Temme, Jon M.

English

Wilfrid Laurier University

ConsensusVolume 18Issue 2 Word and Worship: Essays on Preaching andLiturgyArticle 811-1-1992Thousand to oneJon M. TemmeFollow this and additional works at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensusThis Sermons is brought to you for free and open access by Scholars Commons @ Laurier. It has been accepted for inclusion in Consensus by anauthorized editor of Scholars Commons @ Laurier. For more information, please contact scholarscommons@wlu.ca.Recommended CitationTemme, Jon M. (1992) "Thousand to one," Consensus: Vol. 18 : Iss. 2 , Article 8.Available at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensus/vol18/iss2/8Thousand to OneJon TemmePastor, Ascension Lutheran Church,Edmonton, AlbertaText: Exodus 20:1—17^Once upon a time, not so long ago, there was a land faraway with a custom far out. The citizens cherished this customdeeply. They loved to swing their arms—wild and fast andfree. They’d swing their arms all day long. Many even didso unconsciously during their sleep. Of all the freedoms thepeople enjoyed this they valued most. There wasn’t a law onthe books to challenge it.But this custom was not without its drawbacks. While armswinging was a pleasant pastime it grew to be a problem muchof the time. Many of the people suffered from chronic bruisingand broken noses. It was tough to shop, to sleep, to eat, andto dress. Hugging your kids was nigh impossible, and cometo think of it, it was even amazing there were kids in the firstplace what with all that arm swinging!The people of this strange land were convinced no oneshould infringe upon their freedom. Until one day when withbloodied nose, blackened eyes and bleeding mouth the primeminister declared, “That’s it. We’ve got to do something. Ihereby declare that all may swing their arms as fast, far andas frequently as they wish unless it interferes with someoneelse’s security and safety. The freedom to swing your arm endswhere someone else’s nose begins.”For the first time in the land a command against arm swing-ing had been enacted. Folks were shocked to hear the word“No” when arms were swung. But soon they discovered thatsaying no opened up a thousand and one possibilities that neverhappened before. Parents started hugging their kids. People102 Consensusstarted riding bicycles. All sorts of businesses opened now thatpeople could occupy themselves with things other than swing-ing their arms. Lovers started walking hand in hand. Why,even the birth rate took a sudden turn for the better!Many people see God’s commandments as one big “NO!”.The commandments are perceived as a limitation to humanfreedom and joy, a sure sign that God is a cosmic party-pooperwho doesn’t want anyone to have fun. For many people theTen Commandments are unpopular and irrelevant because theonly word in them which they hear is the word NO.To be sure that word is there. The commandments do sayno to a variety of actions, thoughts and feelings. It’s possibleto spend hours describing and debating the variety of thingswhich the commandments prohibit. But that would obscurethe fact that every “No” points us in the direction of many,many “Yes’s”. When the arm swingers finally said no to armswinging under some circumstances, they discovered a thou-sand and one other possibilities for their lives. Similarly, everyno God speaks to us in the commandments implies a thou-sand and one possibilities. For every destructive action andthought God seeks to limit by the commandments thousandsupon thousands of actions and attitudes are commended andencouraged. In the spirit of Christ’s righteousness and freedomwe begin to see that the commandments do not limit our free-dom but point us in directions of even greater joy within humancommunity. The commandments are signposts to freedom.That view of the Ten Commandments will inform each day’sdecisions. Certainly we need to stop and listen to the no ofthe commandments. We need to take seriously the fact thatwe fall short of the glory of God and sin daily. It does nogood to pretend that sin and suffering and pain and sorrowdon’t exist. But at the very same time we need to recall thatthe commandments are fulfilled in Christ and we who are inChrist live in a thousand and one areas of service, witness, joy,fellowship and growth. As soon as sin is controlled and checkedin our life the freedom to do so much else is made clear.The 1000:1 ratio of the no and yes of the commandments isrevealed for us in the symbols of worship on Ash Wednesday.The ashes on our brows are a reminder of the relationship be-tween God’s no and God’s yes, the Law and the Gospel. Theashes are a sign of our sinfulness. Sin so corrupts our worldA Thousand to One 103that all ends in death. The smudge of the ashes upon our fore-heads reminds us of the countless smudges of sin that mark ourlives. The ashes paint us with the powerful reminder that oneday each of us will return dust to dust, ashes to ashes.But there is something very special about these ashes whichenables them to contain great joy and boundless freedom.These ashes which speak “no” to us so loudly also serve asa signpost to joy. For these ashes come from the last year’sPalm Sunday worship. They remind us of Christ’s entry intoJerusalem which began Holy Week. By his Holy Week deathand resurrection he set free from sin and death all those whofollow him. Certainly these ashes on our foreheads remind usof sin and death but these Palm Sunday ashes speak of thefreedom from sin and the myriad ways in which Christ’s righ-teousness frees us for joy and life eternal. These ashes do carrysome sorrow but even more so do they portend boundless joy.They are in themselves a signpost to freedom in Christ.It is easy by our fallen human nature to look upon the wordno or upon the ashes that we bear and see only negative thingsabout ourselves and about the God who seeks to control sin.We’re challenged by each one of the Ten Commandments tolook beyond the obvious word no to see the implied possibilitiesthat each commandment sets before us. Faith, insight, andabove all life in the Spirit and trust in Christ are needed to seethe commandments as signposts to freedom. For such faith,for such vision let us beseech God.

