Sermon for North Hill Adventist Fellowship
Sabbath, March 24, 2012
Ezekiel 33:13-16
Last week when Karin and I were on vacation, we watched a John Wayne movie, True Grit. It, too, glorified deadly violence. For the hero, pointing a gun is his normal way of getting things done. The hero is dismissive of his sidekick, because he's not a very good killer. Even the female in the story--a teenager--is infatuated with violence. In her case it is the violence of deadly revenge. As in The Hunger Games, so in this movie (and in many Westerns) killing is the key to success. It is the key to life. (A young friend told me I should make it clear that I was watching the original John Wayne version of True Grit, not the more recent remake. From what several people have told me, I would be even more troubled by the remake than the original--and that was repugnant enough.)
Is that true? Is killing the key to life? Is killing an effective tool for building the kingdom of God, for creating the sweet, good world we want for ourselves and our children?
Just this week I received an an email from a friend, asking about the commandment, “Thou shalt not kill.” What is the right way to apply that commandment to real life? It wasn't a hypothetical question.
Jack came upon a couple who were having
an intense argument. Just as Joe arrived, the man slugged the woman
and knocked her down. When the man went to kick the woman Joe hit
him. The guy landed 10-12 feet away, giving Joe room, he said, to
get between them. The man got to his feet and pulled a knife and
charged. The assailant managed to cut Jack on the face before Joe
grabbed the man's wrist and broke it to make him drop the knife.
The man didn't give up. He grabbed his
knife with his other hand. So Joe grabbed that arm and dislocated
the guys shoulder.
That pretty much stopped it. Finally the
police arrived. It turned out the guy had an outstanding warrant. And
there was a restraining order from the woman who happened to be his
girl friend. The baby was his baby.
Jack was very clear on what he had done
up to this point. He did what needed to be done. There was no
ambiguity, no confusion. Then Jack asked: Should I have killed him?
Here's the way Jack put it: “The guy
was attacking with a knife. He was aiming at my face or neck. That qualifies as deadly force. I could
tell he wasn't very skilled which was why I knew I could disarm him
easily. His intentions were clear to me, but I did nothing more than
hurt him badly for a little while. I wanted to do more though.
I wanted to kill him and by the laws of man I would have not
committed a crime.
“As it is, he will heal, spend time in prison, and then possibly come after the mother and child again.
“Here's my question: Which is a greater sin? Passing judgment and killing him here and now, or allowing him to live and thus opening the possibility that he might kill someone next time. If he kills someone in the future then I am guilty of his crime because I did not permanently stop him. If I try to look on the brighter side, maybe he will stop. Maybe he will turn out OK and possibly turn to God. That could happen, but it is rare in my eyes. If I go with percentages, then I should have stopped him once and for all.”
So how should we think about violence?
Since we are Christians, we know Jesus' famous counsel:
“But I say, do not resist an evil
person! If someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other
cheek also.” Matthew 5:39. NLT
Some of us may also know another text. It's in Psalm 2:7-9. It is a prophecy about the work of the Messiah:
The king proclaims
the LORD's decree: "The LORD said to me, 'You are my son.* Today
I have become your Father.* Only ask, and I will give you the nations
as your inheritance, the whole earth as your possession. You will
break* them with an iron rod and smash them like clay pots.'"
(NLT)
Footnote: *
Greek version reads rule. Compare Rev 2:27.
In Revelation 2:7, Jesus, in vision, offers this same passage from Psalm 2 as a prophecy about the work of Christians themselves:
To him who overcomes and does my will to the end, I will give
authority over the nations.
He will rule them with an iron scepter;
he will dash them to pieces like pottery
just as I have received authority from my Father.
So, on the one hand: Do not resist
evil. When someone strikes you on one cheek, offer him the other. On
the other: Followers of Jesus will be given authority over the
nations. (Another way of saying this is, followers of Jesus will be
given power over bad people.) They will smash them.
Have you ever wished you had the power
to stomp bad people, to make them pay, to make them feel the weight
of the evil they have done to others?
In Westerns, violence is often a
straightforward, clean way to deal with bad people. The bad guys are
irredeemably bad. The good guy shoots them. And everyone lives
happily ever after. It's the same in the famous Bible story of David
and Goliath. The good guy wins; the bad guy loses. Or to be more
explicit: the good guy kills. The bad guy dies.
That's the way it's supposed to be. But
real life doesn't usually work that way.
My guess is that's the way George
Zimmerman saw it. He was out to find bad guys, and when he saw
Trayvon Martin walking down the street, he thought he had found
himself a bad guy. He was excited. He was going to be a hero,
stopping a criminal from carrying out whatever nefarious plans he
had. George trailed Trayvon—George in his black SUV, feeling smart
and powerful—Trayvon walking, at first oblivious to his stalker.
Trayvon probably did something George interpreted as confirmation of
his suspicions. So George got out of his car to corral the bad guy.
When the bad guy did something George wasn't expecting, George
whipped out his gun and eliminated the bad guy. Only the “bad guy”
wasn't a bad guy. He was simply a teenager, minding his own business,
walking home from the store.
