Sermon on Sunday October 6th 2002
Father Kevin Moroney
POSITIVE COMMANDMENTS
In the autumn of 1990 I was serving as a seminarian at St George's Church in Rumsen New Jersey. That involved driving out at the weekend from New York and helping with things the rector thought would be good for me. One of those things was to teach the Confirmation Class. The class had ten or so 12 to 14-year-olds in which is normal enough, but I remember that one Sunday morning I was surprised to see an elderly woman sitting in my class. I welcomed her and she said she just wanted to sit in but never the less I had an uneasy feeling about it. I went ahead and taught my material. At one point I asked if there were any questions, and sure enough, the lady raised her hand. She asked if I was teaching them the ten Commandments, and I began to stammer. She went on to say that she thought it was appalling that children were not being taught the ten Commandments. She asked the class if anyone knew them, but of course, at this point they were intimidated and I was rattled, so no one was saying anything except our visitor. I remember my brain was scrambling for options and my stomach was tightening from angst, but then the solution came to me. I said something like " Madam, I appreciate your concern and perhaps you will get us started by reciting the ten Commandments for us." Do you know she could not do it. She got so far, but got stuck and could go no further. The kids started to smirk so I suggested we brainstorm to come up with all ten, which we did, though in no particular order. Now, suffice it to say, I really resented that person coming into my class with a disruptive and negative agenda. She had a fair enough concern - that the Church is not teaching the basics in the way we once did, but that was no excuse for hijacking my confirmation kids with a negative attitude. Two thoughts arise from that incident. First, it is worth knowing the difference between symbolic value and practical value. For that woman the ten Commandments were an important symbol, but she didn't actually know all of them, so obviously they weren't much practical use to her. We all have that tension between symbols and practice. For Anglicans, one example is Elizabethan English. Every time the language of the Prayer Book is updated, there is a reaction from those who seem to feel that Cranmer's English was the language of the angels. But of course, those same people would never think of actually speaking that way themselves. It is a symbol of the beauty of language expressed in our tradition. The second thing is that I don't care for a Christianity that presents itself negatively. The person who took over my class made the Christian Faith look like a gathering place for the bitter which is not what I want to teach young people I'm a believer in positive thinking and positive believing and if people of faith are negative I have to wonder how the world will ever improve? And yet, I have to acknowledge that when you think of the ten Commandments what is the first thing that comes to mind? Thou shalt not do this, and thou shalt not do that. The negative!! In fairness to the ancient Israelites laws are usually written to curb bad things that are happening so laws tend to be punitive. But I have to admit that the negative phrasing of eight out of the ten Commandments is a bit of a turn off for me, although the Commandments do touch on important issues. As a little exercise let us do a turnaround and state them as positives and see what will get. The Commandments can be separated into three general groups: 1) concerns to do with God, 2) Concerns to do with primary relationships, and 3) Concerns to do with all relationships. The first four are to do with God - No other God; No grave images; No misusing the Holy Name; and honouring the Sabbath. They all seem to have something to do with religious committedness. Stated positively - put God first above all others, be faithful in Word and in Worship The Commandments about primary and all other relationships blend into one another bit, but certainly "Honour your Father and Mother" and "do not commit adultery" are to do with our primary or family relationships. Stated positively be faithful to your family - both your family of birth and your family of choice. Then those Commandments that apply to all relationships. "You shall not murder"; "You shall not steal" ; "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour"; "You shall not covet anything belonging to your neighbour" - all of these seem to have something to do with possession of things, possession of information, or wanting to possess something we don't have. Stated positively - be content with what you have. Live honestly. Okay, let's see what we've got if we put them all together. The ten positive Commandments Place God first above all others, Be faithful to God in Word and Worship, Be faithful to your family both your family of birth and your family of choice. Be content with your life and live honestly. Well, they probably will never replace the originals which to their credit have stood at the test of time. But I believe that a Christian's Faith perhaps is best presented in Christ's summary of the law whose focus is not on sins to avoid as much as virtues to pursue.