Thursday, 1/29/2015

“Disobedience is the true foundation of liberty. The obedient must be slaves.”
~ Henry David Thoreau

EXODUS 19-21

Moses goes up on the mountain and God gives him the ten commandments.

“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

• You shall have no other gods before me.
• You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
• You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
• Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
• Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
• You shall not murder.
• You shall not commit adultery.
• You shall not steal.
• You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
• You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

MATTHEW 20:1-19

Jesus tells a story a parable about the kingdom of heaven.  He says it is like a landowner who went out and hired people all throughout the day, all the way up until the last hour.  When it came time to pay their wages he started with the last to arrive and paid them first and paid them all the same amount.  Upon learning of the seeming unfair wages, the ones hired first complained.

“But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’“So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” (13-16)

JOURNAL

The complaining and quarreling Israelites finally get a set of rules to live by.  I can only imagine the relief Moses felt by having a guideline and a set of rules to operate from.  However as needed as they are, the rules will never save.  They also will never relieve conflict.  Selfishness chaos and disorder are hallmarks of the Israelite Kingdom, which happens after they get the 10 commandments.  The rules expose sin but they will never heal or fix it.

Jesus is fighting the spirit of moral competition as he tells the story of the unfair wages.  When it comes to spirituality the benefit of doing the work of Christ is the joy found in obedience. To view it otherwise would be to view obedience as a form of punishment or suffering.  The joy of salvation and knowing christ is totally lost if we look at what we get out of it rather than the joy we have in giving. 

He answered, "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" (Luke 10:27)