"Where's Your Commitment?"

Ten Commandment Series

Sunday, June 3, 2007; Exodus 20:1-6

Introduction: The life of faith is a journey. It is a movement from point A to point B, and then from point B to point C, and so on. As we grow in our faith, we move forward in this journey. This is why the story of Israel’s wandering in the desert, moving from bondage to freedom, is so important to you and me. We see that we have something in common with the Israelites.

As we see the Israelites gain their freedom from Pharaoh and the Egyptians, you would think that they would be rejoicing since they are no longer slaves. But in some ways, to them the desert was worse. They preferred what was known, where they would sleep, their work (even though they were slaves and mistreated), as opposed to the unknown of wandering through the desert. Like the Israelites, when we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, we move from bondage of sin, to freedom in Christ (having our sins not counted against us). And yet, in this freedom, there is a sense of wandering and unknown, and so we struggle to rejoice in our freedom as well.

It is interesting to see that most people would struggle to name the 10 commandments. So how can we expect to live them out if we don’t know them? Over the next few weeks we will look at what the 10 commandments have to say to us, and how and why they are important.

I. No Other God- (Exodus 20:1-3; Eph. 4”4-6; Matthew 22:36-37)

a. What is important?- Illus. “All Points Bulletin,” More Hot

Illustrations, p. 30. There are many cars stolen in California every year. But several years ago there was a car theft that not only made the evening news, but was the lead story. After the car was stolen, the police put out an all-points bulletin for the stolen car. Why did this car theft get so much attention? Well, it seems that in the front seat of the car, there was a box of crackers laced with a deadly poison. The owner of the car was going to use the crackers as rat bait. So the police were desperately searching for the car not only to catch the thief, but also to save his life.

As we begin our series in the 10 commandments, we see that the commandments are not just rules that tell us what to do, they are not just laws that try to keep up safe, but they are put there to save our life, and to keep us from getting into more trouble. God knew that the Israelites would be in trouble on their own if they didn’t have these rules. But even more, these commandments were designed to give them freedom by establishing boundaries. Without boundaries, there is chaos in life, and when chaos reigns, there is no joy in life.

So God sets up spiritual boundaries for us to follow and

does so with the guidelines of the 10 commandments.

It is not hard to see that Americans have an interest in spirituality. Even though there is great materialism in our society, it hasn’t overshadowed the desire of people to seek the spiritual. In fact, most Americans say that their religious faith is very important in their life. Two-thirds say that their most important purpose in life is to love God with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength. However, a closer look at people’s lifestyles calls into question the sincerity of their commitment. People say it is important, but they don’t show it is important by how they live.

The Barna Study Group has been exploring the nation’s religious behavior since 1984 and discovered that biblical perspectives are changing? How are they changing? People’s beliefs, more and more, are shifting away from traditional biblical beliefs. Those who believe that God is all-powerful, all-knowing, and the perfect creator has gone down from 71% of people to 66%. In regards to Jesus, only 37% believe that Jesus didn’t sin. And only 45% strongly agree that the Bible is accurate in all the principles that it teaches.

Along with these beliefs, we have behavior, which is sometimes an even stronger gauge of people’s commitment. In 2007, it was discovered that people are less likely to volunteer in church (only 22% do). Only 43% attended a church service in the last week, and only 41% read their bible outside of church. On top of this, only 19% participate in a bible study group, and even though there is a solid number of people who claim to be Christians (83%), only 49% of those people say they are absolutely committed to Christianity.

b. God’s rank- So what are we to make of all of this? I believe it

shows that people are not that committed to their faith, to God, or living out the commandments. In Exodus 20:1-3 we are told, “Then God spoke all these words: ‘I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me.’”

God starts the 10 commandments by reminding the Israelites that there are many gods in this world that can be worshipped, but there is only one true God. The One true God is the one who brought them out of their slavery. For us, our slavery was our inclination to give in to our sinful desires. Through Christ God has freed us from our sin. Because God has done this for the Israelites, and for us, then we should hold fast to our faith and worship God; the One true God.

Paul affirms this for us in Ephesians 4:4-6, “There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called—one Lord, one faith…one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”

So I ask us this question now: “What is the most important thing in your life; in my life?” Now, since we are in church it might be easy to shout out: GOD. It is like the little story of the Sunday school teacher, who was teaching a lesson on Easter Sunday, and she asks the question: What is small, furry, and has a little cotton tail? A girl raises her hand and says, ‘Well, it sounds an awful lot like a rabbit, but I know the answer is Jesus!’ When people think of what is most important, they often quickly answer their spouse, children, or God. But remember, how we live doesn’t always mesh with what we say we value.

Here’s a second question: “If you were to rate the importance of things in your life, where would God rank?” Again, we want to jump up quickly and say that God ranks first. But does this hold true in the way you live?

This first commandment says to us that in ranking, God should be first.

In his book “Now A Word From Our Creator,” Leslie Flynn says this about the 10 commandments: “The Ten Commandments may seem narrow, but so does every runway on airports around the world. Yet no passenger wants their pilot to miss the narrow runway and land a few yards off the mark in some field or waterway or row of houses. The narrow ribbon of pavement is really the broad way that leads to a safe, comfortable landing. So the seemingly rigid Decalogue guides us to happy, fulfilled living.” (Swindoll, …Tardy Oxcart, p. 47)

God should be first on our list; first above all other things. There are many things in this world that sometimes becomes first, but in our heart and mind, God is to always be first. That is why when summing up the Ten Commandments with the 2 Great commands, Jesus told us to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, mind, strength, and soul.

Now does this mean that our spouse, children, family, etc… are not important? Of course not. But our Creator, the God of this world, the One true God, is the One, and the only One, who is worthy of being worshipped, praised, and given honor.

