Conducting God
Texts:
Exodus 20.1-
Matt 5.13-
I don’t know
if you have been following
the new series
by Andrew Marr
called Britain from above.
In it, we have seen
a whole series of aerial views
of these islands
that define how we live today.
We see
the apparently random movement
of children after school;
the journeys made
by security vans
carrying the nation’s cash
and the rapid replacement
of factories with shopping complexes.
Last Sunday we saw
an overhead photograph
of Heathrow Airport
with its familiar Star arrangement
of runways.
Yet if you had not seen
such a photo,
I defy anyone
to draw the airport’s lay out
simply from experiencing it
on the ground.
For when we are at zero feet
we are too busy
finding our bags,
navigating the corridors
and avoiding the on-
to worry about what
the whole structure looks like.
And that -
is like life.
For when we are fully engaged
in the normal pressures
of living
we rarely have sufficient overview
to understand the ways ahead.
Well few of us
have the luxury
of aerial photographs
of our journeys.
However, invariably
we have a very useful alternative –
and that is a map.
And that is also
the function of
the Ten Commandments.
For they provide a diagram
that points out routes
through problems
and gives warning
of any dead-
May be even better,
these commandments
map out the way
to unimagined destinations
that are still beyond
our sight.
For this summary of God’s law
indeed
offers a fail-
to finding life beyond existence
on this overcrowded planet.
Therefore over the next few weeks
I want to explore
this ancient text
and find out
what a new view of it
can give
to the hard work of living today.
Actually the ten commandments
are sometimes called the Decalogue.
And it was on researching
the Decalogue
for today’s sermon,
I was stunned
to discover that
its essence is law too
for all of the world’s religions.
In fact, these
apparently universal commands
are recorded and demanded
by the scared writings of Islam,
Hinduism, Buddhism
and Sikhism.
Yet with a bit of thought,
we can see why this must be.
For, I don’t know
if you have been following
the TV series maestro.
In it, a group of personalities
have to learn
to be orchestral conductors
with the best one
appearing at
the last night of the Proms.
And these programmes
make very clear,
that it is the conductor
-
that shapes the sound,
balances
the individual instrumental voices
and sometimes
even just keeps the music going!
And so too it is with
the ten commandments.
For they are
the most basic instructions
that God
as conductor of time and space
can give to his creatures;
orders applicable
to all people
independent of race, appearance,
personality or creed.
Ultimately they
are the fundamental demands
for
at least
keeping humanity’s music going.
And how does
the Decalogue do that?
Well, in the armed forces
one of the greatest crimes
is theft.
Because as it is explained
there is no quicker way
to undermine a community
than a lack of trust
in others.
And so it is
with the Commandments.
For they are the very ground rules
for any group
so as to have social cohesion.
Anything less soon degenerates
into a lawless fight
for survival;
a bullying supremacy
of the loudest and most violent
and the devil apparently
taking the vulnerable.
Put another way, the Decalogue
is a reminder that God
does confer individual rights
but he also requires
the observation of
the rights
of the community.
Moreover, he gives
certain rights to himself.
For without the rule
of impartial law
there is no community.
Without personal reliance
on fair treatment
there is no trusting cooperation.
And without the fear
of God’s justice
there is no promise
of better times.
It seems then
it was the hoped-
of this universal law
which inspired
the famous words
by Emma Lazarus
written on
the United States Statue of liberty:
Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses
yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse
of your teeming shore,
Send these, the homeless,
tempest-
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.
At one point in my naval career,
I had to ensure
the correct working
of a highly complex machine
that could tell
where it was
without any external reference.
The problem was
this contraption
had -
imperfections.
The outcome being that –
with time –
it drifted,
it gradual wasn’t
where it thought it was
and eventually got lost.
That was until
it was told
once more
its correct position.
Well, here
is the second purpose
of the Decalogue.
For any nation
living without external reference
to what is right
soon drifts
and becomes utterly lost.
Indeed, we need not go back
to Nazi Germany
to see this effect.
There are more than enough
examples
in recent years
to know this is the truth.
The Decalogue
therefore remains
for all peoples
an inerrant moral compass,
a unfailing path finder
to righteousness
and the very rock
for all political systems,
religious dogmas and governing rules
to be founded on.
Because in God’s commands alone
is the place
where we all must be
and live
and have our being.
Yet there is an equally mighty use
of the ten commandments
which is too often
not employed today.
For it has been observed
that by saying –
You shall have no other God
s before me,
the Bible is not denying
the existence of other gods.
It is simply stating
they are subservient
to the one supreme God.
Well there are many gods
in our world
at the moment;
entities that seem
to have supernatural power
over us.
And I briefly mention
worries about
the global environment,
pandemic disease
and economic recession
as examples
of modern day invincible ogres.
Yet by enshrining
God’s simple commands
in all that is done,
then these
undoubtedly huge problems
will be seen
as at least not insurmountable gods.
Because through
a common respect
for a Divine
still in firm control,
in working together
within his harmonious will
and in valuing
each and every human being –
we will prevail –
we win through –
we will be free
of the slavery
of lawless exploitation,
suffering and danger.
We will indeed
as a chosen species
go on knowing God’s love
for another thousand generations.
One of William Barclay's friends
tells this story.
In the church
where he worshiped
there was a lonely old man,
old Thomas.
He had outlived all his friends
and hardly anyone knew him.
When Thomas died,
this friend had the feeling
that there would be
no one to go
to the funeral
so he decided to go,
so that there might
be someone to follow
the old man
to his last resting-
There was no one else,
and it was a miserable wet day.
The funeral reached the cemetery,
and at the gate
there was a soldier waiting.
An officer,
but on his raincoat
there were no rank badges.
He came to the grave side
for the ceremony,
then when it was over
, he stepped forward
and gave a salute
that might have been given
to a king. T
he friend walked away
with this man,
and as they walked,
the wind blew
the soldier's raincoat open
to reveal the shoulder badges
of a brigadier.
He then said,
"You will perhaps
be wondering
what I am doing here.
Years ago Thomas
was my Sunday School teacher;
I was a wild lad
and a sore trial to him.
He never knew
what he did for me,
but I owe everything I am
or will be
to old Thomas,
and today
I had to come to salute him
at the end."
Well today,
our old teacher
the Decalogue is sorely forgotten
by many in power.
Many more
have never enjoyed
its wise
yet sometimes painful mentoring.
In all honesty
maybe we have thought less
of its restrictions
than we should.
Yet in it’s time
it has tamed the wild,
it has protected
the least able a
nd has ensured
the progress
albeit painfully slow
of what is truly human civilisation.
No wonder then Jesus
did not cast
this sacred baby out
with the hollow legalistic
bath water.
No wonder he said –
I come not to abolish the law
but to fulfil the law.
No wonder Edmund Burke
wrote -
There is but one law for all,
namely,
that law which governs all laws –
the law of our Creator.
No wonder Grace and Peace Bruce
could advise –
Above all else love God alone;
Bow down to neither wood nor stone.
God's name refuse
to take in vain;
The Sabbath rest with care maintain.
Respect your parents all your
days;
Hold sacred human life always.
Be loyal to your chosen mate;
Steal nothing, neither
small nor great.
Report, with truth, your neighbour’s deed;
And rid your mind of selfish
greed.
For these will bless your ministry.
Amen
Offering
HYMN…..