Sand Sculpture Commandments
On Sunday I began a six-week series on the Ten Commandments. Yes I know that six divided by ten doesn't work well, but I figured we could hit at least five of the ten. The lectionary never spends more than one week at a time on the commandments, so what can a preacher say in a single shot?
I invited the congregation to fill in a little ballot, for want of a better term, to direct us toward the commandments of greatest interest. Exactly one hundred people took up the challenge, which pleased me. The number one choice was (drum roll please) Don't Bear False Witness. Number two was Don't Covet. Number three was Honour Your Parents. Number four? Remember the Sabbath.
Now, number five is tricky, because there was almost equal representation for No False Gods, No Idols, No Wrongful Use of God's Name. I may group these together, or at least two.
Don't Murder got the least "votes," followed by Don't Steal and Don't Commit Adultery. Maybe people figure they have heard too much about adultery lately!
Do these results surprise you? I was certainly intrigued that "don't bear false witness" got the most attention. While I will begin with God, I look forward to all of them.
The best way to hear these sermons will be in person, but you can always read them at the St. Paul's website.
3 comments:
I do find that result interesting. I, like you, figured that adultery would figure prominently, given what the news is all about these days.
As an elementary school teacher (and well-meaning if sporadic churchgoer) I often wonder if the separation of church and state couldn't be nudged just a tad to allow some of the ten commandments in.
In church, we call them the ten commandments; in school, it's character education.
Maybe we're singing from the same hymnal after all!
Should have a big crowd on hand the next few weeks. Would it be unchristian-like for me to stand an appropriate distance from the church to scalp tickets?
"Who's buying, who's selling, who needs tickets!" I've always wanted to say that.
There has been a concerted effort in Canada and the United States to eliminate any values education related to religion.
I think of communist states such as the former East Germany where any religious in the culture was discouraged, yet they developed parallel rituals.
Maybe the ministry of education can come up with the Ten Suggestions Ian.
Johnny, I'll dream of the day when we have to have bouncers to turn away people because the pews are filled with eager sermon-seekers.
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