How protective are you of your computer files like digital pictures? I have an external hard drive at home that instantly backs up everything I do as I work on my computer. In addition to that, my Saturday routine is to backup all my computer files on another external hard drive which I then bring here to the church for safekeeping during the week. That way if the house burns down and my laptop is destroyed, I’m not going to lose any more than a week’s worth of work. In addition to that I upload my really important files like family pictures to a web-based storage system every month. Do you suppose I’m a bit overprotective? You wouldn’t think that if you’ve ever spent an afternoon tapping out a report only to have it vanish from your computer. Do you remember the sinking feeling when you realized what happened, followed by utter frustration as you were tempted to pick up the computer and throw it through the window?
If this is how we feel when something we’ve created is destroyed, we can begin to understand why God spoke the Fifth Commandment: “You shall not murder.” Human life is God’s creation not a cosmic accident. Only he and his earthly representatives in government have the right to end life. Martin Luther explained how God seeks to protect his gift of life with the Fifth Commandment: “We should fear and love God that we do not hurt or harm our neighbor in his body, but help and be a friend to him in every bodily need.” Let’s consider what a blessing this command is for us and others.
What is there to say about such a simple command as “Do not murder”? “OK. I won’t!” Such a trite reply gives the impression that we don’t seriously think we could ever become guilty of breaking this commandment. But I wonder how many murderers are former faithful church-goers who too thought that they would never break this command by taking a life? Now just to be clear, when an RCMP officer takes a life in the course of his work, he’s not a murderer. He is God’s representative on earth and has been given the authority to hand out such punishment. Of course this doesn’t mean the police can just start shooting whomever they want. The same is true of soldiers. When they are engaged in a just war, they too have the God-given authority to fire their guns and missiles with the intent to kill. Pray for our men and women in uniform that they would use this power in line with God’s will and not their own.
But let’s get back to our original question. How is it that former Sunday School students, even pastors (!) have been guilty of murder? It will be helpful to think back to the example of Cain. Why did he murder his brother, Abel? You can’t blame violent video games. You can’t say that he had terrible parents, although we know they weren’t perfect. Nor did he kill to rob and get rich. Cain murdered his brother because he refused to rein in his sins of jealously and anger at how God was pleased with Abel’s offering but not his. There is a young adult on trial in Edmonton because in his anger he threw a knife at another party-goer and struck him in the heart. He didn’t intend to kill, just to scare but his sinful emotions led him to do something he now regrets.
Do you see why Jesus explains that we can break the Fifth Commandment without even lifting a finger? Jesus said: “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ 22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment…anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell” (Matthew 5:21, 22).
Friends, who is it that you are angry with this morning? You may have every “right” to be angry because they have mistreated you but consider what God says to you: “Do not murder. Do not even entertain thoughts of wringing this person’s neck. Let me take care of the judging and punishing.”
So what should we do? Just forget about the matter? Hardly! The Apostle Paul says, “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you” (Colossians 3:12, 13). Not only does God not want us to hate those who have mistreated us, he wants us to love them. No, you might not invite these difficult people over for dinner but if you bump into them at the mall, you won’t turn on your heels in huff either. You’ll smile and greet them by name. You’ll ask them how they are doing. And if you find out that they’re not doing so well you won’t rub your hands in glee but figure out what it is you can do to help. Do they need an hour or two away from their children? Do they need someone to sit down and just listen to them for an hour? Do they need a couple of meals brought over so they know that they are loved?
What God expects is hard! But it’s in your best interest. If you refuse to love and forgive, you’re continuing to yank on the rope of conflict and this will only tighten the knot in your relationship making it hopelessly gnarled (adapted from Lee Strobel). Worse yet, by insisting on pulling on the rope of conflict you’re also forming a knot that threatens to cut off the flow of God’s forgiveness to you - not because God does not want to forgive you but because you don’t revel in his forgiveness and are refusing to pass it on.
Jesus was a master at dropping the rope of conflict. When the Pharisees lashed out at him he didn’t snap back like a whip aimed to maim. He stood firm for the truth and spoke up for those who could not speak for themselves often putting the Pharisees in their place but his motive was always love. Like a lifeguard barking at careless swimmers, Jesus didn’t mince words with the Pharisees because he wanted them to acknowledge their own sins and their need for the forgiveness he had come to win. Jesus proved his love when from the cross he breathed sighs of pardon for those very same leaders who had engineered his crucifixion.
Jesus’ love shone brightly in regard to other aspects of the Fifth Commandment as well. Think of how often he set aside his schedule to help those who were sick. He even fed his followers lunch and breakfast. Jesus took care of bodily needs as well as spiritual. I don’t bring Jesus’ example to your attention to guilt you into doing a better job of keeping the Fifth Commandment. No, Jesus freed us from all guilt. Like a supervisor taking a pay cut and demotion because of something foolish you did, Jesus was punished for our sins against the Fifth Commandment – for our refusal to forgive, to love, to care for the needs of others.
But because we are freed from the guilt of all our sins we are free to serve and obey God by keeping the Fifth Commandment. And that doesn’t just include keeping our temper in check so that it doesn’t balloon into other sins. It means watching the way we drive so that we’re not a menace to others on the road. It also means taking care of our own bodies by getting enough sleep and eating the right kinds of food, exercising so that we have the energy to serve others. It means not roughhousing so carelessly that you hurt your siblings.
God is adamant about protecting life because this is our time to come to faith in him. This is our time to serve him in such a way that serves as a witness to others. You don’t have the right to shorten your life or the lives of others any more than you have the right to smash my computer and external hard drives so that I lose all my files and hard work.
It’s not difficult to see how the Fifth Commandment is a blessing. If you don’t think so, just go live in a country where the police are powerless against terrorists and drug-lords. You won’t find a lot of peace in a place like that. Because we have peace – not just in our country but in our hearts, Christians are in a unique position to share peace with others – even with our enemies. Do that through forgiveness and compassion, dropping the rope of conflict and freeing your hands to serve just as Jesus did. Amen.
