Covenant and Commandments

Exodus 19:3-7; 20:1-17 Click here for the readings

One of my favorite retelling of the 10 commandments is from Mel Brooks in "history of the world part 1."  Moses brings down the 15 commandments and then trips and breaks one tablet with 5 commandments.  It's funny but most importantly it pokes fun at the numbering of commandments.  This is not about memorization (although that too is a good thing).  This is about relationship.  There are over 600 commandments in the Hebrew Scriptures.

Our society has either ignored living into these or bandied about so as to use them as political talking points.  Stephen Colbert once interviewed a politician who was up in arms because the 10 commandments had been moved out of the courthouse in his district.  Colbert asked the congressmen to name the 10 commandments, the congressmen got 3 of them.

God gave us these commands to God's people because they were out of relationship.  Remember, it had been 400 years since they were able to worship God freely in Egypt.  So God gives them boundaries within the relationship.  Every Good and healthy relationship starts off with boundaries....good boundaries, healthy boundaries.

Lord, thank you for giving us boundaries to live into for the good of our relationship with you and with others. - Amen.