Rancho Bernardo Community Presbyterian Church

1 Corinthians 3: 16-17, Matthew 5:21-26

I wonder if the community of Israel snickered when Moses gave them the sixth commandment. “You shall not murder.” They knew that Moses was a murderer.

When Moses was a young man in Egypt, he flew into a rage and murdered an Egyptian. The Egyptian was beating a Hebrew slave. Moses knew that such treatment of one human by another was wrong and acted out of righteous indignation. The intent was right, but the means was wrong. Moses broke this commandment. Have we?

“You shall not murder” sounds simple at first. Human life is valuable because people are created in God’s image. Therefore, violence that takes human life is wrong. This commandment is reasonable. It is clear-cut. Most of us think we have never broken this commandment. Let’s move on to the next one. Jesus, however, keeps us from passing too quickly over this commandment. Jesus says the issue is more than simply the sanctity of human life.

You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.' 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.

Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.

Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still with him on the way, or he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. I tell you the truth, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.

Matthew 5:21-26

John Claypool tells a story from his time in Texas. The story is about a Mexican bandit who had successfully robbed a number of Texas banks. After each robbery he had escaped across the border into Mexico. One day a Texas Ranger watched Jorge Rodriguez return to a Mexican village across the border. He pulled a gun on the Mexican bandit and threatened him. “I’m a Texas Ranger. I know you are Jorge Rodriguez, the bandit who has robbed several banks in Texas. I’m here to reclaim the money you stole.”

Jorge Rodriguez listened with a confused look. It became clear that Jorge did not speak any English. Since the ranger did not speak Spanish, there he was with a gun pointed at the bandit but unable to communicate. Just then, a Mexican villager approached the ranger and offered to help translate between the ranger and Jorge Rodriguez.

The Texas Ranger said, “Tell Jorge Rodriguez that I know he has robbed our banks and I expect every penny returned. Tell him I will kill him if he does not immediately lead me to the place where he has hidden the money.”

The Mexican translator gave the message in Spanish to Jorge Rodriguez. Rodriguez’s eyes grew wide. He immediately responded in Spanish. “Tell the Ranger that I haven’t spent the money. If he goes over to the well in the center of the village, he will find on the west side of the well one brick, which is loose. If he pulls that brick out, he will find the money hidden in a cavity behind the brick. Tell the Ranger I don’t want to die!”

The Mexican translator turned to the Ranger and said, “Jorge Rodriguez is a very brave man. He says he is ready to die.”

We laugh at the conniving quickness of the translator and the dullness of the Ranger. Yet, this simple story can also serve as a parable for our consideration of the sixth commandment. Here is the question. If the Ranger shoots Jorge, who is the murderer?

We tend to use this commandment against murder as applying exclusively to acts of violence. Some use it to bolster their position on abortion. Others reference it to capital punishment. It has been used to debate everything from gang violence to military acts against civilians in times of war. Instead of going to one of these, (maybe Joe can set up a Wednesday class on this in EquipU) let me pause for a moment and consider the common use of this commandment in relationship to suicide.

The Bible teaches that suicide is an unforgivable sin. Right? After all it says clearly that we are not to murder. Not only that, but the Bible further clarifies that anyone who destroys the temple of God will be destroyed by God. Right?

Wait, maybe it isn’t that easy.

When 1 Corinthians 3 warns about destroying the temple of God, it is not talking about our individual bodies as temples of God. Indeed, a few chapters later, in chapter 6, the Apostle Paul describes each of us as a temple of the Holy Spirit. Chapter 6 is indeed a warning about avoiding immorality and keeping our bodies pure. But the passage about God destroying those who destroy the temple of God is a very different context from our physical bodies. “Temple of God” is different from “Temple of the Holy Spirit.”

When we read about the “Temple of God,” in chapter 3, the word translated as “you” is a plural. Like a good Southerner, we might best translate it as “y’all.” The idea here is that “y’all” are the Temple of God. The gathered community of faith becomes one temple, the Temple of God. Paul, then, was warning against anyone tearing apart the church. Paul warned that verbal or emotional violence against the community of faith is a serious thing.

