The Law Is a Gift!

The Law is a gift!

We don't say this enough in our Lutheran tradition.

Since we don't we tend to look down on other faith traditions that do.

We tend to look down on Jews because they are law followers, and we are people of grace.

This is to misunderstand how Lutherans understand the law, and is frankly offences to our Jewish siblings.

I choose our reading for this morning because it is not a story in our lectionary cycle, and also for me it always showed the importance of the law.

Our story takes place seven weeks after the people had left Egypt.

They have made it to the foot of Mt. Sinai where Moses first encountered the God of the universe in a the burning bush.

What we see is that Israel is still figuring out what it means to be God's people.

So Moses spends all day from morning until night deciding disputes among the people.

The answer to this is partly what his father in law suggests which is to share leadership.

But this scene also shows us what life was like before the law was given.

It was chaos.

People didn't know what to do, or how to act.

God saw this and gave them the law.

He gave the law to Moses who would then teach the people the way that God's people should act.

God gave it as a gift to the people.

Here is what a good life looks like.

Here is what it means to live a good life.

I always tell the confirmation kids, "If you want to have a good life follow the Ten Commandments".

Right there in those ten simple rules you will find all you need to live a good and happy life.

I have seen the reverse.

I have seen what happens to people when they don't follow them.

I have seen the destruction it brings.

For example, "Do not commit Adultery".

I have seen in the lives of people what destruction it brings families when people break this commandment.

It is hurtful to the two people who were in a committed relationship.

But it is also hurtful to those around them.

To friends, family, to children.

If you want to have a good life live into this commandment.

I have seen the destruction caused by breaking the commandment, "Do Not Kill".

I have heard the stories of people coming back from war, the scares left for them and those around them.

To live a good life is to live a life in peace and harmony with others and the world.

You see the gift.

God has shown us what is good, what is right.

We tend to see the law only as punishment, but God gave them to us as a gift so we would know what a good life looked like.

All the commandments are about two simple things.

Love God and love your neighbor.

And yet we have such a hard time.

We struggle through so much that is not necessary.

Our lives could be so much better.

Here is the problem.

We all know that life is not perfect.

Wars have become part of our lives.

We all know people who have cheated on their spouse.

There is not a commandment that we have not broken in some way.

And that is why we need forgiveness.

It is why we need Moses to intervene on our behalf before God.

It is why we need judges.

Most important it is why we need God.

In the law is pure grace, because it gives us a way to live a good life.

But we are too stubborn to receive that gift.

We want to go our own way, and do what we think will feel good at the time.

We do what will give us some momentary relief from fear, or hardship.

And so God had to come up with another way.

God had to be able to forgive us over and over again.

That is what happens in the Old testament.

The people make a promise to God to follow God's ways.

Then very shortly they break that promise.

They break it out of fear, mistrust, boredom.

And then God has to repair the relationship.

Over and over again this plays out.

This is what Jesus came to remind us.

That what we have failed to do God has done.

We failed to live up to the law, and God has fixed the problem for us.

God has given us Jesus to remind us over and over that we are forgiven.

I have read a lot of articles in the past year about Churches that have very strict rules, and if you don't follow those rules you will be kicked out of that church.

A lot of the stories are about LGBTQ+ siblings who were ostracized by their church.

Some people got kicked out for questioning the pastor or the leadership of the church.

One person, I read about, got kicked out because he had a suicide attempt!?

These stories are heart breaking.

Many of the people that tell them expect that there community will act differently.

They expect them to act with love and mercy.

As one person said, " I don’t know why but I expected hugs, I expected compassion and maybe even apologies for my place in life, probably because that’s what I imagined Jesus doing – but the story didn’t really go that way. "

So here is the problem.

The law is a gift, until we use it without mercy, love, and compassion.

Once it becomes an instrument to beat people over the head, to make them feel less than others, it no longer is a gift.

If we don't use the law to humble ourselves, but rather to keep others in line, it has lost its intention.

The law was given to show us the best way to live.

It was not given as a punishment for us.

It was not given for us to judge our neighbors.

It was not given so that we could play God.

We always need to use both law and Gospel.

Instead of kicking people out of church because they broke a commandment it should always be our job to act with mercy and forgiveness.

I should be our job to offer hugs.

It is hard in a Church community to balance law and Gospel.

Because when one of us breaks the law we do hurt other people in the process.

Even if we don't mean to do it.

And that is why we need both.

We need to hold each other accountable, but never forget to offer forgiveness and love.

It is essential to any community that wants to co-exists.

The law is a gift.

It has shown us how to live our best lives.

Let us use it to humble ourselves before God, and rely on God's mercy.

Let us not use it to hurt other people.

Amen