April 14, 2016

21 “‘And you shall not covet your neighbor’s house.(9) You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”(10) Deuteronomy 5:21

“What does this mean?
We should fear and love God so that we do not scheme to get our neighbor’s inheritance or house, or get it in a way which only appears right, but help and be of service to him in keeping it – and we should fear and love God so that we do not entice or force away our neighbor’s wife, workers, or animals, or turn them against him, but urge them to stay and do their duty.”(Martin Luther’s explanation to the Ninth and Tenth Commandments – Small Catechism)

“For we are so inclined by nature that no one desires to see another have as much as himself, and each one acquires as much as he can; the other may fare as best he can. And yet we pretend to be godly, know how to adorn ourselves most finely and conceal our rascality, resort to and invent adroit devices and deceitful artifices (such as now are daily most ingeniously contrived) as though they were derived from the law codes; yea, we even dare impertinently to refer to it, and boast of it, and will not have it called rascality, but shrewdness and caution.” (Martin Luther’s explanation to the Ninth and Tenth Commandments – Large Catechism)

Well, the commandments certainly do stretch across many of the most complex of our human emotions. “To covet is to be human”, seems to be the feeling I have about this commandment. If you turn on the television, there are plenty of shows that play upon this most human emotion. There are “DYI” shows that not only display what others have, but make it seem like it will be so easy and inexpensive to have the same. There are reality shows that display the rampant narcissism of the politically elite and the wealthiest 1% including their audacious homes — and the audience is made up of people who secretly wish they could have the same life.

The last two commandments are about the most American of emotions – “I want what he or she has”. “The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.” “My home, boat, car, is more expensive and bigger than your car.” Sound familiar?

Of course, the second part of this Commandment, the part about not enticing away our neighbor’s wife, well a lot of this was covered in the Sixth Commandment, the one about adultery. I know that abortion is one of those issues that is such a “hot button” topic that few really care to try to comment on it, especially if you are against abortion. What I wish was that people would consider what “casual sex” can lead to – the unwanted pregnancy. I wish more people thought through their actions before they acted. The same is true for marriages. I can do a hundred hours of counseling with a couple, but the most important “counseling” that will impact their decision is the time they spend being honest and open with one another. Again, this will not prevent “unhappy marriages” nor will it reduce the adulterous actions of so many. But there is no reason to rush our decisions in this life – better to “take time” now rather than to “regret time” 25 years from now.

Pastor Dave

April 13, 2016

20 “‘And you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” Deuteronomy 5:20

“What does this mean?
We should fear and love God so that we do not tell lies about our neighbor, betray him, slander him, or hurt his reputation, but defend him, speak well of him, and explain everything in the kindest way.” (Martin Luther’s explanation to the Eighth Commandment – Small Catechism)

“Therefore this commandment is given first of all that every one shall help his neighbor to secure his rights, and not allow them to be hindered or twisted, but shall promote and strictly maintain them, no matter whether he be judge or witness, and let it pertain to whatsoever it will. And especially is a goal set up here for our jurists that they be careful to deal truly and uprightly with every case…irrespective of a person’s money, possession, honor, or power.

Next, it extends very much further, if we are to apply it to spiritual jurisdiction or administration; here it is a common occurrence that every one bears false witness against his neighbor. For wherever there are godly preachers and Christians, they must bear the sentence before the world that they are called heretics, apostates, yea, seditious and desperately wicked miscreants. Besides, the Word of God must suffer in the most shameful and malicious manner, being persecuted, blasphemed, contradicted, perverted, and falsely cited and interpreted.” (Martin Luther’s explanation to the Eighth Commandment – Large Catechism)

I think there are two opinions within this one commandment. Many will say that one of the Ten Commandments is that we should not lie. And that is true, as Luther begins his explanation with the words: “We should fear and love God so that we do not tell lies…” Of course, we should not tell lies. But, if we were to couch this commandment into the positive and say “We should fear and love G-d so that we tell the truth, always…” – well I don’t know that it would have the same impact. It is expected that we should not tell lies – and it is expected that we should tell the truth, always. But as we all know, to tell the truth always is almost, almost impossible. Life requires that there be a degree to truth telling. But stretching the truth and outright lying are completely different.

But the commandment explanation by Luther goes further, that we are not to tell lies… “about our neighbor, betray him, slander him, or hurt his reputation, but defend him, speak well of him, and explain everything in the kindest way.” Now, this has reached the level of near “impossibility” – like telling the truth, “always”. I think we can hold our tongue about our neighbor who is just a despicable person – but to carry it to its conclusion (for Luther) and to speak well and defend the person who is a despicable person, well that is something we all find difficult. But, according to Luther, if we only refrain from slandering or attacking our neighbor who may be someone who seeks to make us hate him or her, and do not speak well of them, then we fall short of the intent of the commandment. And once again, that is why they are commandments – because they are hard. And that is why we have Grace, because we all fall short of the Glory of G-d.

Pastor Dave