Interpreting 1 Corinthians 3 as a condemnation of suicide, therefore, is not using this passage as intended by the Apostle. In fact, we might use euthanasia as an experimental case for reflecting on the complexities of what is or is not murder.

Years ago, I served on a euthanasia theology task force in our denomination. I learned that euthanasia literally comes from the Greek words meaning “good death.” We studied materials on “mercy killing” such as Dr. Kevorkian’s suicide machines. We discussed the withdrawal of treatment for a dying person. We drew some very fine theological distinctions between a person actively committing doctor-assisted suicide and a dying person who chooses with his family to not be resuscitated. In the midst of sorting out these complex medical and ethical issues, a teenager in our church suffered a terrible accident.

A youth in our former church fell out of the back of a pick-up truck and landed just wrong on his head. In the middle of the desert, his friends performed artificial respiration on him for over an hour until a helicopter was able to take him to a hospital. His sister was a nurse at the hospital where he arrived. She remained at his side until the rest of the family arrived. After keeping him breathing artificially on machinery, the doctors received the results of a brain scan, which showed no brain activity. On a Sunday morning, the family had to decide whether to leave him on the machine or unplug it.

Our congregation prayed that morning in worship for Craig and his family. While we were praying, the family gathered at the hospital around Craig’s bed. They prayed together and said their good-byes. After the machine was unplugged, his sister, the nurse, stayed at his side until he stopped breathing.

That is not murder. It is community. In fact, it helps us understand how Jesus interpreted this commandment in the context of a loving community. Jesus explained that we could murder without ever participating directly in physical violence or an actual death. We don’t have to pull a trigger to murder.

Jesus said that murder could happen in the heart. By putting this commandment in the context of God’s community of faith, Jesus reminds us that we adopt each other as brothers and sisters. Thus, we commit murder in our hearts when we call a brother or sister an “idiot” or “fool.”

Jesus speaks of how we wound what God intends to be loving relationships through our hurtful words and harsh thoughts. We can murder the community of faith without any bloodshed. Jesus takes us a step beyond the sanctity of individual life to the sanctity of community. I am not using the word “community” to refer to a town or city. I am talking about the nurturing relationships that God has given us. Our community can include our family, our church, even our covenant groups. Community is the resource we are given to handle life. According to Jesus, not only is life holy, but community also is holy. How do we commit murder in our community?

Elizabeth Barrett fell in love with Robert Browning. They shared a love of poetry. They were both creative personalities. However, when they announced their intent to marry, her parents threatened to disown her. Elizabeth Barrett married without her parents’ permission. Thus, she is remembered today as Elizabeth Barrett Browning, the famous poet.

Knowing that she had deeply hurt her parents, Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote seeking reconciliation. She wrote regularly even though her parents did not respond. She persisted in seeking their forgiveness through writing. For ten years she wrote to them before she ever received any response. Finally, after ten long years, she received a package in the mail. She quickly opened it and found hundreds of letters. She pulled the letters out and discovered that they were her own letters, unopened, unread, and returned by her parents.

You don’t have to pull a trigger to murder a family relationship.

Many of us remember the assassination attempt on the life of President Ronald Reagan. In the trial of John Hinckley, Jr., his father was called to the stand. John Hinckley, Sr. described to the courtroom the last time he had seen his son before the assassination attempt. He had received a long distance phone call from his son and agreed to send John, Jr. tickets to fly home. He had then met his son at the airport.

When John Hinckley, Sr. met his son’s plane that day, he talked with his son about the poor choices this son had made in life. He told John, Jr. that he was no longer welcome home since all it would do is hurt the family again. John, Sr. pulled a couple hundred dollars from his wallet and handed them to his son suggesting that he might stay at the YMCA. His last words to his son were, “Okay, you’re on your own. Do whatever you want.”

At this point in the trial, John Hinckley, Sr. choked up and tears filled his eyes. He looked at the judge and the courtroom and then said, “In looking back on that, I’m sure that was the greatest mistake of my life.”

In that assassination attempt, who really pulled the trigger?

Jesus forces us to see the murder in our own hearts. How have we murdered relationships in the loving community God gave us?