This Friday, I have a unique
opportunity. Over a hundred – and maybe
close to 200 – boy scouts and other young people will take part in what is
called a “Ten Commandments Hike,” in which they walk to various places of worship
and hear from leaders in a variety of faiths speak briefly on their religion
and how one of the particular commandments is taught in their own
tradition. One of their stops will be
here at Bixby Knolls Christian Church, and I have been asked to be one of the speakers.
I have five minutes to tell them briefly
about our church, and five minutes to talk to them about one of the
commandments. The commandment which I
have been assigned is “Do not murder.”
Now, fortunately, this is a commandment that
shouldn’t be too difficult to explain. Right? “Do not murder.” I don’t think explaining this is really going
to be much of a challenge. Now, if I had
been assigned, “Do not commit adultery,” explaining that to a group that
includes children as young as seven – and maybe even younger – that would have
required a little work.
But “Do not murder?” Piece of cake. And unlike “Do not lie,” or “honor your
parents,” it’s a command that few have ever broken.
It gets even better. As if my task wasn’t
easy enough, I have discovered that Jesus gave his own five-minute explanation
of this commandment in his Sermon on the Mount.
All I have to do is open up to Matthew 5, and read Jesus’ comments, and
be praised for my excellent mini-sermon on “Do not murder.” This thing is going to preach itself!
At least, that’s what I thought. Upon closer look, I realize Jesus’ five
minute sermon on “Do not murder” shows that following this command is actually a
lot more challenging than it seems.
Let me share with you Jesus’s comments:
“You have heard it said, ‘you shall not
murder…’ But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you
will be liable to judgment; and if you say, ‘you idiot!’ to a brother or
sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say ‘You fool!’ you will
be liable to the hell of fire. Do not
even think of coming to worship if you have offended someone in this way! Be reconciled with your brother or sister,
and then, come to worship.”
Wow.
According to Jesus, saying a harsh word to someone, calling them an
“idiot,” is just as bad as killing someone.
And what kid (or adult) hasn’t said to a brother or sister, “You idiot!” Who among us here has never expressed our
anger towards another, or insulted another person?
So maybe
the command “Do not murder” is more challenging than I thought.
And when the
book of Hebrews – which is our scripture reading for today – instructs us to
motivate one another to love and good deeds, and to encourage one another, it’s
probably an instruction worth paying attention to. Because, apparently, speaking words of
encouragement and kindness is something that was extremely important to Jesus.
In fact, it was an essential
part of his teaching, and one of the core
expectations he placed on those who would follow him.
Here’s another example:
In the 12th chapter of Matthew, we
read that Jesus was healing the sick, ministering to and welcoming the unclean,
those who had heard far too many discouraging words. Jesus’ heart was with them, because of the rude
insults and extreme lack of hospitality they had experienced.
These were the people who had been told, over
and over, that they didn’t belong in society.
These were the people who had been told to stay out of sight, lest they
contaminate the sacred gatherings of the “respectable people.” These were the people who had been told, at
the very least, to keep a low profile and not draw any attention, because no
one wanted to see them or even know they existed.
Basically, they were the people that the
respectable crowd just wished would disappear from society. Then, and now, there are many people who fit
that category. For some people, it’s
immigrants and racial minorities. For some,
it’s the poor and the homeless. And for
some, it’s people who are gay. They
think, “If only those people would
just disappear.”
Imagine yourself, in one of those categories,
listening constantly to the
discouraging messages that society sends your way. Messages like:
“You don’t belong here.”
“Your presence is not welcome here.”
“You are not a part of God’s will.”
It breaks my heart to know that anyone would
ever hear a message like this directed at them.
I’ve seen the affects these words have on people. They are destructive, soul-destroying,
life-destroying words. And thus, Jesus
equates them to murder.
Have you ever met someone who has lived their
life hearing words like these thrust at them, over and over? Have you ever heard someone tell you that it
was their sincere belief that God could never love them, because that’s what
they’d been told, over and over?
I have.
I have listened to them tell me that no person or God could ever love
them, that they were beyond the bounds of both human and divine love.
What an awful thing to believe about
yourself.
I have also attended worship services of
remembrance, in which the names of people who died through violence because of
their sexual orientation are presented.
Some died through the violence of others who killed them because they
believed they were not worthy of living.
Some died through their own hands, having heard too many times that
their life had no value.
That’s what unkind words can do. That’s the power they have. We say, “sticks and stones will break my
bones, but words will never hurt me.”
But as Bible scholar John Dominic Crossan points out, words “often
escalate through sticks and stones to
ovens and crematoria. Once ideology and rhetoric have dehumanized
opponents, power will often consider it a duty – even a divine duty – to eliminate
them.”
Fortunately, words of encouragement can be
just as powerful. It’s so important to
reassure people of God’s love, of God’s love for them, because so many have been told that God does not love them. It’s what Jesus did, and it’s what he calls
us to do.
