On the Tenth Day of Christmas...

And we hit double digits. As we continue to unpack the subversive teaching found in the kitschy song, The Twelve Days of Christmas, you can get a refresher or read where it all began in my previous entries. As for the subversive nature of art, I find it to be the most powerful way to awaken minds and stir hearts. The mind’s eye seems to be skeptical of anything that comes in the front door, so to sneak in the side door with a slice of creative wisdom, can go around the mind to jostle the heart.

Now, let’s look at what our True Love has to offer us on the tenth day of Christmas. Everybody sings along… Ten Lords-A-Leaping. This, of course, refers to what is commonly known as the Ten Commandments, or the beginner’s path in walking with the Divine. Many people have sadly been introduced to what is best translated as “instructions,” as a bunch of “thou shall nots,” handed down by the angry, disappointed, and distant deity in the sky. Not helpful, and not accurate. Contextually, the Hebrew people then, and Jewish people up through today, come to the instructions of the Divine (known to them as Torah) as a gift from the God who rescues and redeems. How do people come to live and love within a community? How do people come to order life to be good and beneficial for the community at large? And how do they learn this on the other side of being enslaved for hundreds of years? Thorough and practical instructions, of course. The Israelites are camped out at Mount Sinai for a little over half of the Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy). So, the receiving of these instructions is the central event of what we call the first five books of the Bible. What came before is simply a prelude that includes being rescued and guided to this moment. And what comes after is a giant meditation on how they are to live in light of the instructions given to them.

Here’s the big kicker; the instructions were never the goal, they were simply training wheels for growing in God. In some ways, it should be somewhat obvious by the rather barbaric nature of many of the instructions. Don’t murder. Is that truly a goal? For violent people, it’s a solid step forward, sure. But following that instruction leads to the question, “and now how will you live together, within the community?” Initially, there were 613 commands, with each one needing to be interpreted and unpacked. So, the initial commands had more detailed commands attached to them, which led to those commands having commands. At some point, the central moment in the Torah, all these commands were summarized in the Ten Commandments. The first four deal with living in relationship with the Divine, and the next six deal with living in community with others.

Later on, Jesus will summarize the ten commands into two, essentially announcing the beginner’s path to Loving God, and Loving Neighbor. Around twenty years after Jesus’ resurrection, a guy named Paul will take it even further and summarized the two commands into one instruction: Love Your Neighbor as yourself. We saw that in yesterday’s writing, which looked at part of Paul’s letter to the church in Galatia.

The majority of what we call the New Testament, are stories of followers of Jesus taking the gift of Jesus’ life, and inviting people to live their life as Jesus would live their life. And we do this as an act of gratitude and honor for the very gift of life. The invitation is for every… single… person. Because the Divine offers guidance to all who have drifted or walked away from the benevolent life, by providing the basic instructions for turning or returning to living life to the fullest.

These instructions are not about being religious, they are a guide to living the most meaningful and complete life. A life of generosity, grace for others, peace with others, and love for all… as an act of worship for the One who has breathed the very essence of life into each one of us.

The instructions are an invitation to grow up and to mature in what it means to be fully human. May we have ears to hear, eyes to see, and hearts that understand this Law of Love.