9th Commandment: You Shall Not Bear False Witness Against Your Neighbor

Exodus 20:16

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“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.”

Matthew 7:1-5

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7 “Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. 2 For the judgment you give will be the judgment you get, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. 3 Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye but do not notice the log in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your neighbor, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while the log is in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye.”

After much contemplation, I decided to pair these two passages, not because they are a perfect match, they aren’t, but because when we are bearing false witness against anyone it usually comes with a heap of judgment. And when we are judging others, we are usually skewing the truth so that our judgment feels justified. Neither of these scenarios are good.

Traditionally, the commandment to not bear false witness against your neighbor was used primarily for any kind of disagreement, especially when the courts or judges were involved in deciding the matter. But how do we interpret bearing false witness in the 21st century. This commandment becomes applicable to everything we do. It can apply to spreading gossip, memes that aren’t truthful, and even postings on social media that have not been verified. If you don’t know whether it is truthful or not, then it shouldn’t be posted. And if it only serves to denigrate someone else, it probably shouldn’t be spoken or posted.

Are we guilty of bearing false witness? Yes! All the time – often inadvertently. There are times when we will repost things on social media that we have not personally verified, and without realizing it, we have just propagated an untruth. God calls us repeatedly to speak the truth in love. If I’m approaching every situation with love in my heart, the likelihood that I will bear false witness against someone diminishes greatly. But how does this relate to not judging?

Bearing false witness is the quintessential activity of judging; and we are good at it. We judge people by what they wear, how big or small they are, their politics, their religion, what they believe or don’t believe, whether they like the same things we do or not, and so on. There are thousands of ways to judge others, and when we do, we are quick to announce our judgment. It even surprises us when we get it wrong.

My dad tells the story of a black man who came into the Buick dealership in my hometown. He waited patiently to speak with a salesperson, but everyone in the showroom was rather reluctant to help the man. Finally, he had to ask someone for assistance because he wanted to buy one of their cars on the lot. The salesperson invited him over to his desk to “see if he would qualify for financing,” and the man looked at the salesperson and said, “No sir, you don’t understand. I have cash in hand and want to buy that Buick out there.” Dad said that everyone in the building looked at the man with skepticism, so that man went out to his car and brought in a bag of money. Once he did, he said, “Now do I have your attention.”

This story illustrates the point of judging quite well. Everyone looked at this black man and assumed he was in the wrong place, that he couldn’t possibly have the means necessary to buy a new car, much less pay cash for it. Everyone in the building judged this man based on the color of his skin. What Jesus tells us is that when we judge others we will also be judged. Often our judgments are about things that no one can change, like the color of someone’s skin. More importantly, though, when we judge, we really do damage to our own self-image.

Jesus goes on to describe what judgment looks like. We complain about the speck in someone else’s eye when we have a log in our own. This brings us back to a common theme throughout our study of the commandments, that introspection should always come first. Through self-examination, we should be able to determine our own failings and be willing to do something about them. In fact, if we spent more time cleaning up our own lives, we wouldn’t really have time to worry about the lives of others.

So, when do we get to complain? This is often the question I get asked when we talk about judging. Someone will confess, “I really just want to understand more clearly why they did what they did?” Fair enough. My question back, though, is why? Why do you need to understand someone else’s motives? Do their decisions directly affect you? Judging is often accompanied by our insatiable need to know things that don’t have anything to do with us. I might wonder why someone would put in a swimming pool in the back yard if they did not know how to swim. Knowing more about the situation might alleviate my judgment, but it doesn’t have anything to do with me.

This concept has been a difficult one to wrestle to the ground. We are good at making all kinds of circumstances and situations relative to our lives when they clearly are not. I have learned to ask myself three important questions before I pass any kind of judgment on others: Is it kind? Is it true? Is it necessary? Most of the time, it really isn’t necessary.

What also comes from judgment is a misguided notion that we can separate behavior or belief from the person. I heard this so much growing up, “Hate the sin, love the sinner.” We are incapable of doing this at its most fundamental level. We equate folks with their behavior and their beliefs. We assume all kinds of things about people when they divulge their beliefs, much less their behaviors. We tend to look at people who behave certain ways or believe certain things as “stupid.” It doesn’t take long for us to look at them as stupid people. They become the things they believe in or the ways in which they behave.

What would happen, though, if we focused more attention on our own thoughts and actions? What if we spent our spare time working on ourselves, learning how to be the best versions of ourselves that we could be?

There is another trend that I see that is incredibly destructive. When someone believes they have a right to condemn someone else’s behavior because of how they understand the Bible. They stand firm in the idea that it is their God-given right and necessity to tell others what they are doing wrong and why. They will tell you it is because they do not want anyone to perish but want everyone to have eternal life.