George Zimmerman saw the world as a
place filled with bad people. He saw himself as a hero. A white
knight. But his very effort to be a hero turned him into a monster. George's eagerness to rid the
world of bad people led George himself into the depths of evil.
On the other hand, my friend Joe, used violence and I regard him as a hero. And I think if you had been there in the Walmart parking lot, you would have deeply admired his courage and his strength and skill in forcefully subduing that violent man.
How do we integrate all the various
things the Bible tells us about violence. How do we find the godly
wisdom?
Let's explore a curious story about
violence that didn't happen.
When the people of Israel were getting ready to invade Palestine, God gave them emphatic, clear instructions: They were to wipe out the inhabitants. No quarter. No mercy. No exceptions.
When Israel prepared to attack Jericho, God reiterated his command for total annihilation. They were to kill every living thing--every man, woman, child and animal. It was a brutal, savage extermination. And they believed it was something God told them to do.
When Israel prepared to attack Jericho, God reiterated his command for total annihilation. They were to kill every living thing--every man, woman, child and animal. It was a brutal, savage extermination. And they believed it was something God told them to do.
Next, they destroyed Ai. But this time
they didn't kill the animals, just the people.
When the people of the region received news of these two slaughters, they all came together to fight the Israelites.
Everybody except for one nation, the Gibeonites.
The Gibeonites sent a delegation to ask
for a peace treaty with the Israelites. They were taken to Joshua,
the leader of the israelites. Naturally, he interrogated them. “Who
are you? Where do you come from?”
The delegation answered, “Your
servants have come from a very distant country. Stories of your
exploits have reached even as far as our country. We've heard about
what your God did to the Egyptians. We've heard how he gave you
victory over Sihon King of Heshbon and Og king of Bashan, whose
capital was in Astaroth.
“Our elders, and in fact, all our people, commissioned us to come and offer ourselves as vassals. We're prepared to pay tribute. We just want to be on your side. We want to hook up with the God who is able to do what your God does.”
They can see Joshua's suspicion. He's not buying their story. “Look at our bread,” the Gibeonite ambassadors said. When we left home it was fresh out of the oven. See how dry and moldy it is now! These wine skins—when we filled them at home—they were brand new for the trip. Now see how cracked and weathered they are. Our sandals were new. Now, they're worn out. ”
Joshua and his assistants peered at the moldy bread. They ran their hands over the rough, weathered wine skins. They could see the ratty clothes the ambassadors were wearing. No self-respecting ambassador would show up to make a treaty dressed like, they could help it.
Joshua and his men conferred and agreed
to make a treaty. Three days after the treaty was formally signed,
the Israelites discovered they'd been fooled. The Gibeonites lived
only three days travel away from the Israelite camp. They were
outraged. The entire army marched the three days journey to the
Gibeonite cities and set up camp.
The soldiers wanted to get right to
work. They were soldiers. These people were Canaanites. It was
extermination time. But Joshua would not let them. “We gave our
word,” Joshua said. “And even when it comes to pagans, when we
make a promise, we keep it. When we make a treaty, we honor it. When
we sign a contract, it's binding.”
The soldiers grumbled against Joshua.
There was a threat of mutiny. The entire army was outraged at
Joshua's refusal to exterminate these worthless people. But Joshua
was adamant. “Yes, they are Canaanites. Yes, they fooled us. No, we
are not going to break our word. A treaty is a treaty. An oath is an
oath.”
The Gibeonites watched all this
nervously, to put it mildly. If Jericho hadn't been able to withstand
these people, the Gibeonites didn't have a chance. Their fate was in
the hands of Joshua. If he blinked, they were dead.
Joshua summoned the Gibeonite leaders.
He was not happy. “Why did you deceive us, saying you lived a long
way away? You agreed to tribute. You're going to pay dearly. You'll
become our illegal immigrant workers. Well, actually what he said
was, you will perpetually serve us as temple woodcutters and water
carriers. You will be temple servants for all generations.
The Gibeonites answered, “Your
servants had heard definite, detailed reports about the command your
God gave you to wipe out all the inhabitants of the land. We've seen
your god's power in Egypt and in the battles against Sihon King of
Hesbon and Og king of Bashon, and Jericho and Ai. We are helpless
against you militarily. We did the only thing we could think of to
save our lives. We are in your hands. Do to us whatever seems good
and right.
So Joshua saved them.
Note, God's command to wipe out the
people of Canaan was so emphatic, so clear, so unmistakable, the
pagan people had memorized it. There was nothing fuzzy or ambiguous
or uncertain. God declared these people to be bad people, worthless
people, people worthy of extermination!
The soldiers wanted to get on with
their work. The Gibeonites lied their way into a peace treaty, but
even that flimsy excuse was enough to set aside the explicit order of
annihilation by God.
Many people in Canaan were killed as a
result of God's instructions to wipe them out. But every time God is
questioned, every time the killing order is questioned, mercy
triumphs.
