July 19, 2009 Pastor Tim Pusey

LIVE AND LET LIVE!
Deuteronomy 5:17

Apparently, some people in America today consider the Ten Commandments dangerous. Put them up at work, or in a classroom, or at the courthouse, and someone will insist that they be taken down. There was a recent cartoon that depicted two public school administrators watching a line of students pass through a metal detector as they entered the school building. “It’s the latest in school safety devices,” one of them explained. “That light and horn go off if a student tries to smuggle in a gun, a knife, a bomb or a copy of the Ten Commandments.”

Which commandments stir the controversy? I suppose most all of them. People have problem with the first commandment that says we aren’t to have any other gods. They don’t share the same opinion as the Fourth Commandment, which commands one day every seven to be a day of rest and worship—so they discredit it. Sexual sin is so tempting and so common that they can’t buy into the seventh commandment regarding adultery.

Perhaps the only commandment everyone still seems to accept is Number Six. No one approves of murder. It’s so contrary to the laws of nature that most every culture has some kind of law against it. But when we look closely at the Sixth Commandment and try to understand its many facets and dimensions, we’d have to agree that it’s not as easy as we first thought it was.

So let’s look at this Sixth Commandment this morning. It’s one of the shortest biblical texts you’ll ever hear from me—but there is a lot to unpack from the four words of Deuteronomy 5:17. Read it with me—
You must not murder. (Deuteronomy 5:17, NLT)
The New International Version of the Bible, as well as several other translations, say, “You shall not murder.” The paraphrase of scripture called The Message simply says, “No murder.” There are actually only two words to this commandment in the original Hebrew language (“lo ratzach”) that we might translate simply, “Don’t kill.”

The foundation for this commandment is in the Creation story, in which God made man in His own image. What makes life so precious is that every human being is made in God’s image. God has put His stamp on every one of us the way a great artist signs his name to a work of art. Therefore, to willfully destroy a life is to deface one of God’s masterpieces. We are to love our neighbor. Our neighbor bears the image of God—so to harm that person in any way is to do violence to the person of God imaged in that person’s soul.

The Sixth Commandment—“You must not murder”—preserves the sanctity of human life. It honors and preserves God’s sovereignty over life and death. Christ is the Lord of life. He is its Author and Inventor, its Ruler and Sustainer. Since He is the Giver of Life, it is also His prerogative to take it, and to do so at His own time and in His own way. The sovereignty of God is always at stake in matters of life and death. Since the day when Cain, in hatred and envy, struck and killed his own brother Abel, murder has splashed its blood into every corner of society. It is considered throughout Scripture and in most all societies as a serious sin. It is listed in the Ten Commandments with the resounding “Thou shalt not!” Only God can give life. And only God has the right to take it away!

It is obvious, though, in the Old Testament, that this was not a prohibition against all killing—only unauthorized killing. So what kind of killing does the Bible have in mind when we’re boldly commanded, “You must not murder”? The Hebrew language has at least eight different words for “killing,” and the one used in this commandment has obviously been chosen carefully. The Hebrew word chosen is never used in the legal system or in the military. There are other Hebrew words for the execution of a death sentence or for the kind of killing a soldier does in combat. Nor is the Hebrew word used in the Sixth Commandment ever used for hunting and killing animals. Murder is clearly what the Sixth Commandment is forbidding.

Murder is the premeditated taking of an innocent life, the deliberate killing of a personal enemy. While the Hebrew word used in the Sixth Commandment can also be used for any form of wrongful death, including involuntary manslaughter or an unintentional, accidental death, Deuteronomy 4:42 instructed the establishment of “Cities of Refuge” to which persons could flee if they find themselves the unintentional cause of someone else’s death. In other words, there was forgiveness and redemption for someone who unintentionally causes the death of another. What the Sixth Commandment forbids is the willful and unjust taking of an innocent human life. “You must not murder.”

God’s people have generally recognized that there are some situations where taking a life is not only permitted, but warranted. One such situation is self-defense—the protection of one’s self and one’s family from violent attack. To extent the principle, we may also kill in the defense of our nation. Those of you who have fought in wars know that war is a horrible thing and we’d all agree that war should be fought rarely—but we must grapple with the reality that war must sometimes be fought to avoid greater horrors.

