Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20...
Illustration
Object:
Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20
Somebody ran some famous documents through a computer to count the number of words. The Lord's Prayer is 66 words in length. The Gettysburg Address is 286 words. There are 1,322 words in the Declaration of Independence. Government regulations on the sale of cabbage? 26,911 words.
Next time you exclaim, "There oughta be a law," think of the consequences!
Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20
Which of the Ten Commandments do you think is the most important? You shall not murder? You shall not steal?
Those are certainly important. But how about: Remember the sabbath day and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work (vv. 8-9).
Keeping the sabbath probably seems far less important than murdering and stealing, but if we don't allow our body, mind, and spirit time to relax and restore itself each week, aren't we murdering our own good health? Aren't we stealing our own good health?
I like the title of Wayne E. Oates' book, Your Right to Rest. Many of us think that we have to keep working seven days a week or we'll never get caught up. Actually the reverse is true.
At the time of the Russian Revolution, the new leaders of the country said, "What? These peasants are working only six days a week? We'll make them work seven and get 1/6 more work out of them."
But it didn't work that way. Working seven days a week made the peasants so tired that they turned out less work each week.
Our Lord knows that each week you and I need a day of rest.
Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20
"I am constantly worried about my son's ethical education." A. J. Jacobs writes in his best-selling book, The Year of Living Biblically. "I don't want him to swim in this muddy soup of moral relativism. I don't trust it. So I want to instill some rock-solid, absolute morals in my son. Would it be so bad if he lived by the Ten Commandments? Not at all. But how do I get him there?" That is a question we all ask as we strive to live a godly life.
God gave the people the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments draw our attention away from ourselves to focus on our relationships with God and each other. Jacobs writes, "look at the example set by God. The God of the Bible treats his children -- the human race -- with both justice and mercy." We should do the same -- treat everyone we encounter with both justice and mercy.
(From A. J. Jacobs, The Year of Living Biblically [New York: Simon & Schuster, 2007], pp. 39-41)
Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20
As much as they may be ignored by many people, the Ten Commandments represent for most people the basis of God's expectations of human conduct. The Ten Commandments are so basic that the concept has been copied ad infinitum. Consider these versions of the Ten Commandments:
* The Ten Commandments of Cell Phone Etiquette.
* The Ten Commandments of Google
* The Ten Commandments for C+ Programmers
* The Ten Commandments for Kids
* The Ten Commandments for Math Teachers
Although people may not be able to list the biblical commandments, they sure know the concept.
Philippians 3:4b-14
Studies have discovered the kinds of mistakes inexperienced nurses make as opposed to those made by experienced nurses. Experienced nurses make fewer mistakes; however, their mistakes tend to occur because of their assuming they know what to do.
Paul the apostle talks about those who have confidence in the flesh, meaning in natural (and weak), human life. We can think of Paul as a researcher in the spiritual life. He notices in others and in himself the assumptions that arise because "we've been in the faith for years," or "we're tuned in to the spiritual world," or "we know the Bible inside and out."
Mistakes and sins await us all. The safest course is to remain vigilant of spiritual assumptions that result from our skills or successes (true as they might be). At the same time we are never released from the necessities of admitting our sinfulness and always progressing in our life with God.
Philippians 3:4b-14
I've known few ministers and even fewer churches that join Paul in the emphasis he stressed in this text. Have you met many who eagerly seek Christ's resurrection power? I know some that want to have a strong influence in their communities. I know others that love to display their oratorical skills and their divinity degrees. Others like to brag about their organists, choirs, and praise teams.
None of that meant anything to Paul. He would have quickly jettisoned the "gifts extraordinaire" in which most of us like to glory. He understood that all of the above will one day be of no consequence. Only Christ and the power of his resurrection can get us past the day of judgment. Only they can even get us to the day of the Lord. Are you focused on that or on the matters that will soon decay and eventually be defunct? Is your hope in the permanent things of God?
Philippians 3:4b-14
Johnson Oatman Jr. likely had the book of Philippians open before him as he wrote the words to "Higher Ground." Oatman was a businessman who wrote hymns in his spare time, about 5,000 hymns all together. He was ordained by the Methodist church, but never served as a pastor. One dollar is the most he was ever paid for a hymn. The writer of the music was Charles H. Gabriel, music editor of the Rodeheaver Publishing Company. Gabriel wrote over 8,000 hymns and hymn tunes. For the Christian this scripture text and song are a powerful reminder of God's call:
This one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead. I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.
