Choose Life
Exodus 20:13 / Deut 30:19-20
Alexander M. Sanders, Jr., Chief Judge of the South Carolina
Court of Appeals. When his daughter Zoe graduated from College in 1992,
told this story: When Zoe was 3 yrs. old, he came home from work to find
out that her pet turtle had died. She was crying, with a broken heart.
Being a Chief Judge Alexander had faced many complex issues and dealt
with all kinds of problems, for a 3yr Old explaining the issues of life and
death would be more difficult than most other things he had faced, especially
because daddy’s little girl was crying. FIRST:
he told her that they could go to the pet store and replace the turtle. Zoe knew
that wouldn’t be the same & her tears continued.
SECOND: he suggested a funeral
service, “what’s that?” she asked. It’s
like a birthday party, only to say
good-bye. We’ll have cake & ice cream, lemonade & some balloons. We
can even invite some friends. THE TEARS STOPPED. With visions of cake and ice
cream in their heads the two looked down on the deceased turtle lying at their
feet. As they did, the turtle began to move. A few seconds later, he was
crawling away as lively as – well as a turtle can.
Then a stranger thing happened. Sanders – a politician and a lawyer –
was speechless. Zoe had no such problem.
She looked up at her father with her big beautiful 3 year old eyes and
said quietly, "Daddy,
Let’s kill it!."
This commandment continues the focus on our relationship and duties to our
fellow human beings. It underscores the fact that life is sacred. The fifth
teaches authority, the sixth teaches us about the importance of life.
I.
God is the Giver
of Life.
A.
God created and gave life.
1. Giver of life
Gen 2:7 the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into
his nostrils the
breath of life; and man became a living being.
2. The power of life and death belongs to God only.
A group of scientists got together & decided man had
come a long way & no longer
needed
God. They picked a scientist to go tell God
they’re decision.
The scientist went
to God and said, “God, we’ve decided that we no longer need you.
We’re to the point we can clone people, do many miraculous things, so we just don’t
need you anymore.”
God listened
patiently & kindly, after the scientist was done talking, God said,
“Very
well, how about this, let’s say we have a ‘man-making’ contest.” To which the scientist
replied, “OK, great!”
God added, “Let us do this just like I did in the old
days with Adam.” The scientist said,
“Sure, no problem” & bent down to grab a handful
of dirt.
God just looked at him and said,
“No…you get and make your own dirt.”
B. Life is a Gift, God gave it for you to use.
Deut 30:19 "I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set
before you life and death, blessing
and cursing; therefore choose life,
that both you and your descendants
may live;
1. Giving a gift is not so they can be thrown away or
wasted.
2. Take care of your gift, and show respect for the
gift others are given.
3. To take another human life is to strike at the very
image of God.
Gen 9:6 "Whoever sheds man's blood, by man his blood shall be shed; for in the image of
God he made man.
C. God is concerned about the preservation of life.
Thou shalt not murder.
II.
God made Mankind
in His Image.
Gen 1:26 "Let
Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness;
A. All murder is killing; but all killing is not murder.
Hebrew
has different words for kill (grh harag) & murder (xur ratsach)
1. Animals (Gen. 9:3; I Tim. 4:4)
2. Accidents (Num. 35:11; Deut. 19:3-12; Josh.
20:3)
3. Self defence (Exod. 22:2-3)
4. Capital Punishment (Gen. 9:6; Rom. 13:4)
5. War: When is the right
time for war?
a)
when it’s to preserve
freedom.
Num
32,
God gets very upset - He expresses anger at 2 tribes in Israel-because they
WOULDN’T
go to war.
b) when it’s to protect innocent PEOPLE. Pro 21:15 “When justice is done it brings
joy to the
righteous but terror to evil doers.”
c)
when it’s to stop the spread of
evil.
B. Murder is the willful taking of another human life Exo 21:14 "But if a man acts with
premeditation against his neighbor,
to kill him by treachery, you
shall take him from
My altar, that he may die.
