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269: Pastor Plek and Catie Sas are back after a short holiday break to recap Sam Teifke's sermon on the first half of the Ten Commandments. Tune in to hear more as Pastor Plek and catie explore the significance of the Sabbath even in today's relentless hustle and the truth that our identity is not tethered to our achievements but is deeply rooted in being children of God.
Faith, Culture, and everything in between
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Speaker 1:
And welcome back to Pastor Plex podcast. I'm your host, pastor Plex, and joining me in studios none other than Mrs Katie Sass. Welcome back, katie. Well, we are doing the post sermon, or rather the sermon recap from this past Sunday, which we talked about Exodus 20, one through 11. And we talked about, really, the first tablet of the 10 Commandments, which for a lot of people, that just encompasses love God. And let's just do a quick recap of what those are. I'm the Lord, your God, who brought you out of slavery. So here. So here it is. One, you have another God's before me. Two, you shot, make a graven image or carved image out of anything or bow down to serve them. Three, you shall not take the Lord's name in vain. And four, remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. Now, katie, you were there for Sam Sermon, and Sam Tyfkey, who's our men's deacon, did a incredible, or did an incredible job. Tell me what your favorite part about Sam's preaching was from this Sunday, if you can remember something.
Speaker 2:
So in general, if I could say how well he did in like one sentence, I think he had really great personal connection. That led into the text really well and I loved the like imprint that I had about like how he was listening to his uncle and like the intensity and like how. That's the level of intensity that one the Israelites should have had with Moses, but that we should have with God yeah, so that story was.
Speaker 1:
His uncle, who is Jack Wheeler, owned a paving construction company and he used to work like a 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 year old on the hot streets paving, which is so good for kids.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, crazy.
Speaker 1:
Anyway, and so he was acting up and he gets sent to the principal's office or Jack Wheeler, the owner of the company, and he just slams the table and kind of to get Sam's attention. And what Sam said is like that sort of like the grabbing his attention to sort of like here is. I'm laying down the law for you. It's exactly sort of how God causes Mount Sinai to tremble, smoke, fire, all the things and then terrifies all the people. And then he says here is the 10 commandments that he's going to give to Moses.
Speaker 2:
I feel like in Exodus. So many times you hear God say so that they may know that I am God. Yeah, like after anything he does. The whole point is that, so they might know that I am God.
Speaker 1:
Or he'll say I am the Lord, and it's just an interesting thing of his declaration of who he is. All right, so these 10, the first four commandments, and I don't know if let's just kind of go one by one. You shall have no other gods before me, which seems pretty simple. Any thoughts on? You shall have no other gods before me. I mean that's.
Speaker 2:
I mean, is the second one mostly about idolatry? Is there errors? Is the one?
Speaker 1:
Well, they're all about idolatry, yeah, the first one is like you should have, like, no other God before me, so don't be an idol. The second one is like don't create an image of God or anything that you might worship. So idolatry, idolatry. And then the next one is about taking the name of God lightly or swearing by God and then not doing the thing. That would be those first three. The second one I thought was interesting. You shall not bow down to them anything you've created or serve them, for I, the Lord, your God, am a jealous God responding to the transgression of a father by dealing with children to the third and fourth generations of those who reject me and showing covenant faithfulness to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments. Now, sometimes people have a problem with this, and it's because the one they don't like God being jealous, does. How does, when you hear about God being jealous, how does that affect you?
Speaker 2:
I'm not gonna lie. It is hard for me to process like to to remove my perception of jealousy in a worldly human fleshy way and try to apply what true godly jealousy means.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, so the Bible and I think this might. I'm so glad you put it that, because I think this is the question that because it is really hard to comprehend.
Speaker 2:
Let me help you and because he's not like a jealous boyfriend.
Speaker 1:
Right, but he is like a jealous husband. So watch this so you want Ryan to be jealous of you. Okay, Like if you were flirting with some dude, you'd want Ryan to go, hey can you not do that? In fact, if he didn't do that, you would kind of be offended that he didn't care.
