Exodus 20:1-2, 13 - Love God's Gift of Life - July 30, 2017

We have reached the halfway point in our series on the 10 commandments; a good time to review why we are going through things that most of us learned in Sunday school and confirmation class. Why are we spending so much time on 10 commandments that are roughly 3500 years old? Because our three great spiritual enemies: the devil, the world, and our own sinful nature are hell-bent on warping and twisting and abolishing God’s Word and will. The devil still whispers in our ears did God really say? (Genesis 3:1) to lead us to doubt that God means what he says. The world tells us that the times have changed and therefore moral standards, the meaning of Scripture, the doctrine and practice of the church, and even the definition of words must change along with it. And our own sinful flesh, that part of us which will never be converted, will never want to obey God, will never believe in God, always tries to persuade us that God is just a bully who wants to take all the fun out of life – and that true freedom is found not in obedience but rebellion. The Christian life is one of constant struggle against these enemies and their lies – and that’s why we are taking the time to review and take to heart God’s unchanging, holy moral will. Today, we see God’s will as he revealed it in the 5th commandment: You shall not murder. In it, God leads us to love his gift of life, by teaching us the value of life, how to love life, and then how even the loveless receive life.

First, let us define the terms. You shall not murder in Hebrew is lo taratzach. This word is never used for the slaughter of animals, and “kill” (KJV) is too broad a translation. Narrowly defined, murder is the lawless taking of human life. It refers to premeditated murder – such as when Cain killed his brother Abel. (Genesis 4) It refers to murder that has a façade of legality or coincidence, such as when Ahab had Naboth murdered for his vineyard (1 Kings 21:19) or when David arranged for Uriah to be slain in battle. (2 Samuel 11) It even applies to killing that is the result of momentary passion or negligence. (Numbers 35:16-34) All are forbidden. However, not all taking of life is forbidden. Long before Moses stood on Mt. Sinai, God set down this basic principle when Noah stepped off the ark: whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed. (Genesis 9:6) From the moment God pushed restart on creation with the Flood, he carved out an exception for his authorized representatives to take life. Soldiers, police officers, executioners, and people fighting back in self-defense are not guilty of murder if they take life in the course of carrying out their duties. They are God’s representatives, authorized by the 4th commandment to punish the wicked and protect the innocent.

The fact that God authorizes his representatives to take life only proves how serious God is about protecting life. Why? Why is life so valuable? Still speaking to Noah, God continued: whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man. (Genesis 9:6) Life – every life – has value, for two basic reasons: 1) Man is created in God’s image, thus any attack on human life is an attack on God himself, and; 2) because a person’s life is the only time they have to come to receive God’s grace in faith and be saved. All life belongs to God and God gives life for one primary reason, as Paul spelled out: so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him. (Acts 17:27) In other words, your lifetime is the only time you get to come to know and believe in Jesus Christ and be saved. There are no “do-overs”, no second chances – after death there is only judgment. (Hebrews 9:27) God created life, God preserves life, God’s Son has redeemed our lives, and God wants all people to come to saving faith so that they may live with him eternally. That is why life is inherently valuable and why God forbids murder.

So, let’s put that principle to work. Let’s learn the “how-to” of loving life. Does this apply to unborn babies – which the world has taken to referring to as nothing more than a “clump of cells” or the unfortunate “by-product of conception”? [1] Yes. We sang in Psalm 139: your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. (Psalm 139:16) What if the baby is the result of rape or incest, what if the baby is doomed to live with Down syndrome will be born into an unhealthy home-life? Did you hear any exceptions in the 5th commandment? All life comes from God, and no one has the right to dispute or deny or legislate to destroy that life. Abortion is murder. [2] Does this commandment apply to those with mental or physical handicaps, those whose life will only last a few, grief-filled years, those who will never have a “normal” life? Yes, the consequences of sin do not change the fact that God our Savior wants all men to be saved (1 Timothy 2:4), and does not nullify the fact that God can create saving faith in all people – even those the world considers to have a poor “quality of life.” God loves all people as his children regardless of skin color, education, ethnicity, or mental ability. Does this apply to those near the end of life, those with terminal diseases, those who are enduring awful, chronic pain? Do we have the right to end these lives and call it mercy-killing; euthanasia? No. God decides when life begins. God decides when life ends. Period. (Psalm 31:15) What if I don’t think my own life is worth living anymore – what if I am so ashamed, so guilty, so depressed, such an outcast that I would rather end my life than endure it? (If this describes you, please get help. Suicide is not a solution; it is sin. It hurts you. It hurts those around you. Don’t do it. Jesus offers help to everyone. Jesus offers hope in any situation.) Does this apply to illegal immigrants, Islamic terrorists, black lives and blue lives, or any other class of people you can come up with? Yes. The fifth commandment is clear: you shall not murder any one for any reason. Life, every life, has value because God created it and Jesus redeemed it.

Look down at your hands, are they stained with innocent blood? Maybe not, but remember what John wrote in our first lesson? Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him. (1 John 3:15) God calls murderers not only those who take life with their hands, but those who take life with their lips or in their hearts. Children, have you ever hit or insulted your sibling or classmate? Parents, has your discipline ever crossed the line from love to frustrated rage? Husbands and wives, have you ever struck one another with a balled up fist or a deeply cutting word? Have you ever taken vengeance into your own hands? Are there any grudges lurking in your heart even as we speak? Hatred, angry outbursts, grudges – even if we never act out on them – are murder in God’s eyes. And no murderer has eternal life in him.

