( Exodus 20:1-17 ) - [ Deutsch ]
We know the expression a "bit of heaven on earth". A place/experience so beautiful that you want to hold on to it forever. When we are on holiday, we tend to have these moments. Back in everyday life, they are quickly forgotten.
A legend tells of two monks who read in a book about a place where heaven and earth met. There was a door there where you only had to knock and you would find yourself with God. They walked around the world, and when they found the door, they were back in their monastery cell. Then they understood: The place where heaven and earth meet is in the place God has assigned to us.
If that is so, we are indeed living here in "heaven on earth", because one would think we would not be here if God had not pointed us to this place. But we certainly do not always live in "heaven on earth". Cardinal Henry Newman once said that Jesus "came into the world to bring heaven to earth." By healing, comforting, giving hope out of unconditional love. And yet, there was not always a "heaven on earth" then either. There was discord and strife, war and greed, just as there is today. So, we may ask in despair, "God, there is something wrong, isn't there?"
Even when the people of Israel left Egypt with Moses and came into the wilderness, God realised that the people could not handle their freedom responsibly on their own. God had to help manage the mess. Our sermon text from Exodus 20, verses 1-17, tells us about this rescue operation.
“And God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. “You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. “You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labour, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. “You shall not murder. “You shall not commit adultery. “You shall not steal. “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour. “You shall not covet your neighbour’s house; you shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbour’s.”
Did you notice that you hear a lot of "You shall" here, but that there is no "You shall not" at the very beginning. On the contrary, God first puts the commandments in the right perspective. He presents himself to the Israelites as the saving God in whom they had trusted and who had led them from captivity, out of love, because he granted his people a free life. He who goes through the desert with 600,000 men plus women, children and animals deeply cares for the people. God did it out of love. So, the 10 Commandments are strict orders from a loving God that Moses delivers to the people. An incredible love story between God and his people is hidden behind these few words "I am the Lord, your God"; it began with creation and still continues. A story of love, trust, liberation and hope for a little "heaven on earth".
Here the texts you selected for the baptism of your children fit perfectly into the image of "heaven on earth". God has shown you his great love through baptism. He promises you Jesus' company for your whole life, because you are his children. This also applies to us. We only need to unpack this love, accept it and return it at the same time. Then you/we can fearlessly carry God's love/word out into the world because he walks with us. This is the message of the texts you selected for baptism. A gift for your children and for us. It reminds us as a baptismal community of our task to work towards a "heaven on earth". This includes obedience of the 10 Commandments, even if it is not easy. The German poet/dramatist Friedrich Hebbel once said, "In church everyone knows the 10 Commandments, but on the street he only ever knows 9, the one he should just remember is forgotten." Not everyone walks around with a checklist of commandments in their pocket, ticking off what they are allowed to do and what they are not allowed to do?
The 10 Commandments were not meant as a checklist, but rather as a guide to how a life with God and thus a free life together on earth would be possible. Two existential things are addressed. Firstly, the commandments that aim at the relationship with God, secondly, the commandments that aim at the relationship with fellow human beings. They belong very closely together. Without the reference to God, one cannot get along well with one's fellow human beings, and the reference to God is of no use if one does not get along well with one's fellow human beings.
Jesus himself explains the commandments even more simply in the gospel of Mark: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
So it is about love. If I have unwrapped and accepted this gift of love from God, and can love God with all my heart, soul and mind, with all my strength, and my neighbour as myself, then I could keep the commandments. Then there would be more "heaven on earth" again.
But we are sinful beings. It helps to know that the commandments are spoken from the perspective of love, rather than being a rebuke. God gives the assurance, "In my nearness you do not need to depend on anyone/anything. Just as you are, you are absolutely fine and free." In this freedom, I always have a loving, blessing, supporting God on my side.
We celebrated this freedom again today during the baptism. You as parents/ godparents accept the responsibility to let the love that God sows in the hearts of your children grow so that it prevails over all temptations and doubts and helps your children to live responsibly in freedom. We do not need to wander all over the world, like the two monks at the beginning of the story, to find "heaven on earth". We can feel the love and freedom that God gives here and now and contribute our part to "heaven on earth", through a kind word, a helping hand, and tireless prayer. For a piece of "heaven on earth", motivates, inspires, focusses, inspires and unites us, so that we can preserve togetherness, each in the place that God has assigned to us. Amen