10 Commandments: Do not murder

Introduction 

Two questions come to mind as we look at today's command: firstly what does this command really mean? Secondly is it relevant?

It is clear that this command deals with the illegal taking of human life. The original Hebrew word means to unlawfully kill, and in the society of the time, killing was permissible in self-defence, in warfare and where a serious offence had been committed – executions were allowed.

Consequently all modern Bible versions translate this commandment as “you shall not murder,” but there is a danger here.

“You shall not kill” is maybe too broad but “You shall not murder” is too narrow.

It suggests the only thing in view is the brutal premeditated assault with the intention to take a life, yet in the Old Testament you could also be guilty of shedding blood to a lesser extent through carelessness or even by accident. So the command includes manslaughter as well as murder. Perhaps the most accurate translation would be “You shall not unlawfully cause another person's death.”

We have a good idea what murder is and for most of us, it is not one of the great temptations of life - so are we actually safe from not breaking this command? Is this at last a command we stand a chance of keeping? Yet when we turn to the New Testament we find that Jesus tells us that anger is as sinful as the desire to kill - and if that’s true then we have all broken it many times. Very few of us have committed murder, but all of us have been angry.

So, the Old Testament command prohibits deadly actions and Jesus extends it to deadly emotions.

The value of human life 

Our modern understanding of human life is different from that of earlier generations. The biblical view is that human beings have been created just a little below God and in his image. The modern-day atheistic view is that we are merely the most recent results of evolution’s blind game of chance.

To be made in the image of God is a little like an ambassador sent by a powerful King. To attack that ambassador is to attack the king himself, so all men and women bear God's mark.

By respecting them we respect God. By showing contempt or hatred for them we show contempt for God. Deadly actions and deadly emotions are so terrible not because they are against men and women because they are against God.

Avoid deadly actions 

Clearly the 6th commandment prohibits the sort of murder that we associate with Agatha Christie or with headlines in the tabloid papers but there are four major issues with this command which must be borne in mind - issues over which Christians and all other people have different views. Those issues are: abortion, euthanasia, capital punishment and war.

It will be too hard for me to address those issues properly and to illustrate that let me just ask one difficult question for each:

And there are 2 general points I want to make:

1. We need to uphold the value of life. We are all God's creation, made in his image and as a result we all have enormous value and dignity.

2. We also need to uphold the value of truth. We can play a vital role by demanding that accurate language is used in these matters. People have an unpleasant way of disguising appalling realities by using some harmless formula of words: removing foetal tissue doesn't sound as bad as killing a baby; letting nature take its course doesn't sound as bad as causing death; neutralising the enemy positions, degradation of infrastructure doesn't sound as bad as attacking and killing enemy soldiers.

Avoid deadly emotions 

If that was all the Bible says about killing we would have plenty to think about, yet Jesus goes further. In the Sermon on the Mount he uses the same rigorous logic with this commandment as he did with that on adultery. It is not enough, he says to avoid physically killing someone. To be in a furious rage with someone is to be guilty of murder. So the thought is the parent of the deed and is equally condemned.

This raises the question, is all anger really murderous anger? After all didn't Jesus get angry? It is important to distinguish between the emotion of anger and the focus of anger. It's what you do with anger that counts. Remember that Paul said to the Ephesians: “Don't sin by letting anger gain control over you. Don't let the sun go down while you are still angry, for anger gives a mighty foothold to the devil.”

Psychologists make a distinction between destructive anger and constructive anger.

Destructive anger is the violent outburst where you lash out blindly and hatefully at someone else. Constructive anger is a cooler more focused reaction - we decide to go and do something about the problem. Destructive anger focuses on making a person suffer. Constructive anger focuses on getting a problem solved.

Sometimes it is right to be angry. For someone not to be angered by bullying or corruption or child abuse is not to be Christ-like. The prophets and Jesus got angry over sin and his followers have been right to get angry over sin ever since. William Wilberforce got angry over the slave trade and worked to have the whole trade made illegal - that was constructive anger.

But it is all too easy for constructive anger to switch into the destructive mode, and it will be wise to remember that anger is only one letter away from Danger.

How should we had handle anger? 

1. Don't just let it happen James 1:19-20

2. When we feel angry we need to try to analyse our feelings. Counting to 10 before expressing your feelings is not simply putting the pin back in a hand grenade for a few more seconds, it gives us time to look at the situation. Maybe best to step back, take a walk around the block, find someone else to talk the situation over with. Pray, ask for wisdom and grace, so instead of taking it out on someone, we take it to God and talk it through.

3. If it is an important matter and your anger is justified, ask yourself how you can express it in a way that will make the situation better. Channelling anger positively as a great skill. Saying something like, “You know this is bothering me. We need to do something here. How can we stop this happening again?” Not threatening, not abusive, trying to build bridges. A loving response.

Conclusion 

We must be against deadly actions and be in favour of life. 

It is far too easy to see human beings reduced to nothing more than a label, or statistic: a consumer, a foetus, a casualty, an occupant of a hospital bed, an enemy, a thug. In every case we need to remember that behind the words are human beings made in the image of God.

To keep this commandment is to be more than simply people who avoid inflicting death - we should be people who are in favour of life. We should be those that feed the poor, that honour and respect the elderly and disabled, that struggle to give people in deprived areas a decent quality of life.

We must be against deadly emotions and in favour of love forgiveness and peace. 

When we do hateful actions, think hateful thoughts and say hateful words it is God we sin against. We need to repent of our anger and resolve to watch our thought lives and the struggle against such thoughts when we feel anger surging through us. We need to respond rightly, analysing our feelings and determining prayerfully what is the right and loving response. The way Jesus lived and the way Jesus died show us a better way.

Within this desire to be in favour of love forgiveness and peace, there must be a readiness to help those who have suffered through anger or violence. We need to help apply God's love and forgiveness to those who still nurse bitter thoughts and grievances and those who now repent of deadly acts and thoughts they have committed in the past.

This is a hard but desperately relevant commandment in a world filled with anger and violence. Applying it in our own lives, we need to turn again and again to the mercy of God for forgiveness and the power of the Holy Spirit for strength.