From Liberation to Community: Embracing Divine Law

"And so from this point on in Exodus, this is exactly what happens. Moses goes up on the mountain, talks to God, and then brings some law. And so we're listening. We're listening. But when they come back down, I'm going to preach to them, because Jesus is coming And so when they come back, he says to the people, do not be afraid. But one thing I do want to point out here before moving on is what we essentially see here in Moses is this role of mediator, is one who willingly stands as the go between God and the community. And don't miss this connection because Moses in a real sense, in this role, Moses is kind kind of a foreshadowing of Christ, who is our mediator, who opens a way to the presence of God for us. And so, in thinking about this, isn't it interesting what Moses says to the Israelites? He says, do not be afraid. Do not be afraid." [00:03:36]

"Well, I remind you that throughout this study of Exodus, we keep going back to a couple of key themes. I keep reminding you of that. One is liberation, specifically here, the liberation of Israelites from slavery in Egypt. And that, of course, is a theme that, one, is throughout the Bible and is ultimately fulfilled in Christ, liberating us from our sin. But here, the Israelites are freed from captivity in Egypt. And so, now that the Israelites are free, how are they to live as a free people? And more specifically, how are they to live as a free people side by side in community? You know, yeah, you're free now, but how are you going to get along with your neighbors? Is God intense? How are you going to live free? And again, let me point ahead to the New Testament." [00:05:25]

"But getting back to Exodus, you know, the one thing about being free, but how do you live in community? How are you going to live as a community? How are you going to live as a community? Together as free people, specifically here, is the people that is becoming the nation of Israel. I mean, there had to be order and governance. And so, Moses had initially taken on all of that himself. And so, if you'll remember a few episodes back, in chapter 18, I think it was, his father -in -law, Jethro, comes to visit, and he watched Moses sitting in the judge's chair from sunup to sundown. And he says, Moses, why are you doing that?" [00:06:34]

"And also, you're frustrating the people because you have this huge backlog of cases and people are waiting around for decision zone. So, son, go find some good, capable, trustworthy people and train them about God's decrees and instructions and then appoint them to oversee these hearings. Now, listen, son, if you want to, you can still hear the big complicated stuff. But most of these matters I've been watching, they can be settled by other people that you appoint. Of course, I am really paraphrasing here, but that's pretty much the gist of it. And so the text tells us that Moses took Jethro's advice and did exactly that. And so really what we're seeing in these decrees and instructions for living together is that. And we're going to have this pretty much for the rest of Exodus." [00:07:23]

"But if you stop to think of it, there are laws and there are laws that set precedents. And even today, we hear judges making decisions, citing other laws as the reason they are ruling the way they are. Right. Happens all the time. I mean, that's really kind of the way the law system works. And so over the next few episodes, we're going to drill down into some of those categories from the section headings that I gave you a second ago. And look at some of the reasons those laws might have been included, and also some of the problematic things that are associated with them. Because I'm going to be honest with you. Some of the things we read about here are a little cringeworthy. And one of those categories, we're actually going to be beginning on Thursday, and that has to do with slavery. I mean, you know, they were slaves. How could they have slaves? But they did. And there were laws about it. So I want you to be thinking about a quote that I'm going to give you in a second." [00:09:33]

"But anyway, this is the quote I want you to think about it. And it comes from, guess who, Walter Brueggemann, who you've heard me quote many, many times during this study so far. But he said this. The ethics of the community is always playing catch -up with the theological passions that identify it. The ethics of the community. The ethics of the community is always playing catch -up with the theological passions that identify it." [00:10:38]

"And I mean, we can see that in our own country, right? The Declaration of Independence. You know the first words. We hold these truths to be self -evident. That all men are created equal. That they are endowed with their creator with certain unalienable rights. That among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Which is a wonderful theological passion to have, right?" [00:11:05]

"But did you know that 41 of those 56 original signers, they owned slaves. And quote, unquote, all men are created equal. That just wasn't very inclusive in the use of pronouns." [00:11:40]

"And although we've come a long way, we are still working on the created equal part of that declarations. The ethics of community is always playing catch -up with the theological passions. That identify it. I mean, I love to hold the ideology that the way to change our society for the good is by changing human hearts. And I believe that's true. But the reality is that changing the law is most often the first step to that change. Changed hearts may take a few years, at least for some people. The law gets changed and the hearts come later." [00:11:41]

"And if you are a student of history, you will see this pattern throughout. You also will see. You will see a pattern of those, unfortunately, in positions of power who will fight these laws. And when the laws are finally passed, they will continue to use their privilege and their position and their power to impede that societal change. But thank God in our country there have been those along the way who were steadfast and courageous in the pursuit of freedom and justice." [00:12:25]

"Friends, when Jesus of Nazareth died and rose again, 2 ,000 years ago, he ended the long night of death under the law of Moses. Jesus' death sets free any who dared and dreamed and are willing to trust in him. And it's this very freedom that propels us to do justice and walk humbly. And so at the 48th anniversary of Brown versus Board of Education, John Lewis was speaking at the first United Methodist Church in Topeka, Kansas, in Topeka, Kansas, which was where the decision was handed. And he said this, We live in a different country, a better country, because of what happened here in 1954. And we must never forget it. We must tell the story again, over and over and over." [00:13:24]

"Friends, as followers of Christ, we must never forget how Jesus gave his life so that we can have new hearts and live in a freedom that God intended for us. And we must tell this story again, over and over. And we must let the light of the gospel shine light in the dark places of our communities where our ethics are still playing catch -up to this theological passion so true freedom can be known and experienced by all." [00:14:11]