Some would not agree. After the horrific attack on the World Trade Center in New York City, some people said, “If we kill as a response to this tragedy, we’re no better than the terrorists who attacked us.” They conclude, “Killing is killing, and killing is wrong.” But however one might come to that conclusion, we can’t easily it’s a biblical conclusion. The Bible teaches that it is not unlawful to kill enemies in wartime, provided that the war is just.

Of course, the justice of a war needs to be considered carefully. It seems that there is a clear line between an aggressor nation and one which is fighting to preserve itself or is defending its neighbor. Just as we ought to defend our own family from aggravated attack, so we ought to defend our country. But if we are a nation that goes to war seeking to gain political and social power over others, then we are wrong. If we are seeking to protect ourselves or others, then there seems to be justification for war.

Some people have tried to use this commandment in an attempt to do away with capital punishment. But God Himself set the death penalty for those who violate this very commandment. In Genesis 9:6, we read the words of the Lord, saying,
“Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man.” (Genesis 9:6)
Beyond that, Israelite law specifically required taking the life of an enemy during warfare (1 Samuel 15:3). Of course it’s always wrong for us to take the law into our own hands. If justice is to be done, the plaintiff may not serve as the jury, the judge, and the executioner! According to Scripture, capital punishment—when it is justly administered by the governing authorities—is lawful. There may be support for getting rid of capital punishment, but we can’t base it on this commandment.

Some try to use this commandment to say that we should never kill animals. But this commandment in its original language is not forbidding the killing of animals for food and for other practical reasons. In Bible times, animals were killed for sacrifice daily in the Temple. Animals have served as a food source for people throughout the ages. Animals were put here for man’s use and control. We are naturally indignant when we hear reports of senseless cruelty to animals, but those who want to say that animals should not be killed for food will have to find support someplace other than in this commandment. The Hebrew word used in this commandment does not refer to killing animals!

This commandment is clearly to protect the sanctity of human life. The follower of Jesus Christ is not to willfully take the life of another person. Only God gives life, and only He is to take life. Taking another person’s life is a violation of God’s law—His divine plan—for humanity.

But why would this Sixth Commandment need to be emphasized to a civilized nation and particularly to a congregation of people who have gathered in church this morning?

I was surprised in realizing that every church I have served has been hit tragically by a blatant violation of this Sixth Commandment. In San Jose, California, a dear friend of ours in the church, who had a baby born about the same time as our twin daughters were born, was murdered in her own home. In the small town of Galion, Ohio, the guy who ran our sound board for most of our years there—the son of prominent members in our church—was arrested and later convicted on attempted murder charges. When I arrived to pastor the Bedford, Ohio Church, the congregation was still reeling from the reality of one of their dear old saints being murdered by a former prisoner whom she was endeavoring to help. I hadn’t been in Kansas City but six months when a teenager who had sat in our pews weeks before was raped and murdered. Before we left Kansas City, I found myself standing beside one of our dear ladies as she faced a press conference after her mentally-disturbed brother went on a shooting spree, killing three people at a local mall before the police shot and killed him. We’re not untouched by violations of the Sixth Commandment!

The truth is that we are living in what Pope John Paul II rightfully called “a culture of death.” We like to think of America as a civilized country, but we are living in angry, violent times, and murder in all of its forms are all too common. There is such callous disregard for human life. Death is everywhere. The United States ranks first among all civilized countries in the number of murders committed every year. The news covers reports of murders every day. And it’s not just in the obviously dark corners of the cities where it’s happening or in faraway countries in complete turmoil—it’s happening in the nice parts of town, it’s happening in our schools and even in our churches.

Can I tell you something? As I studied and researched for this message this morning, I began to feel like I was dealing with something deeply evil and sinister. And what disturbed me most was the reality that in our culture today we are being drawn into violation of the Sixth Commandment in the most subtle, deceptive ways.

Where does all this violence come from? It comes from evil hearts that have turned away from God. And the rapid spread of this brutality has been accelerated by violence in the media, where seemingly an entire industry promotes the breaking of the Sixth Commandment. According to the American Psychological Association, by the time the average child finishes elementary school, he or she will have watched 8,000 televised murders and 100,000 acts of on-screen violence! Television, movies and video games treat violence as a form of entertainment—and we’re fooling ourselves if we think it’s not impacting the way we live.

