“Murder:
Not
Only
by
Death”
Exodus
20:13,
Matthew
5:
21-26,
43-47
Central
Presbyterian
Church
Rev.
Dr.
There
was
a
fascinating
special
on
T.V.
a
few
weeks
ago
about
three
soldiers
who’d
returned
from
the
front
lines
in
All
three
of
the
former
soldiers,
while
proud
to
have
served
their
country,
were
haunted
by
what
they’d
seen—incredible
poverty
and
destruction,
the
deaths
of
friends
they
had
served
with.
All
three
were
haunted
by
what
they’d
experienced—in
one
case,
a
severe
wound
that
would
plague
him
for
the
rest
of
his
life.
They
were
also
haunted,
in
each
of
their
cases,
by
having
taken
the
lives
of
others,
even
when
it
was
“kill
or
be
killed.”
Commented
one
young
man,
“It’s
hard
to
live
with
what
I’ve
done,
when
I
was
raised
on,
‘Thou
shalt
not
kill.’”
Which
reminds
us,
once
again,
of
the
ever-contemporary
quality
of
these
ancient
rules
for
living
which
we
know
as
the
10
Commandments.
We’re
picking
up
the
commandments
once
again,
after
our
July
hiatus
on
the
theology
of
Dr.
Seuss.
We’re
now
on
the
“second
table”
of
the
commandments.
The
first
table,
or
first
four,
had
to
do
with
our
responsibilities
toward
God.
The
last
six
have
to
do
with
our
responsibilities
toward
our
neighbor—our
fellow
human
beings.
“Thou
shalt
not
kill”
is
translated
in
most
modern
versions
of
the
Bible
as,
“You
shall
not
murder.”
Though
the
Hebrew
word
can
be
variously
translated
as
“to
kill’
or
‘to
murder,”
in
this
context
“murder”
seems
to
make
more
sense.
Murder
suggests
premeditation,
and
already
among
the
ancient
Hebrews
there
was
a
growing
understanding
of
the
difference
between
manslaughter--an
accidental
death,
and
a
thought-out
one.
The
Hebrews
made
provision
for
cities
of
refuge,
places
where
you
could
flee
for
protection
if
you
killed
someone
accidentally.
Murder
was
different.
The
sixth
commandment
has
to
do
with
maintaining
the
sacredness
of
life
and
protecting
the
web
of
community
life.
For
the
Hebrews
It
seemed
primarily
to
have
to
do
with
keeping
them
from
killing
one
another.
It
forbade
all
killing
that
was
not
otherwise
authorized.
In
other
words,
it
didn’t
forbid
the
killing
of
animals,
even
though
vegetarians
and
vegans
today
sometimes
cite
it.
While
the
eating
of
certain
kinds
of
animals
was
clearly
forbidden
in
the
kosher
laws,
the
assumption
was
clearly
that
animals
would
be
killed
for
food.
Likewise,
I
think
it’s
hard
to
make
a
case
for
banning
capital
punishment
on
the
basis
of
the
sixth
commandment.
Hebrew
law
spelled
out
many
instances
in
which
capital
punishment
was
clearly
mandated,
many
of
which
would
curl
our
toenails
at
their
harshness.
By
the
same
token,
it’s
hard
to
build
the
case
for
pacifism
from
the
sixth
commandment.
“You
shall
not
kill,”
seems
not
to
have
been
understood
to
refer
to
warfare,
as
God
frequently
commanded
his
people
to
take
up
arms
against
their
enemies.
It
seems
to
me
you
could
use
the
sixth
commandment
to
help
make
a
case
against
abortion
or
suicide,
but
either
of
those
matters
is
a
sermon
in
itself.
Primarily,
the
commandment
seems
to
enshrine
the
idea
that
human
life
is
sacred
to
God,
and
that
our
taking
of
it
should
be
reserved
for
extraordinary
circumstances.
