The First Commandment – Feel the Spirit of Christian Living at Epiphany on June 10, 2007

Grace, mercy, and peace are yours through God our Father who promises to show love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments. Amen.

Exodus 20:1-6 And God spoke all these words: ² "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. ³ "You shall have no other gods before me. ⁴ "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. ⁵ You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, ⁶ but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

Keep God first in your life

The minister said in his sermon, "It is impossible for us to avoid sin. It is impossible for anyone to avoid breaking God's commandments. In fact, I violate everyone of God's commandments every day." Seeing that he had his people's attention, and being on a roll, the preacher continued, "In fact, I believe that it is not an exaggeration to say that I break all of God's commandments every hour." A few minutes later, the minister concluded his sermon and called upon one of his members to speak the final prayer. The member prayed: "Dear Lord, have mercy on us. You have said, ‘Thou shalt have no other gods; thou shalt not commit adultery; thou shalt not steal, covet, or gossip.’ Dear Lord, our pastor has confessed to us that he breaks every one of Your laws every day and that it is not an exaggeration to say he breaks them every hour. Lord, we humbly ask that You would have mercy on us, and send us a better preacher. Amen.”

Today we begin a series on Christian living. Christian living really means following God’s laws. Today we are talking about God's first, and greatest commandment: “You shall have no other gods before Me.” Laws. All of us are acquainted with laws. There are laws that our mothers taught us. You know the ones like: If you go swimming right after you eat you’ll get a cramp and drown. Laws like: don't make funny faces or your face will freeze that way. We smile at laws that are silly. By law, young girls are never allowed to walk a tightrope in Wheeler, Mississippi , unless it's in a church. Laws. Some make sense. Others don't. There is a law in New York that says it's illegal for anyone to sneeze in public. Silly? Would it help if I told you that law was adopted in 1918, when the entire world was fighting a flu epidemic – a plague which ended up taking more lives than did World War I?

Laws. On Mount Sinai , God wrote down, on two stone tablets, His first law, along with nine others. He wrote down laws that had, up to that point in time, been written in the hearts of humanity. He said, "I don't want you to have any other gods before Me, along side of Me, under Me, above Me, or anywhere else." In that first law, God was saying that He, and He alone, is worthy of our love, admiration and adoration. Implied in that law is: If you do have other gods before Him, along side of Him, under Him, above Him, or anywhere else, you are committing idolatry and if you don't repent, you will be condemned to eternity in hell. When God gives a law, He takes that law very seriously.

There are a number of ways that people react to God's laws. As great Bible scholars, the Pharisees knew that when the Pharaoh had disregarded the Lord, he ended up burying Egypt ’s firstborn sons and watching his chariots washed into the Red Sea . They knew that throughout Israel ’s history, the Israelites had been blessed when they kept God first, but they were persecuted, punished, and put down when they adulterated themselves with false and foreign gods. The Pharisees knew God was serious when he said, “Keep me first.” That’s why they came up with all kinds of made-up rules – 600 of them – to keep people in line.

In response to all these man-made, Pharisaical laws, Jesus responded, “The first and most important commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind.” In short, “Keep God first.”

Of course, most people today are not like the Pharisees. Most people aren't preoccupied with making up extra rules to guarantee they don't disobey the Lord. On the contrary, most people and even some Christians, find themselves negotiating with God, trying to find the lowest denominator for their obedience. A pastor had a conversation with someone who was thinking about joining his church. Everything went fine until he started talking about God's commandments and the penalty for sin. Hearing about hell, the lady blurted out: "Pastor, that's impossible! My god would never do anything like that to anybody."

The pastor replied, “You said your god wouldn't condemn you for disobeying his law. I think you're right. Your god wouldn’t call you a sinner. Your god wouldn't condemn you because he likes you just the way you are. Your god accepts you and thinks you're a really good person. He certainly wouldn't suggest you need a Savior. The only problem is that your god isn't real. He's a wish, a dream, a figment of your imagination. He certainly isn't the God of the Bible. The God of the Bible says, 'Keep Me first.'" And what was the lady's reply? The pastor said, "I don't know. That was the last time I saw her."

You see, that lady didn't want to keep God first. She thought she was the master and God was the beggar who should be glad to glean the crumbs that fell from her table. She thought of God as a cuddly-wuddly teddy bear who could make her feel warm and secure when she needed Him, but who would, the rest of the time, sit patiently on the shelf until needed. She thought of God as a spiritual Santa who waited anxiously for her to pass on the list of things she wanted, but who could be ignored the rest of the time. She thought of God as a nice grandpa who gave gentle suggestions but would never demand respect or command love and obedience.

Although she never said it out loud, this lady was among the hundreds of millions who wonder: Who does God think He is that He can tell me what I'm supposed to do? Who does God think He is that I have to keep Him first all of the time? Who does God think He is that I'm not allowed to have anything before Him, alongside of Him, or over Him?

