Exodus
20:1-17
And God spoke all these words:
"I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt
"You shall have no other gods before me.
"You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything
in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not
bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God,
punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth
generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of
those who love me and keep my commandments.
"You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD
will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
"Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall
labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your
God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter,
nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your
gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and
all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD
blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
"Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in
the land the LORD your God is giving you.
"You shall not murder.
"You shall not commit adultery.
"You shall not steal.
"You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
"You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet
your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or
anything that belongs to your neighbor."
Matthew 5:27-29
"You have heard
that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery .'
But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already
committed adultery with her in his heart.
When
I was a little boy, my Mom and Dad gave me a set of toy garden tools. A rake, a shovel, stuff like that.
They
were child size tools and made of plastic.
To
this day I do not know why, but when my parents gave them to me, my Dad looked
at me and said, “whatever you do, don’t hit your sister with it.”
Why
did he say that?
I had
intention of hitting my sister with the toy shovel.
It
bothered me – and I wondered what would happen if I did hit her with it.
So in
order to find out, one day I hit her with it.
She
cried, told Dad, I got in trouble.
Gifts
are great – but sometimes you can take these gifts and misuse them.
Jonathan (Jay) Vargas was a 19
year old who won the lottery! In 2008 he
took home $35.3 million dollars. He used
his wealth to start a pro wrestling business.
He called it “Wrestlicious” – featuring all female wrestlers
clad in bikinis. It lasted one year, and
after that he was broke, and even in debt.
A
gift misused.
God
gives us many gifts, and I believe that every single one of them is subject to
being misused by humans.
Plants
and chemicals can be used in ways that make medicine. It is a good gift. Then
again, we can misuse that gift by taking plants and chemicals by making
unhealthy drugs.
Throughout the Bible, Scripture refers to wine
as something that is good. It is a
blessing. Take that blessing and drink too much and the gift becomes a curse. And the Bible is clear in its opposition to
drunkenness.
Take the gifts of knowledge and learning
and we can enrich our lives for the better.
But technology can also dehumanize our lives and pollute our world.
Any gift of God can be
misused.
Sex
is a gift of God. It was created and designed by God. Like any other gift, it
can also be misused.
Sex.
It
fascinates us.
We
are driven by sex. And for some people,
the drive is beyond the apparent control of their better judgment.
We
laugh at jokes about sex, and we cry when we are hurt by sex.
God
created sexuality as a way of having children – one of the first instructions God
ordered in creation was to tell men and women to be fruitful and to
multiply. God gave us our sexuality to
do this.
But
there is more to sex than having children – it is about pleasure, joy, and
intimacy. The Old Testament book of Song
of Solomon was an ancient work of literature that many wanted to keep out of
the Bible.
In Song of Solomon, sexual love is the
main theme of that book. It is very
graphic in its descriptions.
Sex was created by God and is therefore,
like all other creations of his, good. And
like all other creations, we can take it and misuse it.
And so we come to this in our series
on the Ten Commandments – you shall not commit adultery.
And the misuse of the gift of
sexuality – specifically within a marriage -- is adultery.
When you are married, you give that
part of your nature – that sexual part – to be reserved for only you and your
spouse.
This
part of a marriage can be the most powerful expression of intimacy in the
marriage bond. It is not the only
expression of intimacy and love, but there is something powerfully emotional
and spiritual about this gift, so that we’re not only united in body, but we’re
also united in soul and spirit. This is why sexual misconduct often deeply
wounds people far more than many other kinds of sin.
In
Hebrews 13, the author writes, "Marriage should be honored by all, and the
marriage bed kept pure…”
Marriage
is a commitment.
It is
being loyal to each other.
It is
being nurturing and caring for one another.
It is
being faithful to each other – not just physically faithful, but faithful in
terms of support and encouragement and love.
So where
are you in this commandment?
Maybe you
feel excluded from today’s sermon because you are happily and faithfully
married. Which is great.
But let me
suggest that adultery may not have anything to do with physical activity with
someone else. Jesus, in Matthew’s
Gospel, broadened the boundaries of this commandment to include even simple
thoughts of lust.
Would it
not be true that you can work seventy hours a week and do a great harm to your
partnership and family.
You can
close off your emotions and cut off communications – and thereby undermine the
covenant you have with your partner.
You can be
disrespectful to your partner. You can be physically abusive to your
partner. You can be manipulative of your
partner. Violating your covenant
relationship can come in all sorts of forms.
So where
are you in this commandment? You might
feel left out. You might be single –
which is fine. But even if you are
single this commandment speaks to you by calling you to respect the marriage of
other people.
Or you
might be single because you are so young.
And perhaps this commandment is calling you to think about shaping the
ethics you will embrace as you grow up.
And you will have to consider – will your passions control you as you
grow up – or will you control and enjoy
your passions in appropriate ways.
So where
are you in this commandment?
You may be
an adult who has blatantly violated your marriage vows by infidelity. And if that is the case, you may be wondering
if you have committed the unforgivable sin.
Well here
is the thing about sin – Jesus never condemns, he always shows grace. In the Gospel of John he says to the woman caught
in adultery, “Go now, and sin no more” (John 8:7).
There is no
need to be paralyzed with guilt. Go and live the transformed life made possible
by the grace of God.
I know –
easy for me to say. But keep in mind
that any healing takes time – and work.
So take the time and get to work.
So where
are you in this commandment?
You may be
the person who has been betrayed or is having a difficult time forgiving your
partner. Well, that is one of the
challenges of the Christian life. Loving
others who are difficult to love, and forgiving those who hurt us is a healing
process, and as I just said, healing takes time – and work. So take the time and get to work.
Even if the
marriage cannot be healed, your heart needs healing.
God gave us
both marriage and sexuality as gifts – not to be misused, but to be savored and
enjoyed.
We
sometimes look at the Ten Commandments as a burdensome list of rules, but they
are in themselves gifts. They are given
not to burden us, but to bless us, so that we may more fully enjoy life in all
of the many areas of living.
