ONE God - Second Wed of Lent

We start our study of the Ten Commandments where it all starts, with God. I mean that all of life all that is in existence has its beginning in God. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” “In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God.” Everything has its beginning in God. Thus it should come as no surprise that the Ten Commandments have their beginning with God, as well.

“You shall have no other gods before me”, God says right off the bat. While that statement often confuses us and we try to get a handle on what gods we might have before God, it would have been very obvious to the children of Israel. They were surrounded by gods of every shape and size.

For a couple of generations, since the time of Joseph, the Israelites were living in a foreign land. Their holy places were far away in time and place. Not only were they not in the Holy Land, the Holy city of Jerusalem had not yet been established as a place of worship. The people did, or at least early on in their sojourn in Egypt, knew of the God of their ancestors; of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The stories would have been told down through the generations. The first generation of sojourners would have sung praises to the God who rescued them from the famine by bringing them down to Egypt.

Now, after a few generations had passed, and being slaves to the Egyptians, their songs of praise have transformed into songs of lament; of misery and woe. It may have even begun to cross their mind that maybe there really wasn’t a God like the God their ancestors told them about. The God of their ancestors sure didn’t seem to be caring about them now, let alone trying to rescue them from their oppressors.

Yet, God had heard their mournful songs. God had heard their crying in the night. God’s mind was made up that whatever it took, they would be brought out of the land of Egypt and returned to the land that had been promised to Abraham and all his descendants. Part of the “whatever it takes” was to establish a covenant with the people of Israel. It would be a covenant that would establish Yahweh as their Lord, their God, and them as God’s chosen people and what that covenant would mean for daily life.

The Commandments deal with the most practical issues of community life and life dependent on God. Most are stated prohibitively. The first four address Israel's relationship to Yahweh, and the remaining six deal with their relationships with one another. Most of life is lived in the ordinary. It is not every day that waters are parted and we cross over to safety. Most of the time, we are wandering around in the wilderness, trying (and truthfully, not trying at times) to love God and neighbor. The Commandments are a reminder of whose and who we are. In addition, they draw a sketch of the kind of people God intends us to be.

The First Commandment demands ultimate confidence, trust, and faith in God alone. When this Commandment is fulfilled, the keeping of the others follows. All the Commandments flow from the first. With full trust we look to God as the source of all goodness and life. We see every molecule of creation held together by God's will. We trust that God does indeed bring daily bread to all people. We hope for a future dependent on God's graciousness rather than our own achievements. We recognize that every single breath happens at God's behest and that both life and death are held in God's hand.

As far as gods were concerned, the people knew about gods. Ever since they arrived in Egypt they had been surrounded by the images of the gods of Egypt. There were gods of every color, shape and size. There were gods that the people prayed to for rain. There were gods that the people prayed to for good crops. There were gods that the people prayed to for children, livestock, and long life and so on. There was no lack of gods for the people to worship. It was becoming harder and harder with each subsequent generation to keep the people from turning to the gods of the Egyptians.

As God was rescuing the people out of Egypt, God wanted to make it clear that when it comes down to brass tacks, there is only one God and Yahweh was that God. “I am the Lord your God … You shall have no other gods in front of me.” God knew that not only had they been surrounded by gods while in Egypt, but that as they returned to the Promised Land and for the whole life of Israel, they would always be surrounded by other gods and by priorities that would try to usurp God’s position in the hearts of the people.

The First Commandment's explanation in Luther's Small Catechism, to "fear, love, and trust God above all things," asserts God's proper place in our lives. It virtually shouts out an echo of God's words to Moses: "I am what I am. What I am is your God. And you shall not put any other person or thing in my place!" God allows no one else a place on the divine throne.

Although we know the Commandment, we forget daily that God is truly God. Thus the First Commandment is a wake-up call shaking us with its radical demand for full trust. No halfway measures will do. Simple agreement with statements about God is not enough. No good works, good intentions, or good will toward God can achieve compliance.

This Commandment requires us to look to God for everything we need in life, in good times and in bad, when we rejoice and when we grieve. Only God is God; all else is less than divine.
This Commandment tells the truth both about us as sinners and about God. When we look honestly at ourselves, we see we don't put God in the foremost place in our lives. The truth is, like the Israelites and their golden calf, we regularly chase after other gods, thinking and hoping they can rescue us.

The First Commandment proclaims that this is not how God intends for Creation to work. God insists that all of life rests in God's unending mercy and care. Every morsel of food you eat, every ray of sunshine on a spring day, every breath you take—God is the one who gives us each of these things and more. God speaks the First Commandment to put an end to our fantasies about ourselves and our illusions about our own power, but also to make us ready to hear a new word we can trust.

Hidden within the First Commandment is good news that will show up in its fullness later in the Small Catechism. In Luther's explanations to the Apostles' Creed, Lord's Prayer, and Sacraments, we see what God does in Jesus to create the very love and trust the Commandment demands.

When grappling with the Commandments, however, it's important for us to remember that God promises to be the one to whom you can run when things go bad. God is the one who will comfort you when tears flow. God is the one who makes your next breath happen. God is the one who will raise your lifeless body from its grave. God is the one who promises that your past is forgiven and your future is assured.

With a God who knows the truth about your sins and who dies so you can be forgiven, fear, love, and trust aren't things to create on your own. With that kind of God, you can't help but place your ultimate confidence, trust, and faith in God.