Living the Commandments

 

Exodus 20: 1-4, 7-9, 12-20; Matthew 21: 33-46

 

 

The Ten Commandments have been part of Jewish history since Moses led the people through the Wilderness after the Exodus from Egypt. As a whole, the Commandments describe the kind of relationship God wants with God’s people – between God and humans, and among humans. We revere God and remember God gives us what we need. We treat each other with respect.

Fourteen hundred years after the Exodus, by the time of Jesus, the Ten Commandments were part of the catechism of life. Everyone knew them. Rabbis and priests also knew the 603 others in the Hebrew Scriptures and many of them knew the Talmud, which helped them interpret the ancient commandments for the modern day.

They also knew the Shema, a ritualized prayer prayed by Jews daily. “Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one.” The shema continues with a statement we hear Jesus give when he is questioned about the commandments. “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”

However, just like today, people of Jesus’ time chose which parts of the Commandments they wanted to obey and which ones to ignore. Jesus frequently gives the people lessons on God’s kind of justice compared to human justice.

One of those lessons is in this parable.  But it is a challenging one. Who is who in the parable? Is it as simple as the priests and Pharisees seem to believe it is? Why is the murder of innocent people justified? Or is it? Who are these tenants?

The usual interpretation says that it is a simple allegory. The vineyard has been a symbol of the Jewish people for centuries. The tenants are the leaders of the Jewish people, who again and again have refused to listen to the prophets’ call to obey the Commandments. The landowner is God, who sent the servants (the prophets) to collect the rents and the tenants (the leaders) killed them. Finally, they killed the son (Jesus). And God removed the leaders and put new ones in their place.

This is probably how the priests and Pharisees understood the story. The leaders are trying to figure out how to get rid of Jesus. They wanted to arrest him, but they didn’t dare do it so publicly. They know he sees their real intent and they are terrified of the consequences.

It is often said that the best interpretation is often the simplest, so let’s accept that this is a simple allegory. But, then how does the parable apply to us today? Let’s go back to the Commandments. The tenants – the leaders of the Jewish people – were not taking very good care of the vineyard – the people. They were not obeying the Commandments.

The Commandments are structured so that if we obey the first commandment, the rest all fall into place. When we are grateful for what we have, we revere God’s name and allow ourselves to take time off to spend time with God. When we trust God to provide, we don’t need to steal, covet, lie, or abuse others to ensure we will have enough stuff, enough power. If we put God first in everything, we don’t need much else.

When Jesus was asked what was the greatest Commandment, he responded with part of the Shema: “Love God with all your heart, soul, and might.” And he added, “And the second is, love your neighbor as yourself.”

Love God. Love others. These two commandments are so simple to memorize, we don’t even have to figure out which number it is in the list of ten. “Hmm, is stealing number 5 or number 6?” time for reflection. Actually, it’s number 7.

When we live our lives based on the two Greatest Commandments, it shows, and it makes a difference. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died a few weeks ago. I was struck by this comment I heard about her on a news program. This person said: Ruth loved the Constitution and always remembered that it began with the words, “We the people …” Ruth spent her life making the word “we” more and more inclusive. In her decades of justice work, she lived out the commandments of loving God and loving neighbor.

… Today we also remember Francis of Assisi, who died on this day in 1226, 800 years ago. Francis was called by God to rebuild the church. At first he took that to mean repairing buildings, but he soon figured God meant for him to rebuild human hearts and help them turn toward God.

Though he wanted to be a solitary monk and to live in a cave, he knew he was called to a greater purpose. He spent his life drawing people back to these two basic commandments of loving God and loving each other.

He especially focused on not owning anything, not even a prayer book. He reasoned that what we own, we want to protect, and if we own one thing it will lead us to owning more. And if we own something, others will want to own – covet – what we have, and that leads us into breaking a commandment. Francis was so detached from things, he regularly gave away the tunic he was wearing to someone who didn’t have one. The Brothers always found him another one – see? God provides.

How well do you do with obeying the Commandments? Is there one in particular that gives you problems? When I ask this question, many people say they have a problem with swearing. We know when we stub our toe we should not say God’s name in an angry way. But let’s go beyond that. How well do you trust God? Enough that you can let go of your “stuff” and be sure that you will have enough? How well do you love and respect others? All others, or just some others?

These days, our country, indeed the whole world, is having problems. Besides the virus which has drastically altered our way of life, the inequities experienced by many people of color has been exposed like a bandage being ripped off and exposing a pus-filled wound.

I know some of you disagree with me, and say that racism is not a problem. But I encourage you to imagine yourself and others differently. An old Native American saying says to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes before criticizing them. Another saying I have heard is, “How many days have you spent as a person of color, or as a homeless person or as a disabled person or as a person who calls God by a different name?”

Until we hear and understand the stories told by other people, we have no right to do anything except love them. They are as much God’s children as we are.

I haven’t given homework lately, so here is an assignment. This week, I suggest you think about your relationship with God and with God’s people. How well do you put God first? How well do you love others? All others?

Amen