This kind of God-complex is dangerous. It asserts that the individual engaged in this kind of judgment somehow has an inside track with God; knows the mind of God so well that they have been given authority to set the world to rights. Maybe I’m wrong, I’ll deal with God if I am, but I don’t believe that God has given any of us that kind of authority. What Jesus is saying in our passage today is to stay in your own lane. It is too easy to condemn others for all kinds of things. We are quick to judge our neighbor, often without any proof. And even if we do have proof, our neighbor’s behavior is between them and God. We have much work to do in dealing with our own issues. It could take us a lifetime to understand our motivations, attitudes, behaviors, and beliefs. I know personally, the more I question myself, the questions I have for myself. It is a perpetual cycle.

It is my hope and prayer that we will all hit the pause button on judging, that we will take a step back and focus our attention on fixing ourselves first and being of service to others. This is our highest calling. This is the more narrow path.

8th Commandment: You Shall Not Steal: Thoughts on the Israeli/Palestinian War

Exodus 20:15

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“You shall not steal.”

Matthew 6:19-21

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19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

The war between Israel and Palestine is admittedly at the forefront of my mind as I write today. I will also admit that I am not an expert on Israeli/Palestinian affairs. As a student of history, though, I have read countless articles and books that attempt to shed much needed light on the subject. Not to simplify the matter too much, but the issue is land: who owns it, who occupies it, and who wants to own and occupy it.

If we go back far enough, Israel lays claim to a huge swath of land as described in God’s covenant with Abraham. Genesis 15:18 describes the land holdings as thus:

18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates, 19 the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, 20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”

Since that time, though, the land has changed hands multiple times. It was occupied by the Canaanites and the Egyptians. Then ruled by Israel. Later it was occupied by both Assyria and Babylon. Persia conquered next, followed by Greek control over the region. In 160 BCE there was the Maccabean revolt by the Hellenized Jews. Their reign lasted over a century, but infighting paved the way for Roman occupation.

This brings us to familiar territory – the entire life of Jesus was telegraphed during the Roman occupation, which morphed into the Byzantine Empire when Rome becomes Christianized. Rome’s reign ended in 614. There was a 15-year rule by Sassanids but the land was reclaimed by the Byzantine emperor Heraclius in 629 CE. In 638 CE, the Muslim conquests begin with Arab Caliphates laying claim to the land. First there were the Rashidun, Umayyad, and Abbasid Caliphates, followed by the Fatimid Caliphates from Egypt, followed by the Seljuk period of Turkish Caliphates. In the 12th and 13th centuries the crusades begin with folks from all over the known world pilgrimaging to Jerusalem.

There was the reign of Saladin during this time as well, who allowed for a religiously pluralistic society. Also of note is that there were already German Jews living in Jerusalem at this time, so the connection between Jews and Germany had been established prior to the Crusades. The Crusaders were Christians and longed to reclaim Jerusalem for the Christian world.

Next is the Mamluk Period, the region being conquered by soldiers who were technically slaves of Turkic and Eastern European descent. Allowed at this time was the building of a second Jewish temple in Jerusalem, and a smattering of Jews living in the region. This was followed by a strong Latin presence driven by a Franciscan order of monks. In the Early 1500’s the Ottoman Empire seizes control of Jerusalem and Syria. During the Ottoman Empire, there were groups of people that moved into and out of the region, including a large group of Jews who were immigrating back to Jerusalem.

At the end of the Ottoman Empire mid-19th century, there were roughly 8,000 people living in Jerusalem and it had lost its appeal. At this time, the city was divided between Jews, Muslims, Christians, and Armenians. The Church of the Holy Sepulcher was meticulously partitioned between the Greek Orthodox, Catholic, Armenian, Coptic, and Ethiopian churches.

Palestine in the name of the entire region, with Jerusalem being one of its primary cities. The division of the land worked for a period of time, but there was a steady stream of immigrant Jews that continued to come into the area that disrupted this peaceful coexistence. World War II provided additional atrocities against Jews living in the diaspora, causing the global community to recognize the need for a more enhanced solution.

In 1947, the United Nations adopted Resolution 181, now known as the Partition Plan. Among those who offered solutions, the British developed what they called the British Mandate which divided Palestine into Arab and Jewish states. The problem with this solution is that those involved in the creation of the State of Israel, did not see fit to also create the State of Palestine. This sparked the first Arab/Israeli War regarding the land as it had just been divided. At the end of the war over 750,000 Palestinians were displaced and the territory was divided into 3 parts: The State of Israel, the West Bank, which lies on the Jordan River, and the Gaza Strip, which was primarily Palestinian.