God thinks He's God. God is the God who brought you into this world, and he’s the One who will take you out of it. God loved you with an immeasurable, unexplainable, unbelievable, eternal love. Now he expects you to love him in return. Love him with all your heart, soul, and mind.

In the book, “The Mysterious Island,” Jules Verne tells of five Union soldiers who manage to escape a Civil War prison camp in a hot-air balloon. A great storm catches the balloon and carries it over the sea and across countless miles. The men are horrified when they realize their torn balloon is going to be forced into the ocean. If they're to survive they must lighten the load. The choice is easy: the bags of ballast are emptied. That buys some time, but not much. Very soon the balloon finds itself in danger again. More choices. The men throw over all unnecessary provisions. Guns, extra clothing, almost everything goes. It's a losing battle. Each choice buys them time, but only for a while. Eventually the men agree to jettison their food, then their gold, and finally, with the men clinging to the netting of the balloon, even the gondola in which they had been riding. The men live. It would have been a very short novel if they hadn't. I want you to understand here is that these men figured out what was important and what wasn’t. Things that had once seemed to be indispensable necessities were reduced to being nothing more than excess baggage. Although he didn't know it, Verne was putting into fiction the Scripture verse that says: "Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles." (Hebrews 12:1) In other words, "Let's keep God first."

How are you doing at keeping God first? I don't mean almost first, or close to first, or most of the time first. I mean first, 100 percent of the time. Probably not too good, I'd guess. A while ago a national magazine took a poll of the things we couldn't live without. 63 percent of the people said they needed their vehicle; 42 percent wanted to keep their telephone; 22 percent couldn't give up their TVs; 13 percent valued microwave ovens; and 7.8 percent said they absolutely needed their blow dryers. You’ll note that God does not appear on that list. He doesn't even rank above blow dryers. God should be at the top of every list put together by everybody. But He's not.

The world, the devil, our own sinful natures do all they can to ever so gently, ever so slowly, ever so discreetly, move God to the background and something else to the front. Ask a sheep owner, "Just how do sheep get lost?" He’ll reply, "No sheep ever sets out to get lost, he just kind of nibbles himself lost." That, better than anything else I've heard, describes humanity. We start out lost and we keep nibbling ourselves "loster?" Because of our sinful natures, because of temptations, we end up moving further and further away from God, from forgiveness, and from heaven. God tells us to keep Him first, but we can't. God tells us to love Him and we don't. He tells us to worship Him and we won't. No wonder God is ready to condemn us. We deserve it.

Look back on your life. You can sometimes, not always, but sometimes plainly see where the path has taken you away from God and His great grace. For you, something else, maybe something tiny or insignificant, pushed God out of the number one spot in your life, your heart, your thoughts. God was no longer first; and no matter how hard you tried, if you tried, you weren't able to move Him back. God demanded to be first, and He wasn't.

Which is why all of us need a Savior. You see, without a Savior, God is scary. When Adam and Eve sinned, they went and hid themselves. They hid themselves because they knew God was not going to be happy with their disobedience. God found them, punished them, and then did something truly unpredictable. God promised them a Savior. Just because humanity had stopped loving Him, God saw no reason to stop loving them. You parents understand. Your children can do something that is maddening, embarrassing, even hurtful, but you still love them? God's the same. He still loved us. But not in a passive, "I'll take all the disobedience you can dish out" sort of way. No, God actively loved us, and sent His Son to save us. God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son. Now, whoever believes on Him will not perish, but instead will be given everlasting life.

Have you ever wondered why people get up early on a Sunday morning to worship, or questioned why they trudge through a blizzard to fellowship with God, or are willing to sit in an unconditioned church when its 100 degrees outside? The reason is this: These people have seen Jesus. They know how innocent Jesus took their sins upon Himself and suffered the punishment they deserved. To take our place - that was the reason Jesus was born. To save us is the reason He lived His entire life. To redeem us is why He died on a cross. Jesus was punished so we didn't have to be. Jesus lived so a bridge might be built over the gulf that separates lost souls from their heavenly home.

A demanding husband gave his wife a list of things she should and shouldn't do. He gave her laws that were to be followed to the letter. Frequently he added to the list – things like how his eggs should be cooked or the cloth she should use when she dusted the furniture.

Eventually the husband died. No, the wife didn't kill him. He died of natural causes. Eventually she fell in love and married again. She got married to a man who loved her and made her life a joy. One day she came across the "law list" from her first husband. As she looked over the rules it occurred to her that she was doing all this, and more, for her present husband who loved her so much. No longer was it a duty to do so; it was a delight.

God says, "Love me with all your heart, soul, and mind." That is the essence of Christian living. See God’s love. See how much He cares for you. Realize that being with Him is far better than being with anyone else. Love Him because He has first loved you, because He continues to love you. Love Him because you can't help yourself. Keep God first in your life. Love Him. Amen.