Wonder about the expectations

 

On the first day of a new school year, or the beginning of a new semester, introduces a new group of students to a new teacher. Even if they are familiar with one another, it is a period of newness. Teachers begin that first class by sharing their expectations of you and the path the course will take. After my freshman year of high school, I decided two could play that game.

 

     My inspiration for this idea was based on what I found at a fancy store called Target. It was a t-shirt that had a “hello my name is” sticker printed on it. In the section for the name was printed, “Jack Squat, do not expect too much.” When I walked into that new school year or semester, I wore that shirt, so the teacher knew the kind of student they were getting.

 

     All jokes aside, expectations are important. It gives us a goal to aim toward. And when it comes to life, God has expectations for us. As we continue our “Never Again” Lent series, today we will examine that with God we will never again have to wonder about His expectations for us.

 

 

     Exodus 20:1-17 (CEB):

 

     Then God spoke all these words:

 

     I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You must have no other gods before me. ‘

 

Do not make an idol for yourself—no form whatsoever—of anything in the sky above or on the earth below or in the waters under the earth. Do not bow down to them or worship them, because I, the LORD your God, am a passionate God. I punish children for their parents’ sins even to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me. But I am loyal and gracious to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.

 

Do not use the LORD your God’s name as if it were of no significance; the LORD wont’s forgive anyone who uses his name that way.

 

Remember the Sabbath day and treat it as holy. Six days you may work and do all your tasks, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. Do not do any work on it—not you, your sons or daughters, your male or female servants, your animals, or the immigrant who is living with you. Because the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and everything that is in them in six days, but rested on the seventh day. That is why the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

 

Honor your father and your mother so that your life will be long on the fertile land that the LORD your God is giving you.

 

Do not kill.

Do not commit adultery.

Do not steal.

Do not testify falsely against your neighbor.

 

Do not desire and try to take your neighbor’s house. Do not desire and try to take your neighbor’s wife, male or female servant, ox, donkey, or anything else that belongs to your neighbor.

 

 

This is the Word of God.

For the people of God.

Thanks be to God.

 

 

     The Ten Commandments are God’s expectations for us. When an expert in the law approached Jesus asking which expectations, Jesus doubled down by saying, “Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37-40) All Ten Commandments are summarized in these two.

 

     Notice when God gives the Israelites, Moses, and us His expectations, He does not use Moses. It says in verse 1, “God spoke all these words.” And as God introduces Himself, it is not as someone to be feared. The Lord reminds the Israelites, “I am the LORD God who set you free.”

 

     In verses 3 through 7, God gives us commands about loving Him. God tells the Israelites that they are to worship no other gods but Him. He alone is worthy of worship. Contrary to popular opinion, there are not many paths to God. You cannot follow other gods, practice other religions, and worship the Lord your God at the same time. If you love God, then you worship Him only.

 

     Not only does God say, “Have no other gods before me,” He also says, “You shall not make any idols for yourself.” While this does mean we should not sculpt a monkey in Play-Doh and worship it, this also extends to making statues, paintings, and images of God and then worshipping them. This also means the objects or methods used to worship God should not be worshipped in place of God.

 

     Verses 8 through 11 shift from “love God,” although this one has an element of “love God.” We are supposed to take time in our lives to worship God. And the Sabbath day is a way for us to build time in to spend time with God. However, God is the Almighty. After creating, would He need to take time to rest? No. God took this time as an example for you and me. Jesus, God in the flesh, did the same by going to the synagogue on the Sabbath and regularly taking time to get away for prayer.

 

     When Jesus answered the expert in the law, He said, “Love others as you love yourself.” There is such a thing as healthy self-love, which is necessary to love God and love others. To not love yourself is to say God made a mistake, and He never makes mistakes. Taking time to rest is a way of loving yourself.

 

     The last commands in verses 12 through 17 have to do with loving others. Honor your father and mother, or have respect for the generation gone before you. Faith must pass from one generation to the next. “Do not murder” tells us that human life is valuable. Other people’s stuff is not yours. Sex is for marriage.

 

     Then the last command is unique. Coveting involves thoughts and attitudes. It is looking at what someone else has and saying, “I deserve that.” Why do they have that and not me? And when we stop to think about it, it is an attitude of coveting that leads us down the paths of many of these other sins against others.

 

     These are God’s expectations for us. We never have to wonder what they are, and His will is that we obey them all, all the time. Our obedience to these expectations is how we demonstrate our love to God. And by loving God in obedience to His ways, we would be living in a way that adds value to those around us.

 

     There is one problem though. Just because there are expectations does not mean they will be met. Think of my teacher’s expectations versus my t-shirt. If you make laws, that does not mean they will be followed. People have a choice to live up to the expectations. In our case as humans, God’s law reveals our ineptness to be able to live up to them. As simple as His Ten Commandments are, we try to follow them and fail. Failure is a sin.

 

     Does mean the Law is bad? Paul answers that question in Romans 7:7, “Absolutely not! Certainly, I would not have known sin except through the law.” The Law is not the problem, it tells us what we should be, but that reveals who we are. We are sinners incapable of loving God, self, or others.

 

     Charles Henry Mackintosh wrote, “The law demands strength from one that has none, and curses him if he cannot display it. The gospel gives strength to one that has none, and blesses him in the exhibition of it.” In other words, the Law reveals God’s expectations for us, never again do we have to wonder about His expectations. But we must accept we do not possess the inner strength or determination to succeed in love. What happens when we fail to meet God’s expectations? Death is the inevitable path of sin. However, Jesus already died in your place for your failure! And He is offering the grace to purge the inclination toward evil from your heart and form new patterns in your mind.

 

     The path to loving God is to surrender to His grace. He knows who you and I are. But He loves us anyway and offers His strength through grace to love Him, love others, and love ourselves. There is a tidal wave of love and grace waiting to wash over you that is the Holy Spirit. Will you be washed fully by it?

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