“unlawful killing; the intentional killing of an
innocent human being”
III.
God placed Value
on life.
A. God forbids the willful taking of any human life
1.
Suicide
2. Abortion
3. Euthanasia (Mercy Killing)
4. Unjust and selfish war.
5.
Physical violence
Careless and dangerous activities, the way
you drive, etc.
6.Willful
unnecessary risks and harmful habits that lessen life, e.g drinking,
smoking,
illegal drug use,
1. Jesus warned we can break this Command by harboring
anger.
Matt 5:21-22 “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 brother, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You
fool! Will be in danger of the fire of hell.”
RACA =
Aramaic origin O empty one, i.e. thou worthless
2. What Jesus did, is move the commandments from outward actions – “murder” – to
inward attitudes and motives – “hate.”
a) So God doesn’t just care that you act right.
He cares that you ARE
right on the inside.
3.
Anger affects everyone. Not just you, but those around you.
It’s very contagious!
In his autobiography, “Number 1”, Billy Martin told of
hunting in Texas with Mickey
Mantle. Mickey had a friend who
let them hunt on his ranch. When they reached the
ranch, Mickey told Billy to wait in the car while he made sure it was OK. Mantle’s friend
quickly gave permission to hunt, but asked Mickey a favor. He had a pet mule in the barn
who was going blind, & didn’t have the heart to put him out of his misery. He asked Mickey to shoot the mule for him. Mickey came back to the car pretending to be angry. Scowling, he slammed the door. Billy asked what was wrong, Mickey said his friend wouldn’t let them hunt. "I’m so mad at that guy," Mantle said, "I’m going out to his barn
& shoot one of his mules!" Mantle drove like a maniac to the barn. Martin protested, "We
can’t do that!" But Mickey was adamant. "Just watch me," he shouted. At the barn,
Mantle jumped out with his rifle, ran inside, and shot the mule. As he was leaving, he heard
two shots, he ran back to the car. He saw Martin had taken out his rifle, too. "What are
you doing, Martin?" he yelled. Martin yelled back, face red with anger, "We’ll show that
guy! I just killed 2 of his cows!" -- Scott Bowerman, Bishopville, South Carolina.
Leadership, Vol. 16, no.
1.
Anger
can be dangerously contagious. Prov.
22:24-25
“Do not make friends with a
hot-tempered man
.. or you may learn his ways”
C. This
command requires us to control our heart and mind.
1. Be angry and sin not, to avoid bitterness and
resentment, Eph 4:26
2.
pursue forgiveness, and reconciliation
Matt 5:23-24 "Therefore if you bring your
gift to the altar, and there
remember that your brother has something against you, 24 "leave your gift there before the
altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your
gift.
3. It requires the exercise of charity to
those who are in need.
4. It requires the resistance to
attitudes, laws, structures & practices that devalue
human life
and the support for affirming life.
IV.
God called us to Choose
Life.
Deut 30:19-20 "I call heaven and earth as
witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing
and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live;
20 "that you may love the LORD your God, that you may obey His voice, and
that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days;
& that you may dwell in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to
Abraham, Isaac & Jacob, to give them
A. You have to decide what's worth dying for. If you don't know what's worth dying
for, you don't know what's worth living for. John Stuart Mill said, “A man who has
nothing which he is willing to fight for - nothing which he cares about more than his
personal safety - is a miserable creature who has no chance of being
free.”
B. Choose Life by:
1. Recognizing God gave it as a gift.
2. Setting man apart from every other created thing.
3. Holding it’s Value as precious as God does.
Your life is so precious God
didn’t want to see it condemned.
So He gave His only begotten
SON.
Choose
Life by Choosing God’s way.
Making
life better by every effort of our lives. …
To be right we must take GOD’s way on as our way.
By letting God have HIS WAY in your LIFE….
Invitation Hymn #294 Have Thine Own Way.