Speaker 2:
Like he's kind of like passive yeah, passive right.
Speaker 1:
So you want a husband to be jealous, Right? Okay, so jealous is positive.
Speaker 2:
That means but also jealous of the right things, of correct things, right and so with God.
Speaker 1:
He's always jealous of the right things. But if the opposite, or the same vein of jealousy, but the negatives piece on that is envy. So jealousy is you're trying to take something from me that is rightfully mine, all right. Envy is I want something that I haven't been given. So I'm envious because you've got really great shoes and I want those shoes. Okay, I'm jealous that you want to steal my shoes. Oh, do you see sort of the difference there?
Speaker 2:
I've never thought about it that way, yeah so that's how, so God?
Speaker 1:
so if I'm and I've actually sort of like in my head, I always was like it's not right for me to like get upset if Adrian were to talk to some other guy and some sort, and then all of a sudden, as I've been reading this, like no, that's appropriate for me to have jealousy for the affections of my wife. I should be jealous for those things, yeah. And so I think that's one of those things I had to learn, which I know it seems weird to learn jealousy, because I think I've been, I had it trained out of me for so long because I didn't want to be seen as like the jealous boyfriend, Like controlling, Controlling, yeah. So I sort of put a the opposite of so controlling is passive, and so I'm not gonna be controlling, so I'm gonna be passive, and that's not it. I need to be controlling in a sense that I'm going to lead my wife to have love and affection for me. But if I like you will love me, that never works anywhere, right. So I need to love her with affection, love her so then she will respect me out of the influence I've had in her life, not because I'm your husband, Dang it. You better respect my authority. Like that's where I think we sometimes go and that's not effective way to lead our wives.
Speaker 2:
Right.
Speaker 1:
So anyway, so I think that helps us, that God is leading us and he's always wooing us to himself and when he has to, he uses discipline for us to bring us back to himself. And then it gets weird. Does that mean that husbands are to use discipline with their wives? I know, but you are, you are called to lovingly correct your wife.
Speaker 2:
It's kind of like. So, ryan, whenever there was a time where, like I went in for a hug with there was a friend of mine, was a dude and I didn't mean to like do the double arm like full hug but it just kind of happened and Ryan was kind of like I was kind of weird. He was like why didn't you just like side hug? And I was like I don't know, yeah, it just happened. And he's like, okay, well, can maybe like side hug.
Speaker 1:
So now I had to learn this like weird and Adrian would do that for me because I was sort of the same way and sometimes you know, there are some ladies that kind of just full on and you're just like and I think she understands.
Speaker 2:
It's not my desire, but that sometimes happens.
Speaker 1:
But she had to correct me early on to not give away affection. That was meant only for her. Because I think there was a weakness of mine that I didn't fully wrap my head around, and she was really good at helping me understand. There's a difference between being amicable and being almost too far, and I was really grateful for that. And what I appreciate is that she loves me enough that she wants my affections, right, yeah, so anyway, I think that's a healthy thing. So back to this. God, in the same way, wants our affections. He doesn't wanna straying towards other gods and during that day, the reason why it's all the same, other gods. So you would go to other gods because you wanted to have your farming blessed. I want fertility for my crops, so I'm gonna go bless the whatever fertility God and I might even go have sex at the fertility temple because, listen, I'm gonna do what I need to do and I'm sure Yahweh's not too thrilled about that, but I need my crops to grow. So I gotta hedge my bets, I gotta put a little money in everywhere, cause just, I gotta diversify my portfolio when it comes to the gods and God's saying no, no. I want it all and I think it's the same way with us. Now Do not hedge your bets by saying, listen, I'm gonna work really, really hard, put over time, sacrifice the things of God, like taking care of my family, so that and you might put in the guise of I'm taking care of my family, but what you're really doing is you're being greedy or you're kind of creating something, a false God, a protection of security. That is money and not in God. So you are always sort of faced with that and that was what the struggle was. It manifested in the worship of other gods that you would bow down to, and it was more obvious. And now, since the age of reason, we don't bow down to other gods, but we do bow down to the other gods of success, materialism, etc.
