An attorney was speaking to a woman who had just lost her husband. He said to her, “Your husband did not leave a will, so we need to know the last words he ever said to you.”
She replied, “I don't want to tell you.”
The attorney said, “Look, he did not leave a will. We need to know the last words he ever said to you.”
But the woman refused to tell him. “I don't want to tell you,” she said. “It was something between the two of us.”
The attorney pleaded, “Just one more time, I beg you; please tell me the last words your husband ever said to you?”
Finally, the woman relented. “Okay, I'll tell you,” she said. “The last thing he ever said to me was, ‘You don't scare me. You couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with that old gun.’” (R. Larry Moyer, “Right Smack in the Middle of Sin,” Preaching Today, Tape No. 148, www.PreachingToday.com)
Oh my! I hope none of us ever get to the point in any of our relationships where we consider murder. But as you and I know, relationships can go bad, and if we don’t actually kill someone, we can kill the relationship itself through our actions and attitudes.
I think of the third-grade Sunday school teacher, who was giving a Bible lesson on the 5th commandment: “honor thy father and thy mother.” In the course of the discussion, she asked her class, “Now, does anyone know a commandment for brothers and sisters?”
One sharp girl raised her hand and said, “Thou shalt not kill!” (Jack Seberry, Grand Rapids, Michigan, “Lite Fare,” Christian Reader, www.PreachingToday.com)
It’s the 6th of the 10 commandments, and this morning, I want us to explore what it means practically for the maintenance of strong, healthy relationships in a strong, healthy society. If you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Exodus 20, Exodus 20, where God Himself gave us this commandment.
Exodus 20:13: “You shall not murder.”
Four words in the English, and only two in the original Hebrew. This is one of the shortest verses in the entire Hebrew Bible, but it’s a verse packed with huge implications. Foundationally, God’s command calls us to…
RESPECT ALL HUMAN LIFE.
Highly value all people. Regard all human beings with utmost esteem as image-bearers of God Himself. This includes the poor, the unborn, the elderly and the infirmed. Whether or not they are able to contribute to society, whether or not they have a so-called “quality of life,” we are to consider ALL human life sacred, because every one of us has been created in the image of God.
Turn with me to Genesis 9, Genesis 9, where God speaks to Noah after the great flood.
Genesis 9:1-3 And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they are delivered. Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything. (ESV)
God makes it clear that all animals are fair game for food. Just as He gave us plants to eat, He also gives us venison, steak, chicken, and fish. The 6th commandment is not a prohibition against hunting animals for food, because animal life is NOT sacred. But human life is another matter altogether.
Genesis 9:4-6 But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. 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. (ESV)
People bear the image of God, so they deserve to be treated differently than animals. In fact, human life is SO sacred in God’s eyes, that those who deliberately take a human life forfeit their own life.
This is the basis of all human government. God designed human government to protect human life from those who would destroy it. That’s why God gives governments the right to utilize capital punishment. That’s why God also gives governments the right to go to war. Romans 13 says, “He does not bear the sword in vain.” God gave us human governments so they can protect people who cannot otherwise protect themselves.
Therefore, any politician who refuses to protect the lives of the weakest members of our society is not doing his or her job. Any politician who hides behind the label of “pro-choice” to allow the killing of unborn human beings should not be elected to office.
We need to respect all human life, because human life is sacred. Human beings are made in the image of God. That’s what the Bible teaches, but evolution tells us a different story.
Evolution tells us that people are like animals, so we can euthanize those whose quality of life is substandard. We can disregard the needs of the poor and the weak. We can abort unwanted babies. After all, it is “survival of the fittest,” and those who are not “fit” really shouldn’t survive.
That was the argument Hitler used to euthanize the insane, to eliminate the handicapped, and eventually to exterminate 6 million Jews. Evolution was the philosophical foundation of Nazi Germany.
Martin Niemoeller, reflecting on the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer in Hitler’s Germany, wrote: “First, they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out because I was not a socialist. “Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist. “Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew. “Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak for me.” (Martin Niemoeller, “Dietrich Bonhoeffer,” Christian History, no. 32, www.PreachingToday.com)
You see, when we begin to devalue human life, then none of us are safe.
Why do you think there’s such disrespect in our society today? For at least three generations, we have been teaching our children that people are just another kind of animal, evolved from another species of animal.
A few years ago (2005), the London Zoo posted a sign in front of their newest exhibit, reading, “Warning: Humans in Their Natural Environment.” The exhibit featured eight Homo sapiens in a sealed enclosure adjacent to another sealed enclosure of various primates. The human “captives” were chosen from an online contest, and spent their time sunning on a rock ledge, playing board games, and waving to spectators. A signboard informed visitors about the species' diet, habitat, worldwide distribution, and threats.