General William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, was asked the secret of his amazing Christian life. Booth answered: “I told the Lord that He could have all that there is of William Booth.” (Illus. Unlimited, #6, p. 98)

When the Lord says ‘You shall have no other gods before me,’ the Lord is asking us for total commitment. We should not let ourselves be satisfied by just coming to church every so often. We should not let ourselves be satisfied with reading the Bible every so often. To commit ourselves to God, means to not only commit our lives, but our spouse, our marriage, our kids, our grandkids, our job, our health, our money, our talents, and everything else we possess to God. And we should say: “God, this is all yours. Give me the wisdom to know how to love and appreciate all that I have and all that I am!”

We show the Lord He is number 1 when we seek to serve in the ways God tugs on our heart and leads us. Whether it be in the church or another organization that seeks to further the Kingdom of God. We can only truly be happy when we know that we are serving God faithfully with all of our heart, mind, and strength.

Until God has first place in our lives, we will struggle with following God and being obedient to Him. We will struggle with following any of the subsequent commands until we understand and begin to apply this first command.

Bob Pierce once said: “God gently leads His children along. But me, He yanks!”

Whether God gently leads you or yanks you, to have ‘no other gods’ means to follow faithfully each day of your life.

II. No Idols- (Exodus 20:4-6)

a. Building on the foundation- Illustration: “There is a story of a lady

who was mailing an old family Bible to her brother who lived in another part of the country. As she walked up to the postal clerk, the clerk asked her if there was anything breakable in her package. She thought for a moment and then responded: “Only the Ten Commandments.”

As we have talked about the first commandment (You shall have no other gods before me), we use this as a foundation to think about the second commandment (You shall not make for yourself an idol…). And as we move into talking about this second command, keep in mind that we need to know them, but know them in a way that moves us to keep them. These commands are holy words from God to us; words that keep us on the right path of living.

Now when you hear these words about idols what do you think of? In Exodus 32:1-5 read this: “When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered around Aaron, and said to him, ‘Come, make gods for us who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ Aaron said to them, ‘Take off the gold rings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.’ So all the people took off the gold rings from their ears, and brought them to Aaron. He took the gold from them, formed it in a mold, and cast an image of a calf; and they said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought your up out of the land of Egypt!’ When Aaron say this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation and said, ‘Tomorrow shall be a festival to the Lord.’”

Now before we attack the Israelites, let’s remember that the people hadn’t been given the 10 commandments yet. Moses was in the process of receiving them from God. As the people waited for Moses, they wondered about their future.

b. Idols- They grew tired and weary and impatient. They wanted

something tangible. So they joined together in force around Aaron, Aaron who was in charge while Moses was gone, and they demanded for him to make them an idol. The people wanted something that was visible and present.

We see here several things: first, they were susceptible to worshipping other gods; that is why God makes the first command “You shall have no other gods before me.” Second, in their impatience and weariness, they were speaking lightly of Moses, as they said, “as for this Moses..” Moses had given himself fully over to them as their leader, and even at that moment was serving them by getting the 10 commandments. Without Moses’ courage and obedience to this call, they would still be slaves. But that wasn’t enough for them. Does this mean it is never easy to be a leader for God, to the people? Probably so.

Third, it wasn’t convenient for them to worship God, the One who had saved them, so any god would be fine with them. They had just come from Egypt, a land that worshipped many gods, and so they were giving themselves over to the influence of the culture in which they had come out of; One god wasn’t enough for them, they wanted to worship more. Maybe it was like having an insurance policy, just in case the God who saved them was done being available to them.

Now in regards to Aaron, who knows if Aaron was just going along with them out of fear, thinking that he would buy time while he waited for Moses, or if he was doing this for them, hoping after it was done they would see their foolishness and would realize that it would be better to wait for Moses to worship God and not this golden calf, or if Aaron was impatient along with them. But Aaron built this golden calf, and the people built an altar and worshipped the golden calf.

It is easy for us to think of this story about Aaron and the Israelites, and exclude ourselves from this. But God gave us this commandment about idols because He knows that we are prone to idol worship as well. We can’t exclude ourselves, because we too have this tendency. In fact, in the Presbyterian Book of Order, it says humans have a “tendency to idolatry and tyranny.”

We can worship images, people, and even objects. It could be the worship of money, the worship of a particular job or position, the worship of a particular person, or even a possession we own. We can even worship the Bible or a religious artifact such as the cross. Think about how movie stars, rock stars, and athletes are revered. People long to get close enough just to touch them or get their autograph. For some people it is a religious experience; one of the greatest moments of their lives.

Things and people can have a special meaning for us, but these things should never replace God in our lives. We should never rely on these people or objects to save us, or to be our hope. We should never worship them or make them out to be more than God is. As I said before, God alone deserves our worship and brings us hope. Let us not have any idols in our lives, and if we do, let us seek to rid our lives of them!

Conclusion: Somebody once figured out that we have 35 million laws that help us to enforce the 10 Commandments. 35 million! That is astounding. Wouldn’t we do better to know and apply diligently these 10? As we look at the 10 Commandments, we should not see them as rules or laws that limit us, but rather as a reminder of God’s constant presence and love in our lives. Even though the 10 Commandments, at times, remind us of our sinful nature, our inability to live up to the law, it even more shows us how God loves us enough to teach us how to live by setting for us appropriate boundaries.

Today we looked at commands 1 and 2: “You shall have no gods before me.” AND “You shall not make for yourself an idol…” These are 2 of the 4 commands that tell us how to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Next week we will look at the other 2. MAY we allow the commandments to lead us out of our bondage to sin, and into a deeper and more meaningful relationship with God. Amen.