Speaker 2:
Okay, the thing that Go ahead.
Speaker 1:
Okay, so the other part about this was interesting. It says like I'm a jealous God responding to the transgressions of fathers by dealing with the children of the third and fourth generations who reject me. Now this is where a lot of people get sort of frustrated with this, because they'd say, like, how's that even fair? Like how can the kids suffer for their parents' sin?
Speaker 2:
I thought that there was like a command that said children are not to be punished for their father's sin.
Speaker 1:
Right, that comes later. But here, it says that I'm a God who deals with the third and fourth generation. Now watch of those who reject me. Okay here's what's super hard about this. But this goes back to the same sort of reality of Pharaoh Did Pharaoh? I think when we look at God, we're like all human beings are basically innocent and they either choose God I'm on the God team or, they like, from their place of innocence they choose the evil team, and so we're kind of putting everyone in the everyone's generally good category.
Speaker 2:
But we know that even this time that nobody's good.
Speaker 1:
Right, and so everybody rejects God, and so you can't accept God, apart from God giving you a spirit of faith or, sorry, giving you the gift of faith to receive him. And that is also in the Old Testament. So here's how do I know this? Well, I want to contrast Pharaoh with Rahab. You remember Rahab? Yes, she's the lady at Jericho who's the prostitute, who then says hey, all, everyone's fearing, everyone's afraid of you, and we're all gonna die. And she meets the spies, and she hides the spies, and then she ends up being in the line of David, which ends up being the line of Jesus. Right?
Speaker 2:
Rahab.
Speaker 1:
So what's the difference between Rahab and Pharaoh? They both, in a sense, knew that there was a God out there. It's just that Rahab was given the gift of faith to take action and receive help and aid the spies. I think she couldn't do that apart from the spirit of God working in her Right. And so when you talk about ideal with the children of the third and fourth generation of those who reject me, well, they already are rejecting him, and so fair enough, okay, okay, yeah, so I think that's where, anytime we look at like the, it's called like it and we don't know how God will deal with them. We don't know. Yeah, but he does for those who, in showing, covenant faith on us to a thousand generations, those who love me. Well, how does that work? Well, the ones who love him are the ones he chooses he will love, like he gives them the gift of faith and then they respond to him. So I think that. So when I read that passage I don't get like offended by it, like God's unfair Cause. I think sometimes we don't like it. That God's particular meaning he chooses some and he doesn't choose others, Right right. And this is where people go like, yeah, an Armenian camp would say Armenians, just believe that you choose God, god doesn't choose you, and you would go. Well, the God choose the Jewish people. Well, yeah, well, what's the difference? He chose the Jewish people. How could?
Speaker 2:
he not choose. Okay, he chose the people for himself.
Speaker 1:
Right, there we go, all right, taking the Lord's name in vain. Let's kind of move on to that one. How have you heard that from your perspective, just in growing up?
Speaker 2:
When I was younger I was always told don't say, oh, my God, Right. But I also don't fully understand.
Speaker 1:
That's good. So it is that it's taking lightly the name of God, like using as a curse word. That's bad.
Speaker 2:
Like don't say the Lord's name in vain.
Speaker 1:
Have meaning every time you say God's name, okay, like you're allowed to say God, damn it If you're actually thinking that God should be damning, something Like God condenses sin.
Speaker 2:
Oh, but not just like you know, you stumped your toe. Yeah, Don't say God damn it. I stubbed my toe.
