The 10 Commandments: MURDER, Inc.

Transcription

1 The 10 Commandments: MURDER, Inc. Exodus 20:13 (NIV) You shall not Murder (Kill). Subject Question: In light of the 6 th commandment, what 3 ways does Jesus teach that we should be careful, concerned and committed in our relationships with other people. Compliment answer: We can kill or honor people in our hearts. We can kill or heal people with our words. We can kill or help people with our attitudes. Big Idea: In light of the 6 th commandment, the 3 ways Jesus teaches that we should be careful, concerned and committed in our relationships with other people stem from the fact that, we can kill or honor people in our hearts, we can kill or heal people with our words and we can kill or help people with our attitudes. Homiletical Idea: God said it Why? Purpose: I want the congregation to consider deeply the place of others in our lives now that we know and are walking with Christ. There is power in our hearts, our words and our attitudes to build up or destroy. Let s be in the business of building up! So far Commandment (1-4 Relationship with God) Christian Deduction(Being in Christ) 1) You Shall Have no other Gods When you Love God; He will be your only God 2) You shall make no idols When you search for me; I can be found 3) You shall not speak in vain When you call on me; YES, call on me! 4) You shall keep the Sabbath holy When you consider me; Stop, pause and appreciate Commandment (6-10 Relationship with One another) Christian Calling (Walking with Christ ) 5) You shall honor your Parents When you see God s Sovereignty; their place is understood 6) You shall not kill When you experience God s love; others deserve our concern Introduction: Jesus took the commandment to not kill, a step deeper when he delivered the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5. There he said, 21 You have heard

2 that it was said to the people long ago, You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment. 22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, Raca, is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, You fool! will be in danger of the fire of hell. A. We can kill or honor people in our hearts 21 You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment. 22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Why so much emphasis on just being angry. Doesn t the scripture also teach us to be angry and yet do not let the sun go down on our anger? Yes, we all have times when we get upset, have quarrels, have fight, disagreements, and words do fly and feelings get hurt. B. But Jesus is teaching us a great lesson about anger. Anger can take root. When we refuse to let it go. When we hold on to it because we are right and they were wrong. When we let it become a part of us; defining a relationship between us and another individual we no longer have anger as much as anger has us. C. Jesus made an interesting point when he spoke of the power of anger when in Matthew he stated, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. 14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. The emphasis here in not on God s inability, but on our unwillingness to uproot the cause of our bitterness, our hate, our rage. The truth is anger does not really kill the other person as much as it has the power to kill us. D. Father, I am angry. You know the injustice, you know how much I was wronged, you heard when they said, saw what they did. But I choose to put this person, this situation in your hands. I choose to forgive them not because I want to, but because I have too, not for their sake but for mine. I choose to honor them by handing over not only this situation but the other person into your care. A. We can kill or heal people with our words. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, Raca, (Word of utter contempt) is answerable to the court. If anger can take root in us and wreak havoc in our minds, and hearts; our words have the power to take root in others, inflicting injury or infusing life.

3 B. We think that bullying is a new phenomenon, but it has been around forever: According to bullying rates in America, nearly one in three schoolchildren experience some level of bullying between the grades of six through 10. However, throughout an entire childhood, the percentage for this jumps drastically. 83 percent of all girls claim to have some sort of harassment growing up, while 79 percent of boys experience the same harassment. Girls throughout their young lives are almost always more likely to experience bullying than boys, yet both groups are rather high in terms of percentage. The bullying rates in the US are not just done behind closed doors though. Bullying happens outside in the open, with many people usually seeing it. In fact, six out of 10 teenagers say they see bullying happen at school at least once a day. This just shows that bullying usually is not something that is done in quiet. While cyber bullying rates are starting to grow and are more specific to after school instances, bullying in school is a very real problem and is something that everyone needs to be aware of. The rates of bullying drastically affect children going to school and their overall educational experience as well. In fact, around 160,000 children miss some amount of school each and every day due to simply being frightened or intimidated by other students. This eventually hinders and hurts their chances of learning in school, dropping their grades and, ultimately making simply going to school that much more difficult. Bullying can become so difficult for some children that they eventually drop out of school all together. One out of every 10 children who drop out do so because of bullying. Due to this, a child basically is completely changing the way they live and their potential future due to the bullying they experience while at school. Bullying does not just occur inside of the school though. It also takes place online, and with more and more children using the Internet for social media and for other interactions, bullying has taken to the Internet as well. Currently, around 35 percent of all children have, in some shape or form, been threatened over the Internet. This cyber bullying is also something that is going to eventually rise as well, with more and more people taking to the Internet at a younger age. Plus, as children start to see ramifications of the bullying done inside of the school, they are more likely to do it over the Internet, as they are less likely to experience any sort of punishment due to what they say and how they act on the Internet. Bullying for kids usually includes physical intimidation as well as words. Isn t it amazing though that the power of words to inflict pain, to cut us deeply, to make us doubt ourselves and to despise the person in mirror, never really has had an age limit. Better yet, do words that make others feel like a million bucks, support the good ideas that they have felt about ourselves, just make life better and meaningful C. Life is fragile, people aren t as tough as we think. 1. EX. 1: I watched as the words ugly

4 2. EX.2: I listened to the words Jeremiah 1:9 Then the LORD reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, I have put my words in your mouth. 3. Jesus stated in Matthew 12, 36 But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. 37 For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned. 4. EX. 3: Balcony people Vs. Basement People D. Consider these words from scripture: John 6:68 Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. O Christian brother or sister do we not understand that as followers of Christ we are have it in our power also to be living our lives infusing life into other people. Not only life- enhancing temporal words, but life- changing eternal words. Lord, give us the heart of an encourager. Grant that our words, Lord go forth sowing good seeds of faith, comfort, confidence, compassion, healing words of life. If we ve said words that inflicted injury, help us to seek forgiveness, if we have wounded another person by our carelessness, forgive us but lead us to put right the wrong, to seek reconciliation, to be the child of yours who. A. We can kill or help people with our attitudes. And anyone who says, You fool! will be in danger of the fire of hell.. If anger can take root in us and wreak havoc in our minds, and hearts; and our words have the power to take root in others, inflicting injury or infusing life, then our attitudes determine which way we choose to live our lives as a Christian. B. On October 29, 1941, U.K. Prime Minister Winston Churchill visited Harrow School to to hear the traditional songs he had sung there as a youth, as well as to speak to the students. When he was invited to give a speech, Churchill stood before the students and said, "Never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, give up. Never give up. Never give up. Never give up." C. We are not given the liberty to simply dismiss people in our hearts and minds as irredeemable, too far gone, too bad, too sinful. When we develop an attitude of despair, our own hearts begin to shirk, our own souls begin to fade, and our own faith begins to wane. Jesus is in the business of changing people! May we never, ever, never give up on people. D. Father, give my eyes that see as you see. Give me feet that take me to people and places where you want me to go. Give me arms that reach out to the lovely and the ugly, the good and the bad and by doing so, help me to see that in stretching out my

5 arms, as Christ stretched out his, you touch, to heal, you change and you claim people for yourself.