Aug. 31, 2025 | Word Out!
Download the Bulletin from August 31, 2025.
Sermon – Pastor Dan Peterson
The Nine Commandments
August 31, 2025
Second Reading: Hebrews 13:1–8, 15–16
1 Let mutual affection continue. 2 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it. 3 Remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them, those who are being tortured, as though you yourselves were being tortured. 4 Let marriage be held in honor by all, and let the marriage bed be kept undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers. 5 Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be content with what you have, for he himself has said, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” 6 So we can say with confidence,
“The Lord is my helper;
I will not be afraid.
What can anyone do to me?”
7 Remember your leaders, those who spoke the word of God to you; consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. 15 Through him, then, let us continually offer a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name. 16 Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.
Grace to you this morning, and peace from God, the source of life, and from Jesus, the Christ, who is that light and life in the world. Amen.
This message is a mildly interactive one; you will be invited to participate by yourself at the end, where I will ask you to name the Tenth Commandment. Before that, however, we need to discuss “the Nine Commandments” and where they are to be found in scripture.
But first, to review: Last Sunday, we talked about one of my favorite philosophers, the mid-19th-century Danish Lutheran philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, as well as the Bible, both of which agree that “being Christian” is better stated as becoming Christian. Instead of talking about being saved, we have language in the book of Acts that says we are being saved.
In other words, it’s a process, a process that we help, motivated by the Spirit, through practice, and the church, I would argue, is a great place to practice, or rehearse what it means to become a Christian.
Here we practice humility in the context of the Eucharist, where we stretch out our hands and receive the food of forgiveness, the presence of God in Jesus Christ, in, with and under the bread and wine. Here we practice hospitality, greeting a stranger, or reconciliation, even forgiveness in the Sharing of the Peace. We learn that it is better to be quick to forgive whenever possible, through that practice. Finally, we practice giving back; we practice generosity through the Offering, where, in response to God, the grace of God, and all the many things we have in this life, we give back, so that we might become more generous even in the world.
We are, at the end of this rehearsal, sent out into the world to perform what we practice here to make the world a better place, or in Christian language, to bring about the emerging kingdom of God.
So come to church. That was your message.
This morning, I want to talk about you, in particular, this congregation at Queen Anne Lutheran Church, not only insofar as we practice here the life we are called to lead out in the world, but who we are as a people of God.
Now, obviously, as your pastor, I know that we are all over the map when it comes to who we are in terms of our beliefs. We are all over the map when it comes to God. There are some of us who believe that God and world are virtually identical. That’s called pantheism. Then, at the other end of the spectrum, there are some of us who identify as agnostic or even—God forbid—one or two atheists! And then there are the rest of us, somewhere in between.
We are all over the map when it comes to salvation. There are some of us who have a firm conviction that life after death is a reality, that we will be raised anew, following Christ, the first fruits of God’s new creation. There are others of us on the opposite end of that spectrum, who either agree with Ecclesiastes when it says, when it comes to life after death, no one knows, or even, that life simply ceases to be.
We are all over the map when it comes to the meaning of the gospel, that is the good news; that somehow God has made things right in the person of Jesus Christ. There are some of us who focus on the sacrifice God made in Christ on the cross. There are others of us who focus on the teachings of Jesus throughout the Gospels. There are others of us who focus on the resurrection, and of course, there’s a mixture of these, all in between. My favorite way of identifying the gospel, which I shared two weeks ago, was that God is near, and my sense is that many of us would agree; that, especially in the context of the present time, it seems often that God is far away. The good news is that God has come near, that God is with us, as Matthew 1 says about Jesus; that nothing can separate us from the love of God, as Paul says in Romans 8; or that, “Yea, though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we shall fear no evil, for God is with us,” as Psalm 23:4 says.
So we are all over the map as a congregation—our belief about God, our beliefs about salvation, and even our definition of the gospel. But there is one thing, probably one thing that we share, and that is our core sense of values. Our core sense of values. Now, broadly speaking, values can mean different things. They can mean “what is important to us” or “what matters to us.” More specifically, they can be “the core principles by which we live.” And a summation of these values is in the Ten Commandments, which are listed twice in the Old Testament, first in the book of Exodus, and then repeated with some variation in the book of Deuteronomy.
So the Ten Commandments, I would argue, in many ways, are a summation of the core values the people of Israel shared at the time they were written, as given to them by God.
But what’s this business about the Nine Commandments? Where in the Bible are these supposed Nine Commandments? Well, I have an answer for that.
Take a look at your second reading for today, the book of Hebrews, chapter 13. Chapter 13 of Hebrews provides a blueprint for the Christian life, a blueprint for the Christian life, as our Assisting Minister John read for the preface: “The conclusion of the letter to the Hebrews contains suggestions for the conduct of a holy life, all of which are shaped by God’s love toward us in Jesus Christ.”