-- Philippians 3:13-14
I'm pressing on the upward way,
New heights I'm gaining every day;
Still praying as I'm onward bound,
Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.
Lord, lift me up and let me stand,
By faith, on heaven's table land.
A higher plane than I have found;
Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.
-- Johnson Oatman Jr. (1856-1922)
Matthew 21:33-46
Philip Yancey tells the story of early missionary to Burma, Adoniram Judson:
Judson was force-marched barefoot for eight miles to prison, where each night the guards passed a bamboo pole between his heavily shackled legs and hoisted the lower part of his body high off the ground. Blood rushed to his head, preventing sleep and causing fierce cramps in his shoulders and back. Clouds of mosquitoes feasted on the raw flesh of his feet and legs. Treatment like this went on for almost two years, and Judson managed to endure only because his devoted wife brought him food each day and pled with the guards for better treatment.
A few months after his release, Judson's wife, weakened by smallpox, died of fever, and shortly after that their baby daughter also died. Judson nearly had a breakdown. He would kneel by his wife's grave for hours each day, regardless of weather. He built a one-room hut in the jungle, morosely dug his own grave in case it might prove necessary, and worked in solitude on a translation of the Bible in the Burmese language. Only a handful of Burmese had shown any interest in the Christian message. Yet he stayed on, 34 years in all, and because of his faithfulness more than one million Burmese Christians today trace their spiritual roots to Adoniram Judson.
(Adapted from Rumors of Another World [Zondervan, 2003])
Matthew 21:33-46
As you and I try to follow Jesus, as we try to live as our Lord's people, sometimes, or even often, things just don't work out the way we've planned.
It's easy to become discouraged, but we need to remember that even Jesus ran up against a lot of problems as he tried to do his work. In our Matthew lesson today, he calls himself "a stone that had been rejected."
Imagine that some stone masons are getting ready to build a church, and one of the stones they pick up doesn't seem suitable for the project, so they toss it aside as unusable.
Yet Jesus says that he, the stone that the builders rejected, has become the cornerstone, the main stone of the whole building, the stone that sets the perfect 90 degree angle for all the other walls to be measured and set in place by.
We've all seen the cornerstones of buildings showing the date on which the building was erected. Jesus is the cornerstone of your life and mine. And he can help you and me to be useful in the building of God's kingdom.
Matthew 21:33-46
Jody laughed out loud at the mention of Sunday school. "I haven't been to Sunday school in years," she said. Her neighbor knew that her in-laws were part of a downtown church. Jody told of being married at the church but she had not attended since. She explained that she just did not feel the need to go to church. Like many young people she felt she could be a good Christian without the church playing a part in her life.
A mishap in her son's gym class revealed a serious health concern. Jody took her son to their family doctor who referred them to an out-of-town specialist to get proper treatment for this rare condition. It was a hectic couple of months. There were many days when Jody felt totally overwhelmed and stressed out. People from church called to offer prayers for her and her son. She politely thanked them for their prayers.
What Jody never expected was the outpouring from the church. People from the church would drop off meals for the family on days when they were at out-of-town appointments. The women's club offered to stay with her son so Jody could go to work. The youth fellowship provided yard work. It was truly amazing the way the church came through for her.
Seeing the church at its best changed Jody's mind about the church. She never thought people would offer their assistance and not want something in return. Jody's faith was reborn.
Speaking again with her neighbor she said she wished she had been involved with the church all along. If only the unruly workers in today's parable knew who it was they might have acted differently. The good news is that we have the Bible and the witness of the faithful to help us. Thanks to others we do know Jesus.
Matthew 21:33-46
A different angle on the parable of the rebellious tenants: In London, England, Harry Hallowes lives on a corner in north London called Hampstead Heath. It is a very upscale neighborhood. He has lived on that corner for more than twenty years. Surrounded by houses which start at $2 million US, Harry sleeps under the stars; Harry is homeless. One day, developers decided to tear up the corner where Harry lived and put up luxury condos. Harry went to court claiming squatter's rights. He had to prove that he had lived continuously on that piece of property to qualify as a squatter. Harry proved that. Harry won his case. He now owns the property which is valued at around $4 million US. Asked if he would sell it, Harry's response was simply, "I just want a place to live."
There was no rent, no ill treatment of the landlord's servants, no killing of the son, but this squatter got the whole parcel of land.
