Enabling Righteousness: Exodus 12:16-20 - Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost

There’s a slight problem with the fourth commandment (fifth commandment in Reformed traditions): how can you honor your father and your mother if they behave dishonorably?

I realize that this is the exception rather than the norm, but the commandment seems incomplete. 

There is no vocation that is as challenging and as vital for human society than parenting. One of the most important duties of parenting is moral discipline. Morals are learned at home. Parents teach by example. When parents lack the time or the support to discipline their children in righteousness—or they just don’t care, it’s not just the children who suffer. The consequences infect all human society, from the streets to the schools to the workplaces, and sometimes, to the halls of power.

We’ve reached a point where we can’t just blame Hollywood for the moral decay of our society. Silicon Valley has been pouring fuel on the fire. So has Washington, D.C. and all the halls of government. But that’s not all.

Trust in institutions has collapsed because the people in charge behave dishonorably. Not only do they lie, cheat and steal, they use the institution to promote ideologies that silence dissent and denigrate certain people. The entire Church suffers the consequences of clergy and leaders who have used their positions to abuse, exploit, and embezzle. Politicians lie, cheat, steal, and commit adultery, but their voters stand by them, even though there are competent and honorable people on both sides of our political divide who would be more effective in governing because they embrace virtue rather than calling it weakness.

I fear our youth are learning that morals and virtue are useless in this world. A person’s value is measured by their wealth, power and privilege. Your neighbor’s welfare is none of your concern. If it feels good, do it. Only the loudest voices get heard. The strong dominate the weak. It doesn’t matter if you lie, cheat, and steal, as long as you come out on top.

Anymore, we think of freedom as the ability to do whatever you want or take whatever you want without consequences or accountability.

But there are consequences. Sadly, the more wealth and power you have, the greater your ability to impose those consequences onto others. And the more likely you are to escape accountability for your transgressions. If there’s no accountability, especially for the rich and powerful, human society will go off the rails. An ivory tower build on deceit will fall sooner or later, but it’s not just the builder who will suffer.

The Ten Commandments are more than just rules for individuals. They create a structure of accountability within the human community. I hammer it into the heads of our confirmation students that the Ten Commandments are all about relationships. Obedience to the commandments isn’t just for your personal good. It’s for everyone’s good.

As power and influence increases, so should accountability. This is why the Old Testament kings always had prophets, speaking on God’s behalf, holding them accountable for their moral failings. Authority and accountability must go hand-in-hand. Otherwise, anything goes.

We speak about accountability as a bad thing: an invasion of privacy, a lowering of yourself for someone else to wag their finger at you. But we’re all in the struggle against sin, so shouldn’t we struggle together?

Whether you’re fighting addiction or adopting a healthier lifestyle, accountability works. Someone you trust is in the fight with you, picking you up when you fall and cheering you on as you arise.

One gift of belonging to the Church that we don’t often talk about is our accountability to each other. There’s nobody we can deceive as effectively as we deceive ourselves. We deny our dysfunction. We deny that we can and do hurt others. We deny that we are unwell. Holding each other accountable is like rescuing someone from a flood or burning building. You may be saving me from harming myself or someone else; you may be saving me from premature death. There’s no shame in that. To love one another is to hold one another accountable—and do so in a way that affirms one another’s worth and value.

Our congregations have been hard at work drafting policies and procedures keep our church running smoothly while also keeping everyone safe. Accountability makes our church stronger. It sends a message to a world that distrusts institutions: You can trust us your children. Your offerings will support God’s work rather than lining someone’s pockets. We will not judge you for your past or present. We proclaim Christ crucified and risen and not some narrow partisan agenda, nor a phony promise that God will make you rich if you give us money.

You can’t spell accountability without count: I can count on you, you can count on me, we can count on each other, and above all else, we can count on God. Together, we will flourish as our common life is built on the bedrock of the two stone tablets that are the Ten Commandments.