Which leads to point #2: Lying and deceitful words are acts of violence. Words that are misleading, libelous, defamatory, intentionally untrue or malicious are condemned by God, because they cause real damage when they are spoken and they often become the basis for further acts of harm against others. We hold onto the “playground morality” of “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me.” But that idea runs counter to what the bible teaches. And to be clear, both are equally damaging although we tend to diminish the harm caused by words alone. First, we usually sin with words before we sin with deeds. There are three things to keep in mind when considering this commandment. If you lie under oath, you subvert the entire system of justice-and someone will be unfairly harmed by your false witness. In biblical times as well as modern times, people are called on to tell the truth so that wrongs can be righted and evildoers can be distinguished from those who are innocent. “Bearing false witness” can be narrowly defined as lying in court. So I’m beginning with Commandment #9-“Don’t bear false witness against your neighbor.” Given the current political climate in America, this seemed like an important commandment to consider first. And since we can’t stay in bed all the time, by remembering what it is we are trying to protect, it becomes easier to keep the commandments and follow the words of God in our daily life. As we reflect on these commandments in the coming weeks, think about them as containing both a “Thou shalt” and a “Thou shalt not.” Most commandments name a negative boundary we are not to cross if we want to have a faithful relationship with others and with our God. But then you woke up and got out of bed, and likely one or two of them has been broken already this morning. Here’s a word of encouragement: Every one of you has already kept all Ten Commandments this very day. It presents them for what they are: words spoken by God, the God who brought us long ago out of slavery in Egypt, the God who loves us still, speaking words we should listen to and take to heart. In the Jewish tradition, they actually call the Ten Commandments the “Ten Words,” which humanizes these rules. They feel like rules your teacher taped up on the first day of elementary school-don’t do this, don’t do that. We rarely get excited about the commandments. Actually the phrase “favorite commandment” is a bit of an oxymoron. Since there are five weeks in July, we’ll only get to half of them-so if you have a favorite commandment you want us to talk about, let us know. This month, Heather, Patrice and I are going to explore some of the Ten Commandments.
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