Second Presbyterian Church

"So Many Ways to Kill: The 6^th Commandment"
May 18, 2003

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Sermons Homepage » Sermons for 2003 » Sermons for May 2003

#7 in the Series on The Ten Commandments
The Rev. Daniel E. Hale, D. Min.

• Exodus 20: 13
• Ephesians 4: 25-27, 31-32
• Matthew 5: 21-26

I am reminded of an interview that a radio correspondent had with Ruth Graham, the wife of Evangelist, Billy Graham. He asked her, "Did you ever consider divorcing Dr. Graham?" She replied, "Never, it never crossed my mind; murder crossed my mind once or twice, but never divorce!" I appreciate Mrs. Graham's humor and candor. Because we know that sometimes in our life we get angry - sometimes livid - with those whom we love very much. And, I believe that it is important for us to understand how being angry with someone can be a form of murder, too. It just isn't necessarily literal murder.

So, the commandment under consideration today is the 6^th Commandment. It reads, "You shall not murder." Four simple words, translated from two Hebrew words. And yet the complexity of the situation about not murdering is surprising. I want to touch upon the original intent of the 6^th Commandment. I shall mention how Christians have understood it. And I have some thoughts about how the 6^th Commandment needs to speak to us, as Christians who are living in a culture that no longer aligns itself with the values of the Christian Church.

The original intent of the 6^th Commandment is simply this. You were liable to punishment if you murdered another human being. The LORD states in an emphatic manner, "You shall not murder." There are, however, notable exceptions in the ancient Hebrew understanding of this commandment. First of all the 6^th Commandment did not include the killing that was involved when the people were at war with another nation. Killing that resulted from a war that was declared by the government was not considered murder. The second exception is when a government executes a convicted criminal. That execution is not considered murder. So, regardless of whether you agree with these two exceptions, the original intent of the 6^th Commandment included neither killing in war nor capital punishment.

Historically the Christian church understood the 6^th Commandment in essentially the same manner as the Hebrews understood it. You shall not murder, but war and capital punishment were excluded.

Yet there is an additional meaning that was placed upon this commandment by Jesus and the early church. Let me explain. Jesus, according to Matthew, was explaining to the crowds how the righteousness that is obtained from obeying the Law had to be much more profound than the righteousness of just literally keeping it. When one stops to consider the words of Jesus they can be pretty startling. First of all, if you get angry with a brother or sister (and that means a fellow church member), then you are vulnerable to receiving judgment. Secondly, if you say to someone, "you fool," then you are in danger of experiencing the fires of Hell! These are not easy words to hear. Because who hasn't been angry with a fellow church member? Who hasn't secretly, or not so secretly, wished harm upon a fellow church member? Who, among us, has not said, "you fool," or some equivalent that has the same purpose, to put the other person down, to inflict harm upon them?

Jesus, in other words, succeeds in increasing the sense and the intent of the 6^th Commandment (as well as others) from actual behavior to our inner thoughts and feelings, some of which we can fairly successfully hide from one another. But we cannot hide them from God. God knows our every thought and feeling. Perhaps that is why Paul, in our Ephesians lesson, begins with encouraging us to put away falsehood and to speak the truth with one another. Why do this? Paul uses the analogy of our bodies. If our bodies' neurological system does not relay accurate signals within us, we could well be in a lot of trouble. Multiple Sclerosis is just one example. The body's immune system can no longer receive accurate signals as to what is part of the body and what is not part of the body. When that happens the immune system actually attacks the nerve linings themselves. When we cannot accurately tell one another what is true, then we become very unclear as to what is, or is not, good for us! Speaking the truth, however, must be done from a context of love. Speaking the truth without the love of Jesus Christ is just using the truth as a weapon to attack a fellow Christian and put them down. It is another way of saying to that person, "you fool!"

One note about Jesus' understanding, or the Christian understanding of "You shall not murder." Too often people are afraid to acknowledge how angry they are, or have become, because they believe that God will punish them for their murderous thoughts. If this fear continues it actually creates the very phenomenon that people should try to avoid: storing up anger inside, allowing it to build up. If this is not changed the unacknowledged anger becomes bitterness and hatred. Bitterness and hatred are nothing but angry feelings that have been allowed to hang around too long in our hearts and have become putrid and rancid. This situation can literally shorten a person's life, and perhaps that is part of the liability to judgment about which Jesus is referring!

