Rules, dogs and star points!
It is widely believed that there are actually 613 commandments, so with the most famous ten out of the way, we now turn our attention to the remaining 603!
The warning has worked. The deterrent was effective. The spectacle that God has put on for the Israelites has had the desired effect –
When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance and said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.”
Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.” Exodus 20:18-20
It’s not that God wants his people to be afraid of him. He just wants them to do the right thing and live their lives to the full alongside others in the best way possible. These rules are not designed to be a trap. The people are not destined to fail. God is not eagerly waiting to pour out the punishment. He loves His people.
I was pondering on this when I was out running yesterday and Andy was out with the dog. We love our dog Dempsey. We love him to bits. He is only nine months old and brings us joy every day. But he should come with a sign – IN TRAINING – and I have a feeling he may always need this sign. We love to let him off the lead and to see him enjoying his freedom. He gallops across fields and frolics in the long grass and has the time of his life. And whilst we love it, we worry constantly – we worry about him getting lost or running off or catching a little furry thing or hurting himself on something. We call him back often to keep him close and check on him. We call him back not to stop his fun but to stop him being a nuisance to runners and cyclists. We hope and pray that we see another dog before he does so that we can call him back and hold him close….and if not, we try to call him back when he is trying to get another dog to play. We do all of this because we love him and want the best for him and other dogs and people…….see where I’m going with this? Rules are important – as are treats and praise and consequences. Dempsey generally wants to please us and make us happy, but sometimes his desire to do his own thing gets the better of him and he ignores our calls and resists our attempts to get hold of his collar. This results in general unhappiness all round. Going for a walk and not meeting another dog is great. Going out and meeting another dog and Dempsey coming back when called is even better.
Not going to push that analogy any further. I’m sure you’ve got the picture by now. I’m not a fan of rules on the whole. Many rules are created for convention’s sake and I guess I am naturally unconventional. As are my brother and sister, I believe, so I like to blame it on my genes or upbringing or something! I do understand the importance of playing by the fundamental rules in life though – in the home, at work, in friendships and relationships, in community………rules help us to live life to the full as God intended. (My dispute is with the add-ons, that is all……the cultural rules created by those around us that are not important and are not God-given).
The first section in Exodus chapter 21 is all about Hebrew servants. This is not to be confused with slaves. The Hebrews knew all about slavery. They had been slaves in Egypt and subject to exploitation and suffering at the hands of the Egyptians. God had set them free from all that. And here he sets out rules about how to treat a servant fairly so that slavery can never be an option again.
You can have a servant for six years, but in the seventh year, you must set him free – no strings attached. If he comes alone, he goes alone. If he comes with a wife, she must be set free with him. If the master allows him to take a wife during the six years and he has children, the wife and children then belong to the master and will not be allowed to leave. The man must then be allowed to make the choice to stay in his master’s service with his family. If he decides to stay, his ear will be pierced as a sign that he will stay with his master for life. The rules were different for women, but were all about her protection and safety. She is not to be set free unless the master doesn’t want her any more, but he is not free to sell her to foreigners. She is to be redeemed by her own people. If she becomes a wife, she must never be deprived food, clothing and marital rights. If these three are not provided, she is to go free.
We watched the film ‘Pompeii’ on Saturday night. Atticus faces his last day as a slave. He has fought the requisite number of combats in the gladitorial arena and believes that if he wins today’s fight, he will go free. Milo is sceptical. He recognises the power of the Roman captors – why would they let their best fighter go free? Who are they accountable to? These are just words to keep Atticus strong in his hope for freedom. They have no intention of letting him go.
Over time, it would have been easy to see servants as slaves, to come to treat them as possessions. They would have had no rights. no union. no one to speak up for them……God sets out clearly a system of fairness that would stop employment descending into exploitation. These rules are there to protect the long term freedom of the servant.
Just a word to finish about how we treat others in the workplace (or in their workplace). I have really had my eyes opened in my last year of working in retail. When I took the job as a checkout operator, some of my friends thought it was below me (I have a degree after all!), that I was having a midlife crisis, that working in a shop didn’t fit with my image (or the image they had of me). They were disappointed that I would wear that uniform, be prepared to work silly hours, allow myself to be told what to do. My Dad was concerned – ‘we need to get you something better than that’ – until he saw how much I loved it. Now he is simply confused.
And when you put that uniform on and stand behind a checkout, you would be amazed at how people’s attitude towards you changes. Some customers are great but some assume that you are stupid; some ignore you completely; some make it very clear that they feel they are above you;some are downright rude. My friend was serving a customer, when this customer turned to her young daughter and said ‘You see, this is why you need to work hard at school, otherwise you will end up behind this counter working in a shop like this girl.’
We have to be so careful how we treat people. Many people work really, really hard for low wages, doing work that many of us would never take on. Many people are treated badly by management and the public, because they have no voice, no representation, no power.
Everyone should be respected for the hard work that they do. Asda has a stars system to reward staff who have gone the extra mile and they give you a little card with ‘You’re a star!’ on and star points inside (and we all know that points mean prizes!) It would be good to have these to give out in life in general – to the trolley guy who helps you get your pound out of the trolley; to the smiling petrol station cashier; to the woman in the launderette…….anyone and everyone who is being the best they can be where they find themselves………
There is never a good reason to look down on anyone else or to treat them with less respect than you would expect to be treated – let’s encourage everyone we meet today who is doing a great job!
