I loved to ask my confirmation classes to put the Ten Commandments in order of their importance. Not killing usually came in first, followed closely by not stealing. Coveting generally came in last, with adultery somewhere in the middle. Sometimes I would have to explain to them what "coveting" and "adultery" meant, though the second one always produced snickers.
The purpose of all of this was to create a discussion about the Law, why we have it, and what it means for all of us.
The Ten Commandments was the first of God's attempts to set our creation right; to reproduce the purity that was lost when Adam and Eve listened to the serpent and acquired the ability to know about good and evil, an acquisition that has plagued us ever since. God wanted to establish a set of principles that we could follow to make this world a better place; to return God's creation to the way that it was intended to be from the first.
We love to enshrine the Ten Commandments in stone, to hang them up in court rooms and outside schools; to embroider them and create wall plaques with them prominent. We all know the value of the commandments very well. The problem is that we can't keep them.
When it became obvious to God that we couldn't keep the commandments, God sent us the prophets, who pointed out to us how we have failed to keep the law and be the people of God. The Pharisees in Jesus' time believed that they kept the law perfectly and they despised those whom they believed didn't keep it very well. They accused the disciples of Jesus of breaking the law when they cut grain on the Sabbath because of their need; and accused Jesus of breaking the law when he healed on that day, even though the healing brought great good to the people who needed it.
Not honoring the commandments was one of the charges leveled against Jesus when he was arrested and brought before Herod and Pilate. The parable that Jesus tells the Pharisees and the Chief Priests follows right on the heels of the story that he told them earlier in the Gospel about the two sons who both obeyed and disobeyed their father. Both of these stories are aimed right at the religious leaders.
The parable tells the story of the father who sent his servants to the tenants of the vineyard to receive the produce. The tenants beat one of them and killed another, so the owner sent another group of servants to the tenants. They did the same thing to the second group. He then sent his son to the tenants, but the tenants conspire to throw the son out of the vineyard and kill him because he is the heir to the vineyard.
Jesus asks his hearers, "now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what do you think he will do to those tenants?" They answered Jesus, "he will put those tenants to a miserable death and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at harvest time" Jesus then asked them if they had read in the scriptures, "how the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone, and the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to people who produce the fruits of the Kingdom."
The gospel goes on to say that the chief priests and the Pharisees heard those parables and realized that Jesus was talking about them. They wanted to arrest him, but were afraid of the crowds, who thought that Jesus was a prophet.
So there, in this parable, we have the whole story of how God tried to perfect his Kingdom: first, we have the Law, the Ten Commandments. When God knew that we couldn't keep them, the prophets were sent to remind us of our responsibility to our God. When we didn't listen to the prophets, God sent Jesus, his Son, and as it says in the parable, we threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
Now, what is God going to do to us?
The wonder of the story of the crucifixion of Jesus and his resurrection is the incredible mercy of God to all of us who participated in that event. We crucify Jesus just about every day of our lives in the way that we disobey God and his law. Despite that, we have God's mercy before us as the enduring proof of God's eternal Love.
Jesus forgave from the cross those who crucified him. That in itself is astounding, but forgiveness is the cornerstone on which the Kingdom of God is built.
I worked in Western Penitentiary for twenty-two years as a part time chaplain. I had a man in my group who had killed a woman about ten years before I met him. He had a life sentence without any possibility of ever getting out of prison. He wouldn't talk about his crime in group, although the purpose of the group was to create enough trust to allow that to happen.
One day, he got a letter from the parents of his victim. They wanted to come to see him. We talked about that letter in group and decided that it was important for him to honor their request. When the day came for the visit, he went to the visiting room and found the father and the mother of his victim.
"We have come to forgive you," said the father. "Please know that this comes after years of anguish over the death of our daughter, but we need to bury her and get on with our lives. Let me tell you how serious we are. When you were being transferred from the county jail to the court house for your trial, I was on a roof down the street with a rifle. I wanted to kill you. But I couldn't do it, so we have come here to forgive you, and as much as it is possible to put this terrible thing to rest, and get on with our lives."
My group member came back to us with his story. Over the succeeding weeks, it became apparent that their forgiveness had changed his life. He talked about his crime and got on with his life behind bars in a different, much less bitter way. Forgiveness changed him and it changed that family, as it is supposed to do. It really is the foundation on which the Kingdom of God is built.
