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“God’s Advice for a Happy Life
Exodus 20:1-17

 

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Pastor Kevin Vogts
Trinity Lutheran Church
Paola, Kansas

Third Sunday in Lent—March 8, 2015

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

If you go to a library or bookstore you will find a very large section labeled “Self-Help Books.”  There you will discover dozens and dozens of big, thick books, containing all sorts of advice on every possible aspect of how to live a happy, healthy, successful, well-adjusted, contented, all-around satisfying life.

There is some good, helpful advice to be found in such books, but if you want the very best advice on how to live a happy, healthy, successful, well-adjusted, contented, all-around satisfying life, the place you should start is: the Old Testament Reading in this morning’s bulletin.  The Ten Commandments, found in the Bible in Exodus chapter 20 and Deuteronomy chapter 5.  The Ten Commandments—“God’s Advice for a Happy Life.”

“And God spoke all these words:  ‘I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.’”

What is it that motivates us to follow God’s will, to keep his commandments?  We may think the Ten Commandments are like rungs of a ladder, on which we can climb our way to heaven.  But it is impossible for us to earn our way to heaven, to merit our salvation.  That would require perfect obedience, not even breaking one commandment one time.  As James says, “Whoever keeps the whole law and yet fails at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.”  Paul says in Romans, “All have sinned and fall short.”  And John writes, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves.” 

So, if it is impossible for us to save ourselves by obeying the commandments, then what does motivate us to follow them?  “And God spoke all these words:  ‘I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.’”  That preamble to the Ten Commandments gives the motivation for following them.  For the ancient Israelites, the motivation was that God had literally rescued them out of slavery in Egypt, and he was taking them to the promised land of Canaan. 

In the same way, Paul says to us in Romans, “You were slaves to sin . . . But now you have been set free.”  Like the Israelites, we were in slavery, in slavery to sin. Jesus says, “Everyone who sins is a slave to sin.” 

But, like the ancient Israelites, we have been set free, set free from our sins.  Revelation says, “He loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood.”  We have been brought out of slavery by the Lord himself.  As Paul says in Ephesians, “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins.”

And, like the ancient Israelites, the Lord is taking us to the promised land, not the promised land of Canaan, but the promised land of heaven.  “‘Do not let your hearts be troubled,’ Jesus says.  ‘Trust in God; trust also in me.  In my Father’s house are many rooms.  I am going there to prepare a place for you; I will come again and take you to be with me.’”

So the Ten Commandments were not given by God as a ladder on which to climb your way to heaven, because heaven IS already, right now yours as a free GIFT of God.  “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.”  The Lord has rescued you and he is taking you to the promised land.  That is why you want to do the Lord’s, not to earn salvation, but out of gratitude to him for his GIFT of salvation.  As Paul says in Ephesians, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.  For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do,” and in Titus, “He gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.”

As his redeemed people, we want to do the Lord’s will.  His will for our lives is summed up in the Ten Commandments.  John writes, “We love him, because he first loved us. . .  This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome.”  By the power of the Holy Spirit, working in our hearts, God’s commandments are no longer a dreary drudgery, an oppressive burden, but our joy and delight.  As the psalm says, “Oh, how I love your law! I delight in your commands.”

So, the Ten Commandments serve as a guide for us, how to live, out of gratitude to God, a god-pleasing life.  As the psalm says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” 

And the Ten Commandments are also “God’s Advice for a Happy Life.”  As today’s Introit, Psalm 1, says, “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked . . . But his delight is in the law of the Lord.”

There is a promise attached to the Fourth Commandment, you may have memorized this way: “Thou shalt honor thy father and mother, that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.”  But, that wording could be a little misleading.  A better translation is, “That it may go well with you and you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.”  That promise was spoken to the ancient Israelites before they entered the land of Canaan.  It does not mean that those who honor their fathers and mothers will necessarily have a longer earthly lifespan.  It does mean that those who honor their fathers and mothers will have a more happy, healthy, successful, well-adjusted, contented, all-around satisfying earthly life.  And that same promise applies to all Ten Commandments. 

Think of all the problems in society that would be instantly solved if everyone followed the Ten Commandments.  Think of all the problems you will avoid in your own life by following the Ten Commandments.  “That it may go well with you and you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.”

God’s Ten Commandments are not archaic religious rules, obsolete and out-of-date.  They are practical guidance, speaking powerfully to the issues of today—“God’s Advice for a Happy Life.”

Amen.

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