to return to your place in the text.To read endnotes, click on the the note number, then click on the
Is it? This commandment was initially given to prevent
blood feuds - no Hatsfields-and-McCoys-type vendettas in an eye-for-an-eye culture in which people's lives are at risk for no
reason other than family ties. That would be intolerable in the
decent society God was establishing in ancient Israel just as the
killing of the Matthew Shepherds of this world is today. But,
the No Murder commandment poses additional questions. What about
abortion? Is abortion murder, a violation of this sixth
commandment? The news is full of stories on the civil war in
Serbia. Is war a violation of the commandment? What about
capital punishment? Is the death penalty prohibited by "You
shall not murder?" Or what about a terminally-ill patient's
appeal to Dr. Kevorkian to end a life of unending agony? Is it
murder when someone compassionately helps put a person out of
pain-filled misery? Not easy questions. We realize that human
life is special, and we remember the commandment: "You shall not
murder."
One thing should be made clear at the outset: we are saying
human life is special in light of the command. Animal life, in
spite of the fact that we might prefer that no harm come to
helpless beasts, is not under consideration here. Genesis deals
with that subject: God tells Noah after the flood, "Every moving
thing that lives shall be food for you."(1) If we were not
supposed to eat meat, God would have given us another kind of
teeth, because what we have are designed to eat meat. "You shall
not murder" means humans, not animals.
Are there certain circumstances where human beings can be
killed? Abortion. War. Capital Punishment. Euthanasia. Much
has been written on each of these ethical questions, and there is
no way we could possibly get into all of the issues in the course
of a short sermon (or even a very long one). But in connection
with what the commandment says, we will consider them at least
briefly.
What about abortion? Is it murder or not? Despite what
some folks would have us believe, the scripture is NOT crystal
clear on the issue. (We might WISH it were, but it is not!) In
Bible times, we have no record of any thought being given as to
whether a pregnancy should be permitted to go to term or not; it
just did. Within pagan societies, if an unwanted baby came
along, the child was simply left to die or perhaps drowned. For
the Jews, that would be an obvious violation of the commandment,
so it was never practiced. The closest indication we get as to
God's instruction on the matter concerns accidental killing.
Perhaps it can give us some guidance about abortion.
First, some background. If an Israelite accidentally killed
someone, he was not automatically condemned. He could escape the
wrath of the victim's family (who, by the eye-for-an-eye law, had
the right to kill him) if he could get to one of six "cities of
refuge" that were strategically located throughout the nation.
Upon presentation of his case, if the determination was made that
the killing was indeed an accident and not premeditated, he would
not be handed over to the victim's family for retribution. He
could remain in the city in safety until the High Priest
currently ruling should die. After that, he would be free to go
anywhere. He would have suffered a loss of liberty for a time,
perhaps even a long time, but he was at least allowed to live.
But what about causing the death of an unborn child? In
Exodus 21, it says, "If men who are fighting hit a pregnant woman
and she has a miscarriage or premature birth, but there is no
serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman's
husband demands and the court allows. But if there is serious
injury, you are to take life for life."(2) Is God making a
distinction between the value of the born and the unborn? It
sounds like it.
But there is another side. There are a number of references
that indicate God's knowledge of us, even before we are born.
For example, God told the prophet Jeremiah, "Before I formed you
in the womb I knew you; and before you were born I consecrated
you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations."(3) What would have
happened had Jeremiah's mother had an abortion? I do not know.
What then is the Biblical position on abortion? Is it a
violation of the sixth commandment? Some want to say YES; some
want to say NO. But a careful reading of the scripture leaves us
not being able to say much of anything. We can base our
arguments, either pro or con, on other factors, but the Biblical
evidence as to whether abortion is murder is NOT conclusive.
The position of the Presbyterian Church (USA) is that
abortion is a wrenching choice, but it IS a choice. In the case
of rape or incest or if the mother's life is threatened, the
church has said that abortion is a legitimate consideration.
None of us would want to ruin the life of some helpless fourteen-year-old, pregnant as a result of rape. But we have also said
that abortion is NOT legitimate as simply an after-the-fact
method of birth control. However, in terms of our present study,
note that the arguments are based on considerations OTHER than
"You shall not murder."
What about war? There are lots of stories about war in the
Bible, a number even picturing God as commanding general. Does
that mean that war is all right, a legitimate instrument of
national purpose? Again, some say YES; some say NO. The issue
for us this morning, of course, is whether or not war violates
the sixth commandment because people are killed in war. If a
soldier kills an enemy in battle, is he a murderer?
Some soldiers think so. Sometime back, I remember seeing a
millionth repeat of an episode of M*A*S*H. A wounded soldier was
lying in the field hospital asking Father Mulcahy to please try
to arrange for him not to be sent back to the front. The
chaplain tried to comfort the young man by saying that he should
not worry...there was no shame in being afraid of injury, or even
death - it was a perfectly normal reaction. But the soldier
protested. It was not fear that concerned him - he had already
killed three of the enemy in battle, and he was afraid that if he
were sent back, he would have to kill more, and he did not want
to do it, enemy or not. He felt like a murderer.
Was he? The scripture does not say so. In the 13th chapter
of Romans, Paul goes on at some length about a citizen's
responsibility to the state.(4) He says that we are subject to the
powers of the government. That means we must obey our leaders
when we are told to adhere to the civil law, to pay our taxes,
and even when we are told to go to war.
