“First things First”  6/19/11 Deuteronomy 5:1-6; Matthew 6:33  Dr. Ben Sloan

     We are beginning a series on the Ten Commandments.  A couple of weeks ago I pointed out that grace and law are not opposites but work together.  So is love and law.  Too many say you have love or you have rules.  But Jesus said the first commandment was to love God and the second was to love neighbor- that these sum up the commandments. 
     In some ways the ten commandments are lost today.  In other ways we need the ten commandments like never before.  The Bible itself points to the importance of these ten commands.   Several times it tells us they were written on stone by the finger of God (Ex. 31:18; Dt. 9:10).  They are called elsewhere in the Bible “the Ten Words.”  If I were to say “the Ten Commandments” most of you would know what I was talking about without my having to point them out.  They are quoted by various prophets- especially Hosea (4:2), Jeremiah (7:9), and Isaiah elaborates a great deal on the first four commands.  Psalm 81 refers to them.  Jesus quoted many of them in the story of the rich young man (Mt. 19:19).  Jesus points out that disobedience to these commands come from inside of us (Mark 7:20-23).   Paul refers to them, and the Book of Revelation also refers to them. 
    In the preface to the Ten Commandments, Moses says this is a covenant that God is making with us.  It wasn’t just a covenant made with the generation who died in the desert, but with us.  God cares for us, wants to deliver us, and wants us to listen for our own good.  Historically, the Ten Commandments influenced Roman Law, English common law, our colonial law and constitution.   While some are rebelling against listening to any kind of law, wiser people tell us to learn from those who have gone before us.  The commandments are a part of our Book of Confessions- the Heidelberg, and Westminster Larger and Shorter Catechisms.  They are a major part of Calvin’s Institutes.  Calvin points out there are three uses to the law- it convicts, restrains and also guides us.  Calvin and our confessions point out that the Ten Commandments are not just a bunch of “Thou Shalt Nots” but there are also a positive side to them.  The confessions say, “Where a sin is forbidden, the contrary duty is commanded.” (LC Q. 99). The latest catechisms of our denomination approved in 1998 also have the Ten Commandments as a cornerstone of their teaching. 

6 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 7 “You shall have no other gods before me.************************

