June 24, 2001
Third Sunday after Pentecost
Based on the book The Bible Tells Me So ~ Uses and Abuses of Holy Scripture
By Jim Hill and Rand Cheadle
This summer series, The Bible Tells Me So, comes with two purposes. One of them is to look at the authority of the Bible. How we read the Bible. How we interpret the Bible. And the second on is to raise up some issues of social import. To encourage you to think once again about these issues, not just as a member of our society, but to think about these issues as a Christian. The issue of Biblical translation is an important one. I have heard many of you say from time to time that you understand that the Bible can be used to prove anything that you want to prove. And while that is probably an exaggeration, it is the case that on most of the issues that we consider, you can find scripture passages on either side of the issue. There are people who like to look at the Bible as an answer book. A recipe book, a cookbook, so that you can look up the topic, the thing that you want to cook, the thing that you want to decide and find the exact answer there in the scriptures. There are people that believe that the Bible can be used effectively in just such a way. That kind of an approach is usually described as a Fundamentalist approach, a literal understanding of scripture. You take the word on the page and understand it to mean exactly what you think it says clearly to you. But as many of you have stated, people interpret the scriptures. Even those who claim to understand scripture literally are making decisions about what words mean. About what the purpose of scripture is. In the reformed tradition, in which our congregation stands, it is much more appropriate to approach scripture knowing that we need to interpret it to understand it, to make sense for our own times.
A formula that I learned a number of years ago is: "What? So what? and Now what?" What is the story about? Who was writing the story? Who was the audience? What exactly is going on in the scripture passage? Sometimes you have to tease the story a little bit to find out exactly what the plot line is, before you can decide what its meaning might be. After you have taken that first step, you need to say, "So what?" What difference did it make to the people who were hearing for the first time? To the people who were reading the scriptures, the intended audience. How did it fit into they're life? Their problems? Then, after you have taken those first two steps, then you can bring it up to contemporary times. You can say, "Now what?" How is God speaking to us in this passage? How is God speaking to me in this passage? What are we called on to do? How do we live our lives?
Now it is not as simple as reading it and getting the answer right off. But it is a lot more faithful way to approach scripture. The process, "What? So what? and Now what?" assumes that the Bible is a faith story. Inspired by God, but written by humans. Written for particular purposes, at specific times in history. It does not assume the Bible is literal history, or that the Bible is God's word dictated for us for all time. When we approach the scriptures, we need to do some sorting, some balancing, some weighing to decide what it meant and what it means for us today.
Today's topic is the death penalty, capital punishment. Capital punishment being a term that came when the death penalty was primarily chopping someone's head off. That topic was on everyone's thoughts a few weeks ago when Timothy McVeigh was put to death. There were people who stood on both sides of his execution. People of faith. People of Christian faith. Some of you may have listened to some of the talk radio going on in Seattle at the time. I find myself turning to KIRO radio more and more. I think it's because of the Mariners, but I enjoy the talk shows now too. Dave Ross in the morning, has said that he is generally against capital punishment, but if there was ever a time where capital punishment was appropriate, it was for Timothy McVeigh. Now Dori Monson in the afternoon says that he is usually in favor of the death penalty, but this time he had some deep questions. One of the reasons he had deep questions was because he was trying to explain the news to his seven year old daughter. He said the more he tried, the more difficult it became. He said he could find no convincing reason to explain to his daughter why it was appropriate for us to put someone to death.
That conversation goes on over and over again, particularly when a state faces a time when someone is going to be put to death. In the early 1990's, there was a man on death row in Nebraska. People again were lined up on both sides of the issues. There were some that were protesting, keeping a vigil at the prison, working for the charges to be reversed, for the execution to be halted. A reporter for the Omaha World Herald wrote an article. She discussed the scripture as being used on both sides of the issue and put all of those discussions into context by beginning at the beginning. She said:
"It was, without a doubt, the most famous execution in Christian history. Nearly 2, 000 years ago, after interrogations lasting most of the night, during which the Roman Governor could find no fault with the accused, Jesus of Nazareth was beaten, handed over to the Roman soldiers, and condemned to death. No appeals, no protests. The soldiers led Jesus to the place called Golgotha, or the Place of the Skull, near the City of Jerusalem, and nailed him to the cross. By mid-day he was dead. That execution so long ago helped launch a faith. Yet it was Jesus, not his execution, who attracted the faithful. Christians today remain more divided than ever about executions. (Julia McCord, Omaha World Herald, August 3, 1991)
The reporter had a short line, "The execution helped launch a faith." As I did some additional research, I found a quote from New York Senator, James Donovan. He was speaking in support of capital punishment. He put it a little bit more bluntly. He said:
Where would Christianity be if Jesus got eight to fifteen years with time off for good behavior?