I have done that. I have held the hand of someone who didn’t
think they could be loved, and I told them that I did love them, and that I knew beyond a doubt that God did too.
Upon hearing my words, they broke down in
tears.
Because no one who had really known them had
ever said those words to them, had never before encouraged or affirmed them in
that way. All they had ever heard were
words of discouragement and insult.
The world can be a cruel place. The world may tell you that you don’t belong
here. The world may tell you that you
are not welcome. The world may push you
into the shadows, out of sight, hidden away.
That was the upper-class temple then, and it
is, in many cases, the church today.
The “respectable people” saw Jesus healing a
demoniac. They saw him with a
physically-deformed person. They saw him mingling with women and children. They
saw him embracing and welcoming Samaritans.
Samaritans!
The common wisdom of the time said that there
is a place for love and compassion, and there is a place for all people, to
have some role in society … but
unless they became like the respectable
members of society, they could not be full-fledged
members of society.
In other words, they would always be 2nd
or 3rd class citizens. Welcome … but not really.
It is to these oppressed, discouraged, and
put-down people that the gospel speaks its loudest word of hope and
salvation. To them the prophet
declares: “You are a beloved child of
God, beautiful to behold.” To them Jesus
proclaims: “You are the light of the
world and salt for the earth.” To them,
Jesus extends a welcome invitation, and says to them:
“You have been broken by a world that is
cruel and unjust and unkind, a world that refuses to welcome you at the table
of fellowship. But here, at my table, I share with you my body which has also been broken, so that you may be made whole. I share with you my
life-giving blood, which has been shed, so that you might enjoy life in all its fullness.”
And to those who would speak discouraging,
disheartening, destructive words, Jesus, in the 12th chapter of Matthew,
offers this rebuke:
“How can you speak good things, when you are
evil? For out of the abundance of the
heart the mouth speaks. The good person
brings good things out of a good treasure, and the evil person brings evil
things out of an evil treasure. I tell
you, on the day of judgment you will have to give an account for every careless word you utter; for by
your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
Now, I don’t know about you, but it sounds to
me like this was a pretty important issue to Jesus, speaking words of
encouragement to all.
So now I’ve come to the realization that my
task on Friday is no simple task; nor is it one that I should take lightly.
Because in that crowd that will gather here,
there will likely be child who has been hurt by name-calling.
There will likely be an adolescent who has
been bullied, living in fear and anxiety.
There will likely be a teenager who cries
himself to sleep at night struggling with a sexuality that he did not ask for
and which is still not accepted by society.
There will likely be an adult leader who has
been denied a job because of his or her gender, skin color or ethnicity, or who
has been victimized by gossip that took place in person or online.
There will likely be many who have been
discouraged, repeatedly, in one way or another, by a society that can be cruel
and unkind.
And, just as likely, there will be present the
perpetrators of such cruelty. It’s so
easy to do, and it happens all the time.
A careless word, an insensitive comment, a rude gesture, a veiled or
not-so-veiled insult.
Few ever commit the sin of murder. But the equally serious sin of uttering
careless words that insult and discourage and inflict emotional pain and
anguish is one that we commit every day.
There is, of course, an unfortunate irony in
all this, one that will go unmentioned on Friday, but which I will share with
you now. The Boy Scouts of America has a
policy which itself is a word of discouragement, unkindness and cruelty, a policy
against openly gay members.
This is not a universal policy. Scouts in Canada, Europe, and elsewhere do
not have such a policy, and neither do the Girl Scouts in the United States. It is also a policy that is often ignored
among scout leaders and professionals here in Long Beach and in many other
places around the country. But it is the
official national policy.
The inconsistency of an organization that
teaches young men to be friendly and kind, and to stand up for the rights of
others, has led over one million people to sign petitions opposing the policy,
many of them youth & adults affiliated with scouting, including thousands
of Eagle Scouts. Hundreds of Eagle
Scouts have even returned their medals in protest.
Whether
they were inspired by their faith, the values they learned in scouting, or both,
I do not know. But it is clear that
there is a movement to bring healing and wholeness to those who have so often
been dealt with unkindly; a movement that seeks to speak words of encouragement instead of discouragement
to those who have long been oppressed by “respectable society.”
The
harshest words Jesus ever spoke were against those who would exclude people
from the table of fellowship, exclude them from full participation in church
and society. They are the “brood of
vipers,” the ones who lay heavy burdens on people instead of lightening the
load of discrimination, oppression, bigotry and prejudice. They are the ones who failed to motivate
others to love and good works. They are
the ones who failed to speak words of encouragement.
So
now I fully understand the task set before me for Friday. It is the task to let those young people know
that words which kill the spirit are just as bad as weapons which kill the
body; to motivate them to love and to good works, speaking words of kindness
and friendship to all; to teach them to encourage
one another in everything they do and everything they say.
Because
that’s what the commandment means when it says, “Do not murder.”
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