On
the
face
of
it,
this
seems
like
it
ought
to
be
one
of
the
easiest
commandments
to
keep.
Most
of
us
are
not
tempted
to
murder.
Few
of
us
will
ever
have
the
opportunity
or
desire
to
commit
such
a
deed.
But
notice
what
Jesus
does
with
the
commandment!
In
that
great
summary
of
his
teachings
which
we
know
as
the
Sermon
on
the
Mount,
Jesus
says,
“You
have
heard
it
said
to
those
of
ancient
times,
‘You
shall
not
murder,’
and
‘whoever
murders
shall
be
liable
to
judgment.’
But
I
say
to
you
that
if
you
are
angry
with
a
brother
or
sister,
you
will
be
liable
to
judgment;
and
if
you
insult
a
brother
or
sister,
you
will
be
liable
to
the
council;
and
if
you
say,
‘You
fool,’
you
will
be
liable
to
the
hell
of
fire.”
(Matt.
5:
21-22)
Whoa
now,
Jesus
has
gone
from
preachin’
to
meddlin’!
As
he
so
often
did
with
Old
Testament
law,
Jesus
both
broadens
and
sharpens
it!
For
Jesus
it’s
never
enough
for
us
to
simply
avoid
the
outward
action.
He
always
wants
us
to
address
things
at
the
inner
level
of
motivation.
For
him,
avoiding
the
actual
killing
of
someone
is
not
enough.
He
wants
us
to
nip
things
at
the
thought
level,
when
we’re
furious
with
someone,
when
we
insult
someone,
when
we
think
someone
is
an
idiot.
In
fact,
Jesus
insists
that
reconciliation,
making
things
right
with
someone
we’re
peeved
with,
is
the
end
product
he
desires:
“If
you
remember
that
your
brother
or
sister
has
something
against
you,
leave
your
gift
there
before
the
altar
and
go;
first
be
reconciled
to
your
brother
or
sister,
and
then
come
and
offer
your
gift.”
(Matt.
5:
23-24)
Gosh,
doesn’t
Jesus
realize
what
a
devastating
effect
that
could
have
on
tithes
and
offerings?
To
think
that
God
is
more
interested
in
our
making
peace
with
one
another
than
he
is
in
our
money!
Imagine
that….But
then
imagine
how
stewardship
campaigns
would
go
if
everyone
at
a
church
was
reconciled
to
everyone
else
there!
The
Heidelberg
Catechism,
one
of
our
statements
of
faith
as
Presbyterians,
draws
upon
Jesus’
insight
and
explains
it
this
way,
(God
requires
in
the
sixth
commandment)
“That
I
am
not
to
abuse,
hate,
injure,
or
kill
my
neighbor,
either
with
thoughts,
by
word
or
gesture,
much
less
by
deed,
whether
by
myself
or
through
another,
but
to
lay
aside
all
desire
for
revenge;
and
that
I
do
not
harm
myself
or
willfully
expose
myself
to
danger.”
(Q
and
A
#105)
Whew!
Things
sure
took
a
nasty
turn
there,
didn’t
they?
Suddenly,
we’re
all
implicated
by
the
sixth
commandment!
If
“looks
could
kill,”
how
many
of
us
would
still
be
left
on
earth?
If
a
caustic
word
to
another
human
being
were
grounds
for
hauling
us
down
to
the
station,
the
police
would
never
be
done
with
their
work!
If
everybody
we’ve
ever
called
“stupid”
were
dead,
we’d
all
be
arrested
for
homicide!
How
many
of
us
are
guilty
of
failing
to
express
our
anger
appropriately
and
airing
out
our
grievances
with
another
person?
Unexpressed
disappointment
kills
relationships.
How
many
of
us
hold
onto
and
harbor
resentment,
instead
of
settling
up
with
our
neighbor,
our
family
member,
our
fellow
church
member?
Unexpressed
resentment
leads
to
the
murder
of
precious
relationships.
