Word One: Follow
By Griff Martin
A Sermon on Exodus 20:1-2, Genesis
15:9-21 and Matthew 4:18-22
For
the Ninth Sunday Following Pentecost (10 Words Series)
August
11, 2019
For
the Beloveds of First Austin: a baptist community of faith
Context of Scripture:
One
of you stopped me this week and said, “Griff, really, 10 weeks on the 10
Commands? We thought you were progressive, not a fundie?” I responded: “1) Give
me 10 weeks and let’s talk, and 2) Remember us progressives get to claim the
Bible just as much as fundamentalist; we did not give it up.”
I
think that is important as we turn to the 10 Commands this week.
Deep
breath.
Can
you imagine it? A people who have been living for years and years and years
under a system that seems a bit oppressive and unfair, a system that values a
small group but oppresses the majority, yet is the norm for the day? Sure, some
have questioned it and said, “You know, this does not seem to be all that great.”
But they were quickly met with the response, “This is how things have always
been.” And it seemed like that – things have always been this way: a community
of people held in bondage by systems of power that are not fair; power over
instead of power with; scarcity instead of abundance; fear instead of
love.
And
then suddenly, a new day dawns. The old era is over and just like that, things
are suddenly new, free… and that is scary and hard in its own way. Everything
they thought they knew changed literally overnight and they were living in a
world where things felt tipsy topsy turvy.
Overnight
this Moses had changed their lives. They were no longer a people in slavery,
they were a free people making their way to a new place, a promised land where
things were going to be better. But the problem was that they only knew how to
be slaves, and it’s hard to learn to be free. It’s hard to change your mind and
your ways, even if you know the old way is not the right way.
Obviously,
I think there are a lot of parallels between Israel and us: a group of people
who are God’s people and who are in the middle of the wandering years, knowing
that our old way of living and doing things is passing by. We live in a rapidly
changing world; I don’t have to testify to this. It’s a world of change, and
what was the norm is shifting as something new is being born among us and
around us these days.
I
have been thinking about our lives and that of Israel, with their wanderings
and our wanderings, and what we can learn from them. It’s interesting that one
of the first things God does for them is give them these 10 Commands.
The
idea of a Command is not new to them at all. We have evidence to commands
dating back further than these 10, the oldest and most well-known being the
Hammurabi Code – a well preserved Babylonian code of law that dates back to
1745 BC. It is 272 different rules that were etched onto a 14-foot-high pillar
so all could see them and know what they lived under.
And
as former slaves, Israel knew rules. Rules are made to keep people in their
places.
Which
means that it is worth pointing out that we call these the 10 Commands, 10
Rules. Israel did not. In the Hebrew Scripture, they are only called commands
at their introduction. From then on in the Old Testament and the New, they are
referred to us as the Decalogue, which is the 10 Words.
These
were the 10 Words God gave them to form themselves as people of God; 10 words
to help them find their identity in a world that was changing rapidly, which is
why I want to revisit them today. I think we need to be reminded of our
identity in a world that is changing rapidly…. And to make them relevant and
alive again, to interpret them better for today’s world.
To
remind ourselves that they are not 10 laws for the courtroom or to create a
world of peace and order… they are much more. They are 10 words created to give
us wholeness – personally and communally. I like to think of them as Dancing
Instructions.
They
were not given to convict us; they were given to transform us, to help us live
better.
Not
that we have done that well, so far. After all, look at what most of us know
about the 10 Commands recently, and it’s every case that has made its way to
court because someone was fighting to keep the 10 Commands on the Courthouse
Lawn because we are a Christian nation, by golly (which we aren’t, but I don’t
have the time for that this sermon)…. And we think the most Christian thing we
can do is put the 10 Commandments on display for all to see in front of our
courts of law…. Except, it isn’t. The most Christian things we can do is let
these 10 words form us into people whose very lives identify us as Children of
God, the Beloveds.
May
we listen to these words with new ears and open hearts so that we can be formed
into the people of God as we march forward into a new world.
(Exodus
20)
The
Sermon:
Incarnate
and Resurrected God, we ask that you once again take the Word and transform it
into a living and breathing new reality we can all together experience. Make us
aware of your presence here in this space and in these words, God. For if we
are present to you, then nothing else will matter. But if we are not present to
you, then nothing else will matter. In the name of the Creator, the Christ and
the Comforter. Amen.
You’ve
been wandering for a long time. Your feet are tired, your back is sore, your
patience is gone. You want more, but the more is not here, and each step is
hard work, harder than you imagined. Yes, you left a horrible life where you
were making bricks without hay, and life was very difficult, and you were the
property of someone else in an unfair system. However, there was food and water
and sleep and some sense of normal – you knew what to expect.
And
this Moses who has been leading you, claiming to know exactly what he is doing
on this new journey, has now headed up some mountain and he’s been there a
while, and no one really knows what is going on… but there are rumors. In fact,
there are rumors that someone saw Moses that very morning crawling back down
the mountain with 2 large stone tablets. No one is sure what this means or if it
might just be gossip, but a meeting has been called and it’s mandatory. So, you
go.
And
when you get there, you see Moses. He is back, but he does not look good. He
looks weary and tired, and a bit perplexed. He looks like he has seen a ghost.