Speaker 1:
That's the wrong usage. That's a light usage of God's name and therefore sin. And what I think it's really saying is, you know, when Jesus says don't swear by heaven, for that's his home or that's his throne, and don't swear by earth, for that's his footstool. He's using this like don't take the Lord's name in vain, Cause what happens would do all sorts of swearing by, all sorts of God stuff. Okay, Because they wanted people to really really believe them. You say let your yes be yes and you know, be know, because you're so in the presence of God, cause you are not from this kingdom but of God's kingdom. And I think that's where Jesus was saying when he says let your yes be yes and you know, be know. But he wasn't saying don't ever swear, ever. Like I think it's okay to I swear by an authority higher than me that I'm going to tell the truth, I swear by God in a courtroom or whatever. That's an okay thing to do, because you're saying I'm swearing by the Lord that what I say is true. I'm swearing by a higher authority than me, and I think that's where people struggle. It's like well, what did Jesus say? Never to swear ever. Well, you're not taking the Lord's name in vain if you're truly acting in the presence of God, but you should be so in the presence of God that your yes is yes and your nose know. There's no reason to say this is really true because your word is so true all the time. Okay, Okay, the last one, the Sabbath day. This gets tricky. Let's talk about what. Do you know about this? Remember the Sabbath day to set it apart as holy. For six days you may labor and do all your work, but seven days is Sabbath. To the Lord, your God. On it you shall not do any work.
Speaker 2:
So for the longest time I thought Sabbath day was on Sunday and it's actually not. It's on Saturday, and I think, like they're growing up in a small town, some businesses were closed on Sundays.
Speaker 1:
Right.
Speaker 2:
And I just like you know. And Chick-fil-A is closed on Sunday. Like it's just one of those things, but I yeah, I'd never really known how to celebrate Sabbath. I think over the last like year or so I've learned that like there are Christians that on Saturdays they do nothing but they rest at home. They, you know, maybe the mom like bakes and cooks or they, but they don't like have plans on Saturday. I mean, I don't really, I don't think too much, Right.
Speaker 1:
So it was supposed to be a sign to the rest of the world that they were of God, and God gave them six days to work and one day to rest, whereas I'm sure from their days of slavery that it was work every day. And so what they're doing here is they're saying God gave us this and while the rest of the world is working, we don't. While the rest of the world is striving, we're not.
Speaker 2:
So what is it about Sundays then? Is it just because church is on Sunday, like?
Speaker 1:
I don't-. So in the early church, all the early church worshiped Christ. They would get what the oldest historical records of the early church was that on Sunday they would gather early in the morning, at dawn because that's what time Mary discovered the tomb and saying hymns to Christ as to a God, and that's all that it really says about those early days. And I think it was because they there was something distinct about them that their hope wasn't in the Jewish law which was taught on Saturday. Their hope was in the resurrection which happened on Sunday. Okay, so this is where in Romans 14 and Colossians two, 16, don't get wrapped up in the Sabbath day. But for some people who are Jewish historically, they're like I can't separate my faith from a Sabbath day. And what he says like don't judge those. That person then becomes the weaker brother.
Speaker 2:
You ever see what I'm talking about.
Speaker 1:
Like don't judge the weaker brother who sort of like, if you wreck his Sabbath day, he's not able to fully worship because that is so inclined into worship.
Speaker 2:
Let him worship in that way. Let him let it. It's not that big of a deal. It's like my friend Agatha, and Agatha and Ken they celebrate or they.
Speaker 1:
Your Jewish friends.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, not like celebrate, but they acknowledge Sabbath. They start Friday night and then go until Saturday morning, and so, yeah, it's.
Speaker 1:
Friday and evening to Saturday evening is technically what the Sabbath day is, which is sort of wild, right, so yeah, so what happens on? And that's where, in the Judeo-Christian world, the reason why we ended up with Friday, or sorry, from Saturday off, Sunday off which is wild to think about in comparison to the rest of the world is because they wanted to make sure that they had both those days off so that they didn't screw up, and either you know.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, I mean, is it really that big of a deal?
Speaker 1:
So, jesus, I would say, is our Sabbath day, rest. And so what Colossians too, is like don't let anyone judge you based upon how you value. If you value, every day is holy, or if you value, one day is more holy than another.
Speaker 2:
So Like it's not really like something to argue about.
Speaker 1:
No, no. But if somebody is really like dead set on the Sabbath day, then let them go for it.
Speaker 2:
It doesn't phase you.