Here,
as
so
often
with
the
Sermon
on
the
Mount,
we
are
tempted
to
cry
out,
“Who
then,
can
be
saved?’
Which
is
exactly
where
Jesus
wants
us.
He
wants
us
to
realize
our
own
inadequacy.
We
cannot
save
ourselves.
It
is
only
by
God’s
grace,
poured
out
upon
us
in
Jesus
himself,
that
we
are
saved
and
empowered
to
live
toward
God’s
expectations
of
us.
Further
on
in
his
sermon,
Jesus
tells
us
it’s
no
great
shakes
to
love
those
who
love
us—even
pagans
do
the
same.
“But
I
say
to
you,
Love
your
enemies
and
pray
for
those
who
persecute
you,
so
that
you
may
be
children
of
your
Father
in
heaven;
for
he
makes
his
sun
to
rise
on
the
evil
and
the
good,
and
sends
rain
on
the
righteous
and
the
unrighteous….Therefore,
be
perfect,
as
your
heavenly
Father
is
perfect.”
(Matt.
5:
44-45,
48)
How’s
that
for
high
expectations?
But
the
point
is
not
to
drive
us
to
despair;
it’s
to
drive
us
into
the
arms
of
God,
who
alone
can
save,
who
alone
can
cover
our
sins,
who
alone
has
grace
sufficient
for
us….
Jesus
urges
several
unnatural
things
upon
us
here:
--to
acknowledge
our
anger,
but
not
let
it
lead
us
to
sin
--to
recognize
when
we’ve
become
contemptuous
of
another
one
of
his
children
--to
sense
how
our
unresolved
tensions
with
fellow
believers
can
damage
our
worship
--to
refuse
to
be
consumed
with
hatred
for
our
enemies
--to
pray
for
those
who
torment
us
--to
do
what
lies
within
our
power
to
open
the
door
to
reconciliation
--to
refrain
from
the
murderous
thought
--to
back
away
from
the
condemnatory
impulse
it’s
so
distressingly
easy
for
us
to
have
These
things
are
not
only
counter-cultural;
there
also
counter
to
our
usual
ways
of
thinking
and
feeling.
Several
years
ago
Agatha
Christie
wrote
a
book
called,
Murder,
by
Death,
a
play
on
the
homicide
charge,
“Death,
by
Murder.”
What
Jesus
is
suggesting
is
that
we
commit
murder
in
far
more
ways
than
by
killing
someone.
He
wants
us
to
be
sensitive
to
those
looks
that
can
kill,
to
those
thoughts
that
slay
a
relationship,
to
those
snap
judgments
we’re
all
so
adept
at
making,
that
murder
the
possibility
of
genuine
reconciliation.
He
wants
us
to
have
a
nuanced
understanding
of
murder,
to
recognize
what
danger
lies
within
the
shadowy
world
of
our
thoughts
and
inner
motivations.
He
challenges
us
to
be
far
more
than
we
are
at
present.
He
wants
us
to
recognize
our
utter
dependence
upon
him.
He
wants
to
awaken
us
to
the
astonishing
good
news
of
God’s
mercy.
He
wants
us
to
embrace
life,
and
not
death,
and
to
recognize
that
even
what
lies
under
the
surface
of
ourselves
is
precious
to
him
and
redeemable
by
him.
He
is
able
to
shed
light
in
even
the
dark
corners
of
ourselves.
Jesus
doesn’t
just
want
our
outer
obedience
to
God’s
laws.
He
wants
our
inner
assent
as
well.
And
he
means
to
have
it,
if
we
will
let
him.
To
have
it,
is
to
confess
our
sins,
to
experience
genuine
forgiveness,
to
begin
to
rebuild
broken
relationships,
to
recognize
the
true
sacredness
of
our
lives.
Will
we
give
ourselves,
ever
and
again,
to
him,
and
so
experience,
ever
and
again,
the
astonishing
good
news
of
his
grace?
That
is
the
question
for
us
today.
Amen.`