Exodus 20:16-17; Ephesians 4:14-16; September 7, 2025; Homecoming Sunday
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It’s good to be back, my friends. And to be back in this pulpit after two good, restorative weeks away. To be back, today, to close out our summer sermon series on The Ten Commandments. If you missed any of them, I’d be happy to privately preach them in your living rooms, or, perhaps better for you and me both, I can simply send you the links to the videos and manuscripts.
But I sincerely want to take a second to thank Erik Dreisbach and my colleague, the Rev. Cassie Heintz, for both preaching so authentically, so powerfully these last two weeks, and for blessing us all with two good messages directly from the heart of the Spirit.
Thank you, my friends!
And so, I thought that today I could repay them both, and all of you, by offering two sermons of my own, all for the price of one!
Oh! Now, don’t let me hear you groan out there. And yes, I can hear you, even in your quiet! I promise I’ll stick to my normal length. After all, we’ve got a celebration to get to downstairs. 😊
So, let’s get started today by looking at the Ninth Commandment, in brief, before spending a bit more time on the Tenth Commandment, in a bit.
The Ninth Commandment states simply: “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” – Exodus 20:16
But of course, there is nothing simple about this, as we break this Commandment all the time!
For we all gossip. We all spin tales. We all exaggerate. It’s part of what makes us human. For we don’t talk in math. In some binary code. In 1s and 0s. But we add color, here and there, even when there’s already color enough both there and here.
Even if you think you mostly abide by that old teaching – that if you have nothing nice to say, say nothing at all – we all bear false witness — don’t we? — when we pass judgment on our neighbor’s character. When we write them off based on a single sermon, action or event… or hair style, fashion sense, or way they manicure their nails or lawns.
All of us bear false witness, because all of us are terrible eyewitnesses to begin with.
For we so often see things, and people, how we want to see them, not as they are, but how we think they are and should be. And we do this because our eyes are covered by a film of sin. By bias. By piety, self-centeredness, and noxious self-righteousness.
And so, we break this Commandment completely when we give into this film of sin, and when we happily join in the chorus of tearing others down as we pretend to build ourselves up.
But, as our text from Ephesians reminds us, my friends: “we must no longer be children, tossed to and fro… blown about by every wind of trickery…but rather, we must promote the body’s growth, our collective health, in building each other up in love.”
Amen? Amen.
So, let’s stop gossiping today. Let’s stop exaggerating and blowing things or people out of proportion. And, by God, let’s all cease the petty nitpicking, all this petty critiquing, which sees us bearing false witness against the depths of who our neighbors actually are, because our small, puny minds can’t reconcile that the surface bits that meet our lazy eyes are not the end all-be all of someone else’s life and character.
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Okay, so our Tenth Commandment extrapolates the preceding with the proceeding, saying, “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” – Exodus 20:17
Oooh boy, now this getting to it, isn’t it? Especially in our world of such widening disparity.
It gets easier by the day to break this one, right? To look upon what others have and to wish that we had just a bit of that too.
Anyone here follow the NBA? There’s this huge story right now about a famously great player, Kawhi Leonard, who apparently made $48M for literally doing nothing, in no-show endorsements, all so his team, the Clippers, and their owner, Steve Ballmer (who is worth 150 BILLION DOLLARS) could circumvent the league salary cap. Imagine making a tenth of a million, let alone FORTY-EIGHT million for doing literally nothing… imagine the good the church could do with even a portion of that money. I’m envious…
I jest… but sometimes, I dare say, it does seem right and justified to want even just a little of what others have – what we all deserve – and what seemingly only a select few in this world get to enjoy… you know, the same standards of healthcare, shelter, food, and leisure…
I mean, are only the rich allowed to have any treats and retreats? Two consecutive weeks off at a time?… Is it wrong for those who have less to look upon we who have more, and think, you know, my life would be dramatically improved if even I had just a portion of what they have?
I think this is why Jesus goes to such lengths in the New Testament to “update” this Commandment. And to speak directly to the “haves” rather than the “have nots” and to admonish if not shame them into sharing their wealth, so that their less fortunate neighbors might not be tempted to envy or covet them.
Jesus famously says, “I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” – Matthew 19:24
Hmm……. Well, as you know by now, I myself was away for the last two weeks on vacation. And one of those vacations was to Sin City: Las Vegas. It’s true. And on my flight out of Philadelphia, I was upgraded to First Class. Can you believe it? Now, at first, I wondered if it was because they wanted a Pastor up front to remind people about their behaviors when they landed, but soon, I realized it was just because the flight was only partially full, and that, once again in life, I got lucky.
Shortly after boarding, the stewardess approached us, the First-Class section, to let us know that the plane’s catering carts and cabinets were never replenished from the previous flight, therefore leaving no meals, few snacks, and only the teensiest bit of booze.
She then told us it would take 25 minutes for catering to restock the plane if… that is, if we in First Class were willing to wait. She then asked for a show of hands amongst just the 10 of us to see if we wanted to wait for the food to board, or if we just wanted to take off then and there.
We, those in First Class, were thus given the power to choose for the rest of the plane, if anyone would have food served to them over the next five hours, or if we all would just get whatever scraps the crew could put together.
And, as I sat there, conjuring images of Gaza, it made me confront the immense privilege we all own when time is considered more valuable than food.
I then wondered if those in the back of the plane were even made aware that we up front were making that decision. I doubted it. And then I wondered if any of them would want to swap seats envying us for it.
And you know what? If they did, I wouldn’t fault them. For I think this final Commandment is not so much for those in the back to worry about breaking, but rather, for those of us up front to practice keeping.
For it’s so often too easy for us, we who have or come from means, to grow restless with all that we already have. Our desires too often feel unsatiated, and we simply want more and more, and begin to covet all the things that others have, that we believe we have the right to acquire and own for ourselves as well.
But, my friends, those of us here up in First-Class can’t lose sight that everything we have accumulated is not really ours at all, but God’s, and God’s first and foremost.
And on God’s plane, in God’s terminal, the last are always given priority boarding, while those in first are asked to check our bags.
Amen.