So what are these Nine Commandments, and why aren’t there ten of them? Let me list them briefly.
Number One: The author of Hebrews writes, “Let mutual love continue.” In other words, love one another. As one commentary puts it, “Mutual love” translates the Greek word philadelphia, which means sibling, or brotherly, love. This is an encouragement to love others within the Christian community itself.
Number Two: Show hospitality toward strangers. The author of Hebrews quickly expands the scope of love to outsiders as well. Hospitality can mean tangible acts like preparing food for someone, but more broadly, it can simply mean, as Paul puts it in Galatians 6, to do good to all people—not only your brothers and sisters in the church, but those outside the walls of the church as well.
Number Three: Be compassionate. The example provided has to do with those who are incarcerated. Incarceration at the time was harsh—low light often led to blindness or other forms of visual impairment; restraints could cripple; and, as we know from Paul, food was often not provided, so prisoners depended on outside help to survive. Be compassionate.
Number Four: Be empathetic. The example may refer to victims of state-sanctioned violence—people who were being tortured for their faith because of the Roman authorities. Be empathetic; walk in their shoes.
Number Five: Be faithful in marriage (or, as the original Ten Commandments put it, do not commit adultery). Men and women were often held to different standards. Here the author encourages all people to honor their marriage vows, putting men and women on equal footing.
Number Six: Be content with what you have; avoid greed. It’s one thing to own things; it’s another when they own you. Greed dehumanizes us, becomes an idol, hurts others in need, and ignores the common good (1 Corinthians 12).
Number Seven: Share what you have. Luther on the Seventh Commandment (“You shall not steal”): it’s not enough to refrain from taking; we should also help our neighbor protect and improve their property and income. Sharing is the positive flip side of resisting greed.
Number Eight: Do not bear false witness—tell the truth and protect reputations. Luther adds the positive: come to your neighbor’s defense, speak well of them, and interpret everything they do in the best possible light. (Arguably the hardest commandment!)
Number Nine: Remember your leaders. There may have been tensions in that community over doctrine, practice, or even small things. If you don’t like something a leader says or does, speak kindly and respectfully; give the benefit of the doubt. Leaders aren’t infallible, but they belong to the body of Christ, too.
Now you say, that’s all well and good: love one another; be hospitable to strangers; be compassionate; be empathetic; be faithful in marriage; be content; share what you have; tell the truth; respect your leaders. That’s great. But how are we supposed to live out these Nine Commandments?
That’s a good question, so let me give you an answer. It starts with a G. (Jesus—spelled here G-E-E-S-U-S—Jesus 😊)
Another “G” might be Gospel, the good news. And what is the good news? It’s sewn within the fabric of these Nine Commandments.
Verse 5: “I will never leave you or forsake you.” Repeat that after me: I will never leave you or forsake you. That’s the good news of what God has done for us in Jesus Christ. God is near again.
Verse 6: “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.” Repeat that after me: The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. That’s the gospel!
So the good news here is that even within these Nine Commandments, we have the promise that God is near; that God will not forsake us; and that God in Christ is our helper, so we need not be afraid. What incredible news!
Okay, you finally say, what’s all this business about Nine Commandments? Why not Ten? Well, the tenth, as I said at the beginning, is for you to complete. And here’s what I want to ask each of you: What additional core value or principle is essential to you when it comes to your life as a Christian?
Let me ask that again: What additional core value or principle is essential to you when it comes to your life as a Christian?
In my case, for example (and I thought about this a lot because I had the advantage of preparing the sermon), I’d add “being kind.” That is a core value of mine. I realize that there are often many unseen struggles in someone’s life. Instead of judging, I try to remind myself they may be going through a hard time; maybe they have chronic pain; maybe someone they love just died. Be kind. My mom used to tell me she was more proud of me as a pastor than when I was a professor. I asked why. She said, “Because you’re nicer.” Be kind. Paul includes kindness as a fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5.
So how about you? Take a moment before the end of the day and write your answer beneath the sermon title in the bulletin—or at least think about it. What is your core value? What is your Tenth Commandment, the core principle by which you live? And then, on your way out, I invite you—if you wish—to share it with me, or join me in the Conference Room for coffee after service to discuss your Tenth Commandment.
As I said at the beginning, we hold different beliefs—about God, salvation, and even the gospel. But when it comes to our most basic values, my hope and prayer is that we are one in the body of Christ: that we love one another as God first loved us, that we live for others as God in Christ lived for us, and that we become Christ to our neighbor, as Christ was for us.
In Jesus’s name, Amen.