Pentecost 13 (NL4) John B. Valentine
Exodus 20:1-11 August 23, 2026

“NINETEEN BEFORE TWENTY”

Okay folks ... we started this month-long trek through the Ten Commandments a couple three weeks ago now ...

And everything ... at least in my mind ... was going just fine ...

Until things got a bit derailed on our flight back from Columbus last Saturday night and my Sunday morning commitment to you folks got cancelled!

Thankfully ... Pastor Kevin was a trooper ... and when I texted him from the plane on Saturday evening to see if perchance he had an opening in his calendar for the following morning ... he said “Can do!” ... and I’m really REALLY thankful for that!

And somehow he even cooked up a sermon related to the texts for the day!

But now we’ve got a bit of catch-up to do ...

Because we’ve only got three Sundays to cover all TEN of those Ten Commandments!

+ + + + +

Anyhoo ... there’s LOTS of things that I want to say about this text this morning ... but the first of them is this ... “Nineteen comes before twenty.”

I can’t actually take credit for that bit of insight ... but it is a point not to miss.

“Nineteen comes before twenty. Nineteen always comes before twenty.”

Not just on a number line back in third-grade math class ... but here in the Bible ...

“Nineteen comes before twenty.”

You see ... in Exodus 19 ... God establishes a relationship with the Israelites.

• God “chooses” them.
• God makes them ... of all people ... the ‘Chosen People”.
• God makes them God’s own.

It’s in Chapter 19 that God says “Indeed, the whole earth is mine, but you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation.”

And then ... and only then ... in Exodus Chapter 20 ... does the Law ... this Decalogue ... these ‘Ten Commandments’ ... show up.

Point being ...

The relationship ... the relationship God establishes with the chosen people ... comes first. The relationship ... both literally and figuratively ... is primary ... in that it comes first.

The law ... with all its ethical demands on our behavior ... comes second. It is literally ... literally and figuratively ... secondary.

God first establishes a relationship with us ... and then ... and only then ... does God make this claim on our behavior.

+ + + + +

Now you may think that is obvious ... that nineteen always comes before twenty and that the relationship always happens before the law ....

But in my lived experience as a pastor for all these years ... it’s actually NOT very obvious to most of the people I meet.

I mean ... I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve encountered folks over the course of my ministerial career who’ve said things like:

• “I’ve tried to be a good person” ... or

• “I think I’ve pretty much kept the Ten Commandments” ... or

• “It’s not like I killed anyone” or something along those lines.

Out and about in the world ... lots of people ... LOTS of people ... assume that “keeping the Law” ... or some minimalized version thereof ... is a prerequisite for a relationship with God ...

Or maybe just the minimum set of standards by which one might be permitted through the Pearly Gates.

But in so doing ... they’re secretly declaring ... to their way of thinking ... that twenty comes before nineteen.

Let’s be really clear here ... folks.

God does not give this law ... these commandments ... as a means to salvation. That’s not their purpose!

God establishes relationships and then doles out responsibilities.

This is what leaves me scratching my head every time some politician ... or some school board or other ... gets fixated on a campaign to have the Ten Commandments ...

• posted in every classroom ... or
• plastered on the side of some building ... or
• memorized by every ninth-grader in the state.

Not that ....

• knowing God’s Law is a bad thing ... or
• keeping God’s Lw is a bad thing ... or
• memorizing God’s Law is a bad thing.

But the Ten Commandments aren’t an ethical code for ALL people ... they’re an ethical code for God’s people!

They’re an ethical code for people who are already in a relationship with God ... because twenty always follows nineteen!

+ + + + +

Then again ... there’s another thing about these commandments as a whole that I probably need to highlight ....

And that’s that ... while we all agree on there being TEN Commandments ... we DON’T all agree on just how we get to ten.

You see ... when Jewish scholars count the Ten Commandments ...

They count that “I am the Lord your God” line as commandment number one ...

And then commandments two, three and four are particularly about human relationships with God ... “No other gods and no graven images” ... “Not misusing God’s name” ... and “Keeping the Sabbath Day holy” ...

Commandment Five ... by the Jewish way of counting ... is “Honor your father and mother” ...

And then commandments six through ten are about our dealings with our neighbors ... “Don’t murder” ... “Don’t commit adultery” ... “Don’t steal” ... “Don’t bear false witness” ... “Don’t covet”.

So ... if you look at Jewish depictions of the commandments ... you’ll usually commandments One through Five on the tablet on the left ... the ‘God and family’ side ... and Six through Ten in the tablet on the right ... the ‘how I treat my neighbor’ side.

