Getting It Right: Do Not Murder

Getting It Right with God and Neighbor: Thou Shalt Not Murder

October 10, 2010 – Genesis 4.1-16

Today we talk about murder. And it seems that murder is the pinnacle of the ten commandments in OUR eyes. In a recent poll, over 90% of Americans said they believed in the Ten commandments; but only 30% could name more than four. The one they almost ALL named? Thou shalt not KILL.

I am fond of asking, do you think you’re a good person? And the almost UNIVERSAL response is, “Well, I haven’t KILLED anybody…”

And yet, even in the news this week, we have been inundated with stories of killing: a Rogers man who wanted to commit suicide, and when police intervened, he was shot dead. Ironic? At least two people at Bikes, Blues, and BBQ last week were killed on their motorcycles. Carelessness?

And a woman and her accomplice were finally arrested after an almost 20 year investigation into her mother-in-law’s death.

Well, just like all the commandments, this commandment is not just a prohibition against something, but affirms something sacred. This commandment affirms that life is sacred.

o Genesis 2 – God created life and breathed into us HIS breath; we are created in God’s image

o We just heard the story of the FIRST murder; it was a murder borne of jealosy and premeditation; the definition of murder

o God in many places gives the rationale for justice killing: for many of the broken laws in Leviticus; for capturing the land God has promised;

o but NOWHERE does He give license to kill for personal gain or personal justice. The first prohibition against murder is found in Genesis 9:6: If anyone takes a human life, that person’s life will also be taken by human hands. For God made human beings in his own image. In Exodus 21:24, it expands on the commandment to say, an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. This means you can ONLY harm someone up to the manner in which YOU have been harmed!

o And then Jesus gives us the command to turn the other cheek in Matthew 5:38. So we can demonstrate that

o Job 12:10 For the life of every living thing is in his hand,
and the breath of every human being.

There are different kinds of murder: premeditated, willful murder; murder of self (suicide or self-abuse); murder of character, willful murder of Christ

You say, “I’ve never killed anybody!” But the Bible says…

You murder when you use words in anger.

• Matthew 5:21-22 (The Message) You're familiar with the command to the ancients, 'Do not murder.' I'm telling you that anyone who is so much as angry with a brother or sister is guilty of murder. Carelessly call a brother 'idiot!' and you just might find yourself hauled into court. Thoughtlessly yell 'stupid!' at a sister and you are on the brink of hellfire. The simple moral fact is that words kill.
• There are all kinds of ways we can kill someone with the tongue; by slander; assassination of character; by gossip; and I hate to say it, but we in the church are the WORST at it! We baptize it in terms of concern and “prayer requests” but then we blab the most intimate details (some true, some questionable – we’ll get to that on the week we talk about “bearing false witness”) and in the end, the person is “so embarrassed they could die!”
• My rule is simple: if I am not a part of the problem, or a part of the solution, stay out of it! And if it is a concern, it is not YOURS to tell; it is THEIRS.
• Proverbs 18:21 The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences.

"There are three degrees of murderous guilt, all of which can be manifested without a blow being struck: secret anger, the spiteful jeer; the open, unrestrained outbursts of violent, abusive speech." – Canon Farrar, Canon of Westminster

The second way we murder: self-murder.

You murder when you abuse your body.

and we abuse our bodies in many ways: smoking, food, over-indulgence in things like alcohol; an over-dependence on prescription drugs; dangerous sexual behaviors, risk-taking “thrill-seeking” activities; elective surgeries for vanity’s sake; lack of SLEEP, lack of EXERCISE. Despite the incredible advances in medical technology, we are sicker now than we have ever been, and many of our illnesses and injuries are SELF-inflicted!

A woman had tried everything to lose weight – diet, exercise, appetite-suppressing pills, all to no avail. Finally she found something that worked: she attached a fold-out picture of a beautiful, thin, shapely woman, dressed in a string bikini, on her refrigerator door. Every time she was tempted to snack, the picture of what she might become was a powerful deterrent. During the first month she lost ten pounds – but her husband gained twenty!

Don’t dig your grave with a knife and fork!

o 1 Corinthians 6: 19 Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself,

- The question often arises concerning suicide; and the Catholic church for a long time (though they don’t now) taught that suicide was a fast-track to hell. But I wonder how God feels about the suicides that are undertaken over the course of years and years of self-abuse?

And lastly, one we don’t often associate with murder:

You murder when you SIN.

o Hebrews 6:4-6 ⁴ For it is impossible to bring back to repentance those who were once enlightened—those who have experienced the good things of heaven and shared in the Holy Spirit, ⁵ who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the power of the age to come—⁶ and who then turn away from God. It is impossible to bring such people back to repentance; by rejecting the Son of God, they themselves are nailing him to the cross once again and holding him up to public shame.

o Now, this verse does not pertain to unbelievers; Christ died once for all for sinners, and he did so out of His great love for humanity. The problem is in this: quite often the it is the so-called saints who are sinning worse than the sinners that sin! And the Bible is very clear: each time you turn your back on God, on HIS work in your life and heart, and willfully reject Him by your actions and attitudes, you are driving the nails in his hands and feet AGAIN, AND AGAIN, AND AGAIN. You say you’re not a murderer; well think again!

As wicked as murder is, it will not send you to heaven or hell. Rejecting Christ will. Jesus died for your sins. He paid the full price for your disobedience. He offers his finished work to you. He offers you forgiveness, adoption as children of God, and eternal life in heaven. To reject Christ right now is the equivalent of crucifying him again. That is the only sin which God will not allow to pass in silence.