Please remove all images you have in your mind of Charlton Heston and instead
picture Doc Brown from Back to the Future.
Moses
begins his introduction. Something happened on the mountain – he talked to God,
and God gave him some new standards for you all to live by; these are the
foundations for who you are going to be as a people. This is starting to sound
a bit familiar; Pharaoh had standards for you as a people, as well.
So,
when Moses begins to read the standards, your stomach is already in knots and
you are already prepared to react.
“Number
One: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of
slavery. You shall follow me.”
What?
This is a record scratch moment, because this is not how this works. The one
giving the law is not supposed to begin by reminding the folks of all they have
done for the people and then inviting them into relationship. What good is that
kind of ruler? Is this a command, or is this an invitation?
But isn’t
this always God? God who always self identifies, who begins every conversation
with some formula, something like, “I am God and you are my beloved.” A God
whose first word is always an invitation back to home. It might not make for a
good ruler, but it makes for excellent love.
And
as this first word settles over them like gentle snow falling, so far from the
words of the other rulers they have had, it begins to remind them of a story
that they have passed down from generation to generation – a story about
Abraham, and it’s another story of introduction.
It
comes after Abraham has been promised generations of children, which have yet
to happen for him. He is lost in a wilderness of his own, that of waiting. And
one day in this waiting, God appears to Abraham (who is then Abram), and
reminds him of these promises. And he replies, but I have no evidence of this. It’s
a response I love because it’s so honest and real – it’s prayer.
And
God responds that Abram needs to go get some things, specifically a heifer,
goat, ram (all 3 years old), as well as a dove and young pigeon. Now this may
seem odd to us, but it’s a list Abram knows. These are elements that were well-known
for making a treaty with people. Which is why, according to Scripture, he gets
these things and cuts them all right in two. Which seems odd to take what God
said to bring and cut it all in half, unless you know this drill.
Customs
were that you would cut all these animals in two and place them opposite
one another in a long row, creating a path of sorts. Then you would make a
covenant, a promise, and together you would walk down this path, essentially
stating “I have given you my word and if I am not faithful to my word, may I
end up cut in two.” It’s a promise of life or death.
Abram
makes the path, and then he starts waiting for God to show up. I imagine he is
thinking through all the questions like, “What is God going to ask me to do? What
do I have to promise?” And in all that contemplation, he falls into a deep sleep.
He
awakens to the Word of God promising him more generations. It’s the same
promise God has made before, this time a bit more detailed. And he looks up,
and there in the darkness, passing through the path, is a smoking fire-boat and
a blazing torch; surely some of God’s favorite disguises.
It’s
a promise that God is making, and to do so, God walks the path Abraham must
have believed would be his to walk. God making the first move, God making the
first promise. Barbara Brown Taylor sums up this story: “Abraham believed he
would have to cross his heart, but God crossed God’s heart instead.”
So,
when Israel hears this first command (once the shock wears off), the
recognition sets in, because of course, once again, God has made the first
move. It’s one of God’s signature moves – to self-identify and to promise us.
When
God starts to help us create our identity, God always begins with God – what
God wants to do for us, what God promises us… a promise of presence and
protection and love and peace and faithfulness, not from us, but to us; a
supreme being who wants to love us and be loved in return.
God
knows we need the promise of God – the promise that we are in a bigger story
than the one we can see and understand, of a love that promises to never let us
go, of a presence that promises to never leave us.
So, before the First Word is spoken, we get an
introduction “Here I am… And because of who I am, here is who you are…”
And then command one: Will you follow me? It’s a
yes, no proposition.
It reminds me of the first time I asked a girl out. Her
name was Pam, and I was in the third grade. I had known Pam all year; this was
the spring and I had finally, with my friends, worked up the courage to pass
her that note: “To Pam: Will you go steady? Check yes, no or maybe. From Griff.”
Very romantic. Also, what is the maybe? Who uses the maybe; what does that tell
us?
I passed the note to her at the end of lunch. I saw
her open it, and then we avoided eye contact until right before recess. She
walked by me and dropped her reply on top of my desk. She checked ‘yes.’
The ‘check yes or no’ is very vulnerable; it’s
putting yourself out there. It’s essentially what we do with the rest of our
lives, although we do it with way more words than “check yes or no.”
I think that is how God begins this journey to help
Israel become the children of God, to become the first followers of the way. The
10 words start with a love note: “To Israel, I am the one who brought you out
of slavery, the one who promised Abraham a whole new way, the one who loves you.
Do you want to go out with me? Check yes or no.”
Because that is what “you shall have no other Gods”
is about. It’s our reply of checking the yes box.
In fact, look again at the language. As this First
Word gets repeated, it becomes “follow.”
It’s the same call we see Jesus giving over and over
again early in the Gospels: follow me. Jesus standing in front of folks: “I am
Love Incarnate, follow me…” Will you check yes or no?
Want to be formed into a new group of people? The
people who God needs to change the world; the people God wants to work with?
The question is still the same: check yes or no.
The First Word: Follow me, the one who loves you…
all you need to know is here.
Amen.
*artwork: Check Yes or No, a Facebook Film, facebook.com/checkyesornofilm
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