Speaker 1:
And I think just what happens. I think in our culture we've gotten away so far from a Sabbath that I think actually bringing it back would be a wise thing.
Speaker 2:
Yeah.
Speaker 1:
And so what Adrian and I do is every, essentially, we shut down Thursday night to Friday night and we kind of make that the Sabbath, and I think what that usually meant is there's no work, so we're not gonna Like from you and her, because the kids still gotta go to school. They go to school, right, they go to school and but, like Saturday is a work day because I'm usually doing, there's usually some church event that's gonna fall on a Saturday, there's always.
Speaker 2:
So Friday you're off work, oh.
Speaker 1:
I didn't know that. Yeah, and so like, if people wanna call me and like wanna, not that that makes them not my friend, but I won't answer it usually, but like Friday.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, that's like your.
Speaker 1:
Saturday I'm just gonna chill and spend time with God, we've got a family. I'm gonna rest and spend time with Adrian and really enjoy the time, spend time with my mom and I think that becomes super important. But it also shows a degree of faithfulness that you're trusting the Lord with everything.
Speaker 2:
Right, you're not like. My job is gonna fall apart if I am off on Fridays.
Speaker 1:
Right, but to be fair, early on in the church we used to take Monday off and it was so hard not to do stuff on Monday because I was always terrified the church would just fall apart.
Speaker 2:
Oh, okay, so you've had to grow in that. Oh, for sure, yeah.
Speaker 1:
Adrian would tell you, I'd be like wrecked by what the numbers were from Sunday to Sunday, or like ecstatic based on what the number was on any given Sunday, so much so that I can pretty much predict how many people are gonna be at church on any given Sunday. It doesn't matter which Sunday is. I can tell you what it is Because I know the history so well and I have to really overcome that sort of like oh wow, putting my own personal value in numbers, yeah, and I think what happens when I do that? Then Adrian feels like, oh, I'm not a very good wife If I am not helping achieve the numbers or whatever, because he gets down.
Speaker 2:
So therefore I so I need to help him. Yeah, and I so that becomes problematic.
Speaker 1:
So I've grown a ton in that, but it's still something I have to sort of like overcome. It's not like you don't want to know how many people you have, because numbers are based.
Speaker 2:
But you don't want to make that your obsession. But you don't want to make that your obsession. Yeah, no, I get it. That's how I can become an idolatrous.
Speaker 1:
If anything that isn't the Lord is your focus, then that is not, that's an idol in your life. And I think one of the things I've said in the past is if whatever you think about when you're not thinking about anything is really where your mind drifts toward, that's the thing that you usually can kind of creep, that can be an idol in your life. And so for me that back in the day it used to be like the numbers, oh no, and I would just strive and strive as opposed to rest in the Lord. And so now I feel like in my quiet times of the Lord, I'm not thinking about the numbers, I'm not thinking about oh man, I was offensive, or that thing that I said at that party was not no, that wasn't good. You know, I'll have to repent of that or whatever.
Speaker 2:
You know what I?
Speaker 1:
mean Because I didn't want to. I came off like a jerk and I didn't even mean that. I was trying to be funny and it wasn't funny.
Speaker 2:
You know how that goes. Yeah, yeah, I get it.
Speaker 1:
And so I think that's how you kind of grow in that. But yeah, so to the whole point of like I do think a Sabbath rest is so valuable and I think what happens with the business of our schedules. And you know, with us, with four kids, every day is busy. So tell me about with you with one, do you still feel that same weight of busyness?
Speaker 2:
I don't know that. It's busy Okay.
Speaker 1:
Yeah.
Speaker 2:
And I've always leaned towards not busy. Yeah, like I don't find any joy in doing that and being busy, or I don't feel any worth in being busy, like that's not where I, that's not the camp I fall into.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, I'm definitely of that camp.
Speaker 2:
I choose the non-busy life. How do you?
Speaker 1:
talk to me about, like the non-busy camp, like what is what goes on through your mind? Is it like I'm just present wherever I am?