Of course, not all forms of murder seem violent. Sometimes death caries a clipboard and wears a lab coat. In a recent book called “Culture of Death,” Wesley Smith argues that “a small but influential group of philosophers and health-care policy makers” actively seek to persuade our culture that “killing is beneficent, suicide is rational, natural death is undignified, and caring properly and compassionately for people who are elderly, prematurely born, disabled, despairing, or dying is a burden that wastes emotional and financial resources.” And I need you to understand that such a position is a direct assault on the biblical view of personhood. It’s this thinking that has convinced many that some lives are less worth living than others, that in fact some lives are not worth living at all. And the result is that abortion, euthanasia and assisted suicide are increasingly common. In some cases, they are protected by law—but they are still violations of the Sixth Commandment.

Christians have always believed than an unborn child is a person made in the very likeness of God—because it’s what the Bible teaches. The Psalmist wrote these powerful words of praise to God—
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. (Psalm 139:13-16)
Mary’s old cousin Elizabeth spoke of the baby in her womb leaping for joy at the sound of Mary’s voice, knowing that Mary was carrying in her womb the Christ-child. I have never been around an expecting mother who did not acknowledge that the baby she was carrying was already a real person. To kill such an innocent life is a violation of the law of God.

What is true of the unborn is also true of all God’s children. The young and the helpless, the elderly, diseased and disabled—we are all made in the image and likeness of God. Every life is precious in His sight. And it is not our place to discard the life of another.

Let’s talk about euthanasia—the intentional ending of a patient’s life by a physician, usually by lethal injection. God alone is the Lord of life, and He alone has the right to determine when it is time for someone to die. The difficulty is that we now have the medical capacity to keep a body functioning long after that time has come. This raises more ethical questions than we can address this morning. I’m convinced that we do not always have a duty to provide extraordinary measures to keep someone alive. Philip Graham Ryken, in the book Written in Stone, wrote—
There is a legitimate moral distinction between killing and allowing someone who is terminally ill to die. In other words, there is a difference between terminating life—which is never permissible—and terminating treatment—which can be a way of turning life (and thus also death) back over to God. (Philip Graham Ryken)
Then he goes on to say—
But this calls for constant vigilance, because many people (including many health professionals) don’t know the difference, and thus they often cross the line that should never be crossed.

We also need to talk about suicide. I’m told that it’s the 11th leading cause of death in the United States in recent years. I heard this week that Idaho is among the Top Ten states in our country for suicide rates—not exactly something we can be proud of.

Several years ago, in my pastorate in Bedford, Ohio, we had a family connected with our church for whom I did three funerals within 15 months—two young-adult sons and their mother, all the result of suicide. Six years later the father died of what I believe was an intentionally suicidal overdose of alcohol. It was all so tragic. These were intelligent, gifted people. Not only is suicide a violation of God’s law for the protection of life, including our own, but what I’ve observed across the years is that suicide is the cruelest thing a person can do to those who love him or her.

God has not given us the right to kill ourselves. To commit suicide is to claim lordship over our own lives—and while “lordship over our own lives” may sound politically correct and culturally sound, it is not biblical, nor is it the path to God’s best for us. Physician-assisted suicide, in which a doctor becomes an accessory to his patient’s suicide, is especially dangerous, because voluntary euthanasia too easily goes the way of the slippery slide to that which is involuntary. This has happened in the Netherlands, where most of the requests for the so-called “mercy killings” do not come from the patients themselves but from their families, who no longer want to take care of them.

I’ve been reading a novel by Randy Alcorn called Deadline, and came across an interesting statement made by a heavenly being who was helping a newcomer to heaven understand some of the ways of earth. He said,
You come from a world where truth is obscured, shrouded, reinterpreted. The father of lies dominates, and the world order has become built around lies, which are mistaken for truths because the majority believe them, as if the universe were a democracy and truth subject to a vote. Men choose to believe certain things because they find them flattering, comfortable, and popular. But truth is seldom any of these. They choose to disbelieve other things because they are unflattering, uncomfortable, and unpopular. But none of these have any relevance to the question of truth. (Randy Alcorn)
And I thought about the Sixth Commandment, and the subtle yet devastating ways in which it is violated in our world today, and the ways in which the violation of it is sugar-coated and promoted in the media.

