Sermon Archive

The other night I had dinner with friends, including a four year old, Ben. Ben asked if he could have more bread—white bread, of course. His parents said, "no." He already had two pieces and the chicken on his plate was untouched. Ben had a bite or two of chicken before asking again...and again hearing no. Perhaps another thirty seconds passed before he asked a third time. His mother then looked at him and said, "What part of 'no' do you not understand?" We all laughed, but, in fairness to Ben, there was plenty about "no" he didn't understand. He didn't understand the higher risk of diabetes he would carry if he ate nothing but white bread and sugar the first 10 years of his life. He didn't understand that his parents' firm and consistent "nos" were helping him feel safe and turning him into a four year old other people wanted to spend time with. He saw the white bread with butter and he saw the chicken with a mushroom on it. He saw his desire, and he saw it thwarted. But, as his parents wisely understood, he didn't need another lecture on nutrition at that moment. He didn't need to fully understand the "no"—he just needed to understand that they meant it.

What part of "Do not kill?" do we not understand? The short answer is: all of it. We don't understand the "kill" part, we don't understand the "not" part, and we don't understand the "do" part. And we don't understand that God means it.

Let's start parsing the question with "kill." Scholars disagree as to whether the Hebrew word in question is best translated as "murder" or "kill." "Murder" would seem to make the command less stringent. But even if we define murder narrowly, most of us don't truly understand it. Unless a loved one has died at another's hand, or we've killed someone ourselves, it's hard to grasp the reality of it. Murder is big entertainment, the stuff of fantasy, from mystery and true crime novels to movies and TV dramas. Even less do we understand killing, killing on the vast scale of war, especially if we've never been on a battlefield or watched bombs fall around us. We're taken in by propaganda that says war is heroic and glamorous. War correspondent Chris Hedges says it's only the vanquished who see that war is a state of almost pure sin, who see its goals of hatred and destruction, who understand that the essence of war is death.1 Or it's young people thrust into combat that suffer from nightmares. Nor do we understand the slow killing of children and others from malnutrition or illness that could be prevented if we lived in a just and compassionate world. The huge drop in life expectancy from AIDS in most African countries barely registers with us. Murder and killing—for those of us who haven't known it first hand—is abstract.

We don't understand the "not." Granted, there are things in the "not" to struggle with. Few people would say the sixth commandment is absolute: that, for example, in certain cases of self-defense, killing may be justified. Christians of good conscience disagree over whether war ever can be just, and then argue if particular wars are just. Christians disagree over whether abortion or capital punishment is a kind of murder. But rather than trying to understand all the ways we could obey this commandment, we look for exceptions. We want to know when killing is OK.

It begins with the Bible. Just a few chapters later in Deuteronomy, Moses lists the many times when killing is allowed. A stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey his father and mother should be stoned to death, providing the elders of the town agree (21:18). Kidnapping another Israelite (71) and adultery (22:20-25) deserve death. In wars against distant towns, all males shall be put to sword; in towns that the Lord is giving as an inheritance, nothing that breathes must remain alive (20:1-18). Now, there are also limits put on killing in Deuteronomy, times when it's forbidden, but many times it's commanded. Now, Jews and Christians, even the most fundamentalist among us, have repudiated much of this ancient law code. Scholars question how closely it was every followed. Jews and Christians lift up other voices in both Old and New Testaments that speak against it. But in practice, Christians have been confident that God permits, even requires, quite a bit of killing, from the crusades to the American Indian Wars to the electric chair. In parts of the New Testament, even the crucifixion is understood as a necessary part of God's plan. We don't understand the don't.

We also don't understand the "do" part of "do not kill." We may be under the impression that this is one of the easier commandments to obey. That as long as we don't poison our spouse or kill someone during an armed robbery, we can have a clear conscience on this one. That if, by the grace of God, we avoid combat and drive sober and aren't driven to murderous rage with a knife in our hands—we'll avoid guilt. But we all break this commandment every day. When we let the government send young soldiers to fight overseas, we are fighting, too. When we pay taxes, or put money in a mutual fund that invests in the defense industry, we are killing, too. And here is where the "do" part comes in. It's not enough to refrain from deliberate murder. It's not enough to seemingly keep our own hands clean. "Do not kill" means to do: to do the many things that are required for peace, the many things that are required to stop the killing. It means peacemaking—at home and abroad—rather than merely refraining from violence. Peacemaking may mean study, going to demonstrations, writing letters. Peacemaking is hard and complicated work. Peacemaking means addressing the poverty that is a kind of quiet killing, and it means generosity when disaster strikes.

In this week's paper, you may have seen the article about war refugees in Zambia. They are hungry, in danger of starvation, because the UN is short the 8 million dollars it needs to provide enough food. (To put that number in perspective, the budget of Rutgers Church for 2006, including management of the office buildings, is over a quarter of that amount.) The donor countries all have excuses—we were distracted, we didn't realize there was a problem, other countries aren't giving anything, the check is in the mail. The truth is, we didn't do what was needed to prevent these deaths. We killed by inaction. We don't understand that "do not kill" means doing something else.

But the part of "Do not kill" we have the most trouble understanding is that God means it. The temptations to disobey, to ignore this commandment are many and tantalizing, especially when the other nine commandments seem to have more to do with us, personally. It's more fun to read a mystery novel than a book on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It's easier to stay home and watch Law & Order than to go to a meeting and plan a demonstration. It's more immediately gratifying to buy new clothes than to give more money away. And we're busy with so many other obligations. So we ignore it. Like the child who hears the "no" of their parents or teachers but lets it fly over their head, we continue to do what we want. And we don't even notice that we're in defiance.

When Moses has finished giving the commandments, and all the decrees and ordinances that go with them, he says: "Surely, this commandment that I am commanding you today is not too hard for you, nor is it too far away. It is not in heaven, that you should say, 'Who will go up to heaven for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?' Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, 'Who will cross to the other side of the sea for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?' No, the word is very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart for you to observe (Deut. 30:11-14).

We can understand the commandment "Do not kill." It is near us; it is in our mouth and in our heart. We'll never observe it completely, we'll argue about what it means, but we can understand enough, if we try. Observing it requires courage, effort and sacrifice, but observing it also brings blessings, the blessings of a life in accord with God's will. Moses also says "See I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity.... Choose life."