Somebody ran some famous documents through a computer to count the number of words. The Lord's Prayer is 66 words in length. The Gettysburg Address is 286 words. There are 1,322 words in the Declaration of Independence. Government regulations on the sale of cabbage? 26,911 words.
Next time you exclaim, "There oughta be a law," think of the consequences!
Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20
Which of the Ten Commandments do you think is the most important? You shall not murder? You shall not steal?
Those are certainly important. But how about: Remember the sabbath day and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work (vv. 8-9).
Keeping the sabbath probably seems far less important than murdering and stealing, but if we don't allow our body, mind, and spirit time to relax and restore itself each week, aren't we murdering our own good health? Aren't we stealing our own good health?
I like the title of Wayne E. Oates' book, Your Right to Rest. Many of us think that we have to keep working seven days a week or we'll never get caught up. Actually the reverse is true.
At the time of the Russian Revolution, the new leaders of the country said, "What? These peasants are working only six days a week? We'll make them work seven and get 1/6 more work out of them."
But it didn't work that way. Working seven days a week made the peasants so tired that they turned out less work each week.
Our Lord knows that each week you and I need a day of rest.
Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20
"I am constantly worried about my son's ethical education." A. J. Jacobs writes in his best-selling book, The Year of Living Biblically. "I don't want him to swim in this muddy soup of moral relativism. I don't trust it. So I want to instill some rock-solid, absolute morals in my son. Would it be so bad if he lived by the Ten Commandments? Not at all. But how do I get him there?" That is a question we all ask as we strive to live a godly life.
God gave the people the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments draw our attention away from ourselves to focus on our relationships with God and each other. Jacobs writes, "look at the example set by God. The God of the Bible treats his children -- the human race -- with both justice and mercy." We should do the same -- treat everyone we encounter with both justice and mercy.
(From A. J. Jacobs, The Year of Living Biblically [New York: Simon & Schuster, 2007], pp. 39-41)
Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20
As much as they may be ignored by many people, the Ten Commandments represent for most people the basis of God's expectations of human conduct. The Ten Commandments are so basic that the concept has been copied ad infinitum. Consider these versions of the Ten Commandments:
* The Ten Commandments of Cell Phone Etiquette.
* The Ten Commandments of Google
* The Ten Commandments for C+ Programmers
* The Ten Commandments for Kids
* The Ten Commandments for Math Teachers
Although people may not be able to list the biblical commandments, they sure know the concept.
Philippians 3:4b-14
Studies have discovered the kinds of mistakes inexperienced nurses make as opposed to those made by experienced nurses. Experienced nurses make fewer mistakes; however, their mistakes tend to occur because of their assuming they know what to do.
Paul the apostle talks about those who have confidence in the flesh, meaning in natural (and weak), human life. We can think of Paul as a researcher in the spiritual life. He notices in others and in himself the assumptions that arise because "we've been in the faith for years," or "we're tuned in to the spiritual world," or "we know the Bible inside and out."
Mistakes and sins await us all. The safest course is to remain vigilant of spiritual assumptions that result from our skills or successes (true as they might be). At the same time we are never released from the necessities of admitting our sinfulness and always progressing in our life with God.
Philippians 3:4b-14
I've known few ministers and even fewer churches that join Paul in the emphasis he stressed in this text. Have you met many who eagerly seek Christ's resurrection power? I know some that want to have a strong influence in their communities. I know others that love to display their oratorical skills and their divinity degrees. Others like to brag about their organists, choirs, and praise teams.
None of that meant anything to Paul. He would have quickly jettisoned the "gifts extraordinaire" in which most of us like to glory. He understood that all of the above will one day be of no consequence. Only Christ and the power of his resurrection can get us past the day of judgment. Only they can even get us to the day of the Lord. Are you focused on that or on the matters that will soon decay and eventually be defunct? Is your hope in the permanent things of God?
Philippians 3:4b-14
Johnson Oatman Jr. likely had the book of Philippians open before him as he wrote the words to "Higher Ground." Oatman was a businessman who wrote hymns in his spare time, about 5,000 hymns all together. He was ordained by the Methodist church, but never served as a pastor. One dollar is the most he was ever paid for a hymn. The writer of the music was Charles H. Gabriel, music editor of the Rodeheaver Publishing Company. Gabriel wrote over 8,000 hymns and hymn tunes. For the Christian this scripture text and song are a powerful reminder of God's call:
This one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead. I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.
