Trinity United Church of Christ
    W4888 Harvest Lane
    La Crosse, WI 54601
    

© Rev. Diane Kay Martin
Trinity UCC ¨ La Crosse, WI
October 2, 2005
Lectionary texts:    Exodus 20.1-21
                            Matthew 21.33-42

Laying Down the Law 

Last Sunday, we celebrated the one-year anniversary of my ordination. My husband Nathan and I welcomed 50 or so guests into our little home in Coon Valley last Sunday afternoon. It was a wonderful celebration!

Today, we celebrate the one-year anniversary of the start of my ministry here with you. A year already! It’s been a wonderful year, hasn’t it?

As I reflect on my year with you, I recall how each of you was a stranger to me not too long ago. Already now, you are my beloved friends—sisters and brothers in Christ, with whom I walk this journey of faith.

As I reflect on my year with you, my heart rejoices also in those who have joined themselves to this congregation since my arrival—either by baptism or by membership or by Confirmation.

Listen to the names of the people who have been baptized, confirmed or received into membership here at Trinity this year: <<names removed for the sake of confidentiality>>. Praise God for the gift that each of these 35 people is to this congregation! Praise God for the lessons we are learning with them about ministry and faith!

Yes, it’s great to look back at where we’ve been. We love to be nostalgic. You may have noticed that, when Dean was doing the Children’s Time, I went out into the hallway. I took off my robe so I could show you … my dress. This was my grandmother’s dress. I found it in her closet after she passed away seven years ago. I don’t wear it very often, but when I do, it makes it a special day, because I think of her and how much she meant to me. I was telling Beth Stoll about this, and she told me she has a pair of her grandma’s pajamas. (Grandma’s pajamas—what could be more cozy than that?)

Today’s Hebrew Scripture (Old Testament) reading also gives us a chance to look back at where we’ve been. Our scripture text from Exodus—which I emphasized by hitting the gong ten times during the reading—tells the story of God giving the Ten Commandments to the people of Israel through his servant Moses.^[1]

The Ten Commandments—a topic that’s very much in the news these days, as the debate continues over whether their display should be allowed on public land. In June, the U.S. Supreme Court delivered opposite rulings on one display in Texas and another one in Kentucky. One was constitutional; the other was not.[2] And, regardless of which side of this issue you come down on, what stands out to me is the fact that this issue matters so much to us!

We’re in good company, though. The Ten Commandments mattered a whole lot to the Jewish leaders in Jesus’ day, too. A whole lot. As did the other 613 laws that Moses delivered to the Hebrew people. They mattered a whole lot, and the leaders of the Temple were always on the lookout for people who broke those laws.

It was to these same leaders of the Temple that Jesus told the strange parable about the landowner and the vineyard that appears in today’s Gospel reading.[3] In fact, he told it at their expense! Here’s how it went: The owner of the land hired people to live on the land and farm it for him. At harvest time, he sent messengers to go and collect his profits. The people who worked the land didn’t pay up; they killed the messengers. So then he sent his son… and they killed his son. (You may have guessed that Jesus was foretelling his own death when he told this parable.)

Let’s look at this parable in light of the Ten Commandments. Which ones did these tenant farmers break? Well, certainly the sixth: You shall not kill. And the eighth: You shall not steal. Probably the ninth: You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. And certainly the tenth: You shall not covet anything that belongs to your neighbor. Those tenant farmers were in this pretty deep, weren’t they?

Then Jesus steps back out of the parable and asks the Temple leaders, “When the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”

The Temple leaders love this question. I can almost see them. Their eyes narrow, their pulses quicken, and a self-righteous grin spreads across their faces. With venom in their voices, they “lay down the law”: “He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and lease the vineyards to other tenants who will give him the produce at harvest time.” In other words, “They’re gonna burn, and we’re gonna watch ’em!”

And Jesus says no! He says, “Don’t you know that God is doing a new thing? It’s the work of the Lord, and it’s amazing!”

Jesus says no! I’m not going to “lay down the law”—not in this parable that I just made up, and not among the people of the earth that I created thousands of years ago. God is doing a new thing, and he’s going to do it through me!

But those Temple leaders didn’t like this answer. One of them came to Jesus later with a question, trying again to trick him into “laying down the law.” This man asked Jesus, “Which commandment of the law is the greatest?” and listen to the wisdom Jesus gives us. He says, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”[4]

Do you know what Jesus was doing here? He was giving Christians our own version of the Ten Commandments, boiled down to two! Jesus quoted two Hebrew Scriptures that perfectly summarize the Ten Commandments, because in the Ten Commandments, the first four tell us how we should relate to God, and the last six tell us how we should relate to our fellow human beings.[5]

Ten Commandments, boiled down to two. I saw a bumper sticker once that read: “Love your God. Love your neighbor. How many more commandments do you need?” Just two. That’s all. Love God, and love your neighbor.

But who is my neighbor? And who is my “Neighbor in Need,” as the offering we’ll receive in a few minutes is called? You know the answer to that: It’s the person who lives on the other side of the world, in another country, another state, another town. Right? As Christians, we have been programmed to know—and rightly so—that “neighbor” doesn’t always mean the person next door. And giving to “Neighbors in Need” is a way to support works of justice on behalf of our “neighbors” who are not next-door.

          But can your “neighbor” be closer than that? Sometimes … sometimes your neighbor is the person in your own home—your wife, your husband, your partner, your child. And if the way you’re living is causing harm to that neighbor who shares a roof with you, then you are breaking Christ’s second great commandment, the command to “love your neighbor as yourself.” I ask you: Take a look at your life. Are your excesses—in work, in rest, in play, in the use of prescription or non-prescription substances—having a negative effect on your family? If so, maybe your loved ones need to “lay down the law” with you—do a little “tough love” therapy on you. Don’t be surprised if they do. In fact, I encourage them to.

          But hear the Gospel—the good news: In the strength of Christ, you can “lay down” your sin. You can change. You can repent—which means, in Greek, to turn around and go the other way. No, you can’t do it alone. This is bigger than you are, but with the help of Christ, you can overcome the habits that hurt the ones you love.

           Ten Commandments, boiled down to two. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. And you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” That’s all the law we need to “lay down.” Amen.

Copyright © 2005 Trinity United Church of Christ
Last modified: 05/30/07