Rules, Rules, Rules

“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.” ~ Exodus 20:2

Well, this isn’t how any of us thought 2020 was going to go. Schools are closed, church services have been cancelled, and everything is grinding to a halt. This virus is very inclusive – it doesn’t matter your pay-grade, gender, race or religion, it’s been on the move for a couple months now and is happy to meet anyone. We should all be taking the proper precautions to help our medical professionals out, God Bless them, and keep those who are most vulnerable safe.

But not everything needs to stop.

While we are in a season of self-isolating, we are also in a season of reflection and preparation. I don’t mean a time of reflecting on our own fears and preparing for a world without toilet paper. No, the current season is far more important than that. This season of reflection and preparation is Lent, where we reflect on the salvation we find in Christ Jesus and prepare for both His death on Good Friday and His resurrection on Easter Sunday.

As we are in the midst of both these seasons already, let’s not let our isolation stop us from our Lenten preparation. We can still seek to grow together, learn together, prepare together, even be together (though not physically) as we journey through these turbulent times. I invite all of you, brothers and sisters, to join me as we walk through the 10 commandments, not in a sermon series anymore, but in a weekly reflection though Lent, Easter and beyond. This week, we’re going back to look at the 10 commandments as a whole, and then the following weeks look at each individual command.

A quick snapshot of where these commandments came from: Israel had been in the desert for a while, and they were getting antsy. Moses then disappeared up on a mountain for a while and was clearly up to something important. Finally, Moses came back down the mountain with 10 commandments that Israel was to follow. These commandments were given to them to set them apart from the surrounding nations,
and were exclusively about their relationship to God and to other people. Jesus even sums these commands up later as “Love the Lord your God … and Love your neighbor as yourself” in Matthew 22:37-40.

What’s interesting about these commandments, though, is that they come following Israel’s exodus from Egypt. In fact, in the book of Exodus, there are 19 chapters about Israel’s salvation before there is any mention of the law (found in Exodus 20). While perhaps it is obvious that God saved Israel first and then gave them commands, it is extremely important! There’s a theological point that is often misunderstood: we mistakenly think that in the Old Testament, salvation was achieved by keeping the law, whereas in the New Testament, salvation is by grace through faith.

However, the verse above (Ex. 20:2) highlights that this viewpoint is not true! It is always grace first. God prefaces the 10 commandments to the Israelites by first reminding them of their own salvation! Their salvation from Egypt had nothing to do with what they did or did not do. It had nothing to do with their obedience.

Israel’s salvation from Egypt had everything to do with God’s redemptive plan for them. That means that God’s commandments were given to Israel, not so they could gain salvation by keeping them, but because God had already saved them, and this was how they were to live in the light of that fact.

The same is true for us. We are not saved because of anything we did. Especially during this season of lent, we remember that we are only saved by the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ! That salvation – that gift – is a pre-requisite to obedience. God directs our attention to the cross, just as He directed Israel’s attention to Egypt, and He says to us all, “you have seen what I have done (Ex. 19:4).” The call to obey these commands, then, is our response to the salvation we have already found in Him.

It’s is our response to grace, our response to salvation, our grateful response for who God is and all God has done, that leads us to a life of obedience. That is our calling.

The questions for us all today, are these: how do we obey these commands in this time of physical distancing? How are you loving God with all your heart from your living room? How can you love your neighbour as yourself without physically seeing them?

There are ways, of course, but they take effort. Read your Bibles. Pray. Start an online devotional with your friends, family, or care groups. Talk to each other. Picking up the phone is almost a lost art in 2020 – maybe it’s time to bring it back? Have fun, draw pictures for people, cook unique meals and challenge your friends to do the same. Pray. Start a photo-contest online. Connect with one person everyday that
you wouldn’t normally talk to. Check in on the seniors and vulnerable in your circles. Worship together over YouTube. Did I mention pray?

There are many ways to follow God’s command to love. We just may have to pivot in the ways we go about doing that.

For the next ten weeks, we will be looking at each one of the 10 commandments. Every Tuesday, I will post a new reflection, along with discussion questions, which we, as one church body, can read and work through together. These link for these reflections will be posted in three places: the Mid-Week Memo, LICRC’s Facebook Page, and LICRC’s website. Engage this material. Comment on it. Text with your
Care Groups. While our ‘going’ may be limited, let our isolation not keep us from ‘gathering and growing’ together.

Questions to Ponder:

1) How do the 10 commandments point to the cross?
2) If Jesus came and fulfilled the law, why do we still have it?
3) How will you show love to both God and your neighbours today?