-- Philippians 3:13-14
I'm pressing on the upward way,
New heights I'm gaining every day;
Still praying as I'm onward bound,
Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.
Lord, lift me up and let me stand,
By faith, on heaven's table land.
A higher plane than I have found;
Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.
-- Johnson Oatman Jr. (1856-1922)
Matthew 21:33-46
Philip Yancey tells the story of early missionary to Burma, Adoniram Judson:
Judson was force-marched barefoot for eight miles to prison, where each night the guards passed a bamboo pole between his heavily shackled legs and hoisted the lower part of his body high off the ground. Blood rushed to his head, preventing sleep and causing fierce cramps in his shoulders and back. Clouds of mosquitoes feasted on the raw flesh of his feet and legs. Treatment like this went on for almost two years, and Judson managed to endure only because his devoted wife brought him food each day and pled with the guards for better treatment.
A few months after his release, Judson's wife, weakened by smallpox, died of fever, and shortly after that their baby daughter also died. Judson nearly had a breakdown. He would kneel by his wife's grave for hours each day, regardless of weather. He built a one-room hut in the jungle, morosely dug his own grave in case it might prove necessary, and worked in solitude on a translation of the Bible in the Burmese language. Only a handful of Burmese had shown any interest in the Christian message. Yet he stayed on, 34 years in all, and because of his faithfulness more than one million Burmese Christians today trace their spiritual roots to Adoniram Judson.
(Adapted from Rumors of Another World [Zondervan, 2003])
Matthew 21:33-46
As you and I try to follow Jesus, as we try to live as our Lord's people, sometimes, or even often, things just don't work out the way we've planned.
It's easy to become discouraged, but we need to remember that even Jesus ran up against a lot of problems as he tried to do his work. In our Matthew lesson today, he calls himself "a stone that had been rejected."
Imagine that some stone masons are getting ready to build a church, and one of the stones they pick up doesn't seem suitable for the project, so they toss it aside as unusable.
Yet Jesus says that he, the stone that the builders rejected, has become the cornerstone, the main stone of the whole building, the stone that sets the perfect 90 degree angle for all the other walls to be measured and set in place by.
We've all seen the cornerstones of buildings showing the date on which the building was erected. Jesus is the cornerstone of your life and mine. And he can help you and me to be useful in the building of God's kingdom.
Matthew 21:33-46
Jody laughed out loud at the mention of Sunday school. "I haven't been to Sunday school in years," she said. Her neighbor knew that her in-laws were part of a downtown church. Jody told of being married at the church but she had not attended since. She explained that she just did not feel the need to go to church. Like many young people she felt she could be a good Christian without the church playing a part in her life.
A mishap in her son's gym class revealed a serious health concern. Jody took her son to their family doctor who referred them to an out-of-town specialist to get proper treatment for this rare condition. It was a hectic couple of months. There were many days when Jody felt totally overwhelmed and stressed out. People from church called to offer prayers for her and her son. She politely thanked them for their prayers.
What Jody never expected was the outpouring from the church. People from the church would drop off meals for the family on days when they were at out-of-town appointments. The women's club offered to stay with her son so Jody could go to work. The youth fellowship provided yard work. It was truly amazing the way the church came through for her.
Seeing the church at its best changed Jody's mind about the church. She never thought people would offer their assistance and not want something in return. Jody's faith was reborn.
Speaking again with her neighbor she said she wished she had been involved with the church all along. If only the unruly workers in today's parable knew who it was they might have acted differently. The good news is that we have the Bible and the witness of the faithful to help us. Thanks to others we do know Jesus.
Matthew 21:33-46
A different angle on the parable of the rebellious tenants: In London, England, Harry Hallowes lives on a corner in north London called Hampstead Heath. It is a very upscale neighborhood. He has lived on that corner for more than twenty years. Surrounded by houses which start at $2 million US, Harry sleeps under the stars; Harry is homeless. One day, developers decided to tear up the corner where Harry lived and put up luxury condos. Harry went to court claiming squatter's rights. He had to prove that he had lived continuously on that piece of property to qualify as a squatter. Harry proved that. Harry won his case. He now owns the property which is valued at around $4 million US. Asked if he would sell it, Harry's response was simply, "I just want a place to live."
There was no rent, no ill treatment of the landlord's servants, no killing of the son, but this squatter got the whole parcel of land.