The goal of the exhibit, according to Zoo spokesperson Polly Wills, was to downplay the uniqueness of human beings as a species. “Seeing people in a different environment, among other animals,” said Wills, “teaches members of the public that the human is just another primate.”
Tom Mahoney, one of the participants in the exhibit, agreed. A lot of people think that humans are above other animals,” he said. “When they see humans as animals, here, it kind of reminds them that we're not that special.” (Humans Are Ones on Display at London Zoo, yahoonews, 8-26-05, www.PreachingToday.com)
That’s what evolution teaches! And if we tell people often enough that they are not that special, that they are nothing more than animals, then we shouldn’t be surprised when they begin to treat each other like animals.
Evolution tells us that people are like animals, but the Bible teaches us that people are like God. People are made in the image of God and therefore deserve special respect.
Timothy Peck puts it this way: “An ambassador is the official representative of her government; in a sense she bears the image of her nation. Now imagine that a foreign government seizes the ambassador and kills her. That wouldn't simply be murder of a single human being; it would also be an act of war against the government the ambassador represents. In a similar way, one person's murdering another person is an act of war against God. It is an attempt to murder God by killing one who bears his image.” (Timothy Peck, The Trinitarian Life, www.PreachingToday.com)
People are not just animals to hunt down and destroy. People are not just objects to be used and discarded. People are image-bearers of the Living God Himself, and as such they deserve the same respect we would give to the highest representatives of our own country.
Steven Spielberg’s move, AI (Artificial Intelligence) is a social commentary on our culture’s tendency towards dehumanization. It’s about David, an android who can think and feel. He’s given to a couple whose comatose son is not expected to live. He begins to emotionally bond with the mother, but when her own son miraculously recovers, she discards David and he goes on a quest for real love.
In that quest, he meets another android, Joe, who explains that love is given only when something can be gotten in return. Joe tells David that the “mother loves what you DO for her… She doesn’t love YOU… And you are alone now only because they are tired of you or replaced you with a younger model or were displeased with something you said or broke…” (A.I., Universal Studios, 2001, rated PG-13, written by Ian Watson, directed by Steven Spielberg)
Sad to say, that’s the way our society has come to view human life. They don’t love PEOPLE. They love what people DO for them. And when people are no longer useful, or inconvenient, they are discarded like broken appliances, but that’s not what the Bible says.
Chuck Colson says, “In contrast to much of the world, the message of Scripture is that human dignity does not come from usefulness. Dignity does not come from a person's religion, nor their sex, nor from their skin color, nor age, nor because of their power or status. Human dignity is something we are conceived with because we are made in the image of God. A quadriplegic has the same dignity as an Olympic athlete; a Muslim the same dignity as a Christian; a Samaritan the same dignity as a Jew. These are our neighbors whom we are to love as ourselves. (“A Little Too Close to Home,” Breakpoint, 8-15-01; www.Preaching Today.com)
All people bear the image of God. And though that image has been marred by sin, all people still deserve our respect and love, not because of what they have done (or not done), but because of who they are – image bearers of a holy God.
That’s why the Bible says, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction…” (James 1:27). These are people that cannot DO anything for us, but God wants us to “visit” them anyway, to look after them, to take care of them, because HE values them as HIS image-bearers.
God’s command, “You shall not murder,” is more than just a prohibition against murder. At its foundation, it calls you and me to respect all human life, to treat one another with dignity as image-bearers of a holy God. Specifically, that means you must…
DEMOSTRATE RESPECT BY YOUR ACTIONS.
Honor people by what you do. Show people that they are valued by your outward deeds.
That’s why followers of Christ seek to protect the unborn and the infirmed, even those who have “no quality of life.” That’s why followers of Christ build crisis pregnancy centers, hospitals and orphanages in places nobody else wants to go. That’s why followers of Christ respond in mass to disasters around the world long before anybody else.
Take for example Hurricane Katrina (2005). In 2006, United Way and MTV could find only 100 college students to go as volunteers during their spring break to help people rebuild their homes following Hurricane Katrina.
Campus Crusade for Christ was able to recruit 7,000 college students. (Jeffrey Jones, US students toil on Katrina relief for spring break, alertnet.org, 3-6-06, www.PreachingToday.com)
The Salvation Army, the Southern Baptists, and other faith-based organizations were first on the scene long before anybody else arrived, and many were there months, and even years, later.