That’s the negative side. In his explanation, Luther also recognizes the positive side: we should fear and love God that we do not hurt or harm our neighbor in his body but help and befriend him in every bodily need. Jesus zeroes in on the positive angle in his response to the expert in the law who asked him who is my neighbor? (Luke 10:29) I won’t retell that story, but consider a modern-day Good Samaritan story. Do you know the name Peter Enns? Peter Enns, of Alberta, Canada was a man who spent a lot of time on the road. For five years he worked for a company transporting campers from Indiana to Canada. In that time, he noticed that many people who break down on the side of the road don’t carry the necessary tools for repair. So Peter made it a habit of carrying extra tools and spare parts in his truck so he could help anyone in need. On the evening of July 8th, Peter Enns put his principle into practice on the side of I-94 near Delafield where the minivan of a family of six had broken down. As Peter was stopped on the side of the road helping this family another person entered the picture. This man’s name is Frank Schiller. Frank also had a history. He had been arrested and convicted of drunk driving not once, not twice, but five times. Frank also happened to be on I-94 that evening and according to the criminal complaint, he was again driving impaired. As he approached the Delafield area, he noticed that traffic was slowing as it neared the broken down minivan. So he decided to pass the slow-moving traffic on the shoulder – the same shoulder where Peter Enns was bent down changing a stranger’s tire. Witnesses estimate that Schiller was going 90 mph when he struck Peter Enns, killing him instantly. Another road in another time, a Good Samaritan, and a thoughtless individual who placed his own desires above the needs of others.

Both stories, the one Jesus told and the one lived by Peter Enns, answer the question: who is [our] neighbor? You see, like the expert in the law, we want to believe that our neighbors are going to be our family and friends, people who can return our kindness or at least people we can help in a way and at a time that’s convenient for us. We want to believe that clicking “like” on some noble Facebook cause satisfies God’s demand or we pass by on the other side when we think we’re too busy to be bothered or we insist on making sure someone is “worthy” of our help before we give it. Jesus’ answer to the expert and to those thoughts, to put it bluntly, is “Stop wondering who your neighbor is. Instead, look in the mirror and ask, what kind of neighbor have I been?” Peter Enns understood that. I failed to mention that Peter was a confessing Christian who used to say to family and friends “we can’t change the entire world, but we can change the part of it that we interact with. Let’s change it for the better.” [3] How do you love life? Not committing murder, not aborting unborn babies, not holding grudges and hating, yes. But loving life also means being ready to help anyone in need, regardless of who they are, whether it is convenient for you or not. One thing is clear: if you want to get to heaven by keeping this commandment, you must love everyone you interact with, with unfailing, self-sacrificing love every moment of every day. That’s the 5th commandment. There are no legal loopholes, no valid excuses, no circumstances that justify disobedience. In God’s courtroom, you and I are just as guilty of murder as Frank Schiller is.

It almost makes you wish that we didn’t review this commandment after all, doesn’t it? But actually, doesn’t sharpening our understanding of God’s will in the fifth commandment drive us back to that expert’s first question: what must I do to be saved? And so, it’s good for us to be here, convicted and guilty of murder before God. Because the good news is not that we now know who our neighbor is or suddenly feel energized to go and do likewise. The good news today is that the one who told this parable is the true Good Samaritan who has had mercy on us. Jesus loved the lives of murderers like Frank Schiller, like you, like me so much that he stooped down from heaven to be born and live among murderers like us. All through his ministry he proved his love for life – the blind, the deaf, the paralyzed, those with diseases on their skin and demons in their hearts – all came to Jesus and Jesus helped them all – whether it was convenient for him or not – because he loved life. Even the dead did not stay dead when the Lord of life spoke his life-giving Word. Jesus loved God’s gift of life so much that he was willing to lay down his life for murderers like us. Isaiah wrote he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. (Isaiah 53:12) The 5th commandment declares that we are murderers. From the cross, Jesus says “Nope, not anymore. I’ve taken your conviction and suffered your sentence.” Jesus has cleansed our bloody hands and bloody hearts with his precious blood. Jesus exchanged our rap-sheet for his perfect life of love. Jesus traded his death for our life. Jesus was buried as a criminal so that we could inherit his home in heaven. And because Jesus lives, you also will live even though you deserve to die! In Jesus there is life, true life, eternal life, even for loveless murderers like you and me.

Love God’s gift of life. Love it by seeing every human life as a precious soul created by God and redeemed by Christ. Love life not just by keeping your hands from violence but by keeping hate from your heart and by recognizing that your “neighbor” might be closer than you think. Most of all, love life by loving and trusting the one Good Samaritan who loved you enough to give up his own life. He’s the neighbor who showed us mercy when we didn’t deserve it and he is the true source of life now and forever. Amen.

[1] http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/fetal-development-101/article/2619147

[2] Nearly 60 million babies have been aborted in the US since 1973 - http://www.numberofabortions.com/

[3] http://www.jsonline.com/story/news/local/milwaukee/2017/07/14/victim-delafield-94-crash-remembered-good-samaritan-who-often-helped-motorists/479110001/