10 Commandments ~ God

The first three commandments have to do with humans having a faithful relationship with God.  From Exodus 20:

2 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; 3 you shall have no other gods before me.  4 You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, 6 but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.  7 You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.

Basically, the first three are: 1). No other gods before me; 2). No idols; 3). Words when talking about God matter.  As I posted previously, I realize because these are spoken in the negative, they awaken a lot of guilt within us.  A couple of thoughts on this.  

The first commandment essentially says that God recognizes that there are other gods in this world.  And God's concern is when we let these other gods take the place of what Paul Tillich called, "our ultimate concern".  For Tillich there was no atheist, because everyone has something s/he worships and puts at the very center of his/her life.  For some it is work and money; for others it is a relationship; for still others it is the desire to be famous ~ hence why People and US Magazines sell so well even as print media is crumbling.  God recognizes our desire to have something tangible to hold onto and that we can end up making this 'god' in our life.  And essentially, God says, "Be careful."

Think of it this way, I am watching my daughter play basketball out in our driveway.  The ball gets away from her, rolls into the street, she looks both ways, no cars, starts to cross, when I see a car coming, what would you do:

1).  Lean out the window and gently say, "Dearest daughter, I doth beseech thee to watchth for that car"

2).  Lean out the window and shout out the top of your lungs: "Watch OUT!!"

Remember, God has been wandering with these people in the wilderness for several chapters in Exodus before we get to Mount Sinai where the 10 Commandments are given.  God knows them...their whining for manna/bread, their desires to go back to Egypt...you know...where they were servants, their whining for water.  Perhaps God even has a divine hunch that these people might be tempted to make a golden calf if given a chance (see Exodus 32).

So, God says, "Be careful", because our relationship with God matters.  How we picture God matters, we what to be careful what we put at the center of our lives, how we imagine God, and how we talk about God.  Be careful.  That is not to suggest we don't enter into conversations about God.  But it also means that we don't get offended the second someone suggest God is not a white male with a flowing beard and robe to match.  We listen.  We know God as Abba (daddy) and as the Mother Hen who gathers her brood.  And we know that neither of those images fully capture God or exhaust the expansiveness of God.  

When Moses asked for God's name in Exodus 3, some kind of identifying mark that Moses could tell the people in Egypt when they questions whether Moses was really legit, God says, "I AM".  I am sure that really cleared it up for Moses.  God will not be confined or defined.  God told Moses that.  Yet, we want God to be confined...one of the reasons why we built huge churches.  We want God to be defined...one of the reasons why we argue so much about what words are kosher to describe God.  We want God to be within our control.  And the first three commandments caution us in those efforts.

We can still think about God: God who is known and God who is beyond our comprehension.  We can still admire art depicted God (such as the Sistine Chapel picture above), but not as the only way.  We can still speak about God, always with humility and knowing that we don't know as much as we think we do.

These first three commandments remind me that my relationship with God matters and offer me some thoughts about how I might enter into that relationship.  Remember also that this is not the only time God tries to speak about our relationship with God.  In Jeremiah God will say the new covenant will be written on people's hearts.  And in the the New Testament, God comes to us in the form and flesh of Jesus Christ, a whole new way to imagine our relationship with God.  May you sense the traces of God's grace as you engage in your relationship with God each and every day this week.

Blessings ~