is your god” (From a Sermon by Dr. Paul Eckel, “First, No Other Gods,” Pentecost, 1987, page 2). The second commandment warns us You shall not make any graven images…nor bow down to them or serve them (Exodus 20:4).

Remember, after Moses had gone up onto the mountain for forty days and nights to listen to the Lord and to bring those two stone tablets with the commandments embedded in them back down to the people, they had already created a golden calf and begun to dance around and bow down before it (Exodus 32).

Well, in this modern era, although we do not pay homage to those ancient pagan gods anymore, the truth is that we have created other gods – graven images, idols – which have their own seductive allure.

I have told you before about one of my graven images, acquired during my first year at Princeton Seminary. It was a 1967 red MGB convertible and when a friend of mine showed it to me and said it was for sale, I had to have it! So I borrowed some money from my father, worked a few extra jobs early in the morning and late at night, and when I finally bought that car, I thought it would bring me sheer delight.

Which lasted about a month, and then, it was in the shop for repairs, on and off, for the next two years. When Barb and I married and moved to Philadelphia, we towed the MG behind us on the U-haul truck, put it up on cinder blocks and I finally sold it to a high school student for $500.00. Even now, when I see a red MGB convertible go by, my eyes turn a little misty, until Barb looks at me and says “Forget it!”

It was an idol, and it consumed me until I was able to turn it loose and let it go. Joy Davidman, in her book entitled “Smoke On The Mountain,” described her idols with these words:

“I worship my Lincoln Continental. All my days, I give it offerings of oil and polish. Hours of my time are devoted to its care. It establishes me among my neighbors as a success in life. What model is your car, brother?

I worship my beautiful home. Long and loving meditation have I spent on it. The upholstery contrasts with the rugs, and the curtains harmonize with the paint – all of it is perfect and holy. The Dresden figures and antiques are in exactly the right places, and should some blasphemer drop ashes on the carpet, I nearly die of shock. I live for the adoration of my house, and it rewards me with the envy of my neighbors…What condition is your house in, sister?

I worship my job…my clothes…my golf game…my comfort. And I confess, I even worship my church – I want to tell you that the quality of our congregation beats all others in this town.

Now, what shape is your idol?”

(From a sermon by Dr. Robert Cleveland Holland, “How to Worship False Gods,” Shadyside Presbyterian Church, January 19, 1975, Pittsburgh, PA)

Do you have idols, graven images in your life which get in the way of The Real Thing – loving God and loving our neighbors as ourselves, which Jesus said was the greatest commandment of all?

Barbara Brown Taylor, a friend of this congregation, in her book “Speaking of Sin,” tells what happened to her after an Ash Wednesday service:

“After last year’s Ash Wednesday service was over, I did some shopping, went to a meeting, drove home, and cooked supper. While I was doing all of that I wondered what my noontime repentance was really worth. I had repented of my blindness to human need and suffering, but I still drove past the homeless man at the intersection with my window rolled up. I had repented of my contempt toward those who differ from me, but I still thought mean things about the people in the meeting whose votes cancelled mine. I had repented of my waste and pollution of God’s creation, but that did not stop me from buying a new Hewlett-Packard Office Jet printer so that my old Panasonic could end up on a junk heap somewhere. You see the problem.”

(“Speaking of Sin” by Barbara Brown Taylor, Cowley

Publications, Boston, Massachusetts, 2000, pages 73-74)

I think we do see the problem – sometimes the problem is that we, all of us, have idols in our lives even when we don’t realize they are there. Could it possibly be that the judge over in Montgomery, Alabama, who during the middle of the night in 2001 slipped a two and a half ton granite monument with the Ten Commandments printed on it into the rotunda of the state’s judicial building – could it be that he actually broke one of the commandments that he has championed across his state and the rest of this country? You shall not make any graven images…nor shall you bow down to them or serve them. What do you think?

CONCLUSION

Well, I think that the judge, whose monument was removed and who no longer sits on the bench – I think that the judge presents us with a dilemma which we will talk about some more throughout these Lenten sermons, and the dilemma is this: while many of us may disagree with that he did and the way he did it – confrontational, controversial and contrary, as ruled thus far, to the separation of church and state – while many of us may disagree with how it all happened, what will it mean in America if the Ten Commandments can no longer be displayed in public places, other than churches and synagogues?

If Sir William Blackstone was right when he wrote that “All civilized law begins with Moses, and rests solidly…on the rock of the Ten Commandments,” then what will our city, our state, our nation lose if we can no longer claim that foundation for our way of life?

To be sure, there’s more to explore as we begin our Lenten journey, walking together with the Jesus Christ and His disciples as we make our way toward Jerusalem. But tonight, on this Ash Wednesday 2004, let us come to the table of our Lord, remembering His commandment, given at the Last Supper in the Upper Room, that you love one another as I have loved you…By this, others will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another (John 13:34-35). As we eat this bread and drink from this cup, that my friends, is a commandment Jesus Christ calls all of us to keep. And that is The Real Thing!

In the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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