Murder
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Introduction
Introduction
I’m not a big one for speakers who bombard you with a bunch of statistics.
In part, it because most of the time you can get statistics to say whatever you want them to say.
Additionally, because numbers only tell half the story.
However, there are times where statistics tell us a lot.
For instance, I graduated high school in 1992.
Since that time there have been 390 school shootings which led to 657 injuries and 318 fatalities in those deplorable acts of violence.
The sad reality is that this just one example of a society that has become desensitized to violence and murder.
In fact, research shows that the average American child will see 200,000 violent acts and 16,000 murders on television by age 18.
In 2020 over forty-five thousand people committed suicide in the U.S.; over 6,000 of those being adolescences.
In 2020 there were over nine hundred and thirty thousand legal abortions in the 47 reporting states. (BTW, the states that didn’t report their abortion numbers were Maryland, New Hampshire, and California, along with the District of Columbia…so the numbers are significantly higher!)
Folks, I don’t share these statistics to scare you... but I sure hope they do!
It is clear that our society no longer values life like it should.
As we continue our Encounter with the Ten this morning, we are first going to see what God says about the value of life, but also consider what Jesus says about the roots of violence and murder.
Turn with me to Deuteronomy 5:17
Body
Body
Now, hopefully, most of us could stand up today and say, “Alright, there’s one command I have kept! I’ve never murdered anyone.”
First, good for you…keep it up!
Second, we’re going to see in a moment that, like all the commands, God is just as concerned with our hearts and our actions.
But, to begin, let’s consider what this command meant to those who first heard it.
In the Hebrew language there is no technical term for premeditated murder.
However, this command deals specifically with murder, i.e. the taking of another person’s life through willful hatred, revenge and anger, or through acts of carelessness.
It doesn’t mean all forms of killing though.
Capital punishment was already present in Israelite legislation as was warfare. In fact, at times God sent Israel out to war.
At the heart of this command is that in God’s view, life is precious.
In fact, God alone, who made mankind in His own image, has the right to terminate life.
In God’s economy, life matters…He gives it as a precious gift, and He takes it away in His timing…
He has not left this decision up to man, whether our neighbor’s life or our own.
“Okay, sounds good preacher. I won’t purposely kill anyone, and I’ll try hard not to do that on accident. Let’s pray and get home to the Seahawks game!”
Not so fast. As believers, it’s always good to ask the question, “What did Jesus say?”
For that, let’s turn to Matthew 5:21-26
First off, Jesus reminds them of the sixth commandment.
In fact, what Jesus does through the Sermon on the Mount is tells the people, “Here’s what your religious teachers say, but here’s what God really wants.”
This is no different.
For the Pharisees, it was all about outward displays of spirituality, but inwardly they missed the mark.
Here Jesus tells them that God is just as concerned with our inward attitude when it comes to others.
The Pharisees probably didn’t murder people, but anger, insulting and hatred? Well, that was a different story.
And, if we are honest, it’s probably a different story for us too!
Jesus shares three forms of unrighteous anger, that really build upon each other, going from bad to worse, to…worstest.
Angry with his brother
Anger is really the beginning point. It is here that someone needs to stop themselves.
But preacher, of course I’m going to be angry, anger is just an emotion.
True, but there is a difference between momentary anger and holding onto anger.
Situations will come up in life that make us angry with people.
But it’s important to recognize the anger and act in a more Christ-like fashion.
That’s where we need to especially ask for help from the HS.
Additionally, we need to know ourselves. We don’t all respond to anger the same way...
Unresolved anger will lead to the next step:
Insults his brother
The term used here is the Aramaic term Raca, which means “empty one”.
In essence, a person is saying that the person they are angry with has no value. And because of this we move from simply being angry to insulting them.
There are many forms that this takes...
Additionally, today, many of us believe that it’s okay to insult certain people because of how angry they make us...
We say things behind people’s backs or online we would never say to someone’s face...
We treat people like they’re purpose on earth is to annoy us...
We fall into the trap our culture is suck in where we demonize people that don’t share our worldview...
Curses his brother
Now when we read this today, our initial reaction might be, “Saying ‘You fool’ is kind of tame.”
Compared to the curses today it might seem so.
However, “You fool” in that context meant, a moral fool who ought to be dead and it expresses the wish that he were.
“God damn you!” would be a modern day example in that a person is calling upon God to damn someone to hell.
Not so tame, huh?
And with each form of unrighteous anger comes punishment with increasing severity.
Judgment by the local courts,
Judgment by the Sanhedrin, the highest court in the land at that time.
Hell of fire.
The word here is Gehenna, which was a trash dump outside Jerusalem where fires burned constantly.
Dead bodies of people deemed useless were thrown there along with the trash.
The basic idea is that as the unchecked anger increases so does the severity of the negative consequences.
Which is true in our lives too…
Read verses 23-24
All of this to say, we must be reconciled to one another.
Anger and hatred actually hurt our ability to properly worship God.
Thus, we must look to resolve issues.
That’s easy, right?
Whatever! But, God has called us to such a life.
See, as Paul says in Romans 13:9-10:
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.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
We are to be a people defined by love, not anger and hatred.
So What?
So What?
How are you doing when it comes to loving others?
Do you hang on to anger and hatred?
Do the insults seem to flow freely about those who you are angry with?
Do you ever curse them?
What steps do I need to take this week to not murder someone in my heart?
Is there someone I need to be reconciled to?
What circumstances in my life am I most prone to unrighteous anger? How do I need to better prepare for them?