Good Morning All,
A student is listening
to his history teacher and thinks to himself “What an idiot!” An employee looks at his boss and thinks to
himself “What an arrogant jerk!” A woman
finishes talking to her mother and thinks “Another crazy old lady!” We do it all the time. Sometimes we don’t even think about it. We curse under our breath as someone blocks
the bread aisle in the grocery store. We
roll our eyes and quietly mutter when the person ahead of us in the checkout
line gives the checker girl a wad of coupons.
You can almost hear Aretha Franklin in the background “R..E..S..P..E..C..
T, find out what it means to me.”
As we look at our verse, and really the
whole of the Commandments, they all involve one basic element: respect. The Commandments show us how to live with
respect for each other. Far too often we
look at the 10 Commandments as “Law” what we have to do to please God. Yet this is only partially how we should look
at them. It might do us better if we
look at them as what they do to live in harmony with each other.
After sin entered the world, man soon
turned against man. The story of Cain
and Abel is the first story after Adam and Eve’s fall, it is not a
coincidence. Immediately, man went from
seeking companionship and a healthy relationship to a creature that sought to
control, manipulate, and seek only self-serving pleasure. So, when God brought Israel to Mount Sinai,
he had to re-teach them how to behave as loving, children of God should
act. He had to teach them how to live a
life that would be fulfilling, one of contentment, one of peace and promise. So, he gave them, and us, the 10 Commandments
as guidelines or rules for a good life, one filled with the contentment and joy
that God has designed for us.
What would be nice for the world, actually
best for the world, is to see that our relationship with others should be built
on respect. Before we can love, like, or
even tolerate another person, we need to respect each other. Basic respect is the very building block of
all our relationships; without that we have nothing. God, through the 10 Commandments, shows us
that. It is his truth, and we need to
accept this for what it is, the beginning of living in his kingdom. Without respect, we have nothing but pain and
sadness. The devil sees to this. God calls upon you and me to treat each other
with respect as the basic block to build our relationships on. Through God’s grace, we can become the people
that God designed us to be. We can live
together in peace and contentment.
Dear Father, your will for us is that we may live a healthy life
content and meaningful. Give us the
wisdom to follow your commands. Teach us
to love, teach us to respect each other as you love and respect us. Guard us with your grace. In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.
God’s Peace,
Pastor Bret
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