Roy Hattersly, an outspoken atheist, lamented at the time that “teams from rationalist societies, free thinkers' clubs, and atheists' associations – the sort of people who scoff at religion's intellectual absurdity – were notable by their absence.” According to Hattersley, it is an unavoidable conclusion that Christians “are the people most likely to take the risks and make the sacrifices involved in helping others.”
Hattersley also noted that this pattern of behavior goes beyond disaster relief: “Civilized people do not believe that drug addiction and male prostitution offend against divine ordinance. But those who do are the men and women most willing to change the fetid bandages, replace the sodden sleeping bags, and – probably most difficult of all – argue, without a trace of impatience, that the time has come for some serious medical treatment.” (Roy Hattersley, Faith Does Breed Charity, Guardian.co.uk, 9-12-05, www.PreachingToday.com)
It’s not that we condone the sin. We just love the sinner, who bears the image of God. Sometimes Christians are judged as judgmental, narrow-minded bigots when we speak out against certain sins, but that’s not the case at all. We just hate the sin that is destroying the image-bearer of God Himself.
That’s what a respect for all human life is all about: Reach out in love to those who have been devastated by the ravages of sin, and demonstrate respect for them by your actions. More than that, God’s prohibition against murder demands that you…
RESPECT LIFE IN YOUR ATTITUDE, as well.
Honor people in your heart, not only outwardly, but inwardly too.
If you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Matthew 5, Matthew 5, where we have Jesus’ interpretation of the 6th commandment.
Matthew 5:21-22 “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. (ESV)
Jesus makes it very clear: When you harbor bitterness and anger in your hearts towards people, then you are just as guilty as if you had murdered them.
We see it again in 1 John 3:15, where the Bible says, “Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.” Hatred on the inside is like murder on the outside, and it is not characteristic of a true believer. Instead, Christ wants you to work towards reconciliation.
Matthew 5:23-24 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. (ESV)
Reconciliation with a brother takes precedence over your worship of God. That’s because it is impossible to love God and hate someone else at the same time.
1 John 4:20 says, “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.” Our relationship with God is directly tied to our relationships with people. That’s because those people are made in the image of God.
James 3:9-10 says, “With [the tongue] we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.”
In June of 2012, Carl Ericsson, a 73-year-old South Dakota man, was sentenced to life in prison after admitting to the murder of a former high school classmate. Friends and family members were shocked that the once-successful insurance salesman seemed to snap. Ericsson had been married to his wife for over 44 years.
But after the murder, Ericsson's secret came out. For over 50 years, he had nursed a grudge, which began in High School. A classmate had once pulled a jock strap over his head in the locker room as a prank. Norman Johnson, the classmate and murder victim, was a star athlete on the track team. His action humiliated Ericson, a student team manager at the time, and planted the seed of resentment that would continue to grow for over half a century. It didn’t help that throughout their lives, Johnson continued to outshine Ericsson. Prior to his murder, Johnson had competed in college football, earned a degree, and then taught and coached at his alma mater for more than three decades.
After holding the grudge for over 50 years, Carl Ericsson rang Johnson's doorbell and shot him dead. Ericsson told a judge, “I guess it was from something that happened over 50 years ago. It was apparently in my subconscious.” During his sentencing, Ericsson turned to Johnson's widow and apologized, saying, “I just wish I could turn the calendar back.” (Cameron Smith, “Bizarre S.D. murder caused by resentment over 50-year-old locker room jockstrap prank,” Yahoo Sports Prep Rally blog, 6-18-12; www.PreachingToday.com)
But he can’t, can he? You see, that’s what’s so sad about holding a grudge. Murderous thoughts can easily lead to murderous actions, from which there is no turning back.
That’s not what God wants. Instead of holding a grudge, God wants you to seek reconciliation. Don’t bad-mouth those who have hurt you, and certainly don’t seek revenge.
Think about what Christ did for you on the cross. When your sin put Him there, He cried out, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do”. He forgave you from that horrible cross. In fact, He was paying the price for your sins (and mine) on that cross, so that we could be reconciled to a holy God. Then Jesus rose from the dead, and now, He offers eternal life to all who trust Him with their lives. The Bible says, “Whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
Please, commit your life to Jesus Christ today. Ask Jesus to take away the bitterness and replace it with His love. Then, in His strength, and with His love, pursue reconciliation with your brother or sister.
That’s what obeying the 6th commandment is all about. Show respect for everyone in your actions and your attitude, because everyone has been made in the image of God. Or as it says on the sign says in front of the Good Samaritan Nursing home: “In Christ’s love everyone is someone.”
