Monotheism
Sermon
Building Character
With God's Laws And Declarations
No matter how many people teach you to go contrary to this first commandment, dismiss them and say, I must fear and trust God more than you. Then they will become fine people; otherwise they will grow up to be blockheads. The chief part of all wisdom and knowledge is the first commandment, namely, that you should fear and trust no one but God alone. He will richly reward you. In the course of time you will learn to apply it well in every situation and action (Luther's Works, American Edition, Volume 51, p. 141).
The First Commandment: "I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from Egypt, where you were slaves. Worship no God but me" (Exodus 20:2-3; Deuteronomy 5:6-7).
The voice of Alexandre Gustav Eiffel (1832-1923), a French engineer, could be heard from the tower he built in Paris in 1889 for the Exposition, a tower which housed the French wireless telegraphic service. "This famed tower is 984 feet high, of iron framework supported by four masonry piers on a base 330 feet square, from which rise four columns to 620 feet where they unite in one shaft" (The Columbia Encyclopedia in One Volume, p. 555). The Eiffel Tower stands today as one of the great engineering feats of all time. From the top platform the view can be seen for 85 miles. Elevators shoot up to the three platforms. I chose to walk to the top. In 1889 Alexandre Gustav Eiffel's voice could be heard from that tower.
The voice that spoke from Mount Sinai some 3,000 years ago still reverberates in all lands. Ten statements, so brief and complete, so intertwining morality and religion, so free from national peculiarities, so close fitting to fundamental duties, are authoritative for many peoples of the world.
From the top of Mount Sinai came a view of God's relationship to humankind, humankind's relationship to God, and humankind's relationship to one another -- a telegraphic view which will last as long as civilization. "God spoke, and these were his words ..." (Exodus 20:1).
The engineering secret of the Eiffel Tower is its four masonry piers on a base of 330 feet square. From this base the columns rise.
The strength of the commandments is its base: "I am the Lord your God ... Worship no God but me." From this base rise the columns of commandments.
It is noteworthy that the Old Testament never concerned itself with atheism; it is concerned with idolatry, the worship of false gods.
We think of an idol or false god as the worship of something conceived as personality, perhaps resident in a stone or a pole or a statue. In primitive religions idols represented more than this. The figure or image represented a hope or an aspiration of a person. For example, the gods of the Canaanites were the fertility gods, Baalism. The highest value in their culture was fertility, whether of animals or crops or people.
Sometimes idolatry in primitive times was predominantly monotheistic; that is, there was one value considered as the top god, although other gods were recognized as exciting.
People in the new millennium have the same problem as primitive people: the difficulty of determining which is the top god. This remains the problem of humankind until the basis of belief has been defined. The recognition of the existence of other gods has pulled the rug from under humankind's theological feet.
Moses gave the word of God to his people: "I am the Lord your God. You shall have no other gods." God is the creator; he is the basis of all. He is the fountain of life. Everything has relationship to him. If people are made by God, if they are the image of God, they cannot become what they are meant to be if they ignore God, if they deny God, if they defy their structural God-relationship.
People come from God. If a person's life repudiates God, he or she no longer has life. This is what Paul declared when he said, "For the wages of sin is death ..." (Romans 6:23). A person's life bears fruit, a person's life blooms when there is connection to the base. This is monotheism --Êbelief in one God.
Luther's catechism urges us to "fear, love, and trust in God above anything else."
On the three platforms at varying heights of the Eiffel Tower are guardrails to prevent accidents. Without them, I would not have been able to climb to the various platforms.
The commandments guard us along the ascent and descent of life. Disregarding any commandment invites disaster.
Not everybody fears God. There is fear of misfortune, fear of losing money, fear of losing health, fear of certain personalities; there is national fear of another culture that might crush us. But, have you heard anyone admit fear in not worshiping God? Afraid of not remembering or ignoring the commandments? Afraid of God? We have watered down this word "fear" by saying it means only respect. Where is the awe in worship? Where is the tiptoe religion of today? Where is the sense of expectancy? Sodom and Gomorrah could not have been more impervious to the presence of God than the general populace of our day.
The first commandment requires fearing no one and trusting no one except God alone. Moses told his people to write the commandments upon walls, to bind them upon their wrists (phylacteries), and to keep them before their eyes. But, it must go further than that. This commandment must be applied.
When a wrong is committed, a person needs not only to fear the circumstance or the consequence, but to fear God, because you are God's person. Commandments require discipline. If you are to cease from doing evil, you must fear and trust God. Thus, for God's sake you cease evil. It is because of your love for God, you cease evil. It is because of your trust in God above everything that you cease evil. If you are afraid of trusting and loving God, you do not fear God. You live in a vacuum of vanity. You live on a foundation that will crumble with your ashes.
