Exodus 20:1-17

Presented by the Choir on the Third Sunday of Lent.

The Ten Commandments is perhaps the most familiar of biblical passage.

A matter of months after their extraordinary rescue from their slavery in Egypt, and following the miracles of guidance, protection, and provision in the desert, the people arrive at the mountain of Sinai. Like the rainbow in Genesis, the mountain becomes a sign of God's intentions to make a covenant with these chosen people.

Today's Psalm claims that all the earth and all its elements are the direct result of God's continued activity and proclaim God's glory. In Corinthians, and in John, the unfathomable wisdom of God is brought into contrast with the supposed wisdom of humankind and its norms. God desires that the world reflect God's very nature.

The Commandments offer a glimpse of the world that, in accordance with the promise, God will one day bring about.

We see the Holy Spirit rising above the two tablets of stone upon which the Ten Commandments are written.