Since the creation of an Israeli State, there have been multiple groups, mostly Arab, who have attempted to regain control of key areas in the region. And Israel continues to annex land in Arab held regions. In recent years, the Palestinian people have been completely cut off from the rest of the world through Israeli built borders, blockades, and checkpoints, that prevent the Palestinian people from moving about the region freely.

I am not in a position to take sides here. The people of Israel have had as much claim to this land as any other over the last 5000 years, but it is highly contested and, in my mind, not settled yet. The Palestinian people also have a right to exist in freedom without being occupied by Israeli or having their movements limited to the extent that they are, or their land surreptitiously taken from them. But as I stated in the beginning, I am not an expert on this conflict or any others that have existed in the region.

I provide you with this history so that it might spark a dialogue regarding the 8th commandment and Jesus’ words on storing up treasure on earth. When God issued the commandments to Moses, I am convinced, now, that God wanted the people to take each commandment as far as it would go. Not stealing isn’t just about taking bread when you are hungry. We struggle in this country with corporate theft all the time – that of intellectual property, patents, and so much more. There is a blatant disregard of this commandment and our stubborn retreat into childish behavior. Especially when we are discussing the ownership of land, we want to stomp our feet and scream, “I was here first.”

If we go by the “who was here first” policy, almost everyone would have to move. America is not immune; we are just as guilty as other nations at taking what did not belong to us. We stole native land and claimed it as our own, and then as an added indignity, we placed native peoples on the land that no one else wanted. So, in this argument, we really have no room to talk.

Still, this passage from Matthew forces me to rethink so many things regarding material wealth, especially that of land. Of all the “things” we accumulate, land is the one that gives me the greatest reason to pause. Under our current “system,” I have the right to own my land and the house that sits upon it. But I know that there were other people present in this land long before I was born. The people that occupied the land from the beginning never saw themselves as “owners” of the land, but rather “occupiers” of the land. The land was a gift from The Great Spirit and was meant to be shared.

When European settlers came into the region, our concept of land ownership was foreign to them. What I find most ironic is that those who knew nothing of our scriptures lived them better than those who could quote them backwards. This need to own things, to accumulate wealth is antithetical to the message of Jesus. He calls us to live a simple life of “just enough”. Jesus’ vision of community is where all people everywhere learn how to thrive by taking care of each other.

I do wonder if this is even possible for Israel and Palestine. I wonder if it is possible for any of us. What treasure are we willing to let go of in order to live more fully in our respective communities? Can we decide, rather intentionally, to give up some of our treasures in order to make space for more people at the table? If we are honest, I don’t think any of us really want to take more than our fair share, the problem is determining what is fair. If we keep the other in our main line of focus, then it might be easier to determine fairness by seeing that we are all connected.

It is my hope and prayer that we continue to pray for both sides in this conflict. Each must decide what treasure they are willing to let go of in order to have lasting peace in the region. The one with the most toys may have to sacrifice the most. This, however, will not feel like a hardship if everyone involved realizes that ultimately, we are all on the same side – the human being side. May it be so.

7th Commandment - You Shall Not Commit Adultery

Exodus 20:14

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“You shall not commit adultery.”

Matthew 25:1-13

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25 “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten young women took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3 When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. 5 As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept. 6 But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ 7 Then all those young women got up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the wise replied, ‘No! there will not be enough for you and for us; you had better go to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’ 10 And while they went to buy it, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went with him into the wedding banquet, and the door was shut. 11 Later the other young women came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ 12 But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I do not know you.’ 13 Keep awake, therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

I knew that this commandment was coming, but I had no idea I’d feel so much trepidation at preaching on this commandment once it arrived. One of the most important things that I need to say before I launch into the body of my blog is that there is no condemnation here. Based on Jesus’ words regarding adultery, we all have been unfaithful at some point because this is one of those commandments that he takes further than what the actual commandment states; “even if you look at a woman with lust, you have already committed adultery…” my goodness, what hope do any of us have?

Thankfully, I am not going that route at all. Just know that I live by Jesus’ words to the prostitute, “No one condemns you, and neither do I.”

In working with this passage, I needed to imagine why God would include it in the 10 Commandments. It certainly did not mean then what it means now. Men often were in polygamous marriages that also included slaves and concubines. There was no shortage of sexual partners for men. However, the rules were different for women in the ancient world. Not to linger too long here, but suffice it to say, how we understand the concept of adultery in the 21st century is different. And even though there are clear proscriptions for adulterous behavior in Leviticus and Deuteronomy, there is no evidence that men and women were actually put to death for the sin of adultery. Still, it makes me wonder why this particular commandment was important to include with all the other commandments.