Martin Luther (1483-1546) said, "All the wisdom which is in the Scriptures follow from the first commandment" (Luther's Works, op. cit., p. 140). David boasted in Psalm 119:100: "I understand more than the aged, for I keep your precepts." Jesus made it plain: "But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well" (Matthew 6:33). To the church in Rome Paul wrote: "I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship." Paul continued, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you will discern the will of God -- what is good and acceptable and perfect" (Romans 12:1-2).
When the commandments grip us, so does God, and we become enraptured by his will. What is good and acceptable and perfect? "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind (might)" (Deuteronomy 6:5; Matthew 22:37).
There is a marked difference between morality and Christianity. Morality can dress up in religion. You can build a theory of ethics from a base of self-righteousness. You can be moral without being monotheistic. You can be good without God. If the base of your goodness is a mate, or a position, or an inheritance, or intelligence, or self-sufficiency, such goodness without reference to God is condemned by the deeper and simpler wisdom of God who was "... in Christ ... reconciling the world to him ..." (2 Corinthians 5:19). "So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away ... everything has become new!" (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Christians need to refresh their memories with this lesson. The commandments were born in a world with the strong temptation to polytheism, with which the Israelites struggled for years. People around them believed in many gods. Egypt swarmed with them. Abraham's faith was sadly tarnished in his sons. Nevertheless, monotheism laid the very foundation for Israel's national life. Monotheism determined its history.
This first commandment is more of a revelation than a mere command. It is a declaration that at the center of all, God is enthroned. There is one ultimate cause on which all rests. The heart cannot pour out its love when it is shared by many.
A poet exclaimed, "Only when a lost soul sees in Christ the God of all souls, does it fold its wings and rest as a bird after a long flight." Thomas Paine (1737-1809), American political theorist, writer, and a Quaker, confessed, "I believe in one God and no more ..." (The Age of Reason, pt. 1, 1793).
This commandment teaches us to surrender life to one God. The first commandment is a prelude to the worship of God in Christ, the motivation to entrust all to our Maker and Redeemer. Christ's journey to the cross is most precious to believers. Christ made the greatest sacrifice. He draws our warmest love. Without Christ we are desolate. With Christ we are blessed. In Christ we see commandments fulfilled.
The commandments require obedience. Obedience is the candle which lights up this new millennium. Faith is the hand that takes ours and gives us light for the leading of the mind, heart, will, affections, hopes, and fears. Character is built.
The First Commandment: "I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from Egypt, where you were slaves. Worship no God but me" (Exodus 20:2-3; Deuteronomy 5:6-7).
The voice of Alexandre Gustav Eiffel (1832-1923), a French engineer, could be heard from the tower he built in Paris in 1889 for the Exposition, a tower which housed the French wireless telegraphic service. "This famed tower is 984 feet high, of iron framework supported by four masonry piers on a base 330 feet square, from which rise four columns to 620 feet where they unite in one shaft" (The Columbia Encyclopedia in One Volume, p. 555). The Eiffel Tower stands today as one of the great engineering feats of all time. From the top platform the view can be seen for 85 miles. Elevators shoot up to the three platforms. I chose to walk to the top. In 1889 Alexandre Gustav Eiffel's voice could be heard from that tower.
The voice that spoke from Mount Sinai some 3,000 years ago still reverberates in all lands. Ten statements, so brief and complete, so intertwining morality and religion, so free from national peculiarities, so close fitting to fundamental duties, are authoritative for many peoples of the world.
From the top of Mount Sinai came a view of God's relationship to humankind, humankind's relationship to God, and humankind's relationship to one another -- a telegraphic view which will last as long as civilization. "God spoke, and these were his words ..." (Exodus 20:1).
The engineering secret of the Eiffel Tower is its four masonry piers on a base of 330 feet square. From this base the columns rise.
The strength of the commandments is its base: "I am the Lord your God ... Worship no God but me." From this base rise the columns of commandments.
It is noteworthy that the Old Testament never concerned itself with atheism; it is concerned with idolatry, the worship of false gods.
We think of an idol or false god as the worship of something conceived as personality, perhaps resident in a stone or a pole or a statue. In primitive religions idols represented more than this. The figure or image represented a hope or an aspiration of a person. For example, the gods of the Canaanites were the fertility gods, Baalism. The highest value in their culture was fertility, whether of animals or crops or people.
Sometimes idolatry in primitive times was predominantly monotheistic; that is, there was one value considered as the top god, although other gods were recognized as exciting.
