Exodus 20:1-21
Thursday, 10 April 2008
Much of what is really true about us is hidden from the world around us. To be sure, unexpected or difficult circumstances can catch us off guard and cause us to reveal more about ourselves than we intend. But normally we employ mechanisms that keep the real self hidden, so much so that we think nobody sees, nobody knows.
The scene in today's text is familiar to us as the Ten Commandments. After days of preparation and warning concerning the encounter between God and the Israelites, God now begins the discourse that defines God's relationship and covenant with God's people. "You shall have no other gods before me." For a long time, I read this commandment as an assertion of proper priorities: Nothing should come before God. Lately, though, I have been imagining God sitting high and viewing us as if our lives are a performance. With that image in mind, I hear the first commandment as God's expression of what God does and doesn't want to see from us. "I am looking at you and your life; don't parade any other gods in front of me."
There really is no excuse for us to be confused about who our the rightful ruler and deity is in our lives. But even if we are clueless about God, we need to know emphatically that God is not confused about who we are. Even now God is observing our hearts' performances. God is searching us out and can see what's real. God is looking beyond the facade to see who reigns on the throne of our hearts and in our lives. No one else may know how warped, misguided, mean-spirited, haughty, proud, devious, etc. we are, but God still knows.
Sing, "Take My Life and Let it Be"
Let us pray:
Create in us clean hearts, O Lord, and renew right spirits within us. Remind us that you are always looking. Reveal to us the idols that remain and strengthen us to remove them from our lives and thus from before your sight, in Jesus' name. Amen
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