In Search of a Sign - Exodus 20:1-17; John 2:13-22

In seminary, I frequented an ice cream parlor called the Dairy Godmother. They had a freezer full of chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwiches and they specialized in sorbet floats. But, my favorite thing about the Dairy Godmother was the 8.5x11 laminated sign stuck to the counter with scotch tape next to the register. 

Now you need to know that the counter here was unusually large, which was great for preventing grubby fingers from infiltrating the frozen treats, but tricky for handing over cash. But the aforementioned sign reads, “do not walk away from babies left on this counter.” 

I love this sign because you know the reason the staff at the Dairy Godmother had to go to the trouble of posting it is that they were having a problem with people setting babies on the counter and walking away, which is hilarious - and a bit unnerving - to imagine.

If you, like me, enjoy this kind of goofy and problem-signaling signage, I have great news. There’s a whole thread on Reddit full of fabulous examples. Here are some of my favorites. Remove plastic before inserting into toaster. I’m hoping a child was the culprit there. Or how about, No saxophones in the library. Again, I think we could probably blame some mischievous youth. But my personal favorite feels aimed at fully grown humans: Do not open graves without cemetery supervision. 

These signs are funny to us because the behavior they warn against seems like common sense and the idea of someone needing such reminders is comically discouraging. When we see these signs we think “who would do that?!” And we’re confident in our own better judgement. Sadly, the truth of today’s scripture readings is that this phenomenon of obvious but necessary instruction is the Ten Commandments in a nutshell.

The Ten Commandments, also known as the Decalogue, or, in Judaism, the Ten Words, appear twice in the Hebrew Scriptures. They’ll show up again a few books down the line in Deuteronomy, but today we have their first depiction in Exodus, where we meet the Israelites at Mount Sinai, three months after crossing the Red Sea. 

Three months may not seem like such a long time after a lifetime of forced labor in Egypt, but we’ve already got chapters of complaining and mistrust and lack of faith in our rear view, and God is already feeling the need to tape up a few reminder signs. In the absence of an oversized ice cream parlor counter, God went with some stone tablets instead. 

Now there’s a lot to unpack in these few short weeks of wilderness wandering. We’ve got the manna from heaven, the moaning about wishing they were back in Egypt, and the never-ending line of legal cases brought before Moses. Thankfully, there is some true genius in the organizational structure of the Ten Commandments, which can help us understand what’s really going on here. 

After centuries of enslavement, the Israelites doubted the goodness and even the existence of God. The plagues served as incredible and even violent signs of God’s power, and the final deliverance across the Red Sea proved to the Israelites that God cares for them. But in the wilderness, the Israelites found it very easy to slip back into their old habits of fear and doubt. 

So the first three commandments are about God. You should only have one, you should not invent your own, and you should not misrepresent God with your words or actions. God began the handmade sign with the most important reminders which I think boil down to: I am your God.

The fourth commandment - you should honor the Sabbath - is about ourselves. In delivering the Israelites out of Egypt, God gave them the gift of holy rest. They would no longer have to labor without cease and without enjoying the fruits of their labor. But the pressure to produce is a difficult cycle to break, and when they tried to gather food on the Sabbath day, they were sorely disappointed. So God added to the sign: Take your day off. 

Finally, the last six commandments are about one another. You know the ones: you should not lie, steal, kill, be unfaithful or be envious. After their escape from Egypt, the Israelites have an incredible opportunity to create their own society that looks nothing like the world they left behind in Egypt. But if all you know is mistreatment and abuse, you’re likely to mistreat and abuse. So God finished up the sign with a series of reminders that can be summed up with: Take care of each other. 

In short, the Ten Commandments are instructions etched in stone meant to help us shift from an old way of being in which we forget about God, ignore the gift of rest, and mistreat one another, to a new way of being in the world in which we remember God, honor the Sabbath, and love one another. 

Like some of those signs I mentioned earlier, this feels almost comically obvious. But we are fooling ourselves if we think we don’t need these reminders just as much as the Israelites did. I can only speak for myself, but I struggle to see God in the violence and destruction in Israel and Gaza. I regularly tie my worth to my productivity. And although I have not committed murder (yet!), I have felt the weight of hate and condemnation in my heart more often than I can count. 

And I’m just one person. If all 7.2 billion people on this planet behave like I do, it’s no surprise Jesus loses his temper in today’s passage from John’s Gospel. In fact, it makes me curious about what Jesus would say if he came to coffee hour after the service at Christ Church today. 

I don’t mean to shame anyone. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m often exhausted and little snippy by noon on a Sunday. So I wonder what aspects of my own spiritual life and our common spiritual life could use a sign taped to the counter. Perhaps the most obvious sign I’ve ever come across in a moment of need was when a seminary professor commented on a mediocre paper of mine by saying, “Jesus is risen anyway.”

I can’t wait to hear from you all about the uncanny signs you’ve seen posted in strange places. And I can’t wait to hear from you all about how the message of the Decalogue has rung true in your life. It’s certainly food for thought during Lent. And if anyone has any hints about how to avoid working on your day off, I am all ears. Amen.