2020/10/4 Yonsei University Church

 The Ten Commandments Revisited in 2020

Exodus 20:1-4, 7-8, 12-17/ Philippians 4:8b-14/ Matthew 21:42-46

Today is the first Sunday of October. In the church calendar, it is the 18th Sunday after the Advent, and it is a special Sunday that was celebrated every year as World Holy Supper Sunday. Until last year, on this day, with thousands of Christians from all over the world, we had a very carefully prepared service according to the Lima Liturgy. Unfortunately, we cannot share the sacrament now. It is so sad that the whole church cannot share the flesh and blood of the Lord. But may the true meaning and love of your body be felt more pure and vivid deep in our hearts.

World Holy Supper Sunday was started by the Presbyterian Church in the United States in 1936, and was soon celebrated worldwide through the American Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches. Many denominations around the world hope that the world will become one through peace, justice, and love while reflecting on the meaning of the blood and flesh of Jesus Christ as the churches around the world become one in this world, which is broken and divided by war and confrontation. Churches of the United States make today's worship special. This year, when all mankind and the planet are suffering from the coronavirus, I think that its meaning is even more special.

Today's sermon focuses on the text of the Old Testament. Today's Old Testament Exodus 20 introduces the famous scene where Moses receives the Ten Commandments from God on Mount Sinai. In Exodus 20:18, “When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance.” I think it's a very mysterious, respectful, and trembling scene. I think many of you probably remember the scene of Moses receiving the Ten Commandments through the movie. It is a movie called "The Ten Commandments."

The film "The Ten Commandments", released in 1956, was made by director Cecil B. Demill, and Charlton Heston and Yul Burinner each played Moses and Pharaoh. It was a long film of 3 hours and 40 minutes, and there was an intermission in the middle. In Korea, it was first released in 1962 and reopened in 1973. This film is the best Christian film, and the composition of the story, special effects, and acting are still very impressive.

Since the movie introduces scenes in which the Ten Commandments are given in a post-war historical context, a close look at the movie will help you understand why God gave them and what the core significance of the Ten Commandments is. It seems to be misunderstood as the strict discipline that God gave to the Israelites.

When we think about the Ten Commandments today, we must remember that they are the guides of life necessary for the Israelites who were slaves in Egypt to be liberated through the Exodus and now live as free men. Each commandment of the Ten Commandments contains content that criticizes and corrects the form of life during the Egyptian slavery

When the Israelites lived in slavery in Egypt, Pharaoh was a god. He was exercising absolute power. He was able to take any life or property at will, and Pharaoh who ruled Egypt, the greatest empire on earth at that time, was worshiped as a god. In response to this, the Ten Commandments tells you not to serve any god other than God. It tells you not to make any form of the earth and serve it as a god.

This is a head-on challenge to Egypt's national ideology. From Pharaoh's point of view, this is a very dangerous political provocation. Now freed from slavery, the nation of Israel abandons its old mindset and declares that no one on earth should be regarded as an Absolute. It is to know that God is the only God and that everything else is man and man-made, so all are relative and finite.

How far ahead of the time is it? Even in Jesus' day, the Roman emperor was worshiped as a god. Today, money and power are worshiped as gods. Relativizing everything other than God is a declaration of affirmation and comfort to realize that each human being is noble above all such things.

In the same context, we can understand the commandment that we cannot call on God's name. Throughout history, many monarchs have used God's name to rule the kingdom according to their will. Even today, there are people who carelessly call on the name of God in order to achieve their political purposes. However, the Ten Commandments tell us not to mention God carelessly to fulfill our purpose. All of this is a trick that works only in the days of ignorant slavery.

What about the other commandments? Restless slavery, inability to honor parents, disintegration of families and slaughter of children, deception, discrimination and oppression by Egyptians, extortion, sexual violence and killing. These were what life looked like in slavery. Despite this oppression, they couldn't protest a word, and they had to keep their sadness and pain inside.

Given this background, we can redefine the significance of the Ten Commandments as follows. The Ten Commandments can be seen as a guideline for the Israelites who became children of God to abandon the slave spirit that has become a habit and live as a saved human being and a saved community. The Ten Commandments stipulate the core of the religious answers that those who have experienced God's salvation (the liberation from Egypt) must keep grateful for the grace. Today's text is not talking about the relationship between God and Israel before we talk about the specifics of the Ten Commandments in verse 2? God who gave Israel the Ten Commandments was the one who delivered Israel from slavery in Egypt. God wants His people to keep the Ten Commandments and enjoy true freedom from everything that enslaves life.

The Ten Commandments can be seen as embodying the determination and hope to build a society entirely different from before, as the Israelites who experienced inhuman oppression in the midst of historical hardships were liberated. It reflects the people's desire to reject a society of inequality such as slavery and build a community full of freedom, equality and peace. God walks one step ahead of the historical steps of the Israelites and guides them through the Ten Commandments.

As such, the Ten Commandments contained a high level of values that preceded the times in terms of justice, equality, ethics, and religion. But somehow, when Jesus came to this earth, the commandments had changed into a different shape. The Ten Commandments have now been altered like the rules of slavery that condemned the lives of the people. The medicine has turned into poison. In the Gospels we can see how effective commandments are used to control people's lives.

Didn't Jesus frequently clash with the religious leaders of his time, especially with regard to the commandments on the Sabbath? In order to maintain their power and authority, the Pharisees and scholars made dozens of lists of what should not be done on the Sabbath, and watched who did it. However, Jesus declared that the fundamental spirit of the Sabbath is in God's mercy, and freely did good on the Sabbath.

