Sermon for
May 25th, 2008

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Exodus 20:3 First Commandment

Today we begin a sermon series on the Ten Commandments. These commandments given by God to Moses on Mount Sinai serve as a summary of his holy will for us, what we are to do and not do. We need them. Daily our flesh wars against our faith in Jesus Christ, and along with the world tempts us to do those things which are evil, harmful, and bring us misery and shame. It is necessary that we know God’s will clearly and know when we have gone astray and are in need of God’s forgiving mercy. We also need the commandments of God because of our great desire of faith to serve our Lord. In view of his mercy that forgives ours sins, we wish to offer ourselves to the Lord as an offering of thanks; and we want our lives to be a holy offering, lived in harmony with his will. The Ten Commandments serve as a guide for the path of righteous and thankful living we seek to walk.
Today, we begin with the first commandment. You shall have no other gods. God has revealed himself as the triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, as the God who saved us from our sins through Jesus Christ. Not all people recognize this God or give their worship to him. Many have substituted different gods with other names and they participate in religious worship that is not directed to the triune God. We think of Allah and the Muslim religion, of Buddha and Hinduism. The idea commonly held is that although people may have different names for God and worship him in different forms, that it is still the same god whom all people worship. But this is a deception of the devil. For if all the gods that people worship are really the one true God under different names, why then did God see the need to give the command, You shall have no other gods? The truth is that to worship any other God than the triune God is idolatry, worshiping a false god. God says, “I am the Lord, that is my name. I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols.”
But before we pat ourselves on the back for keeping the first commandment, let’s remember that God does not merely want us to have the right God but that we treat him with the right heart. We are to glorify God. Martin Luther explained the first commandment this way, “We are to fear, love and trust in God above all things.” The call of the first commandment is this: Give God First Place in Your Heart.

I Fear God above all things
This does not mean that we are to be afraid of God. No, God our Father wants us to feel close to him. It means that we respect him. Think of the respect we give a judge - rising in his presence in the courtroom and addressing him as “Your honor.” He holds a high position. God holds the highest position – he is God, the supreme Judge who will decide our eternity. He deserves our highest respect. The same can be said for all the things of God - his holy Word, his house of worship, and his holy commandments. We are to treat them all with respect.
Do we fear God above all things? Do we shudder at the very thought of acting contrary to his will? Is there order in God’s courtroom, which includes the living room, workroom and classroom; is there complete obedience to him? Within us is a sinful nature that does not submit to God but does as it pleases. And when confronted with sin, it stands up to God and says, “If you don’t like the way I talk, deal with it. If you don’t like the way I act, get over it.”
To fear God is to recognize that our sins are acts of rudeness to him. To fear God is to fall before God in sorrow over our sins and say, “I’m sorry,” and ask that in his mercyi he spare us the punishment we so deserve, his eternal wrath.
God responds to us not with a club but with a cross. The holy blood of God’s Son was spilled for us sinners and has cleansed us of all sins. How awesome is God who sacrificed his Son for us! How precious is the blood of the Lamb that redeemed us! How can you not respect a God like that? His saving love works in us a reverence for him and for his holy Word and for the high calling he has given each of us, to live our lives under his grace. Joseph of Egypt is an illustration of reverence to God. He worked for a ruler named Potiphar. When his boss was out of town, Potiphar’s wife tempted Joseph to go to bed with her. Joseph said, “How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” He placed God first in his heart, and would rather face scorn from his boss’s wife and months in prison than sin against God his Savior. May the Holy Spirit work in our hearts such fear of God that we hate all that is wicked in our Father’s eyes and do only what pleases him, so that he receives from us his due reverence. Give God first place in your heart.
We do that not only when we fear him above all things but also when we

II Love God above all things
Perhaps there is a husband, wife, child, or friend whom you love dearly. Far above these is to be your love for God. Jesus said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.” Such love for God will be evident in our lives. We won’t send him roses or an expensive Hallmark card, but we will show our love by our worship and obedient living. The apostle John wrote, “This is love to God, that we keep his commandments.”
Do we love God above all things? On tv pro football games, the camera will often zoom in on a fan holding up a poster with the jersey of her favorite player, with the words, “We love you!” on it. No hesitation here to show affection, to a pro athlete! When we worship, is that what we are saying to God without any sense of timidity – “God, we love you”? God forgive us for the times our hearts were lukewarm or we were merely going through the motions.
Jesus asked a rich man to sell all he had and give to the poor and then follow him. The rich man went away sad. He loved his money more than God. The invitation of Jesus to us - give of our goods so that his church may bring his saving word to lost sinners, give of our time so we can go visit the lost and plan ministries at church to serve them - do we respond to these invitations with joy or sadness? God have mercy on us, for the times we made our money or leisure of greater worth than him.
Martin Luther once lamented, “I cannot love God,” and he felt terrible about this. It was a time in his life when he knew his sins and thought of God as only an angry judge threatening to punish him for them. Such a God he felt he could not love. But then the Holy Spirit taught Luther that God is loving and placed his sins upon his Son and that from Jesus comes free forgiveness. When Luther came to believe this he came to love God. He wrote songs to the Lord and devoted all his energies as a teacher and preacher to God’s glory. So it is with us. We know of God’s great love: we’ve heard Jesus cry as a baby in Bethlehem, watched him die in agony on the cross outside Jerusalem to free us from our sins; we’ve received God’s forgiving salvation in baptism. God’s love melts our hearts with love for him. “Oh, how I love Jesus,” we sing.
Scripture tells of a woman who came to a Pharisee’s home where Jesus was among the guests. She washed Jesus’ feet and kissed them. When the guests asked why she was behaving that way, Jesus said the woman loved him much because she knew how much the Savior loved her. May the Holy Spirit inspire us to love Jesus much along with the Father and the Spirit, and devote all our work and responsibilities to his glory. Give God first place in your heart.
That also means that we

III Trust in God above all things
When we trust a person, we take him at his word and rely on him. When you buckle your seat on an airplane you trust the airline and pilot to fly you to the destination they promised. You trust the advice of your doctor or investment broker. But above all people we are to trust God, take him at his word, and be confident he’s directing our lives rightly
Do we trust God above all things? When it comes feeling secure financially or at your position at work, do you trust in God and his promises to provide or do you rely on yourself to make all the right moves? When you’re going to face a scary event the next day, say, give a speech, do you trust in God to get you through or a drug or some way of escape? Jesus’ disciples were once on a boat on the sea with him when a storm came up; they panicked, aroused him from sleep, saying, “Don’t you care that we drown?” We, too, can become weak in faith and question whether God cares for us.
Oh, for trust in the Lord that has no doubt of his care and ability to help! That kind of trust comes from the Holy Spirit, and becomes ours when we walk with him to the cross. God did not spare his own son but offered him up for us all. God is for us. He’s on your side. This wins our trust that He will graciously in Christ give us all good things. He will keep us steadfast in the hour of trial. Whatever guidance comes from his written Word is for our good. Whatever direction he gives to our lives is heavenward.
So trust in the Lord with all your heart. Call upon him in the day of trouble. He will deliver you, and you will honor him. And honor is what you wish to give him. God is worthy of your honor. The Father gives to us every good and perfect gift, especially the gift of his Son. The Son loved us and gave himself for us. The Holy Spirit renews us to have new hearts and lives. With the help and grace of the Spirit Give God first place in your heart. Amen.

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