But when Catholic and Lutheran and Orthodox scholars count the commandments ...

They call count that “I am the Lord your God” line as the Preamble ...

And then commandments one, two, and three are about our relationships with God ... “No other gods and no graven images” ... “Not misusing God’s name” ... and “Keeping the Sabbath Day holy” ...

Commandment Four is “Honor your father and mother” ...

And commandments fine through ten are the “Don’t”, “Don’t”, "Don't", "Don't", “Don’t”, and “Don’t”s ... with the coveting “don’t” gets cut in two ....

Thus ... when Lutherans and Catholics and Orthodox folks portray the commandments in art ... it’s usually three on the first tablet and seven on the second ... three for our dealings with God and seven for our dealings with others.

But when Presbyterians and Episcopalians and Baptists and the like count the commandments it gets really confusing ...

Because they take “No other gods” as the first commandment ...

“No graven images” as the second ...

And then proceed to count according to the Jewish numeration there on out.

And it all gets really confusing ......

Especially when someone starts expounding on “The Fourth Commandment” and you’re not quite sure which numbering of the commandments they’re using!

+ + + + +

Anyhow ... let’s consider what we Lutheran-types call “The First Table” ... the “Vertical Table” ... those commandments in particular which speak of our relationship with God ... that’s:

• The Preamble ... "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.”
• Commandment Number One .. “Don’t make idols” ...
• Two ... “Don’t misuse God’s name” ... and
• Three ... “Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.”

Obviously ... we start with the Preamble ...

THAT is basis on which the rest of the commandments are grounded ...

It’s that “nineteen comes before twenty” thing ... the relationship comes first ... the responsibilities comes second.

The Preamble is this assertion that God is our god.

But right after that there’s Commandment Number One ... which asserts that ... if God is going to be our God ... we can’t make anything else our idol.

I’ve always appreciated what Luther said about those words in his Large Catechism:

"A god means that from which we are to expect all good and to which we are to take refuge in all distress … for that upon which you set your heart and put your trust is properly your god."

To be sure ... Luther invites us to make God our god ... “to love the Lord our God with all our heart, and all our soul, and all our mind” ...

But we don’t have to look to far to see the ways in which how money and/or fame and/or power and/or pleasure can move into God’s rightful chair.

But it seems to me that there’s a particular danger that we face when it’s comes to making gods of things other than God.

You see ... we live in a pluralistic society ... and we don’t much like this idea that a person of faith might have to say “no” to some things in order to say “yes” to God.

“Why can’t I just believe in God and embrace money and/or power and/or fame???”

“Why can’t we opt for ‘All of the above’ at the check-out counter of life???”

“Because” ... God says ... “You can’t. You CAN’T have it both ways. That’s not the way people operate. At the end of the day ... one thing matters the most. Make sure that the one that matters MOST is me!”

Then ... in Commandments Two and Three ... “Not misusing God’s name” and “Remembering the Sabbath Day and keeping it holy” ... Luther reminds us that we’re embracing some specific things to remind ourselves on a daily and a weekly basis ... of what it means to put God on God’s rightful throne as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

So he explains the Second Commandment this way:

“We are to fear and love God, so that we do not curse, swear, practice magic, lie, or deceive using God’s name, but instead use that very name in every time of need to call on, pray to, praise, and give thanks to God.”

And the third one thusly:

“We are to fear and love God, so that we do not despise preaching or God’s word, but instead keep that word holy and gladly hear and learn it.”

Because ... to Luther ... the Ten Commandments are less a command NOT to do certain things ... and more an invitation to live life the way that God intended for it to be lived in the first place.

+ + + + +

I mean ... imagine you’re going to a potluck ... folks.

You can go through the line and have a smattering of salad ... and a portion of pasta ... and a smattering of side dishes ... and a chunk of chicken ... or whatever.

It’s all about choices and options and opportunities.

But what is the one non-negotiable at a potluck???

It’s the PLATE!

If you don’t pick up a plate at the beginning of the line ... your journey through the potluck line isn’t going to be very fruitful ... or vegetable-full or carbohydrate-full or protein-full for that matter!!

It’s seems to me that what God is telling us here in Exodus 20 really IS a follow-up to Exodus 19.

That God ... and a relationship with God ... is that which real life is built upon.

That’s the non-negotiable.

That’s the plate!

And if we don’t pick up that plate and build our lives upon it ... our lives are simply going to be ... A MESS!

Think on these things!