Obedience: Much Maligned, Much Misunderstood

Exodus 19:1-8; 20:1-2

Mere mention of the “o” word and most of us cringe...obedience isn’t

exactly our favorite topic

-we envision checklists keepers and legalistic moralists and

hyper-judgmental hypocrites

--almost instantaneously our shoulders slump as if being

forced down by a burden of guilt...and we begin to recall a

slew of personal failures

--or some dismiss the concept altogether as being too “Old

Testament” and they quickly protest that they are saved by

grace, not by works

-it’s funny isn’t it, how one word can evoke such wide-ranging,

emotional responses? and sad, isn’t it, how many of those

responses simply aren’t biblical?

One of the images that comes to my mind when I hear the word

‘obedience’ is Captain Ricardo Santos

-Captain Santos was my flight commander during Air Force Officer

Training School...he was 6’3” of lean muscle, laser-like brown

eyes, and an attitude that would make the Grinch seem like the

life of the party

--Captain Santos became our flight commander about midway

through O.T.S. and he complete re-wrote the rulebook

---his rules were so incredibly random and completely

ridiculous...but it was clear that it was his way or no way

This was never so obvious as when we played flickerball and Captain

Santos was the referee

-flickerball, by the way, is a cruel Air Force invention that combines

football and basketball along with a set of encyclopedias for rules

--the first time I touched the ball, he whistled me for traveling

---he gave no explanation, but just took the ball from me

--the second time I touched the ball, he called me for traveling

again and said that I had slid my pivot foot

---I almost pointed-out the fact that we were essentially

playing in sand, but thought the better of it

--I was ready when I touched the ball the next time...I planted

my pivot foot firmly in the San Antonio sand and immediately

got rid of the ball...but not before Captain Satan—I mean,

Santos—blew his whistle and signaled traveling

---I was furious, but knew that I powerless to do anything

--despite my attempts to stay far away from the ball, someone

threw it to me a fourth time...I caught it, but didn’t move either

foot—I didn’t look at my feet, I didn’t even think about my

feet—but guess what?

---a whistle blew and then his sharp, sinister voice said,

“Morgan, seems to me like you just traveled again.”

-even though that was over twenty-one years ago, I can still vividly

picture him grinning while his beady little eyes burning a hole in

my soul

That’s how a lot of people picture God

-impulsive, fickle, unpredictable...who changes the rules on a whim

--and in the end it really doesn’t matter because He’s already

stacked the deck against you and either way you’re going to lose

-and that image of God causes us either to become strict, exacting

legalists in some hope that we’ll catch Him in a good mood...or it

leads us to throw up our hands and figure it’s no use because our

fate has already been sealed—we are going to get called for

traveling and we’ll going straight to hell because of it

But...is that was obedience is all about?

-and more importantly, is that an accurate portrayal of God?

For the next ten weeks leading us all the way up to Palm Sunday,

we’re going to explore God’s Top Ten List...the basics of how God

intends for His people to live

-and in doing so, we’ll also learn quite a bit about the heart of

God...about what and who matters to Him

Going back several thousand years in history, there is a man named

Abraham...the first biblical character called a “Hebrew”...and it’s

through him that God promises to create a great nation

-Abraham’s son, Isaac, has two sons—Esau and Jacob

--Jacob—whose name God later changes to Israel—eventually

has a total of twelve sons

--through a series of events, Jacob-slash-Israel and his entire

family end up in Egypt where God saves them from a famine

Jacob’s family—now known as Israelites or the Children of Israel—

starts out with only 70 people, but over the years grow in number

-and God’s blessing doesn’t sit well with the Egyptians

--Read Exodus 1:7-14

-God, however, does not forget them...and when He calls Moses

as their new leader, God tells him à Read Exodus 3:7-10

-He keeps His word and frees His people from 400 years of slavery

This morning we step into the story in Exodus, chapter 19

-Read Exodus 19:1-8

Prior to giving the Ten Commandments, God reminds them that this

will not merely be another set of “do’s” and “don’ts”

-instead it will be a reflection of their relationship...between God

and His people...between them and their God...and between the

people themselves

God begins in v. 4...reminding them how He punished Egypt for their

cruelty...how He has carried Israel like a mother eagle bears her

young because He loves them, because they belong to Him...and

He has separated them for Himself, to magnify His glory

As in all covenants, the other party has responsibilities, too

-here, God’s requirement is simple—not easy, but simple...obey

Then, as if freedom from slavery weren’t enough, God details more

of the future blessings for Israel...they will be:

-God’s treasured possession

-His kingdom of priests

-and a holy, or ‘set apart’ nation

Just in these 3 short verses, we discover so much about the right and

the wrong reasons to obey God

-so...why do we obey?

*Because God is God...notice the 10Commandments’s preamble

-Read Exodus 20:1-2

--this is a critical statement that is usually left out of any mention of

the Commandments...but in fact, these first six words form the

foundation for everything that follows

-we obey God, if for no other reason, because He alone is God

--parenting experts often tell us that we should explain the ‘why’

behind our rules...that we should never say, “Because I’m your

father, that’s why!”

