Reverence and Rest

Synopsis     Deuteronomy 5:2-14         1/27/2018

Moses reminded the Israelites of their personal and generational responsibility to God. The relationship was unique because God actually spoke to the people from the mountain at Horeb. He went on to describe what God expects. He described the kinds of behaviors that are fundamentally incompatible with people who dwell in the presence of the Lord. We call these the ten commandments.

Crime and Punishment or Reverence and Rest 

It is not surprising that people who dwelt in the literal presence of God should form a unique culture. Yet, I don’t know that I have ever before thought of the Ten Commandments in quite that way.

I was raised with the idea of the Ten Commandments as  a way of defining bad behaviors – sins. They were laws. Lines to not be crossed. Those things I might do that were rightly punishable as crimes.

And perhaps that’s not an invalid understanding. But, in this moment, I’m struck at how much deeper this goes.

These commandments are a description of the cultural norms of a community that values the presence of God. If we were anthropologists, we might say, “this is how people behave when they believe they dwell in the presence of God.”

Natural Rest

When I think of the commandments as laws – then I perceive them as limits on my liberty – imposed constraints – part of the cost of dwelling with God – part of the cost of getting into heaven.

When I think of the commandments as the fruit of righteousness – a description of how God-minded people naturally live – an overflow of the joy and simplicity and love of people who live in the radiance of their creator; then I perceive them as the natural fragrance of a life lived in the love of the Lord.

And so God’s description of Authentic Community begins: People who know God naturally reverence Him and live in a congenial rhythm of work and rest.

“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matt 11:28