Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who grafted us into His royal family. Amen.

The text for today’s meditation is Exodus 20:1–17

¹And God spoke all these words, saying, ²"I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. ³"You shall have no other gods before me. ⁴"You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. ⁵You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, ⁶but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. ⁷"You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. ⁸"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. ⁹Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, ¹⁰but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. ¹¹For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. ¹²"Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. ¹³"You shall not murder. ¹⁴"You shall not commit adultery. ¹⁵"You shall not steal. ¹⁶"You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. ¹⁷"You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s."

I worked for the grounds department while I was at the seminary. A coworker and fellow student was a forester and he was well trained at using a chain saw. He was so skilled at felling trees that he could drop one on a dime. I had used a chain saw a few times but I realized I knew nothing about how to use one compared to him except for the obvious things like keep anything you don’t want cut away from the cutting part. He took safety to a new level as well. He got the seminary to purchase helmets and special chaps that protect the legs from chain saw blades. He wielded the chainsaw with precision but always with safety in mind. He stressed to me that the saw may be great for trimming and felling trees but at anytime it could turn around and bite you. If you handle the saw with care and use it for what it is intended a chain saw can be a very useful tool. We see a useful tool in our lesson today.

God is making a covenant with the people whom He delivered from slavery in Egypt. He claimed them when He freed them from the bondage of slavery. He claimed them as His children; He gave them the gift of freedom, they didn’t do anything to earn it nor could they. The gift of freedom came with some expectations as children of God. These expectations were not a bad thing; they too were a gift from God. The expectations were God’s plan for enjoying their identity as His creatures and His children. These expectations were what we now call the Ten Commandments. The Bible makes a distinction between the "words" spoken by God in chapter 20 (the Ten Commandments) and the "laws" summarized in chapters 21 through 23. The laws are the rules and regulations pertaining to the conduct of Israel as a nation through various civil and ceremonial laws. The "words" were spoken directly to all the people whereas the "laws" were spoken to Moses privately on Mount Sinai. The "words" were later written by God on two stone tablets and the "laws’ were written in scrolls by Moses. The entire nation of Israel was present when God spoke the "words" or "the covenant," He made the covenant with each person personally. God bound himself in the covenant but He did not require the same for the Israelites. God expected them to enjoy their identity as children of God and His creatures by following His plan, the Ten Commandments. God didn’t call Israel to obedience on the basis of His

creative act and design for human life. He called His people to the good life on the basis of His saving, liberating action in their redemption from Egyptian imprisonment through His mighty arm.

We too have the gift of identity as God’s Children. We gained this identity through Christ’s sin-abolishing death and His righteousness-bestowing resurrection as it says on Romans 4 verses 24 and 25 " It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, ²⁵ who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification." He was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification; that sounds like He did it all, doesn’t it? Is there any room in that passage for us to fulfill any conditions? No, there aren’t any conditions for us. We have been given new birth without anything to fulfill on our part. We are the children of God and we have been given life by our Heavenly Father. God entered into another covenant with you for your eternal life and again He bound Himself to the covenant and does not require the same to you; it is your gift. As parents that give life to a child have expectations for the child’s performance, so God has expectations for us, His children. With your children, whether or not they meet your expectations, and often they don’t, their performance does not determine whether or not they are your children. You gave them life and therefore they are your children, end of story. The same is true with God; your fulfilling His expectations does not determine whether you are His child, you are His child, end of story. What your fulfilling His expectations does is reflect your faith in His Word that gives you your new identity. You are able to live the life that fulfills God’s design for humanity only through the liberating resurrection of Christ. His dying for your sins, burying those sins in His tomb, and His resurrection have placed you on the path of walking in Christ’s footsteps as new creatures which the Holy Spirit has created anew through His Word of absolution.

What do we do with God’s Law? We know that it is God’s design for life and it makes life work right. Well, God’s Law comes with the label "Handle with care" and just as the chain saw was a useful tool when handled with care and used for what it is intended; God’s law is a useful tool for life as God intended. Of course, your sinful nature is ever present and you want to run your own life. You make decisions contrary to His Law. Just as the chain saw can turn around and bite you, that is when the Law turns around and bites you. You experience His commands as the enemy, interfering with your attempts to redefine what it means to be human. Luther explains this as the Laws way of conveying the accusing or crushing force of God’s plan for human life. The crushing force of the Law brings you to repentance. The Law is to focus your attention on your performance; it is the standard for evaluating your performance. Like the chain saw this is a chance to trim some things from your life. There may even be a need to cut down some big things too. As a tool, the chain saw can be used to make things better by trimming trees and removing rotted or diseased trees, so too the Law makes life. Your sinfulness has turned God’s good gift, the plan for good human living, into a killer that strangles you, the sinner. Often time you seek the guidance of the Law for fulfilling your desire to be God’s faithful child. It is too easy to fall into the trap of obeying the Law only out of fear of punishment or for the purpose of earning "merit badges." You can end up in shame or guilt when you focus on your sinfulness rather than recognize that Christ claimed your sins for His tomb and placed you in His own kingdom. In His kingdom you are freed from defending yourself with your sinful exploitation of others and your rebellious rejection of His love. God declares Himself to be your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and the house of bondage. This is the basis for living lives in accordance with His will. God doesn’t call you to obedience on the basis of His creative act and design for human life. He calls you to the good life on the basis of His saving, liberating action in your redemption from the bondage of sin, death, and Satan through His death and resurrection.

Just as a chainsaw is an awesome tool intended to trim branches and fell trees when handled with care. So too, is the Law. It is the plan and standard for our performance as children of God for life to work right. When you handle the Law with care you can enjoy God’s gift of the true design for human living.

Amen.