Sermon Tone Analysis

Small Catechism:

You shall not murder.

What does this mean?

We should fear and love God that we do not hurt or harm our neighbor in his body, but help and support him in every physical need.

Introduction

We continue with the Second Table of the Law, our duty to our neighbor, with the Fifth Commandment.

The Fifth Commandment deals with preserving all life from womb to tomb, from the cradle to death.

On March 25, 1995, Pope John Paul II delivered his encyclical, “Evangelium Vitae”, or “the Gospel of Life.”

While Lutherans do not often quote Popes in a positive way, John Paul II referred to our culture as the “culture of death.”

He went on to say that God didn’t create death, it was never a part of His plan, but as Paul reminds us that death came into the world through Sin.

It is 2017 now, and the culture of death continues with a vengeance.

The value of each human life is no longer a value to many in society.

What does it say about us when more babies were aborted since 1974 than the total of deaths from all wars in human history?

How about the 22 Veterans a day who are committing suicide?

The Heroin epidemic of the 1960s is now once again a present reality.

Gangs roam the western parts of our County, and to enter a gang like MS13 one has to kill someone.

Great Britain terminated baby Charlie Gard’s parents rights, taking custody of the baby so that they could terminate treatment that was costing them too much.

Say what you will about the Papacy, but John Paul II was spot on.

To Counter this, we turn to the Lord of Life, who triumphed o’er the grave, and rose victorious in the strife for those He came to save.

Our outline today will be the word LIFE: All LIFE is precious to the Lord; I am made by God; God FORBIDS hatred, murder, assualt (physical, verbal, etc…), cheapening of life, yet EVEN NOW God calls us to return to Him, for He is full of mercy and love for us.

That life is for you.

And that life is eternal.

God knew you when the world was formed and loved you.

God loved the world so much that He sent His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.

God will love you, through His Son, in whom we have eternal life, forever.

God is all about life.

It is God who grants us physical life.

declares:

Our outline today will be the word LIFE: All LIFE is precious to the Lord; I am made by God; God FORBIDS hatred, murder, assualt (physical, verbal, etc…), cheapening of life, and the life He gives to us is ETERNAL.

All Life is Precious to the Lord

God is all about life.

In the beginning He created life.

From the smallest of the plants through all of the animal kingdoms, life blossomed.

And then, creating man in a totally different way, God fashioned him from the dust and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living being.

Creation was all about life.

All of that came to a screeching halt when Adam and Eve sinned.

Life, as God intended, came to an end.

Death, something God never created, was introduced by our First Parents disobedience.

Creation was ruined along with humankind.

Something that was never supposed to be, became the rule of the day.

“In the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die” was the warning.

But Adam and Eve thought they knew better.

Separated from God eternally by sin and death, Adam and Eve would never realize what God intended.

We cannot either.

Death, not life, defines our entire existence.

We all have a date with it.

Its tentacles surround us and choke us.

Its sweet doctrine surrounds us.

And we see it as the norm and life to us is something that is fleeting away.

Stop there and it explains everything of which John Paul spoke.

It explains why we don’t even shrug our shoulders at the numbers murdered by violence, indifference or in the name of convenience.

That would have been it for all

For the unbeliever in Christ, this is the end of the story.

There is no hope, there is no real joy, everyone for himself or herself, and life’s a beach and then you die.

I am fearfully and wonderfully made

But that wouldn’t work for God.

His unexplainable love wouldn’t allow Him to walk away.

He sends His Son, Jesus, to fix this.

And He does it personally for you.

Jesus lives, dies, rises, ascends and will come back to claim you as His own.

Even though death invaded the world, Jesus life trumps death in your life.

THAT’s what this faith we celebrate every Lord’s Day means.

So, with the hymnwriter we can exclaim:

Satan, I defy thee; Death I now decry thee; Fear, I bid thee cease.

World, thou shalt not harm me nor thy threats alarm me while I sing of peace.

God’s great power guards every hour; earth and all its depths adore Him, silent bow before Him.

Bottom line: YOUR life is precious to the Lord.

The Psalmist declares,

What God FORBIDS in this Commandment

In , Jesus tells us “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.”

This is echoed in

Anger.

Hatred.

These are the seeds of death that infect the soil of the human heart.

They’ve taken root in our lives as well, for the world enjoys the tree that grows forth, and it all seems so right to us.

But they are the seeds of hell.

Unchecked anger breeds murder.

No wonder says

Yes, there is righteous anger.

But one must be very careful that it leads to confrontation, confession and restoration.

If not, it becomes hatred.

And hatred leads to murder, whether actual or in the heart.

God forbids the willful, hateful taking of the life of yourself (suicide) or others (homicide).

Notice, by the way, that the Commandment says “you shall not murder” not “You shall not kill.”

There is a difference.

Killing and animal for food does not violate this commandment.

Additionally, Luther writes in the Large Catechism:

God and government are not included in this commandment.

Nor is the power to kill taken away, which God and government have.

To punish evildoers, God has delegated His authority to the government, not parents… Therefore, what is forbidden in this commandment is forbidden to the individual in his relationship with anyone else, but not to the government.

What this means is that it is not a sin for a government to send the military into a just war where lives will be lost, or for a police officer to shoot and kill an assailant for just cause, or for the state to execute death upon a prisoner.

In God’s eyes such things are just and not murder.

Of course, in the world this doctrine is precisely what is seen as unjust.

It shows how blind our consciences are to God’s truth.

By the way, when it comes to Capital Punishment, while God allows it, He doesn’t command it.

There are committed Christians who stand equally for and against the death penalty.

Such is your choice; as long as the reasoning isn’t emotional or accusing the state of murder, it is fine to stand against the death penalty.

There is more.

This commandment is broken when we hurt or harm our neighbor in his or her body.