March 8, 2009 Sermon
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Lent 2 - B
Emmanuel, San Angelo
March 8, 2009 Allan Conkling
If you like traditional things then here is yet another day to make you smile: Reciting the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments (Decalogue: "ten words") used to be said in church every Sunday. Some people I am sure would like for us to do it more. Some say that all of all our problems in this country are caused by falling away from the Ten Commandments. Others are equally sure that once a year is plenty--that they are out of date, boring, and nobody follows them anyway. One thing is certain, more people think they know about the Ten Commandments then actually know the Ten Commandments. And, as is true in every age, more people know about the Ten Commandments than actually follow them.
As Episcopal Christians we know and hear often that God is merciful. We worship a God of grace. Unlike so many other denominations that emphasize shame, guilt, or fear we preach often that God does not punish us as we deserve, or even as others think we deserve! Instead, the entire human race has had poured upon it, as Paul says, the "abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness" in Jesus Christ (Rom. 5:17). We have only to accept that gift.
I believe that there is reason to return to our traditional roots for a few weeks in Lent and keep in touch with a part of our history, in this case the Decalogue. It is our way of telling a story. John Westerhoff once wrote that:
"To be a community of faith, we must be a people with a story... 'Tell me a story' is the request of every child. At the heart of the Christian faith is story." (pg 23,24)
Our story is rooted a Creator God who loved the world so much that he "sent his only begotten Son". This God is active, not passive; in everything and part of everything. This God is involved in every aspect of our humanity and is as close to us as our next breath. All of our liturgy, our songs, our prayers, and our actions direct our sight beyond ourselves to the One who is at the heart of our being.
As the patriarch Abraham in our 1st reading, we are called to respond to God in faith, trust and obedience. Seeking to live into God's commands is a part of that faith. Thank God, God doesn't ask for perfection or legalism, only to have a willing heart.
This is Paul's point in the 2nd lesson: That we best understand God and God’s plan for us when we seek God’s will, not our own. As the old saying goes,
"My way is not your way says Yahweh."
Used in the wrong way the Ten Commandments, just like anything in the Bible, can be used to reinforce bigotry, judgmentalism, and narrow mindedness. Our liturgy can be closed, stale and boring. But our story, and our worship at Emmanuel, is ultimately a story of life, and Christians are people who trust in God as if their life depended upon it.
Lent is the time to ponder. In this holy season we are invited to consider how we can live fully, love exceedingly, and become all we have been created to be in God's sight. At times this is difficult, even counter-intuitive. As Evelyn Underhill once wrote:
"The spiritual life is a stern choice. It is not a consoling retreat from the difficulties of existence; but an invitation to enter full into that difficult existence, and there apply the Charity (love, caritas) of God and to bear the cost."
As we pray in our collect, "with penitent hearts and steadfast faith, embrace and hold fast to the unchangeable truth" of Christ. Proclaim with joy the One "who lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever."
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Revised: 03/23/09