God at the Center: You shall not kill, You shall not commit adultery. Or, one yes leads to a thousand no’s
The Bad News: Saying Yes to God also means saying no to the violent and selfish ways we have maintained control and stayed ‘safe’ in the world and in life.
The Good News: Saying Yes to God opens a new possibility for peace in our lives and in the world.
Intro:
There has recently been a controversy at Goshen College In Goshen Indiana. Goshen College is a small liberal arts school that is affiliated with the Mennonite Church. Now the Mennonite Church is an historical peace church. A church of non-violence, a church of pacifists. So for its long history, Goshen College has not played the national anthem at sporting events. Recently this was made known to the larger public through the local media. The college started to get letters and phone calls of complaint, and so the leadership of the college changed their tradition, that had stood for well over 100 years, and will start playing the national anthem. Many alumni of the school are upset. But to be fair there are some who don’t see the big deal, and some students are happy.
Now, the reason I mention this is because I think it illustrates the challenge of the first of our commandments today, You shall not kill. This commandment lies at the heart of the reason why Goshen College did not play the national anthem and why Mennonites are pacifists, at least as I understand the issue. You see, from the traditional Mennonite perspective, and I really shouldn’t be trying to explain this, because I’m not Mennonite, so this is my best approximation really, but from the Mennonite perspective, the National Anthem is a song whose lyrics celebrate violence.
Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there.
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
Thro’ the perilous fight… rockets’ red glare, bombs bursting in air..
Here is why I mention this however. The Mennonite Church is a tradition that places high priority on imagining, through Jesus example, a Godly life in the world. What would a Godly life in the world look like… the answer being… Jesus…
We recall that Jesus, when arrested, would not allow his disciples to offer armed resistance on his behalf.
That is the Godly life on earth…
imagine it…
live it.
For Mennonites, the national anthem does NOT imagine God’s way in the world…
It rehearses and restates the world’s fallen and sinful way… violence.
I heard Rob Bell say in a sermon recently, A Yes leads to a thousand No’s. In this case, for some of these Mennonites, a Yes to this commandment is a NO to violence under any circumstance.
The Mennonite’s perspective is not the only one.
And the debate about whether Christians should serve in the military is really an open debate, perhaps more open than we would like to admit. There is a strong tradition in the history of the church, within the New Testament, that suggests that violence under any circumstance, should not be an option for those who follow Christ. That isn’t the only side of the debate…
And we don’t have time to work it all out here this morning…
My point is that this commandment, you shall not murder/kill, is another than can be easily passed over. None of us has killed anyone. So we may be tempted to pass this commandment by fairly quickly. I think this story illustrates how inconvenient an interruption this commandment may be to our lives and to issues that we feel we already have made up our minds on…
It may interrupt us regarding other issues too… Abortion, Euthenasia, Capital Punishment.
I’m not saying that this commandment is THE answer to any of these topics…
But it does deserve a voice in how we think about these issues…
And that makes this commandment VERY relevant for our times
Very relevant for our lives, even if we haven’t ever
Been tempted to commit murder…
The commandment against killing/murder is much closer than we want to admit…
But look at close Jesus brings it to our lives…Mt 5:21-22
21 "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. Again, anyone who says to his brother, 'Raca ,' is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell.
Now that really cuts close to the bone doesn’t it?
I mean, we can make an argument that military service, even in times of war
Doesn’t violate this commandment… and so keep it at a distance…
We could make medical and human rights arguments about abortion and euthanasia and reserve this commandment for only very specific situations, limits is applicability to just a few circumstances…
But the way Jesus reads this commandment and then applies it…
That hits all of us, except for a slim few…
Even the words we use, can kill…
Not literally, that goes without needing explanation
But our words can do violence to the spirit, the soul of a person
Angry words, Jesus says, are every bit as violent
And dangerous as fists and weapons…
And who among us can say we haven’t ever used angry, bitter, words…
I mention this because what the commandment, You shall not murder, is encouraging us to do is imagine a life where we are not governed, controlled or influenced by our fears.
The commandment not to murder/kill is a commandment to imagine a new way in the world free of fear.
Are we a people of fear?
I remember driving in my car, what is it, nine years ago now? After 9/11 and hearing a young woman on a talk radio station say that she was now so afraid of the violence in the world that she could not dream anymore of having children, because it would be cruel to bring them into such a violent world.
Do we live in fear? Walter Brueggeman once wrote
In these days, fear is deep and broad in the land and in the church. Fear does strange things to people. It makes us withdraw from our brothers and sisters and live in a crouch. It makes us attracted to a fetal position. It makes us say things and do things that do not honor us. It makes us hurt one another – all because we fear the world is falling apart…Thus, I must protect what little order I have, scramble to make more, and keep people from intruding on my order or my mystery of my goodies
'Peace' pg. 161 . . .
