The Bible is filled with many different directions for how to live our lives. One source that lots of people are familiar with is the Ten Commandments. I wonder, how many of the ten commandments can you remember? Take a moment and try to write them down or tick them off.
If you came up short of recalling all ten of them, please know that most people have trouble with this. A reporter for a paper in Arizona asked clergy and laypeople to name the Ten Commandments. Laypeople averaged four or five and clergy seven or eight.
Here they are for you:
1. You shall have no other gods before me.
2. You shall not make idols.
3. You shall not take the name of the Lord in vain.
4. Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.
5. Honor your parents.
6. You shall not murder.
7. You shall not commit adultery.
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
10. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house, your neighbor’s wife, or anything else that belongs to your neighbor.
There is one of these that, especially in the US, is not really considered a commandment at all. It is number four. “Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.” This Sunday at worship we will continue our series, “Drawn In.” I invite you to join us as we discuss the role that rest plays in the creative process.
I also want to thank everyone who was a part of our discernment conversation last week around where we will worship in the future. Ideas from that conversation will be shared with First Vietnamese United Methodist Church and Church Properties Reimagined to help guide our future conversation with them.
God is still at work.
Peace,
Matthew