Sepuluh Hukum (Intro)

Ringkasan (dalam bahasa Inggris):

Exodus 20: 1 - 12

Today’s reflection is an intro before going into a deeper discussion regarding the ten commandments of God. In Exodus 20, the Law was given to the Israelites. In our imagination, this Law may contain many instructions and prohibitions. However, if you pay attention, even in this law, the primary setting is in the context of liturgical or service. Talking about service, it does not mean limited to the Sunday service only. If we fail to appreciate the liturgical setting, then we will also fail in everyday life because our attitude in worshiping God on Sunday service determines our attitude in the following days. The law given was not just a list of prohibitions, but this law was given to be lived out in the religious life of the Israelites. We must understand that Christianity does not only contain prohibitions or presents the view that the road to hell is wide while the road to heaven is narrow. Primary life setting in worship is really important and we hope that this does not stop only inside the church building. This law is addressed to every individual but the concern is never only for the individual but also for the well-being of the community. We are called individually, but the Kingdom of God is never about us as an individual. We must not misunderstand when we see the list of prohibitions for us in the law because in fact, behind it there is a concern for the wellbeing of the community.

We certainly have memorized the entire list of the Ten Commandments of God and strictly speaking, this commandment is not creating anything new. In the previous chapter of Exodus, we talked a lot about creative power. However, this chapter does not focus on creating something new, but rather emphasizes on protecting life from certain destructive behaviors. We sometimes underestimate the importance of protecting and preserving. We think that building or creating something new is better and cooler than preserving something that already exists. For example, we just had a concert yesterday and we tend to find the performance cooler than our singing ministry at a regular Sunday service. We tend to focus more on things that are cooler and neglect something that is ordinary. It is because maybe you and I get bored easily. Yet, be careful, not everything can be replaced with new things. We cannot have a new husband or wife or family every time we feel bored, but we have to maintain the relationship we already have. Perhaps this decalogue (the ten commandments) is not cool, it just consists of ordinary things that must be done. The reality is that in our lives, the percentage of ordinary things is higher than the extraordinary things. You wear ordinary clothes more often than new ones, and there are still many examples that we can find in our lives. Therefore, we should not mock ordinary things.

When we read this decalogue, do not look at it in a negative way as a list of prohibitions. Actually, behind this prohibition there is also a positive command. If something is prohibited, what is the positive message behind that? For example, in the Exodus 20:3 “You shall have no other gods before me”. What is the positive message behind this? Let us read Deuteronomy 6:2 “that you may fear the Lord your God, you and your son and your son’s son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be long.” This statement “that your days may be long” is used in the Old Testament to describe a life blessed by God. This command was given for the well being of His people, the Israelites themselves (Deuteronomy 6:5-9). Another example is that there is a command “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” (Exodus 20:16). This is not just the prohibition to not slender others, but it is also a happy invitation for us to speak well of others. If we do not slender other people but we also do not talk about other people’s goodness, then we are passive. One more example, there is a command “You shall not murder” (Exodus 20:13). If you do not kill, it does not mean you have fulfilled God’s command. Behind this commandment, there lies an invitation to preserve and enhance life. The point is, there are indeed prohibitions, but we must learn to reflect on what positive commands are behind them.

Sometimes we also misunderstand this decalogue. This decalogue is often considered to represent the entire Torah (Law). And every time we talk about the Torah, we feel there is an obligatory aspect to it. There is indeed an obligatory aspect, but we should not feel forced to follow the law. We should see it as an invitation to obey our God who loves and sets us free. This is our chance to love him back by obeying Him. The deepest motivation is to love, respect and obey God. At the beginning, we already knew that this law also concerns the well being of the community. We, as the part of this community, should be internally and inwardly motivated to follow this law. What is the opposite of this motivation? The opposite is that we are following the law because of peer or corporate pressure. Imagine if our motivation, morals and ethics were directed by peer or corporate pressure, then what would our spiritual life be like? So again, we are invited to have internal motivation to preserve and maintain morals and ethics so that they do not decline and become chaotic. Do you think that there is nothing new in “preserving or maintaining”? There is a creative power from simply maintaining something because at least it stops us from entering a disorder and chaos in life. For example, there must be someone who maintains and cleans this church building. If no one maintains it, we will definitely see the decline of this church’s condition. Sometimes in life we do not appreciate people who do things to prevent decline in life and we only realize the importance of those people when they are no longer there. The people who “maintain” can be both you and I, so do not disgrace this work.

There is an inseparable connection between glorifying God and creation. When we worship God, we also take part in maintaining this creational order. At the time we choose not to worship God, we are indeed not protecting nature. If we understand in the Bible, the sabbath was given not only to the Israelites but to everyone. The sabbath is given to all the living creatures of this cosmos. Creational order for all creatures must stop on the seventh day. Why do we have to stop? This is important because if creation does not stop it will damage the order of the creation itself. People will get tired because they do not get enough rest and they will easily become irritated, greedy, and so on. The problem will become very complex. If this connection between the sabbath and creation is true for non-believers, it must also be true for all the believers. So once again, it is important to connect the true worship with our responsibility for the creational order that God has given to us.

There is also a connection between the theology of the law and the New Testament. In Matthew 5, Jesus said that the Commandment is never being abrogated. During the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus wants us to internalize the commandment to the depths of our hearts. This means that when Jesus came, He did not make the Torah “relaxed” and then we became liberal. Jesus wanted to bring the religion from within the heart, not just carrying out the commands that were visible to others from the outside. How do we connect the theology of law with the double commandment of love (Matthew 22:36-40)? We know that the ten commandments talk about particular or concrete things. However, the double commandment of love is a great teaching and it is talking about big principles. God commands in Exodus 20:3-4 that we shall have no other gods before Him and shall not make for ourselves another god and worship it. This command is specific and particular compared to the double commandment of love. These ten commandments seem as if it reduces the big principle of double commandment of love. Another example, we read again in Exodus 20:15 “You shall not steal”. It feels like it reduces again the great teaching of double commandment of love. Maybe you are thinking, if the decalogue is so reductive like this, why do not we just focus on the double commandment of love? Well, these two things are not something that should be competed with each other. You and I need to look at this decalogue from the perspective of the double commandment of love (love to God and love to our neighbors). You and I need to be addressed “concretely” because we fall short in loving our neighbor and loving our God. So we must continue to be reminded of things that are specific and sound trivial. When we fail to obey the specific and “small” commands, it means we also fail to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind and fail to love our neighbor (Matthew 22:36-40). If we are aware of this, we must humbly ask for forgiveness for our shortcomings and ask God for strength to be able to obey His commands, just as Christ obeyed the Father’s commands.

Sometimes we compare works of the law with faith in God, like the apostle Paul did. However, the apostle Paul highlighted the failure in the application of the law, not the Law / Torah itself. At that time, Jews felt they were able to obey the Torah and then boasted about themselves to the gentiles. However, this is the actual problem and not the effort of obeying the law. In the Old Testament, the focus of the giving of this law was so that spiritual life would be increasingly perfected in love. Never lose the perspective of love when talking about the law because without love, the law will look scary. Some people serve God but their motivation is only to show how great or hard it is to serve and obey God. What is the point of this if we are not driven by love? Without love, obeying the law is just mere legality. So once again, when we read the ten commandments, we always have to connect it with the double commandment of love and you will be happy because you have a healthy spiritual life. (G.N.S.)