Sermon at FFMC 2/8/26. Do not murder. Title: Choose Life In Our Relationships

 The Hebrew only has 2 words

•       “You shall not murder.” (Ex 20:13, Dt 5:17)

•       ‎רצח (r-ṣ-ḥ, transliterated retzach, ratzákh, ratsakh) does not prohibit all killing, but unlawful killing.

•       Not all killing is murder  (= 'unauthorized, intentional or hostile killing of one human being by another‘). Self-defense, capital punishment, just war

•       The commandment protects innocent life.

 The Bible tells us that God highly values human life because man is made in God’s image.

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.

⁶ “Whoever sheds the blood of man,
    by man shall his blood be shed,
for God made man in his own image.(Gen 9:5-6)

 Even animals are called to account for the life of a human, not to say other humans. The life of a human being has special status, unlike that of animal and plant life. Unlike every other living being, humans alone are said to carry the image of God – of all created beings, we are most like God. To attack human life is in some way to attack God Himself. The fact that each one of us bears God’s image – His imprint - gives the foundation of how we are to deal with one another. It is the foundation of all morality and law.

 The NT extends the command beyond the negative and expresses the positive need to do good, and to remember that all sin is unacceptable to God.

•       For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Ro 13:9)

•       For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. (Jas 2:11)

 Even in the OT, there is a positive aspect of the commandment. We are to be concerned for the well-being and safety of one’s neighbour. There must be precautions to prevent accidental loss of life.

1.       When you build a new house, you shall make a parapet for your roof, that you may not bring the guilt of blood upon your house, if anyone should fall from it. (Dt 22:8)

•       “When an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox shall be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten, but the owner of the ox shall not be liable. ²⁹ But if the ox has been accustomed to gore in the past, and its owner has been warned but has not kept it in, and it kills a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned, and its owner also shall be put to death.”

 Direct applications

1. Abortion. >7000 in 2021. Full confidentiality is ensured by law; parental consent is not legally required over 14, nor spousal consent for married women. Abortion is available on request as late as 24 weeks or six months of pregnancy.

The Bible does not distinguish the life of an unborn child from the life of an adult.

Perhaps some of you have had an abortion, or have considered one. This is a transgression of the 6^th commandment.

 2, Suicide: self-murder neglects that fact that our lives do not belong to us, but to our Creator. This is a most painful situation. Deep despair and depression are not uncommon even among Christians. Historically, those who committed suicide were not buried in church because they were assumed to have died unrepentant. It is certainly a sin that one has no chance to repent of, but the Bible does not say that it is the unforgivable sin. Again, perhaps some have considered suicide or attempted suicide. You need to know that God’s commandment says this is wrong. If it takes God’s law to reduce the impetus to suicide, so be it.

 3. Euthanasia (“good death) or ‘assisted dying’ - the deliberate hastening of one’s death to relieve intractable suffering. There is a slippery slope from voluntary to involuntary euthanasia, but the key issue is that our lives are not our own. For a Christian, even the greatest suffering can be met with God’s grace and the help of modern palliative medicine.

 The 6^th commandment protects life. The helpless unborn, the despairing, broken-hearted and hopeless, the suffering and weak. The church and the Christian must have something to say and something to do to protect, encourage, and comfort.

 In one sense, these applications of the sixth commandment are once-in-a-lifetime occasions – barely relevant to daily life. So we look at the commandment, as we look at the others, and we think we are spared its application to our lives.

 Anger

The fullness of application of the commandment is seen Jesus’ interpretation in the Sermon on the Mount.

²¹ “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ ²² 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. ²³ So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, ²⁴ leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. ²⁵ 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. ²⁶ Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny. (Mt 5:21-26)

 Anger involves all violent emotions and intentions of the heart. Think about this: if you murder someone, you are liable to judgment (judicial killing) by a human court. The anger and hatred which give rise to murder are not capable of being examined in a human court. But Jesus goes beyond that to say that these are no less culpable in the sight of God. Anger is dangerous. It is the seed that grows in the soil of resentment and bitterness until murder springs forth. We can wish people were dead without actually killing them and God will hold us responsible for this murderous thought.

 So Jesus says that hatred, rage, angry contempt directed at people (“insults” = “Raca” means ‘empty’, ‘idiot’). heated insults, are wrong.

Jesus gives two specific pieces of advice with the common idea of reconciliation:

·        Worship in the temple: it is more important to seek reconciliation with a brother who is angry with you than to complete a religious ritual. The one who initiates the reconciliation is the one who has done wrong.