One thing should be made clear though. Paul had no
intention of saying that we must obey the government even if the
leadership is clearly operating contrary to the way God would
have us live. With the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, the church
knows all too well that a Hitler should have been resisted. The
same could hold true for individual soldiers in the field. If a
Christian is ordered by a commander to participate in a massacre
such as occurred in Viet Nam at My Lai or the ethnic cleansing in
eastern Europe, he would be compelled to resist on moral grounds.
The slaughter of innocent women and children in wartime or
anytime can never be condoned, governing authorities
notwithstanding. There are times when government must be
resisted on moral grounds. To be sure, it might mean personal
sacrifice for a soldier to refuse such a battlefield order - he
could be subject to court martial and even execution. But he has
no choice.
There are other questions concerning this sixth commandment.
What about capital punishment? Again, the issue is complex. But
we are not considering whether or not there should be such a
thing, only are the judge who condemns a person to death and the
one who is the actual executioner guilty of murder. Again, the
scripture seems to say "no."
We go back to Genesis: "Whoever sheds the blood of a human,
by a human shall that person's blood be shed; for in his own
image God made humankind."(5) All told, the Old Testament lists
almost twenty crimes that were considered capital offenses -
besides murder there were things like child sacrifice; perjury in
a capital trial; keeping an ox that was known dangerous,
especially after it had killed a man; kidnaping; insulting or
injuring parents; sabbath breaking; and various forms of sexual
immorality. In New Testament times, capital punishment was a
well accepted method of dealing with criminals. Jesus never
spoke against it, and as we know, he was its most famous victim.
Capital punishment is ordained by the state, and in some
cases not only permitted but required. Since that is the case,
the Christian conscience need not be troubled about violation of
the sixth commandment. Both judge and executioner are "subject
to the governing authorities," as Romans 13 says. Christians may
indeed be troubled by the whole process and can legitimately
object on moral grounds. I do. The Presbyterian Church DOES.
But that is not the issue here. If the death sentence is passed,
those who carry it out are not guilty of murder.
But what about a death sentence in which the state is NOT
involved? Euthanasia, for example - mercy-killing, putting
someone out of their misery who is suffering from an incurable
disease? Does "You shall not murder" prohibit such a thing?
Many years ago, near the beginning of my ministry, I was
called to the hospital to meet with the family of one of my
parishioners who was very near death. He and his wife had
decided some time before that, should the end come near, no
heroic measures would be taken to prolong his life, no miraculous
machines would do what his own body could no longer do. He would
be allowed to die with dignity. But very early that morning he
had stopped breathing and the doctors had reacted instinctively,
the way they had been trained: they had put him on a respirator
despite the previous agreement about no machines. I came into
the hospital and the family immediately jumped me. What should
they do? Would it be murder to tell the staff to unhook the
machine? I asked them what they felt. They said they did not
think so. I said neither did I (but I was not going to put them
in the uncomfortable position of hearing that until they were
already content with the decision). The issue: Is allowing a
man to die the same as killing him? The answer: No.
But what of the active help that some terminally-ill
patients request, the call to Dr. Kevorkian? Is it murder, a
violation of this sixth commandment, to respond to the patient's
pleadings? Civil authorities continue to wrestle with the
question, and in this nation, only Oregon has an assisted-suicide
law that permits physicians to administer lethal prescriptions.(6)
For the Christian, the word to love our neighbor puts us in a
quandary here - we do not want people to suffer, and frankly, our
faith tells us that death of the body is not the ultimate evil.
But, painful though it may be, it is difficult to defend our own
intervening where God has not chosen to do so.
Further problems arise in situations in which a patient is
near the end of life, but is lingering...and might linger in some
sort of limbo between life and death for who knows how long.
Existing, not living, no hope of recovery, and in the process
draining everyone's emotional and financial resources. Should
the process be "helped along?" Another toughie. After all,
there would be reason to look askance at someone putting Grandpa
peacefully to sleep who stands to inherit a million bucks once
the old guy is gone. And we certainly would look askance at
folks doing Gramps in just because they got tired of caring for
him. For the Christian, the "love your neighbor" commandment
jumps up again, but, once more, it is hard to justify direct
intervention where God has chosen otherwise.
One more issue needs to be considered - suicide. Does it
violate the sixth commandment? Scientists tell us that the most
overpowering instinct we have is that of self-preservation. If
someone can deny that instinct long enough to take his or her own
life, we could seriously question the rationality of the act.
The commandment was given to prevent blood feuds, not the taking
of one's own life.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said that we can "murder"
folks with angry insults(7) - we disparage their worth as "images
of God." In the twentieth century he might say we do the same by
failing to teach our kids properly about sex and letting them get
to the place where abortion is a consideration; by failing to
actively promote international peace without which war is an
ever-present danger; by allowing a society to exist where some
folks feel they have to break the law and even kill simply to
survive; by failing to provide the warmth of human love to those
whose pain is so deep that death seems better than life. No, we
may never have blown someone's head off, but this IS a
commandment we need to hear.
"You shall not murder." The issues are complex. On the one
hand, the commandment was given to control society's baser
instincts. But, on the other, it is a reminder that life is
special. It is the word of a gracious and loving God who wants
you to know that YOU are special...and you and you and you...and
even me. And God showed just HOW special by sending Jesus to die
that we might live. In a world that rarely seems to care whether
we live or die, that is good news indeed.
Let us pray.
O God, we are grateful for your care, for the knowledge that
we are loved. We are grateful for the sacrifice made on our
behalf on that bleak Friday afternoon so long ago. Help us to
share the message of that love with a murderous world. For we
pray in Jesus name. Amen!
1. Genesis 9:3 2. Exodus 21:22 3. Jeremiah 1:5 4. Romans 13:1-7 5. Genesis 9:6 6. Since October, 1997 7. Matthew 5:22
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