Well, I can’t end this message without going to the words of Jesus from the Sermon on the Mount, where He not only validated the Sixth Commandment, but brought new meaning to it. We like to think of the Sixth Commandment as one that few of us have violated, but in Matthew 5, we read the words of Jesus—
You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, “Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.” But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. (Matthew 5:21-22)

Jesus is saying that the commandment covers attitudes as well as actions. We must understand that words can kill. They kill the spirit of others. I’m guessing if we were to go around this room today, and share openly and honestly with one another, we would hear from lots of people how someone’s cruel words killed something deep within them. Jesus is saying that when we put people down, when we call people cruel names, when we whisper about their reputations, or when we make unkind prejudicial statements, we are destroying the lives of those for whom Christ gave His life. Jesus is saying that we must never hurt or destroy others even by our words or our attitudes toward them. Hatred destroys—it destroys us from within; but it also destroys those whom we hate.

As I studied all of this throughout this week, I was reminded that Christ has called His followers to a life of holiness. We’re not to simply not take the life of someone else…we’re called to protect life! We’re called to care for others—even our enemies! It’s a high road—and one that none of us will be able to live out without the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. But Jesus not only died for our sins, He also sent to us the Holy Spirit to abide with us all the days of our lives—our Counselor, our Guide. Oh, how we need His guidance and His strength to discern between right and wrong and to live out the kind of life to which we as followers of Christ have been called!

I’m reminded of the story of the Good Samaritan. You might go back and read it this afternoon—from Luke 10. An expert in the Jewish law had come to Jesus asking what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus asked the man what the law said, and the man gave him a quick summary of the Ten Commandments—
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind”; and “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Luke 10:27)
Jesus affirmed the answer, and then the man asked, “And who is my neighbor.” That’s when Jesus broke into the story we know as The Good Samaritan. A man had been robbed and beaten and left to die along the road. A priest and then a religious leader came upon the man, and chose to keep going rather than respond to the man’s needs. But a Samaritan—a man from a group of people that most Jews treated prejudicially—came upon the man, and addressed his physical needs, taking him to where he could be nursed back to health, even taking care of the tab for the man’s recovery. Jesus then made it clear that this man was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers. Then Jesus told the man who had asked him the question to go and do likewise.

In other words, this is what love is—it’s living out the exact opposite of that which would be a violation of the Sixth Commandment! Though we live in a culture of death, we are to be pro-active in protecting life! We are called upon to be the hero of Jesus’ Good Samaritan story—to help those who are not able to help themselves! Love is the oil that smoothes troubled waters. Love is the first Fruit of the Holy Spirit’s presence in our lives.

I’ll confess that this is the first of the Ten Commandment sermons that I have struggled to cover adequately in one timely message. There’s so much for us to work our way through! There’s so much for us to sort through and to endeavor to see through the eyes of the Lord—rather than merely through the lenses of the culture in which we live. The Lord wants us to rise above our culture. His way has always been a higher road—and it certainly is so when it comes to the Sixth Commandment—You must not murder.

And what if you’re sadly aware this morning that you have violated this commandment in some way? May I remind you of the mercy and forgiveness of the Lord? May I remind you that God not only wants to forgive you—and help you forgive yourself—but the experience of millions throughout the ages is that He has a wonderful way of redeeming our lives and the messes we make of our lives.

Let me close with this. My friend Kathy Cagg is the woman whose mentally-ill brother went on the shooting spree at Ward Parkway Mall in Kansas City just a few years ago—killing three before the police shot and killed him, which was apparently what he was wanting and expecting to have happen. His sister was devastated. Three months later, I got a call from one of the victim’s mother. Her name was Caroline. Caroline explained that her young adult daughter was killed by David Logsdon at the mall, and she had noted from the press release that Kathy was a member of our church. Caroline wanted to meet Kathy, and wondered if I’d be willing to help facilitate it. Kathy was thrilled to do so, but understandably nervous. They met first with me in my office. Interestingly enough, they both brought gifts to one another—Caroline bringing a necklace that had belonged to her daughter. What happened that afternoon and in the months that followed was the establishment of an endearing friendship. Caroline began coming to our church with Kathy. Caroline helped Kathy work through her own anger and fear issues relating to her brother. They found help and encouragement and support in one another—in one of the most redemptive relationships I have ever witnessed.

God’s Word is clear regarding how we are to treat life—our own as well as the lives of others. The stories of the violation of the Sixth Commandment are some of the most tragic, heart-breaking life-stories I have witnessed first-hand in my life. We need to take His Word seriously, because He clearly has our best interest at heart. But when we fail, we also need to know that as long as we have breath, we can seek and find the forgiveness of the God who loves us more than we can begin to imagine.