Speaker 2:
or I just yeah. And if something is causing our weeks to feel busy or if something is like causing our life at that time to feel busy, that is Like because there's a busy in ministry. I think like sometimes, when you're in ministry, that's just the season.
Speaker 1:
Right.
Speaker 2:
Like it's just boom, boom, boom, like. But I do think it's okay to say you know what, I'm gonna rest and I'm gonna clear this schedule because it's taking away from family. If it's taking away from motherhood, if it's taking away from marriage and if it's taking away from me feeling like a daughter instead of a doer, then I just I'm like, no, I don't need it Something, even right that, dad.
Speaker 1:
if you're feeling like a, if you're not feeling like a daughter and you're feeling like a doer, then something's wrong. That's awesome.
Speaker 2:
I just like I hit a point in my life where I'm like I don't need to. I don't need to be busy and be in all the things and go to all the things and meet with all the people to feel like I'm doing anything for God. That's not where my worth is. And so I've found so much joy in a slower, more intentional life than in, like, attending all the things or serving in all the ways. And I've had to really like, because there was a time recently where I was like, well, if I step away from this ministry, then you know what am I gonna fill it with? Like I was talking to Ryan and I was like, what if I stop? If I kind of stop doing this? Then, like, I need to do something, I need to do another thing, and he's like no, you don't need to like, you're already serving. I was like you don't need to like you don't need to find another thing to do, cause you have plenty. Like you can be intentional and investing in where you are and the things that God has you in, and you don't have to think of more to do that's great.
Speaker 1:
Wow, I think I'll go home on that one. That's awesome. I love that. I think that resonates with me Be a daughter, not a doer. That's awesome. I think, if there's anyone here listening like, you need to share that, like, put that on your Instagram be a daughter not a doer.
Speaker 2:
I didn't mean for that to, like you know, sound as good as it did.
Speaker 1:
No, it's really good, but that's rest like you know, as a son of God, a son of the father, I'm not there, isn't striving, it's just like he commands the earth, the world, all the things to happen, and I can just rest in that. And that's really what the Sabbath day was to remind the people of God. It was a sign to the rest of the world. We don't strive like you guys do. We are different.
Speaker 2:
And you don't want to put a smugness on that. It's like you guys stink.
Speaker 1:
But the reality was they didn't have to work like the rest of the world worked. And now, in this day and age, we rest in Jesus. We don't have to work like the rest of the world works. Where my value is in what I achieve and not who I am. Awesome Way to go.
Speaker 2:
Well, I mean, it was really the only reason I that like came to mind was because it was really hard when we transitioned from we were deacons we were community group shepherds. we were serving in, like, multiple areas. We were attending all the things and, granted, this was before Ava, so we were both. We didn't have kids. But whenever I stepped out of those roles, I like felt like my identity was crushed, like I had no idea who I was. I had no idea if I was even worth anything to the church. And that's when I started to finally question where is my heart in, like, where's my heart in serving, where is my heart in like being in these, having these titles or these roles, and so, like that whole next year, which happened to be 2020, so you know plenty of time to sit and think about your life. That's kind of when I realized, like I don't need all of that, like that's not your identity is in Jesus.
Speaker 1:
Yes, and then you serve and, being a daughter, clearly you serve the church, by living on mission in your home, you bless the people where you live, work and play. You serve children's ministry and you are in a community group and I think that's a beautiful. Just like you're in community, you're serving, you're living on mission. And I think sometimes people don't recognize that that is the call of the Lord, and so I think they can over not busy themselves by filling their time up with something else, like a million shows or something as opposed to. I'm gonna be intentional with my time, which sounds like you've really jumped into an intentionality there.
Speaker 2:
What are your priorities? What are the priorities that God has put in your life right now, that's great.
Speaker 1:
Hey, listen. Thanks so much for watching. We would love. If you got any questions. Make sure you text us at 737-231-06-05. And we would love to hear from you and on anything about faith, culture, everything in between. We love your questions and we love to give you answers. So, from our house to yours, have an awesome week of worship.