Fear, as Brueggeman says, is deep and broad…
It may not be as apparent as the fear we felt after 9/11
Fear can be a subtle thing…
Something that we carry with unknowingly
Fear we were taught by an abusive or uncaring parent
Fear we were taught by a family that would not speak of hurt or pain
Or a family that dealt with difference with angry words or sullen silences
Fear we were taught through the cruel words of others
Because we live or love ‘differently’
Or perhaps the way we look, not big or small enough
Not the right size or shape
Fear because a spouse was unfaithful
Fear because we grew up in poverty
The list of fears that we may carry is a long list
A list that perhaps we don’t even think of consciously
Just a few chapters in Exodus, before the gift of the commandments we hear a story of fear…
Ex 16:11-12
11 The LORD said to Moses, 12 "I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, 'At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God.'"
NIV
Ex 16:15-20
Moses said to them, "It is the bread the LORD has given you to eat. 16 This is what the LORD has commanded: 'Each one is to gather as much as he needs. Take an omer for each person you have in your tent.'"
17 The Israelites did as they were told; some gathered much, some little. 18 And when they measured it by the omer, he who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little. Each one gathered as much as he needed.
19 Then Moses said to them, "No one is to keep any of it until morning."
20 However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them.
No wonder they were afraid…
For generations living as slaves…
Worked for hours we cannot perhaps imagine
Only fed enough for their subsistence
Enough to keep them working and little more…
No wonder they are afraid…
And this story shows that they carry this fear in them…
Fear does not leave because the geography changes…
And perhaps it is just a flight of fancy,
My imagination…
But I see them grasping for manna,
Fighting for manna
Clawing and pushing and shoving and even striking out
For manna,
But this is not too much too imagine is it…
Because we see fights for much less than manna every Christmas
Fights over toys and flatscreen TV’s
Fights, based on fear…
That our child may not know our love if we do not get the toy
Or that we may not know their love…
How would you make this commandment a positive?
As I was thinking about that question I remembered this from
Lk 21:12-19
12 "But before all this, they will lay hands on you and persecute you. They will deliver you to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name. 13 This will result in your being witnesses to them. 14 But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. 15 For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. 16 You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. 17 All men will hate you because of me. 18 But not a hair of your head will perish. 19 By standing firm you will gain life .
It is cynicism and fear that freezes life; it is faith that thaws it out, releases it, sets it free. Harry Emerson Fosdick
This commandment reminds us that we have said yes to life,
And the verses from Luke remind us that we have said yes to life
Free of fear…
Which doesn’t mean that we won’t feel fear
But we have said yes to not living in that fear…
Fear does not have to be the guiding factor of our lives
That which compels us…
That is what the commandment reminds us
You are free now, from being driven by fear
Very soon now we will begin to re-tell the story of Jesus arrest and torture at
The hands of the Romans
Fear will fill this story.
Jesus will pray in the garden that the cup (which means his suffering and his crucifixion) will pass from him… that he won’t have to suffer… he is afraid…
Up all night praying…
and who among us doesn’t know about sleepless nights…
The disciples who promised their love and loyalty will run in the shadows of the night… afraid…
The story of jesus arrest and crucifixion is the story of our fears…
But it is also the story of the one who would not be controlled by fear…
The story of the one who was life, according to the gospel of John
Who chose to trust in life instead of yielding to fear…
Who spent his whole life resisting fear
By calling the people that society feared to be his family he resisted fear
And created life
By speaking with Samaritan’s and women, he resisted fear
And created life
Feeding the hungry, healing the sick
He was resisting fear and creating life
And that end of that story is that not even the fear of death could hold him
We need not fear because Jesus entered our fears
Faced them for us
Lived through every one
These fears killed him
But they could not hold him in death
And on the third day he rose to new life…
That is the question you see
That this commandment You shall not Kill really drives us to ask ourselves
How am I creating life? How am I living in resurrection… offering resurrection
Hope for a new tomorrow, for myself and for others.
Because that is the invitation…
It began in Genesis when Adam was given the task of
Working and caring for the garden…
Serve and protect creation..
Join God and participate in the mystery of creating life
That was the invitation to Abraham
And the challenged to Moses
To follow God and find life
Lead the people into new life
And that invitation to serve and protect life
And so continue to participate in creation with God
That invitation still stands today…
You and I have received that invitation
We are the ones who inherited the stories of Jesus
That show us what true life is
This is where real peace-making begins
When we begin to see ourselves as inheritors of Jesus life
Entrusted with his life…
We shall go out with the hope of resurrection,
We shall go out, from strength to strength go on,
We shall go out and tell our stories boldly,
Tales of a love that will not let us go.
We’ll sing our song of wrongs that can be righted.
We’ll dream our dream of hurts that can be healed,
We’ll weave a cloth of all the world united
Within a vision of a Christ who sets us free.
We’ll give a voice to those who have not spoken,,
We’ll find the words for those whose lips are sealed
We’ll make the tunes for those who sing no longer,
Vibrating love alive in every heart.
We’ll share our joy with those who are still weeping,
Chant hymns of strength for hearts that break in grief,
We’ll leap and dance the resurrection story
Including all within the circles of our love.
June Boyce-Tillman, in Reflecting Praise
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