·         When someone is angry enough to take you to court: try to come to terms with this person where possible. If you lose, there will be disastrous consequences on a human level. Jesus’ solemn “Truly I say to you” shows how much more do we need to be reconciled to God. neglected grievances can have irrevocable consequences, and time may be short

  But the issue is more complex: Jesus got angry and upset – violently angry, and himself called the Pharisees ‘blind fools’ (‘moros’) in Mt 23:17. So He does not condemn all anger and forceful address, but only those that reflect an attitude of self-righteous contempt. Anger is not bad in itself. God is angry. Anger is the attribute of a loving God. (“God displays his wrath every day.” Psalm 7:11)

Like Jesus’ anger, it is possible for us not to have sinful anger. “Be angry but do not sin” (Eph 4:26)

 But human anger over human concerns is wrong “For the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God” (Js 1:20). If we are honest with ourselves, our anger is mainly human anger.

We are to be slow to anger (Js 1:19)

•    Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; ²⁰ for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.. (Jas 1:19-20)

•    Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty,
    and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city. (Pr 16:32)

 …do not let the sun go down on your anger, ²⁷ and give no opportunity to the devil. (Eph 4:27)

Our anger is to be limited in duration, because we tend to quickly slip into sinful anger even when we think we are angry on God’s behalf. Anger is so powerful, so fierce, it feels so good that it is most difficult for us to control it. Instead of becoming representing God’s holiness, it easily slips into becoming a tool of Satan. Anger can manifest with fits of rage and bad temper, but when we make habits of repeated angry words, harshness and bad temper, our anger will be used of the devil to destroy us –physically, relationally and spiritually.

 Matthew Henry says, “The only way to be angry and not sin is to be angry at sin itself.”

 The late American pastor and writer Timothy Keller had many perceptive things to say about anger.

 Our anger, unlike the pure and holy anger of God goes awry because of "disordered loves."

“Anger is actually a form of love. Anger is love in motion to protect the thing that we really care about... Which means, the opposite of anger is not being nice, it's indifference."

 "If you want to know why you get angry, just look at what you love. Anything you love more than God... is a false god. Because we love them too much, we are wracked with uncontrollable fears and anger when they are threatened."

 Our human anger is such that we typically get angry not to defend God's justice, but to defend our own pride, egos, or selfish agendas. We sinfully use anger as a tool to attack people rather than to address problems.

 

But remember Ephesians 4:26 “Be angry”

He who is angry without cause sins, he who is not angry with cause sins. (St. John Chrysostom)

 "The ideal in the Bible is not no anger or blowing up. It's slow anger. It is a sin to never get angry. It's a sin to blow up with your anger." (Keller)

 Be the kind of Christian, who like Jesus, is angry for the right reasons – passionate for justice, fierce to defend the innocent, speaking out against wrongdoing.

 Dealing with anger

1. Admit the reality of our anger. We need to see our tendency for denial of the problem and self-justification.

“ Anger hides itself. Anger like a addictive substance leads you into denial. You say I’m not angry. I’m just sticking up for myself. I’m just being direct, I’m just standing up for myself, or I’m fighting for justice”.

 

Underneath habitual anger there’s a low level of anger toward God himself because He has failed to meet our expectations.

 2. Analyze = Ask ourselves why we are angry

We must question what is so important to us that we get angry – this question identifies our idols. Ask yourself what you love so intensely that it makes you defensive enough to strike back.

Idols can be good things that have become ultimate things

 3. Avoid self-righteousness

Recognize that under uncontrolled anger sits a prideful belief that you are entirely right and others are entirely wrong

 4. Accept God’s grace

Jesus is God and yet He gave up His rights to take on human anger on the Cross. He did this for our sakes even though we were His enemies – completely undeserving. We did nothing to earn God’s favour. If we feel the fullness of His grace, and then we will not think our rights are so important and we are so superior to the one we are angry with. Fully grasping the grace of God allows transformation of our relationship with Him and with others. This cuts at the root of our human anger.

 5. Absorb anger with gentleness as a default, especially then the sin is against ourselves rather than against others. Anger does not have to be always loud and assertive. When we know the transforming grace of God, then we can do this.

A soft answer turns away wrath,
    but a harsh word stirs up anger. (Prov 15:1)

 6. Ask in prayer for the one you are angry with

 It is hard to stay wrongly angry at someone if you are praying for them.  

 Summary

•          Not murdering is an extreme application of the 6th commandment.

•          We are to put aside inner hatred and sinful anger.

•          We are to learn how to be righteously angry.

•          Even righteous anger has limits.

•          We need to repent and be healed of sinful anger.