Today’s
Scripture Reading (November 28, 2018): Deuteronomy 5
Some years ago I participated in an all-night
movie marathon with a group of teens. I had picked out the movies that we would
be watching, depending on reviews and ratings, but hadn’t actually watched any of the movies (after all,
I didn’t want to get bored and fall asleep in the middle of the marathon). All
of the movies were rated PG-13.
But two incidents happened that
night that has left me with a lasting
memory. The first was that there was a nudity shot in one of the movies. Now to
be clear, the nudity in question was a passing shot, probably about a second in
time, of a boy’s bum. But it was there. It was the only nude shot in any of the
movies that we watched that night, and it was the only time in the entire night
that the Pastor decided to walk into the room to see how we were doing. He also
then immediately left the room.
The second incident was a little more troubling for me. One of the teens thought that it would be fun
to rate the movies according to how many times someone swore. All through each
of the movies, he would audibly record how many times the actors swore – as in,
one swear, two swears, three swears – and he was a bit legalistic in his
evaluation of what constituted a swear – dang and damn were both equal
violations in his eyes as he counted the swears. I probably wouldn’t have
noticed how many times questionable language was
used in the movies except that I had a friend present to remind me.
The Ten Commandments is that classic list of
the “Thou Shalt Not’s” (actually, only eight of the ten fit that category – but
why mess with the popular conception of things). The idea of a law structure is
not unusual – and this one was one of the first of which we are aware, but not
the first. The Ten Commandments covers our relationship with God – and our
relationships with each other. And maybe uniquely, it takes an active stance on
both. God isn’t just worried about how you treat him – he is just as interested
in the way we treat each other.
Probably the most misunderstood of the
commandments is the third one – Thou Shalt not
take the name of the Lord, thy God in vain. We
need some neat side effects when we say that – maybe a bit of an echo. The
image we get is of a God who is looking down on us and is listening to our
every word and counting how many times we swear, just like my friend at the
movie marathon. The problem is that that is not the point of the commandment.
The commandment is actually aimed at how we treat holy things. The actual meaning
is don’t say (or do) anything that will cause dirt to be thrown on God or on any
movement of God. It is so much more than the occasional ‘God (or Gawd)’ that
might escape our lips, it is a condemnation of how we think about God – and how
we think about and act toward God’s
community.
It means that a God-fearer (someone who
believes in God) who enjoys sitting around and telling stories (gossiping)
about other people is in danger of misusing the name of the Lord because they
cause shame and dirt to be placed on God
in the process. Some of our attitudes cause dirt to be thrown on the name of God.
Paul said that the gospel of Christ was
offensive. And it is – but that does not mean that we should feel free to
offend. When we are offensive, we are misusing the name of God. This isn’t about just swearing – but about the
things that we do – the actions that we take.
The Torah is clear. Don’t misuse the name of
God because he won’t hold us guiltless if we do. God expects us to protect him
and his community. And that protection is active – is something that we purpose
to do.
Tomorrow’s Scripture
Reading: Deuteronomy 6
See also Exodus 20:7.
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