Life, Death and the Law

It is rare to hear a reference to the Ten Commandments in Anglican communion services now, or at least in the Anglican parish where I attend church. As with so much in the Anglican church, they have been oh so politely ignored in the hope that they would disappear without disturbance. Because the Ten Commandments are disturbing. In Romans 7, Paul ties himself in knots trying to explain that the law is death, or . . . or . . .  or perhaps a sort of life, or well, something to do with sin perhaps but, anyway, not at all a Jesus sort of life!
     I suspect Paul meant well. Fortunately the gospel of Matthew records Jesus as saying:​

Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. For I tell you truly, until heaven and earth pass away, not a single jot, not a stroke of a pen, will disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. So then, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do likewise will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever practices and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:17-19)

     Well, that's pretty alarming, especially as I do not keep the entire Mosaic code. As God has so far called me to keep only the Ten Commandments, I try to avoid thinking about the jots and tittles, but I do take this text to mean that the Ten Commandments at least - if not the full quiver of 603 laws - are very much to do with a Jesus sort of life.
     God has shown me again and again that the Ten Commandments support life, not death. Even without years of personal experience of this truth, I would anyway struggle to accept that God brought the Israelites out of the land of Egypt and the house of slavery - brought them into freedom, holy covenant and the promise of nationhood - only to shackle them to death. No, the Ten Commandments are the laws of life; they are a very precious gift - a blessing, not a burden.
​