Law and order

There’s been lots of talk about law and order recently. In this political year, this political environment, the talk of law and order often rises to the surface. So much so that I wondered how our talk about the subject reflects the biblical reality of what law and order means.

When the Israelites were liberated from slavery in Egypt, they entered a period of time in the desert. Forty years is the timeframe, but contrary to the commonly held belief they wandered for 40 years, they only wandered about two years. They camped at the banks of the River Jordan, whereupon Moses sent spies into the land of Canaan, the land God intended for the Israelites to settle. The spies came back and reported a very negative situation there, one that the Israelites would have trouble with. So God said they needed to stay on the other side, where for the next 38 years, they looked over into the land promised, longingly, until they were ready to cross over.

During that time God gave them the Law.

The Law began with the Ten Words, what we commonly call the Ten Commandments. You know, the “Thou shalts.” Today’s Jews would call them the Ten Words.

Here is how I would summarize them: Monotheism, Idolatry, Swearing, Sabbath, Honor Parents, Murder, Adultery, Stealing, Lying, Coveting.

These Ten Words are the framework for the Law. There are actually a little over 600 laws in the Old Testament, found in the first five books of the OT called the Torah in Hebrew, and Law in English. The laws interpret the Ten Words, respond to the questions that arise in the course of understanding what it means to worship idols, or swear, or honor mom and dad. What constitutes adultery? Or murder?

Without the Ten Words there is no possibility of making sense out of the laws.

Our talk about law and order today seems to struggle with what the framework is that makes sense of our laws. What is our framework? Most would say the Constitution and Declaration of Independence. Interpreting those documents is difficult since they were written by people who, while writing of unalienable rights of life, liberty and happiness, of the rights to protest, to have a fair trial, to bear arms, to practice one’s religion without interference from the government, owned slaves, thought men who owned property had a vote, women were still property, and they had a God- given right to exploit native peoples.

That dissonance has led to laws have been written to protect a few, the rich and powerful, at the expense of the many, the common folks.

And so it was when Jesus began his ministry some 2,000 years ago.

And what Jesus taught was such a challenge to the law that he became a criminal in the eyes of the state, and was eventually executed. All Jesus did was boil the law down to two: Love God with all you’ve got and do the same with your neighbor, and yourself.

Pretty simple.

But is that our example of Law and Order? The most recent images of our example of law and order is watching peaceful marchers in Portland, Ore., being disrupted by military troops. That example is not new, either. It is a repeated image, one that I have grown up with. I lived in Los Angeles in 1992. I lived near South Central L. A. in 1965. We’ve all seen the images. And I wrestle with how Jesus would make himself present in those situations. I struggle with what the framework is that shapes our understanding of law and order. I wonder where Jesus’ command to love one another is in those moments.

What are our Ten Words, our Golden Rule?