Relationships
Grace, mercy and
peace be unto you from God who is Creator, Christ and Comforter. Amen
Relationships. It’s
all about relationships. ALL of the 10
commandments deal with relationships. The
first three are about our all-important relationship with God, and the last
ones are all about our relationships with each other.
I don’t know if you’ve ever been bored enough in church to
notice that the Small Catechism is in the back of our Book of Worship, starting
on page 1160[i]. If you would like to participate in today’s
sermon, please turn there – unless of course, you come from the era where you
had to memorize the catechism, then pull open that drawer in your memory
files!
In true catechetical style, Martin Luther wrote the 10
commandment section in the question/answer format. The Teacher – (in the case of the Small
Catechism, the teacher was to be the parent) – states the commandment and asks
the question: What is this?/What does this mean? The student answers, and in
the case of the 10 Commandments, each answer starts with, We are to fear and love God…
How fitting that the first commandment we deal with on this
Father’s Day is the 4th one, “Honor
your father and your mother.” Let’s read
together the answer…We are to fear and
love God, so that we neither despise nor anger our parents and others in
authority, but instead honor, serve, obey, love and respect them.
What has Luther done here?
He has moved the idea of parenthood beyond the biological into the
greater world. We are to honor our
parents, and we are to honor those
in authority.
In my pastoral life I cannot tell you how often I have heard
comments like this from people in regard to the fifth commandment, “Well, I’ve
never killed anyone!” I’m pretty sure
most of us sitting here can say that we have never physically taken another person’s
life.
Though on this Quilts of Valor Day, there are those of you
who have served in the armed forces who may have a different reality. War is a totally different story…a story that
needs to be told….In Article XVI of the Augsburg Confession, Martin Luther states:
Earthly peace depends upon political power, and, therefore, in the service of
peace government may "punish evildoers with the sword" and
"engage in just wars."
What to do with “You shall not murder” in the day where
mass shootings happen in our country on a weekly basis? And when people are convoluting our nation’s Second
Amendment to include bearing arms that go far beyond our founding father’s wildest
dreams? The right to bear arms in the 2nd
Amendment is for the creation of militias!
We now have well-armed military branches that work for our common good…and
I am so grateful that we have them! That
said, I believe that people who want guns should have them. Simultaneously, I also believe those guns
should be licensed, regulated, and issued under the strictest of laws with
teeth enough to severely punish those who break those laws – just like we do
with cars. You may differ with me, and
that’s okay, another reason why it’s so awesome to live in the United States! Let’s read Luther’s explanation, We are to fear and love God, so that we neither
endanger nor harm the lives of our neighbors, but instead help and support them
in all of life’s needs.
In response to those who say, “I never killed
anyone,” I always ask, “Have you gossiped? Have you talked behind someone’s
back? Have you ever dissed someone? All
of these things are a form of murder, too.”
The 6th commandment is an interesting
one to teach in confirmation! Middle
School students are too young to have spouses.
Adultery has the word adult in it, right? Right.
So, here’s what I’ve done – I had the students stand in a circle and
hand them each a Hershey’s Kiss. Holding
it in their left hand, they look at it, smell it, unwrap it, and place it on
their tongue. Then, take it out, and
wrap it back up. Unwrap, take a tiny
bite, wrap it back up. Repeat. Then, take it out, place it on the tongue and
let it melt a bit, now wrap it back up.
Then, hand it to the person on their left by saying, “Here, darling,
here is a special gift I’ve been saving just for you.”
Everyone is grossed out! And not one person want’s the person on the
right’s “special gift.” That’s adultery,
I say. Every time you play with the gift
of sex, you are messing with that ultimate gift of your whole self, that you someday
may give to your spouse.
Stealing. The
7th commandment seems so easy.
If it’s not yours, don’t take it!
Let’s read the explanation: We are
to fear and love God, so that we neither take our neighbor’s money or property
nor acquire them by using shoddy merchandise or crooked deals, but instead help
them to improve and protect their property and income.
Luther complicates this whole commandment by
helping us realize that even though we may not take what’s not ours, we may be
complicit in stealing anyway. Ugh!
Bearing false witness. Don’t lie.
Simple enough, right? What does Luther
say? Let’s read: We are to fear and love
God, so that we do not tell lies about our neighbors, betray or slander them,
or destroy their reputations. Instead,
we are to come to their defense, speak well of them, and interpret everything
they do in the best possible light.
[pause]
Anyone feeling particularly good this morning after
reading all of this? I know I’m
not! Every time I read the 10
Commandments and their explanations, I realize that I cannot live a day without
breaking at least one of them.
Today’s Gospel lesson comes from the beginning of
the story of the Good Samaritan. I think
Jesus is trying to tell that young man, and us as we sit here this morning,
that we are to do our very best every day for everyone we encounter –
regardless of race, religion, culture or creed.
We will be woefully inadequate to meet the needs of
today’s world individually – and collectively we will still be inadequate for
the needs are so real, so tangible, so in our face that we could lose
hope.
Then, I think of the legend of the starfish…
A vacationing businessman was walking along a beach
when he saw a young boy.
Along the shore were many starfish that had been washed up by the tide and were sure to die before the tide returned. The boy walked slowly along the shore and occasionally reached down and tossed the beached starfish back into the ocean.
Along the shore were many starfish that had been washed up by the tide and were sure to die before the tide returned. The boy walked slowly along the shore and occasionally reached down and tossed the beached starfish back into the ocean.
The
businessman, hoping to teach the boy a little lesson in common sense, walked up
to the boy and said, "I have been watching what you are doing, son.
You have a good heart, and I know you mean well, but do you realize how many beaches there are around here and how many starfish are dying on every beach every day.
You have a good heart, and I know you mean well, but do you realize how many beaches there are around here and how many starfish are dying on every beach every day.
Surely
such an industrious and kind hearted boy such as yourself could find something
better to do with your time. Do you really
think that what you are doing is going to make a difference?"
The boy looked up at the man, and then he looked down at a starfish by his feet. He picked up the starfish, and as he gently tossed it back into the ocean, he said, "It makes a difference to that one.”
Pray with me.
Jesus, beloved boy on the beach, thank you for making a difference in
our lives, today. You pick us up and
toss us back into the ocean of your love, as we confess our inadequacy of living
your way of love and grace, of peace and compassion in our world. Wash us again and again and make us more like
you, seeing YOU in our neighbor. Renew
us, revive us, restore us and our relationships…so that we can be the kind of
neighbor you would have us be for the sake of the world. Amen.
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