Yet, the problem remains; what are we to do when we find ourselves angry and experiencing murderous thoughts about a fellow Christian, or two? Paul is helpful here. He states, "Be angry, but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger and do not make room for the devil." In other words, Deal with your anger! Work it through. Find ways to express your feelings to the person who offended you!

I shall give another clue: Anger is almost always a feeling that is derived from another feeling. When we become angry with someone, chances are very good that that person hurt us in some manner, or put us down (or so we felt) in some way. In fact it could well have been unintentional! Doesn't matter, if it hurt us, it hurt us and we tend to move on to feeling angry with the person who hurt us. To deal with our anger means that we are choosing to work it through (not let the sun go down on it) so that it doesn't rot and putrefy into bitterness. So that it doesn't become a rancid poison that eats away at our lives.

Finally I would like to say some words about our cultural context and how the 6^th Commandment relates to it. If we take seriously the fact that murder can be in forms other than just physical, then we can see how the 6^th Commandment desperately needs to be heard! Our society has become increasingly violent and abusive. A day does not go by that we do not experience, or witness some aspect of violence. In Chicago, there were teenagers who were mauling fellow teenagers! There is the Mother in Texas who killed two of her sons, and severely injuring the third son. Almost every day we hear of another murder, break-in or rape has taken place in our region. Regardless of the official statistics about lower incidence of crime, murder, rape and robbery, one is one too many!

And I am totally disgusted with the amount of violence that has creeped into the media. It seems as if the TV shows and movies work diligently to create new themes of human depravity as it is expressed in violence against fellow humans and nature! Nothing is too violent to be put on TV and the movie screens! Even the latest blockbuster, The Matrix Reloaded, appears to be one action sequel after another of violence.

By way of the media our children who watch TV are exposed to thousands of murders, rapes, assaults, fights, rough language and acted out hatred in their vulnerable years of development. Even the so-called G rated movies produced by Disney are loaded with violence: The Lion King, Simba's father gets murdered and he is framed. In Mulan there are major scenes of battle. Even in Snow White the witch scenes are downright scary.

Let me describe another disturbing trend. It was noted that during WW I and II that most of the soldiers in battle shot over the heads of the enemy. They could not bear to aim at another human being and shoot him. The analysts noted this during WWII and began to train soldiers to kill more effectively by creating targets that were shaped like people. The soldiers practiced on the human shaped targets. The soldiers in the Korean Conflict "benefited" from this training and the percentage of soldiers who aimed at the enemy significantly increased. By the time of the Vietnamese War the vast majority of the soldiers were capable of aiming to kill while in a firefight. Now here is the disturbing part. Many of the arcade and video games are set up so that the players are shooting at human shaped targets. Children are spending hours shooting at human shaped forms. They are receiving exactly the same kind of mental conditioning and training that our soldiers receive when they are being conditioned to kill human beings!

We are, in effect, training our children how to murder and we are teaching them that it is fun and exciting! Indeed we are teaching our children that it is the way to solve problems! Is there any wonder that we now have to worry about guns, and other forms of violence in our school?

Don't get me wrong; perhaps violence in the media is not the only reason for the school shootings and other acts of violence that happen. I am not claiming that is the only reason. But it contributes! Especially the interactive media that "teaches" our children to shoot at human targets contributes to the violence in our culture. Surely the almost continuous exposure to violence and how violence is the preferable mode for solving a problem contributes to the increasing violent context of our society.

As Christians who take seriously the commandment to not murder, we must respond to this explosion of violence. It has created a far more dangerous scenario than terror. The situation demands that we respond. How? We begin with ourselves. We must ask ourselves some tough questions. "How do I express society's values about violence rather than Christ's command to love one another, treat one another with care and respect, speak with one another in truth and with love?" "How often do I revert to a non-Christian way of dealing with problems and hurts, and therefore erode my witness as a Christian as one who is to manifest and express the Love of Jesus?"

I encourage you. I encourage me, to renew our commitment to the Command of Jesus Christ, because it is so desperately needed in our society. The Command of Christ is this: to love the Lord our God with all our hearts, with all our minds, with all our strength and with all our life. How can we do this? We do this by loving our neighbor as ourselves! We do this by allowing Christ and his forgiveness settle deep into our lives. We do this by allowing Jesus Christ to transform us from people who have violent and angry thoughts and behavior into people who are redeemed by God, who are forgiven by God and who are seeking to live accordingly. Amen.