---in most cases I actually agree with their advice—knowing

‘why’ does help

--but children, guess what? your parents don’t owe you an

explanation of ‘why’ they want you to take out the trash...you

should obey them for the simple, but important reason that they

are your parents

-the same was true on the flickerball court that hot Texas morning

--it didn’t matter whether I agreed with the traveling rule

--it didn’t matter whether I agreed with Captain Santos’

interpretation of the traveling rule

--it didn’t even matter whether or not I actually traveled

---Captain Santos was “god” at that moment and if he said that I

traveled, then I traveled

-the same is true with true God and us

--many times God does tell us “why”...but even when He doesn’t,

we should obey Him anyway simply because He is God

--of course, one major difference between God and Captain

Santos: God is always right and fair and just

We also obey God because He has saved us...we are His children

-He has not only carried us on eagles’ wings...He has loved us to

the point of giving His one and only Son to die for our sins

--if He would love us that much...why wouldn’t we want to do

what He asks of us?

Along those lines, we also obey because we love Him

-that theme is repeated throughout the New Testament

--listen to what Jesus says in John 14 à If you love Me, you will

obey what I command...If anyone loves Me, he will obey My

teaching...He who does not love Me will not obey my teaching.

We obey because our actions, our lives will bring either honor or

dishonor to God because we bear His name

-we belong to Him...He claims us as His own

--Exodus 19:5-6 à you will be My treasured possession...you

will be for Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation

-Matthew 5:16 à ...let your light shine before men, that they may

see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

We obey because obedience to God always brings freedom

-at first that doesn’t sound right...willingly submitting yourself to

God’s rules would logically seem to be freedom-robbing

--but God knows that when He clearly outlines the boundaries for

us, that enables us to have tremendous freedom...freedom to

choose...freedom from fear...and therefore freedom to have joy

-think of a roller coaster—I don’t know how you feel, but I’ve never

met a roller coaster I didn’t like

--but if you think about that even for a second, that’s crazy talk

---when I’m in a car, I have a neurotic desire to be in control

---I don’t like heights

---I don’t like falling or getting injured

---and I don’t have a death wish

--yet I’ll gladly pay money to strap myself into a flimsy fiberglass

car with the word Mamba painted on the side and no airbag...

to go 110 feet in the air and then hurtle 70 m.p.h toward the

ground...and then run back to the line and do it all over again

-why? because there are defined boundaries...limits

--some might argue that the physics and mechanics restrict my fun

and my freedom because the cars are limited and can go only

where the track leads them

--but ever as a roller coaster freak, I don’t want the cars to go

wherever they want...in fact, I’ve never been on a roller coaster

and thought, “I sure do wish the cars would jump the track at

the top of the hill and take a 90⁰ left-hand turn

---instead, because there are boundaries and limits I have the

freedom to enjoy the ride because I don’t have any fear

-so...if I tell the truth, I don’t have to fear the consequences of lying

-if I keep the Sabbath holy, I have the freedom to rest

-if I don’t covet what my neighbor has, I am free to be content with

what God has given me

The rights reasons to obey are virtually limitless...but I realize your

ability to pay attention is not...so let me briefly list a few of the wrong

reasons to obey

-for example...trying to earn or to keep your salvation...yeah—all

the obedience in the world isn’t going to accomplish that

--you and I are saved because of what Christ has done not what

we do...because of God’s grace not our works

-we do not obey to impress other people or to impress God

--God’s too smart...He’s not fooled by our religious pretense

---Isaiah 29:13 à The Lord says, ‘These people come near

Me with their mouth and honor Me with their lips, but their

hearts are far from Me. Their worship of Me is made up

only of rules taught by men.’

--or just read any of the Gospels and you’ll find Jesus time and

time again condemning the most religious people in Israel for

their mere surface-level obedience

--remember why Jesus told you to let your light shine?

---so others will see your good deeds and praise your Father in

heaven...God gets the glory—not you and me

--obedience rarely makes you a star

---before the Washington – Seattle playoff game yesterday,

Seahawk running back, Shaun Alexander à “that next

play could be the play that makes you a legend”

----that’s not an awful thing to say, of course, but most

godly obedience is much more mundane...visiting

someone in the nursing home, delivering mobile

meals, providing an evening of childcare for a single

parent, teaching Sunday School...hardly the stuff of

legends, but certainly the stuff of saints

-and finally we don’t obey God so we can have an easy life

--in fact, faithful obedience often leads to discomfort, danger, and

even death...just as Steven, Paul, Jesus, or a host of other

Jesus-followers throughout the centuries who have laid down

their lives because they refused to compromise what they

knew to be right

---anybody who tries to sell you a Christianity characterized

by comfort, material and financial success, and the

Americanized version of the so-called ‘good life’ is either

lying or horribly misunderstands what following Christ is

all about (and they could learn a lot just by reading about

the life of Jesus, for starters)

Don’t judge the obedient of others...let God speak to you about you...

-salvation, baptism, becoming part of this church family, fellowship,

disciplining yourself to grow in your faith