May God's blessing be upon you and may God's forgiveness become the cornerstone of your lives.
The purpose of all of this was to create a discussion about the Law, why we have it, and what it means for all of us.
The Ten Commandments was the first of God's attempts to set our creation right; to reproduce the purity that was lost when Adam and Eve listened to the serpent and acquired the ability to know about good and evil, an acquisition that has plagued us ever since. God wanted to establish a set of principles that we could follow to make this world a better place; to return God's creation to the way that it was intended to be from the first.
We love to enshrine the Ten Commandments in stone, to hang them up in court rooms and outside schools; to embroider them and create wall plaques with them prominent. We all know the value of the commandments very well. The problem is that we can't keep them.
When it became obvious to God that we couldn't keep the commandments, God sent us the prophets, who pointed out to us how we have failed to keep the law and be the people of God. The Pharisees in Jesus' time believed that they kept the law perfectly and they despised those whom they believed didn't keep it very well. They accused the disciples of Jesus of breaking the law when they cut grain on the Sabbath because of their need; and accused Jesus of breaking the law when he healed on that day, even though the healing brought great good to the people who needed it.
Not honoring the commandments was one of the charges leveled against Jesus when he was arrested and brought before Herod and Pilate. The parable that Jesus tells the Pharisees and the Chief Priests follows right on the heels of the story that he told them earlier in the Gospel about the two sons who both obeyed and disobeyed their father. Both of these stories are aimed right at the religious leaders.
The parable tells the story of the father who sent his servants to the tenants of the vineyard to receive the produce. The tenants beat one of them and killed another, so the owner sent another group of servants to the tenants. They did the same thing to the second group. He then sent his son to the tenants, but the tenants conspire to throw the son out of the vineyard and kill him because he is the heir to the vineyard.
Jesus asks his hearers, "now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what do you think he will do to those tenants?" They answered Jesus, "he will put those tenants to a miserable death and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at harvest time" Jesus then asked them if they had read in the scriptures, "how the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone, and the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to people who produce the fruits of the Kingdom."
The gospel goes on to say that the chief priests and the Pharisees heard those parables and realized that Jesus was talking about them. They wanted to arrest him, but were afraid of the crowds, who thought that Jesus was a prophet.
So there, in this parable, we have the whole story of how God tried to perfect his Kingdom: first, we have the Law, the Ten Commandments. When God knew that we couldn't keep them, the prophets were sent to remind us of our responsibility to our God. When we didn't listen to the prophets, God sent Jesus, his Son, and as it says in the parable, we threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
Now, what is God going to do to us?
The wonder of the story of the crucifixion of Jesus and his resurrection is the incredible mercy of God to all of us who participated in that event. We crucify Jesus just about every day of our lives in the way that we disobey God and his law. Despite that, we have God's mercy before us as the enduring proof of God's eternal Love.
Jesus forgave from the cross those who crucified him. That in itself is astounding, but forgiveness is the cornerstone on which the Kingdom of God is built.
I worked in Western Penitentiary for twenty-two years as a part time chaplain. I had a man in my group who had killed a woman about ten years before I met him. He had a life sentence without any possibility of ever getting out of prison. He wouldn't talk about his crime in group, although the purpose of the group was to create enough trust to allow that to happen.
One day, he got a letter from the parents of his victim. They wanted to come to see him. We talked about that letter in group and decided that it was important for him to honor their request. When the day came for the visit, he went to the visiting room and found the father and the mother of his victim.
"We have come to forgive you," said the father. "Please know that this comes after years of anguish over the death of our daughter, but we need to bury her and get on with our lives. Let me tell you how serious we are. When you were being transferred from the county jail to the court house for your trial, I was on a roof down the street with a rifle. I wanted to kill you. But I couldn't do it, so we have come here to forgive you, and as much as it is possible to put this terrible thing to rest, and get on with our lives."
My group member came back to us with his story. Over the succeeding weeks, it became apparent that their forgiveness had changed his life. He talked about his crime and got on with his life behind bars in a different, much less bitter way. Forgiveness changed him and it changed that family, as it is supposed to do. It really is the foundation on which the Kingdom of God is built.
May God's blessing be upon you and may God's forgiveness become the cornerstone of your lives.
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