People in the new millennium have the same problem as primitive people: the difficulty of determining which is the top god. This remains the problem of humankind until the basis of belief has been defined. The recognition of the existence of other gods has pulled the rug from under humankind's theological feet.
Moses gave the word of God to his people: "I am the Lord your God. You shall have no other gods." God is the creator; he is the basis of all. He is the fountain of life. Everything has relationship to him. If people are made by God, if they are the image of God, they cannot become what they are meant to be if they ignore God, if they deny God, if they defy their structural God-relationship.
People come from God. If a person's life repudiates God, he or she no longer has life. This is what Paul declared when he said, "For the wages of sin is death ..." (Romans 6:23). A person's life bears fruit, a person's life blooms when there is connection to the base. This is monotheism --Êbelief in one God.
Luther's catechism urges us to "fear, love, and trust in God above anything else."
On the three platforms at varying heights of the Eiffel Tower are guardrails to prevent accidents. Without them, I would not have been able to climb to the various platforms.
The commandments guard us along the ascent and descent of life. Disregarding any commandment invites disaster.
Not everybody fears God. There is fear of misfortune, fear of losing money, fear of losing health, fear of certain personalities; there is national fear of another culture that might crush us. But, have you heard anyone admit fear in not worshiping God? Afraid of not remembering or ignoring the commandments? Afraid of God? We have watered down this word "fear" by saying it means only respect. Where is the awe in worship? Where is the tiptoe religion of today? Where is the sense of expectancy? Sodom and Gomorrah could not have been more impervious to the presence of God than the general populace of our day.
The first commandment requires fearing no one and trusting no one except God alone. Moses told his people to write the commandments upon walls, to bind them upon their wrists (phylacteries), and to keep them before their eyes. But, it must go further than that. This commandment must be applied.
When a wrong is committed, a person needs not only to fear the circumstance or the consequence, but to fear God, because you are God's person. Commandments require discipline. If you are to cease from doing evil, you must fear and trust God. Thus, for God's sake you cease evil. It is because of your love for God, you cease evil. It is because of your trust in God above everything that you cease evil. If you are afraid of trusting and loving God, you do not fear God. You live in a vacuum of vanity. You live on a foundation that will crumble with your ashes.
Martin Luther (1483-1546) said, "All the wisdom which is in the Scriptures follow from the first commandment" (Luther's Works, op. cit., p. 140). David boasted in Psalm 119:100: "I understand more than the aged, for I keep your precepts." Jesus made it plain: "But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well" (Matthew 6:33). To the church in Rome Paul wrote: "I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship." Paul continued, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you will discern the will of God -- what is good and acceptable and perfect" (Romans 12:1-2).
When the commandments grip us, so does God, and we become enraptured by his will. What is good and acceptable and perfect? "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind (might)" (Deuteronomy 6:5; Matthew 22:37).
There is a marked difference between morality and Christianity. Morality can dress up in religion. You can build a theory of ethics from a base of self-righteousness. You can be moral without being monotheistic. You can be good without God. If the base of your goodness is a mate, or a position, or an inheritance, or intelligence, or self-sufficiency, such goodness without reference to God is condemned by the deeper and simpler wisdom of God who was "... in Christ ... reconciling the world to him ..." (2 Corinthians 5:19). "So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away ... everything has become new!" (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Christians need to refresh their memories with this lesson. The commandments were born in a world with the strong temptation to polytheism, with which the Israelites struggled for years. People around them believed in many gods. Egypt swarmed with them. Abraham's faith was sadly tarnished in his sons. Nevertheless, monotheism laid the very foundation for Israel's national life. Monotheism determined its history.
This first commandment is more of a revelation than a mere command. It is a declaration that at the center of all, God is enthroned. There is one ultimate cause on which all rests. The heart cannot pour out its love when it is shared by many.
A poet exclaimed, "Only when a lost soul sees in Christ the God of all souls, does it fold its wings and rest as a bird after a long flight." Thomas Paine (1737-1809), American political theorist, writer, and a Quaker, confessed, "I believe in one God and no more ..." (The Age of Reason, pt. 1, 1793).
This commandment teaches us to surrender life to one God. The first commandment is a prelude to the worship of God in Christ, the motivation to entrust all to our Maker and Redeemer. Christ's journey to the cross is most precious to believers. Christ made the greatest sacrifice. He draws our warmest love. Without Christ we are desolate. With Christ we are blessed. In Christ we see commandments fulfilled.
The commandments require obedience. Obedience is the candle which lights up this new millennium. Faith is the hand that takes ours and gives us light for the leading of the mind, heart, will, affections, hopes, and fears. Character is built.