The passage from Isaiah that I am using Sunday for our Invocation provided some context for where I really wanted to take worship. It says:

5 For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your builder marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.

What this passage is referring to is God’s fidelity to Jerusalem, God’s relationship to Jerusalem, bridegroom to bride. This context changes everything for me. When God tells Moses on the mountain, “You shall not commit adultery,” I believe God was telling Moses, “the people of Israel are mine, do not let them stray from me.” Consistently throughout the Hebrew text we find God imploring the people of Israel to maintain their fidelity. God asks them to not worship other God’s; to not behave like other nations; to remain God’s people, even in the diaspora; and to celebrate their homecoming, back to the city and land that God had given them via the covenant God made with Abraham.

This is all very serious stuff to God. And the history of the Israelite people, much like the history of all people, is we are prone to wander after other gods, lesser gods, or even no god at all.

The New Testament passage that I have chosen for this week is the story of the Bridegroom and the 10 young women with lamps. At first glance, I thought to myself, “This passage is all wrong,” but then I kept drilling down and realized it was perfect. As you can see from the passage above, there are 10 young women who come out for the wedding feast who are there to greet the bridegroom as he travels the last distance to the wedding itself. There are several things that are striking about this passage that have nothing to do with the young women, especially those who failed to bring enough oil for their lamps.

First, the bridegroom is delayed until midnight. In modern culture, if the groom arrived at midnight, there would be no wedding, at least not that night. Second, the bride is absent from the story. We have no idea where she is or what she is doing. The text doesn’t provide any information. Third, what we know of ancient wedding feasts is that they typically lasted seven days. This means that the wedding may have already taken place and that the family and friends of the bride and groom were waiting for the groom to arrive so the party could start. Fourth, we also don’t know what delayed the bridegroom. It could have been any number of things. Fifth, we must ask, was there really a shop keeper open at midnight where the young women could buy additional oil? So, this is what we don’t know. What do we know?

We know that the bridegroom was late – very late – and that arriving at midnight did not seem to be a problem for those that were waiting. We know that there were 10 young women who fulfilled the role of lamp carriers. We know that 5 of the young women failed to bring enough oil in preparation for the bridegroom’s arrival. We also know that not long after they left, the bridegroom arrived and the 5 who left were locked out of the feast.

If we think of God as the bridegroom, it is true that we do not know when we will encounter the divine; it could happen when we least expect it. There is this sense that we should always be prepared, but just like the people of Israel, we fail to prepare for what is coming, and will often miss out because of our lack of planning. Even more than that, if the five young women had stayed, there is nothing here to indicate that they would have been turned away. Yes, they should have been more prepared for the likelihood that the bridegroom might be late, but if they had stayed at their post, the bridegroom may not have cared that they ran out of oil but would have been more impressed that they did not leave.

Let’s go a little deeper. God was faithful to the whole process in that God showed up, even if it was later rather than sooner. This is true for the people of Israel as well. God always showed up, but in God’s time. Those who stayed, those who were faithful, were kept in right relationship with God and allowed to feast with God. Those who wandered off, who sought after other gods or who engaged in religious practices that were outside what God had prescribed for them, were cut off, if only for a short time. God continued to be faithful to the people, continued to invite them to the wedding feast, even though the people continued to rebel.

The necessity of planning by the young women is also indicative of our attitudes toward God. We are chronic in our failure to plan – at least for this kind of eventuality. When I worked as the director of a substance abuse program, I would often have clients beg for assistance at the very last minute in order to get a ride to a meeting that was scheduled three months prior. We offered transportation, but we needed a minimum of 24 hours notification so that we could schedule one of the counselors to provide transportation. What we would say to those who did not schedule in time, “Your failure to plan does not constitute an emergency on my part.” When I find myself in a bind, I always remember this. It isn’t up to others to get me out of a jam because of a failure on my part to plan.

God makes it really simple. His commandment is to remain faithful; don’t stray from what is good, and right, and holy. This challenge is especially poignant in the U.S. where every shiny new thing becomes the object of our affection. This kind of infidelity may not register as a betrayal, but to God, it is. When we are locked out of the feast, we feel betrayed by God, but it isn’t God’s betrayal, it is our own. Our failure to trust that God will always be faithful, even when it feels like God is a million miles away, is not God’s problem, it is ours. God always shows up and is always on time.

When we open ourselves to God living at the center of our lives, what we discover is a life filled with possibility. We must be active participants in our relationship with God, it can’t be a one-way street. We must show up and meet God just as God meets us. Our lives are linked to God’s because God made us, but God gave us the ability to reject or receive what God is offering. When we receive what God is offering, we consistently work at moving closer and closer to God, being more and more prepared for what God has to offer, and in doing so, will most likely not miss out on the wedding feast.