Augustine said the first commandment like this, “”O Lord, You have created us for yourself and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in You.”  Each one of us in this room has been called by God to give ourselves to God first and foremost.  Too many of us have been looking for God and love in all the wrong places, and we need to recognize that there is a God who loves us. If you are searching in your life for truth- truth is found in God.  Jesus said I am the truth.  If you are searching for peace- peace is found in God- Jesus said, “Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden for I will give you peace.” One writer said, “Ignorance of the source of rest is the chief impediment to the possession of rest.”   If you are searching for enlightenment and wisdom- then go to the One who made everything, the answer is found in Him- God promises if we ask for wisdom He gives it freely.   God calls us to seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near.  God calls us to focus on Him- to put Him first in our lives- to have no other Gods in His place.   
When we obey this commandment it gives focus, purpose, and motivation to our lives.  It is the keeping of this first commandment that enables us to have the power and ability to keep the rest of the commands.  When we love God (with our heart, mind, soul, and strength) and serve Him only- then we will find the strength from God that we need for the tough times in life.  
     Marni was adopted at birth.  She never knew her birth-mother and was told her birth-father had died in a motorcycle accident.  When Marni became a mother herself she called her birthmother and asked some questions.  Turns out her birth father was very much alive- that Marni’s mother had lied out of shame.  Marni was given the name and the hunt began.  Marni’s husband stumbled across a book whose author was a name match, Mark Shaw.  Looking at the cover the author had the same gap in his teeth as Marni had.  The hunch was confirmed by a paternity test and they see each other every month (Fredericksburg.com 6/17/11).  Today there are people who have been told they don’t have a heavenly Father.  Many have been throwing His invitations to come have a relationship with Him in the trash, thinking it couldn’t be true.  This first command is a call to recognize our Heavenly Father.  Let us examine this command in detail.  First it speaks of God- what really is God?
I. WHAT IS A GOD?  On this Trinity Sunday (as David pointed out), it is a good time to ask “what is a God?”  The answer is assumed in this command.  The answer is not given theologically, or by dogma, but practically- A God, by definition is something or someone we worship.  Even in this great first commandment, the existence of God is not debated but assumed.  Whether other people worship other beings or even stone is not debated, but inferred.  What is seen as important here is that we make God who revealed himself to Israel, and is seen in Jesus- our God; and that we give ourselves to Him in service and worship.
Martin Luther, when asked “What it means to have a God?” said, “Whatever your heart clings to and relies upon, that is properly your God.” 
We may say that we are not polytheists in our beliefs, but we may be polytheists in our practice.  This particular command does not address belief- it addresses practice.   If we worship the gods of money, popularity, pleasure, sports, convenience, success then it shows. 
Eventually, when we are so much polytheists in our practice, we are teaching the next generation after us to be polytheists in their beliefs.  Those who neglect putting God first- worshipping Him – are teaching the next generation that it doesn’t matter much at all what you believe. 
I have heard the amazing words of many a mother- some right here in our community- “I won’t bring my child to church because I want them to make up their own mind about who they worship.”  This command is a call for mothers and fathers to teach their children- by their own practice to worship.  Have no other gods before Him- do not let anything, any thought, any grudge, any past sin, any ongoing problem get in the way of your relationship with God. 
II. YOU shall have- People worship many different gods.  The Israelites were surrounded by the Hittites then the Egyptians, then the Canaanites, then the Babylonians, Persians, Greeks and Romans.  This command is for those who believe in the One true God. 
I have asked the question myself and have heard the question asked, “What about those who believe differently from me?”  The Bible doesn’t say “all Egyptians,Babylonians, Greeks, and Romans are going to hell.”  What it does say is we are called to believe.  Those within earshot of this are called to not be like everyone else- saying we’ll worship many-or that who you worship and how you worship doesn’t matter at all.  The Greeks and Romans were willing to take the Jewish god into their pantheon of gods, but the Jews and the early Christians would not allow it.  The early Christians were thrown to the lions and burned alive because they would not do something as brief and simple as take a pinch of incense and lay it before the statue of the emperor. 
We live in a pluralistic world.  How should we interact with those who believe differently? Our new shorter catechism asks, “How should I treat those of other religions?” I should meet friendship with friendship; hostility with kindness; generosity with gratitude; persecution with forebearance; truth with agreement; error with truth.  I should express my faith by word and by deed.  I should avoid compromise on the one hand and narrow-mindedness on the other.  In short, I should welcome and accept these others in a way that honors and reflects the Lord’s welcome and acceptance of me.”  Be kind, love neighbor, but do not forget who you are and whose you are. The focus in this command is not on everyone else- it is on us- and what we have to do with God.
III. BEFORE ME- There are two senses of what “before means.”  First there is the sense of giving God first place in line.  No one else should come before God in your heart.  The Psalmist said, “Whom have I in heaven but you, and there is nothing on earth I desire beside you.  My flesh and my heart may fail but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.  Jesus said it like this- “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness.”  When we wake up in the morning, our priority is not what we can get, but what can we give in order to glorify God. 
One writer (Dabney) said, what constitutes having God as our God is: 1) Loving him more than all other affections; 2) Trusting in Him for happiness; 3) Obeying and serving Him first; 4) worshiping Him as He requires.  Calvin rightly adds that we should be grateful to God above all others. 
The second sense is that we are not to bring fake faith or other faith into the presence of the holy God.
Calvin gave a graphic image of this command. He said, an adulterer wouldn’t bring someone they’re having an affair with before their spouse shamelessly.  Neither should we bring other gods and loves before our God. 
Sex, sheckels, stomach;  Pleasure, possessions, position; football, firm, family; Many good things can take the place of the best.  When we lose our focus on God, we lose our focus on what is right and wrong.
     When we are faithful to God, it allows us to be faithful in the proper way to others.  I feel for the one whose spouse loves the child above them.  They have misplaced priorities.  But the husband who truly loves the wife first, will be able to have a stable and steady; faithful and healthy relationship with their child.  If we love God first, then other loves fall into proper persepective.  Leith said, “If God is truly God then He is able to include every other honorable loyalty.” 
    In the last book of the Bible Jesus speaks to one of the churches and says, “Return to your first love.”  This commandment is an invitation- to not take God for granted.  It is a call for us to not just pray to God when we are desperate, but to develop an ongoing relationship with Him.  Have you been fiddling around with other gods?  Have you let money, things consume you?  Have you some sin that you are allowing to consume you?  It is time to return.  The greatest sin of our day for Christians is not lying, stealing, sexual immorality, or bickering.  The greatest sin of our day- I am totally convinced is apathy.  Apathy toward God and neighbor.  Return to your first love.  One of the greatest parables is the parable of the Prodigal.  The task of the Prodigal was to return to the Father- This Father’s Day let it be your task as well- have no other gods before Him.