Jesus opposed the literal and mechanical application of all the commandments, not just the commandments on the Sabbath. Jesus said that all commandments are summed up into two commandments: love the Lord and love your neighbors. If the commandment is a form, then love is the content, and if the commandment is a tool, then love is the purpose. It is Jesus' will that if you try to keep the commandments literally and kill your life or hate your neighbor, it is a misunderstanding of the commandments.

In this passage, I would like to introduce you to another movie called “The Ten Commandments.” It is a film called Dekalog by the Polish director Kyeslovsky. Released in 1988, this 10-part film takes the meaning of the Ten Commandments into one film per commandment from a modern perspective.

What is the specific significance of the Ten Commandments in the context of the 20th century? Don't you have a lot of worries about how to apply it? This film was made with such awareness of problem, and it is a highly acclaimed film among religious films. If I briefly introduce the content of the first film, I think you can guess how other films will develop.

In the movie titled <The Ten Commandments 1-Worship Only One God>, a scientist named Crygystobra who judges everything with a rationalistic mindset appears. One winter day, the son goes to the pond and asks his father if he can skate. The father calculates the ice thickness of the pond using a computer, considers the weight of his son, and allows it to be considered safe. However, my son, who was skating, dies from breaking the ice. The father, who had absolute trust in science, realizes that science is not all-round until he loses his most precious son. This movie makes us think deeply about what false gods are taking the place of God today. This film goes beyond just observing the Ten Commandments literally and mechanically, it helps you ponder and reflect on the meaning of the Ten Commandments in today's situation. In particular, it can be said that this film gives insight into how to interpret the First Commandment for humanity suffering from COVID-19 in the midst of the 4th Industrial Revolution.

Dear brothers and sisters, how do the Ten Commandments come to you? Are the Ten Commandments an externally imposed discipline that we must follow even if we do not understand their contents? Or is it something that we must fully empathize with and strive to realize that will spontaneously and actively from within? Do you view the Ten Commandments as like the <10 Checklists to Keep> given to students by elementary school teachers? Or is it like the ten talents the owner entrusted you with on a trip?

How do we view not only the Ten Commandments, but all the commandments (laws, acts, commandments) that we must keep as believers in a broader sense? Obviously, as a disciple of Jesus, there must be action and practice. There must be obedience and sacrifice. Do you reluctantly, forcibly, procrastinate and procrastinate in such a practice? Willing, voluntary, and prioritizing? Even if we practice the same commandments, it can be valid, passive, outward, autonomous, active, and inward. In the former case, we are still slaves. In the latter case, we are children of God. In the former case, we strive to be saved and keep the commandments. In the latter case, we keep the commandments from our hearts with saved emotions.

The Ten Commandments were given for the people who were freed from slavery, but many still regard and keep them as the rule of slavery. The Ten Commandments contain God's heart for us. We must escape from all confinement and oppression, enjoy true freedom, do not lose our hearts to false idols, and have intimate fellowship with God. We must realize the heart of God who wants to live holy in the resemblance of God's holiness, keep the Ten Commandments, and live like God's people. I sincerely hope that brothers and sisters at Yonsei University Church to believe in God's love, goodness, and almightiness and live as free people and children of God.

The Ten Commandments are not a means of salvation. Those who think that they will be saved by keeping this are no different from those who try to be saved by their own righteousness. Salvation is the premise of everything. God has already given us salvation. All you have to do is accept it. However, if you don't accept it, no matter how good a declaration is, it won't work.

Once they realize that they have been saved, they seek out what kind of life they will live. What should we, who have been slaves, do ourselves? Uneasy. You may rather miss the days when you were not hungry or food while living in slavery. The Ten Commandments are the guidelines for life given to us who are not slaves but as children. The Ten Commandments are not the accidents (chains) given to us. These are the minimum guidelines.

However, it should be considered that it is not the law of slavery, but the significance for the discipline of children.

Don't underestimate that. In the days of slavery, even if they did not agree with the content, they only followed it outwardly. However, after becoming a child, you must agree with and comply with the content with all your heart (with all your heart, mind, and strength). You must understand the fundamental spirit and obey it. You must not say that you have obeyed the law with only the outward appearance of the war. Why? This is because life history cannot be defined with only 10 provisions. The Jews made 365 articles to further refine them. But today those 365 provisions are meaningless.

Jesus' Hermeneutics of the Decalogue-This is the way we can restore the meaning of the Decalogue today. After all, love. Love of God-Love of neighbor. Don't condemn others too easily. Take a look at yourself. In the parable of the prodigal son, the pride of the first son-the attitude of a Pharisee, a lawyer, and a priest. What we should be most careful about today is not to be such a hypocritical religious person.

The fundamental problem of Korean Protestantism. They misunderstand what the essence of Christianity is. Having become accustomed to the long military dictatorship and Confucian culture, he is missing the spirit of truth and freedom that Christianity pursues. Progressiveness, future-oriented, inclusiveness and a spirit of challenge to move forward with a new human civilization. The spirit of considering human and earth problems as one's own problems and doing the best to solve them is the true Christian spirit.

Some Protestants resemble Islam. Literalism is very convenient for pastors. But it's like wearing someone else's clothes. The Christian Bible was not written that way. Some people find the Koran more comfortable.

The spirit of Jesus. Hermeneutics of the Ten Commandments.

"I am the Lord thy God; thou shalt have no other gods before me."

Krzysztof introduces his small son, Pawel, to the mysteries of the personal computer, a machine which he believes is infallible. It is winter. Pawel, anxious to try out his new pair of skates, asks his father if he can go out to the local pond which has just frozen over. They consult the computer; the ice will hold the boy's weight; he can go. Pawel doesn't come home. There was a freak local thaw; the computer was wrong; Pawel drowned. Krzysztof runs to the church in protest and despair, falls against an altar. Candle wax splashes over the face of the black Madonna and dries on her cheeks as tears.