Thousand to one

Scholars Commons

Consensus
Volume 18
Issue 2 Word and Worship: Essays on Preaching and
Liturgy
Article 8
11-1-1992
Thousand to one
Jon M. Temme
Follow this and additional works at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensus
This Sermons is brought to you for free and open access by Scholars Commons @ Laurier. It has been accepted for inclusion in Consensus by an
authorized editor of Scholars Commons @ Laurier. For more information, please contact scholarscommons@wlu.ca.
Recommended Citation
Temme, Jon M. (1992) "Thousand to one," Consensus: Vol. 18 : Iss. 2 , Article 8.
Available at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensus/vol18/iss2/8
Thousand to One
Jon Temme
Pastor, Ascension Lutheran Church,
Edmonton, Alberta
Text: Exodus 20:1—17
^
Once upon a time, not so long ago, there was a land far
away with a custom far out. The citizens cherished this custom
deeply. They loved to swing their arms—wild and fast and
free. They’d swing their arms all day long. Many even did
so unconsciously during their sleep. Of all the freedoms the
people enjoyed this they valued most. There wasn’t a law on
the books to challenge it.
But this custom was not without its drawbacks. While arm
swinging was a pleasant pastime it grew to be a problem much
of the time. Many of the people suffered from chronic bruising
and broken noses. It was tough to shop, to sleep, to eat, and
to dress. Hugging your kids was nigh impossible, and come
to think of it, it was even amazing there were kids in the first
place what with all that arm swinging!
The people of this strange land were convinced no one
should infringe upon their freedom. Until one day when with
bloodied nose, blackened eyes and bleeding mouth the prime
minister declared, “That’s it. We’ve got to do something. I
hereby declare that all may swing their arms as fast, far and
as frequently as they wish unless it interferes with someone
else’s security and safety. The freedom to swing your arm ends
where someone else’s nose begins.”
For the first time in the land a command against arm swing-
ing had been enacted. Folks were shocked to hear the word
“No” when arms were swung. But soon they discovered that
saying no opened up a thousand and one possibilities that never
happened before. Parents started hugging their kids. People
102 Consensus
started riding bicycles. All sorts of businesses opened now that
people could occupy themselves with things other than swing-
ing their arms. Lovers started walking hand in hand. Why,
even the birth rate took a sudden turn for the better!
Many people see God’s commandments as one big “NO!”.
The commandments are perceived as a limitation to human
freedom and joy, a sure sign that God is a cosmic party-pooper
who doesn’t want anyone to have fun. For many people the
Ten Commandments are unpopular and irrelevant because the
only word in them which they hear is the word NO.
To be sure that word is there. The commandments do say
no to a variety of actions, thoughts and feelings. It’s possible
to spend hours describing and debating the variety of things
which the commandments prohibit. But that would obscure
the fact that every “No” points us in the direction of many,
many “Yes’s”. When the arm swingers finally said no to arm
swinging under some circumstances, they discovered a thou-
sand and one other possibilities for their lives. Similarly, every
no God speaks to us in the commandments implies a thou-
sand and one possibilities. For every destructive action and
thought God seeks to limit by the commandments thousands
upon thousands of actions and attitudes are commended and
encouraged. In the spirit of Christ’s righteousness and freedom
we begin to see that the commandments do not limit our free-
dom but point us in directions of even greater joy within human
community. The commandments are signposts to freedom.
That view of the Ten Commandments will inform each day’s
decisions. Certainly we need to stop and listen to the no of
the commandments. We need to take seriously the fact that
we fall short of the glory of God and sin daily. It does no
good to pretend that sin and suffering and pain and sorrow
don’t exist. But at the very same time we need to recall that
the commandments are fulfilled in Christ and we who are in
Christ live in a thousand and one areas of service, witness, joy,
fellowship and growth. As soon as sin is controlled and checked
in our life the freedom to do so much else is made clear.
The 1000:1 ratio of the no and yes of the commandments is
revealed for us in the symbols of worship on Ash Wednesday.
The ashes on our brows are a reminder of the relationship be-
tween God’s no and God’s yes, the Law and the Gospel. The
ashes are a sign of our sinfulness. Sin so corrupts our world
A Thousand to One 103
that all ends in death. The smudge of the ashes upon our fore-
heads reminds us of the countless smudges of sin that mark our
lives. The ashes paint us with the powerful reminder that one
day each of us will return dust to dust, ashes to ashes.
But there is something very special about these ashes which
enables them to contain great joy and boundless freedom.
These ashes which speak “no” to us so loudly also serve as
a signpost to joy. For these ashes come from the last year’s
Palm Sunday worship. They remind us of Christ’s entry into
Jerusalem which began Holy Week. By his Holy Week death
and resurrection he set free from sin and death all those who
follow him. Certainly these ashes on our foreheads remind us
of sin and death but these Palm Sunday ashes speak of the
freedom from sin and the myriad ways in which Christ’s righ-
teousness frees us for joy and life eternal. These ashes do carry
some sorrow but even more so do they portend boundless joy.
They are in themselves a signpost to freedom in Christ.
It is easy by our fallen human nature to look upon the word
no or upon the ashes that we bear and see only negative things
about ourselves and about the God who seeks to control sin.
We’re challenged by each one of the Ten Commandments to
look beyond the obvious word no to see the implied possibilities
that each commandment sets before us. Faith, insight, and
above all life in the Spirit and trust in Christ are needed to see
the commandments as signposts to freedom. For such faith,
for such vision let us beseech God.


https://scholars.wlu.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1842&amp;context=consensus

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