(The stories of Rahab and Ruth are
dramatic examples of God-approved violations of the explicit commands
to exterminate or exclude Canaanite people. In the case of Rahab,
even though God had told Israel to annihilate every living thing in
Jericho, Rahab was spared, and not only Rahab, but her entire clan
and anybody else she could cram into her hotel. Ruth, contra
Deuteronomy 23, is included in the Messianic lineage.)
The explicit condemnation of God, is
set aside on the slightest pretext.
Joshua's soldiers could quote the exact
words of God when they called for the annihilation of the Gibeonites.
Joshua could only cite principle. (Generations later, when King Saul
violated this treaty and slaughtered some Gibeonites, God sternly
condemned his treachery.)
This story highlights the complications of a theology of violence. God authorized the violence--the genocide--against the Canaanites. Theologians justify this action by pointing to how utterly corrupt and debauched the Canaanites were. Their religion featured sexual immorality and the killing of children. It that's your religion, what do you do for sin?
But if the violence against the Canaanites was God's way of promoting goodness and righteousness, it didn't work. The books of Joshua and Judges show that once they finished practicing their violence, Israel sank into profound, deep darkness. The divinely-sanctioned violence apparently was completely ineffective, if the goal was the creation of a peaceful, harmonious society.
Goliath posed an immediate problem. David eliminated the problem. He killed Goliath. Neither David personally, nor the nation lived happily ever. The killing of Goliath was one incident in a protracted, miserable, generations-long conflict. The elimination of Goliath was necessary. It was an emergency. It did not create the sweet, good world.
So how do we know God's will?
For starters, God's first choice is
never death. Ezekiel 33:13-16. God is not looking for bad people to
annihilate. He's looking for lost people to save. So should we.
God is willing to use violence. He does
so repeatedly in the Bible. But with only a couple of exceptions,
whenever condemnation is challenged, it is reversed or at least
modified. This world is not a Hunger Games Stage where we thrive only
by killing others. Rather, it is the opposite. We thrive as we move
away from violence, away from condemnation, away from hatred.
God has articulated his highest will
both negatively and positively.
Negatively: don't kill.
Positively: Love.
Sometimes violent action is necessary
to protect others. My friend Jack did what he had to do. The special
forces President Obama sent to rescue Captain Philip from pirates and
the aid workers held hostage in Somalia had to use violence. I
believe that violence is justified. But the need to use deadly force
is a tragedy. It is the last resort. It is a declaration that the
world has moved far from God's ideal.
A much better exhibition of the will of
God are Jesus miracles of healing and his declarations of forgiveness
and hope.
The work of healers—nurses, dentists,
doctors, X-ray techs—these show us more of God.
The work of mothers. And teachers. And
fathers. And uncles. And auto mechanics. And artists.
Those who enrich life and create
beauty. These are the children of God he takes the greatest delight
in.
Don't kill.
Enrich life.
That's really what God wants.
5 comments:
Jesus said that if you call someone a fool you are guilty of murder...
When Treyvon Martin was shot, many people - young and not so young - died a little because they were reminded that those who look different or live outside their "station in life" are targets for violence. It is not OK for them to live fully. Yes - promoting life is far better than the alternative.
Hi John,
I am new to christianity and don't know much about the bible. I am learning more each week. As I learn I ask "why the ambiguity?" Why would God ever need to destroy any people or city or order such destruction. Yes to prove a point but I would have thought doing it this way just leaves options for people who use violence to reference the bible in defense. This is stuff in the bible that confuses me people and why would he want to confuse people. Why make it soooo hard, why do I need to be a scholar? Quite frustrating. Euan
Euan, You ask a very hard question. There are theologians who will "answer" your question about why the Bible is so confusing. They purport to know why God had the Bible written in the form that it is. I consider their answers pure speculation. I don't know why the Bible is the way it is.
In my opinion the key to wisely reading the Bible is only secondarily scholarship. The first and most important key is a desire for goodness.
The drive to be "right" often feeds into a doctrinaire fundamentalism which elevates ideas over people and "right doctrine" over human well-being.
It seems to me that the reason we read the Bible is not first to seek goodness but to acquire a knowledge of who God is - to better understand His character - and to help us be in closer relationship with Him. But seeking goodness is part of that... I suppose many of us seek Him and His relationship in our lives in order to find rationality and goodness in our lives and promote these in the lives of others.
Euan, that is a very good question that many theologians have written many pages about... Life - reality - is seldom simple and this is even more so with our Creator God and His ways. Think of how complex it is to parent a family of many children... God has a similar challenge with us humans.
Keep reading your Bible - pray for wisdom - and Pastor John is one of the best of spiritual mentors.
Hi John and Karolynkas,
Thanks for the replies and the encouragement. I love your words about the "drive to be right"...sooo true and this comment in particular spoke to me. I will keep it as a reference for the future when things get a little confusing or there are mixed opinions on this or that passage. You are right Karolynkas about John as this website is the only one I always read and return to. Euan.
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