Did you know that there is a law in Arkansas that says you must pronounce the state name correctly? Chico, California has a law that levies a $500 fine against you if you build, maintain, or use a nuclear weapon within the city limits. In Connecticut you cannot sell a pickle unless it bounces. In Minnesota it is a misdemeanor to grease a pig. And in University City it is illegal to swing upon another person’s motor vehicle, Tarzan-style.
Those laws are all from a Reader’s Digest list of funny laws from each U.S. State (https://www.rd.com/list/dumbest-laws-america/). There’s a good chance that you’ve seen some lists like that yourself. There’s no shortage of them. When you consider all the different levels of government—federal laws, state laws, city laws, and then things like HOA rules, and then you take into account all the laws that have been created over the last couple of centuries or more, there are bound to be a whole lot of crazy laws out there.
Maybe if we knew the whole context they wouldn’t all seem quite so silly. Maybe there was a big controversy in Connecticut over mushy pickles. Maybe there were some grizzly greased-pig catching accidents in Minnesota. Who knows what kinds of shenanigans people get up to in University City? But that’s part of the problem. Times change, people change, and maybe sometimes laws should change too.
What about God’s law?
The season of Advent is a season of preparation. We prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus and as we do so we’re reminded that we’re waiting just like the believers in the Old Testament. We’ve seen how Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament promises, but we’re all still waiting for the ultimate fulfillment of the resurrection of the dead and the heavenly kingdom. In our preparation we spend extra time meditating on God’s Word and what we’re going to focus on this year is God’s law in its three uses of curb, mirror, and guide. This makes for a great Advent theme because the Apostle Paul described the role of the law as a chaperone or pedagogue to Christ. The law prepares us for Jesus!
The first of those three uses of the law, the one we’re focusing on tonight, is the curb. In this use God’s law is most similar to all other laws. My catechism students have all heard me describe how this is like a curb on the street. It marks where the cars are supposed to be and where they aren’t supposed to be. Most of the time you don’t think about the curbs all that much, but if the car hits one then you notice. And if someone decides to take a shortcut by driving over the curb he’ll likely cause damage, possibly get hurt, and if he gets caught he’ll certainly be in trouble.
Every kind of law functions as a curb. It’s the fear of a speeding ticket that keeps you from driving too much over the speed limit and that makes you slow way down when you see a police officer on the side of the road. It’s the fear of an audit that keeps people honest with their taxes. It’s for fear of lawsuits that businesses work to avoid discriminatory hiring practices.
In the same way, God’s law threatens us with punishment if we do not keep it, if we try to take shortcuts by driving over the curb. Our lesson for today was from Deuteronomy 4, where Moses speaks to the people about God’s laws, his statutes and ordinances, that he had given to the people of Israel. He warns them against changing them. “Do not add to the word that I am commanding you, and do not subtract from it.” And he warns them that if they do forget God’s law or fail to keep it or if they worship idols instead of God, then know that, “the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.”
I think this is probably what most people God is all about, or what religion in general is all about. It’s all about all the rules you need to keep. Different religions are mostly just different sets of rules. What sorts of days must you observe? What sorts of foods must you eat or not eat? What sorts of sacrifices must you make in order to stave off God’s anger? All these laws are such a burden. Can you learn them all? Could you keep them all even if you tried?
In an ironic way, then, people actually think it’s better for them to know less. After all, how much can they be held accountable for laws they didn’t even know? Why go through life feeling guilty and fearing God’s judgment? Either resign yourself to whatever judgment comes in the future while spending the now eating, drinking, and being merry, or do your best to live a good life as you see fit, and hope that’s good enough for God.
But that’s not very satisfying, is it? Ignorance may be bliss, but we can only ignore death for so long. Even with the human laws of our land, pleading ignorance only gets us so far. Can a criminal on trial argue that he didn’t know that it’s against the law to commit murder? Don’t we hope that laws will work to deter those who might commit crimes against us, and will justly punish those who do?
Laws need to exist because evil exists. A law isn’t what makes something evil. If that were the case, we could simply abolish all laws and live in peace. Or we could get rid of police and then there would be no crime. If there was no such thing as evil, we wouldn’t need laws. But because evil exists we have laws, we write new laws, and we change old laws, all to try to prevent evil and promote justice.
There are a lot of different laws out there. Some are good ones, based on truth. Others are burdensome and difficult, far worse than requiring the correct pronunciation of Arkansas. But God’s moral law, the law summarized by the Ten Commandments, is a perfect law for all people of all time. It isn’t just a list of some evils to prevent, but it is the very definition of good and evil. It’s a system that’s short and beautiful—only ten commandments—but at the same time it covers absolutely every possible moral issue. Just try to think of something that isn’t in some way connected to these commandments. Jesus demonstrated how hating your brother makes you guilty of murder and how looking at a woman with lust makes you guilty of adultery. What about modern crimes that didn’t exist when Jesus was teaching his disciples or when Moses stood on Mount Sinai? What about things like corporate greed and exploiting rainforests? Contentment and good stewardship of all God’s creation are things that are a part of the seventh commandment, “You shall not steal.” What about transgenderism or internet pornography? A high regard for marriage and modesty and honoring the uniqueness of male and female as God made us are a part of the sixth commandment, “You shall not commit adultery.” What about abortion? Abortion and infanticide were actually both issues in the Roman empire, and the early church fathers wrote strongly against it. “This is murder!” they said. What about laws and decrees from the government that we disagree with? The fourth commandment says that we should honor our parents and others in authority, but we also must remember that this comes after loving God above all things and in the context of loving our neighbor.
God’s law is perfect because God is perfect, and every good and perfect thing comes from God. But that also means that God’s judgment is perfect. God cannot tolerate sin. He cannot ignore it. Every mistake, every misstep, every unloving thought, word, and deed is another bump over the curb, another strike at our Maker. And the reality is that God’s law as a curb doesn’t actually do me much good. It’s not God’s fault or a failing with his law. It’s just that I’m so eager to break it, like a child told to stay out of those Christmas cookies.
And this is where God’s law as a curb hits its limit. It’s limited because I’ve placed myself outside of it, beyond any hope. The threats of the law can’t change this heart. I’m already dead. A mass murderer or a war criminal standing trial knows he isn’t going free. His only question is “How soon is the execution?”
But this is why the law is a chaperone to Christ. It can threaten me with just and terrifying punishment. But it can’t save me. But that tiny baby in the manger? He knew no sin. Jesus truly didn’t need the curb of the law. He didn’t need threats to keep him in line because he was perfect, not just in his outward actions but in every part of his being. He always loved his neighbor fully and freely. He always put his heavenly Father’s will above his own, even when that will was a cross. Even though Jesus himself was true God he did not once turn away from that cross. He did not once think to serve himself.
The law can only speak in terms of reward and punishment, but Jesus gives us the gift of his salvation. He kept the law perfectly in our place. He earns for us the reward of heaven.
So thanks be to God for his perfect law. Its threats have indeed filled my sinful heart with fear. It can’t change my heart, but it can make me hesitate when my actions might cause someone harm. But even more, thanks be to God that the promises of his law have been earned for us by Jesus. Jesus does change hearts. Jesus does give life. Jesus does clothe us in that perfect righteousness. Go to Bethlehem and rejoice! Who else has a god so close as the Lord our God is to us, who gives us his perfect law, who gives us his perfect Savior from sin?
Amen.
— Pastor Seth Georgson