Modern Christianity has found all sorts of ways around the commandment of not killing others. We first posit that the word is really 'murder' and not killing. We then come to justify any and every act of warfare, capital punishment, abortion, and explain away the countless mass shootings and murders as collateral damage for our alleged right to own a gun. We have created so many loopholes around this commandment that it no longer has any meaning or force in our world.
Now, consider how Jesus applies the Beatitudes to the commandment. Not only are we not to physically kill another, but also we are not to harbor anger or use derogatory language against another person. When our posture calls us to mercy, meekness, purity of heart, and peacemakers, the teaching of Jesus in today's Gospel portion rejects the loopholes we have placed around the fifth commandment, and it enjoins us to a greater discipline and duty to loving our neighbor than previously recorded.
The modern Christian has a choice to either follow the teaching of the Lord Jesus, or to continue to follow political and church leaders who harbor anger and use vitriolic language against others in justifying the countless acts of violence and killing they employ. The Lord commands us to put away our sword; he rejects our desire to cast down fire upon a Samaritan town; he rebukes our use of the sword and heals our victim. Today is a day for us to repent of our lust for killing and vitriol, and to follow the Prince of Peace.
No comments:
Post a Comment