A Commandment to Freedom

The Reverend Christopher Hogin

A Commandment to Freedom

Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20

The Episcopal Church of the Ascension

October 8, 2017

Seventeen years ago I read a novel called, A Simple Plan, written by Scott Smith. It’s one of those books that stayed with me. For some reason, it kept popping up in my mind this week as I reflected on our reading in Exodus. It’s a story about three men who go our hunting on a cold Minnesota winter afternoon. In the woods, they encounter a plane crash and find a bag of cash buried in the snow totaling 4 million dollars. Rather than report the money they keep it secret. The plan is this: once a sufficient amount of time has passed, and the authorities give up on recovering the stolen money, they will divide and spend it quietly without notice.

The problem is it doesn’t work. The trio become consumed with fear and greed. There’s betrayal, murder, and the loss of innocent lives.  By the end of the novel the main character discovers it was all for nothing as he learns the FBI pre-marked the bills with traceable serial numbers.

The author begins the story with a simple quotation from Mary Wollstonecraft. She writes, “No man chooses evil because it is evil; he only mistakes it for happiness the goodness he seeks” Yes, most people choose evil in the mistaken belief that it leads to happiness, but let’s take it further. Evil is often about control. When we assert control it’s another way of saying, I don’t need God. The characters in Smith’s book don’t start out as bad people. Rather, they see an opportunity of obtaining happiness by asserting control. It becomes their God, and they become consumed with fear and mistrust. Relationships collapse and chaos follows.

And that’s the point. When we become self-consumed, chaos follows. God knows this, and this is why God reached out to humanity through The Ten Commandments. In fact, the first four commandments deal exclusively with our relationship with God, while the remaining six deal with our relationship with one another. God essentially says: when you have me as your God, the rest will take care of itself. Jesus says the same thing when he says, “You shall love your God with all our heart, mind, and soul, you will then love your neighbor as yourself.” Get right with God, and you will be right with your neighbor.  

This is why The Ten Commandments remain vital and relevant today. When we put ourselves, or anything else in the place of God, eventually it all collapses. Stealing, adultery, coveting, bearing false witness, and murder—they all occur when we choose other Gods. God gives us The Ten Commandments, not out of a demand that we follow legalistic practices aimed at perfection. No, it’s actually the opposite. God gives us The Ten Commandments for freedom. You see, God did more than just free the Israelites from the physical bondage of slavery, God freed them from the spiritual bonds as well. When God says, you shall have no other Gods, God says, guess what—you’re not in control, and you don’t have to be. When we release ourselves from control, we can begin to see that our salvation is in God’s hands, not in ours.

This means that no matter how much money we make, or fame achieved, or even the number of good deeds performed, all eventually fade away like a puffs of smoke. In the end, what matters is our relationship with God, which mirrors our relationships with others.

I wonder what Stephen Paddock’s God was when he climbed up that hotel and murdered 59 people in Las Vegas? What happened this last week in Las Vegas is incomprehensible, and it’s easy to become cynical or to lose hope. But I promise you, there is hope.

I was reminded of that by Brett, our senior associate, before he left for vacation. He asked me to check out his Facebook page. On it he had posted a clip from the Ellen Degeneres show. In it, she responds to the tragedy of Las Vegas by highlighting all good in the world. She showed clips focusing on people who care for others. Rather than lament on the brokenness of this world, she chose to celebrate the strength and wholeness in this world, which to me, reveals the face of God.

So no, following The Ten Commandments is not a rigid set of rules impossible for us to follow. Rather, it’s an invitation calling us to seek out freedom with God, and where we can release ourselves from the bonds of our spiritual slavery by letting go of earthly attachments and our need to control. When that happens, goodness follows. That doesn’t mean we don’t have responsibilities. By all means, pay the bills, work hard, and get right with your neighbor. Just know that in the end, our lives are impacted by circumstances beyond our control. There are limits to our control. How we respond is what matters, and that’s what The Ten Commandments are all about. Do we respond seeking God, or do we respond seeking ourselves? Everything else flows from that one choice.

                                                                                    Amen