The Least Broken Commandment?

The Least Broken Commandment?

The Eighth Sunday after Trinity

The Transfiguration of Christ

Collect for the Eighth after Trinity: O God, whose never-failing providence ordereth all things both in heaven and earth; We humbly beseech thee to put away from us all hurtful things, and to give us those things which are profitable for us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Collect for the Transfiguration of Christ: O God, who on the mount didst reveal to chosen witnesses thine only-begotten Son wonderfully transfigured, in raiment white and glistening; Mercifully grant that we, being delivered from the disquietude of this world, may be permitted to behold the King in his beauty, who with thee, O Father, and thee, O Holy Ghost, liveth and reigneth, one God, world without end. Amen

Homily Text: Thou shalt do no murder. Exodus 20:13 (BCP, p. 87)

A young man, who was rich and the lay leader of the local synagogue, asked Jesus, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus answered, “If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” The man asked, “Which ones?” Jesus replied, “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness,  Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  The man replied, “All these I have kept from my youth.” He was confident he had lived by all the Commandments.

You and I know ourselves better. But, if we were asked to pick just one commandment we have not broken, which would it be? I expect the one most of us would name is the 6^th, “Thou shalt not kill.”

1.  Thou Shalt Not Murder

·        The commandment, “Thou shalt not kill” is based on the uniqueness of human life. Many deny that there is anything unique about human life that sets it apart from other forms of life, especially the higher primates. We are just a little higher on the evolutionary chain of development.

But God puts an absolute line of distinction between humans and all other forms of life. Genesis 1 tells us:

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

                                    So God created man in his own image                                            in the image of God he created him;
                                   male and female he created them.

             

              Genesis 2 tells us about the special creation of man:

                         … the Lord God formed the man of dust from the                              ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of                          life, and the man became a living creature. 

Human life is unique] because God made humans in his own image by an act of special creation and gave them rule over the rest of creation.

·        That is the context for the commandment, “Thou shalt not kill.” But what does “Thou shall not kill mean”? Some take it as an absolute prohibition of all killing, including the hunting and slaughtering of animals for food. More take it as an absolute prohibition of all intentional taking of human life.

o   Recently we watched the movie “Hacksaw Ridge.” It is based on the true story during WW II of Desmond Doss from Lynchburg. He was the first conscientious objector to win the Medal of Honor. He was a Medic, and, when his battalion retreated, he remained alone among the wounded on Hacksaw Ridge. He is credited with rescuing 75 wounded soldiers. Doss was a patriotic man who joined the Army, but he was also a Seventh Day Adventist, and would not carry a rifle nor take any action that could kill the enemy. As he understood it, when the Bible says, “Thou shalt not kill,” it means no one could intentionally take another life, not even in war.  

o   But he was clearly wrong. After the flood, God knew that the flood had not cured the problem of sin and that violence would continue, so God himself commanded the taking of human life to protect human life from murderers:

And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man.

“Whoever sheds the blood of man,
       by man shall his blood be shed,
for God made man in his own image.”

The Hebrew word translated “kill” is one of nine words the Hebrew language uses that means “to kill.” The translation in the Prayer Book, “Thou shalt do no murder,” is correct. The commandment does not forbid taking of human life in self-defense, nor as a soldier in war, nor as a policeman or prison official to protect the public and execute justice.

o   The commandment requires us to do everything necessary and possible to protect human life. It forbids us to do anything unjust that would lead to the taking of human life. It forbids physically attacking or murdering another person. We may not intentionally take a human life without justifiable cause, or kill a person in rage or by carelessness or recklessness.

·        The 6^th Commandment speaks to two contemporary issues?

o   Abortion and Infanticide. It is evident to anyone who believes in the sanctity of human life that actively aborting a baby in late pregnancy or passively allowing a just born baby to die. Unfortunately there are many, who in the interests of a “woman’s right to choose,” believe it is a mother’s right to end the life of her child about to be born, or even already born, for any reason she deems right.

What about early abortion? The reason we cannot approve abortion even in early pregnancy is that we cannot make any reasonable distinction between the just fertilized ovum and the full-term child. The fact that women mourn miscarriages is powerful proof that we have an intuitive sense that a baby is a human life at any stage of development.

o   Euthanasia, Assisted Suicide, and Suicide. There is increasing pressure today for society, particularly the medical profession, to determine when a human life is not worth living. It is one thing artificially to prolong death when there is no hope of recovery. It is another thing to ration legitimate medical care, to withhold treatment because the person’s life is not considered of sufficient value to prolong it, or to enable a patient who does not want to live to end his or her own life.

      

To sum up: The 6^th Commandment forbids all unjust taking of human life.

2.  Thou shalt not hate.

·        We might think so far that we are in the clear. We have never murdered anyone, and we are pro-life from conception till natural death. But then we find that Jesus has something to say about the 6^th Commandment.

You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison.  Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny (Matthew 5:21-26).

·         Jesus confronted the contemporary consensus understanding of the 6^th Commandment which was: If you do not engage in physical violence that could lead to death or unjustly cause the death of a human being you have kept the Commandment. But Jesus challenges that understanding. He does two things:(1) He deepens the Commandment by going inside to the heart, and (2) he broadens the Commandment by looking at the implications of the Commandment for daily life. He teaches 4 things:

o   Malice, hatred, and anger in our hearts break the 6^th Commandment. Yes, there is righteous hatred and anger. God has them perfectly. Sometimes we may have that kind of hatred and anger when faced with great evil such as terrorism or government corruption.  But, most of our malice, hatred, and anger are personal. We have those things in our hearts because someone has hurt and offended us in some way.

o   When we speak angry, insulting, demeaning words to another person, we break the 6^th Commandment. Murder is wrong because it is an attack on a person made in God’s image. Angry, insulting, and demeaning words are also attacks on a person made in God’s image.

o   Resolving problems you have caused with another person takes precedence over worship. If you have done something wrong that hurt and offended another person so that there is estrangement between the two of you, go fix it, then come to church.

o   When you have a dispute with another person, do all you can to resolve it quickly and informally, so that there is no permanent estrangement between you and your adversary.

·        What Jesus is doing is calling our attention to something that was already said in the Old Testament, that goes to the heart, but we tend to forget or repress. God’s Law tells you not only what you must not do, but what you must do in your relationships with others: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

I am afraid that, far from being the one Commandment we have kept, the 6^th Commandment may be the one we break most often. We’re all murderers according to Jesus. But here’s the good news: Jesus died for sinners. Even we murderers may be forgiven if we trust in the sacrificed Body and shed Blood of Jesus.