That's a little bit of a bizarre way to approach support of capital punishment. But Donovan was saying that there are appropriate times, and that there were consequences that came from that action.
In the article in the World Herald, there was a Rabbi who was interviewed so that we could have a Jewish perspective. He first comment was that he was surprised that Christians could so frequently be in support of capital punishment. He pointed to the story of Jesus' crucifixion and said, "I think for Christians capital punishment has to be an especially sticky issue. They know what it means for someone to be put to death - for an innocent person to be put to death." He said, "I have difficulty understanding how they could be in support of capital punishment."
Now we might say the same thing for the Jewish people, having experienced persecution throughout the years. Yet, when the nation of Israel was established in 1948, the Jewish state re- instituted the death penalty. The death penalty had been part of Judaism from Biblical times, all of the way up to the time of the Roman Conquest in the first century before the birth of Jesus.
When Israel executed Adolph Eichmann, the Nazi mass murderer, in 1962 after a very long trial, the majority of the opinions of the citizens of Israel were that the execution was very just.
If we turn to the scriptures and ask what the Bible says about capital punishment, we can find, at the start, two conflicting penalties for murder in the Book of Genesis. Both of these instances are in an era that came before all of the Laws that were recorded for the Jewish faith. The first mention of appropriate punishment for murder is in the Book of Genesis in the fourth chapter. You might recall the story about Cain and Abel. They brought their best that they had produced to sacrifice to God. God accepted Abel's sacrifice of meat, but rejected Cain's sacrifice of grain. Cain's resulting disappointment turned to anger. He killed his brother. God cursed Cain for the murder and sent him to wander the earth. But God also put a mark on Cain's body so that no one who saw him would be motivated to kill him. In fact, if anyone killed Cain for the murder of his brother, that person would be severely punished. So here, banishment and exile is the penalty for murder, and capital punishment is especially prohibited. The first mention of capital punishment as a penalty for murder is in Genesis 9, a few chapters later. From the King James Version:
(6) Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.
This passage regards the killing of a human as an offense against God because humans are made in the image of God, female and male. Unlike the previous passage that required the murderer be merely exiled, this verse required the murderer to be killed.
In the books of Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy when the Mosaic Code was set up, there were a wide variety of religious and civil transgressions that were listed with their appropriate punishments. There were a great many that were punishable by death. So if you are going to approach the scripture in a literal way, looking for answers to particular questions, then you need to pay attention to the whole list of instances in which the death penalty is required.
If you are talking about religious grounds, God required the state to execute a person for: following another religion; for a stranger entering the Temple; for proselytizing, if anyone tried to convince an Israelite to convert to another religion; for communicating with the dead; for black magic. On sexual grounds: for adultery; for incest; for temple prostitution; for bestiality; for sexual activity before marriage; for sexual activity with both a woman and her mother; for being seduced if engaged; for rape of an engaged woman; for prostitution.
On other grounds: for kidnapping; for human sacrifice; for cursing parents, "and he that curseth his father or mother shall surely be put to death." That would cut into the Sunday school attendance I'm afraid; for abusing one's parents; for carelessly handling an animal; for stubbornness and rebellion; for blasphemy; for those of you who have some tasks lined up for this afternoon that you don't want to do you can also be put to death for working on the Sabbath; for ignoring the decision of a priest or a judge; for perjury; for accidentally killing a pregnant woman. This goes on from there. But it is clear that there are many transgressions where the scripture calls for the death penalty, but we chose to ignore.
Now if we look to Christianity does it provide a different response? If we look first to Paul in the Letter to the Romans in the 13th Chapter, Paul is talking about the State and about God and about punishment.
(13:3-4) "For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you wish to have no fear of authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive its approval; for it is God's servant for your good. But if you do what is wrong, you should be afraid, for the authority does not bear the sword in vain. It is the servant of God to execute wrath on the wrongdoer."
The Christians did not leave the death penalty behind as they grew stronger and began to spread in the early days. The death penalty was the typical punishment for crimes against individuals, for crimes against the State and particularly for crimes against the church. Many of you have read novels about of the Spanish Inquisition. You remember the stories about people being drawn and quartered. Cut apart, pulled apart by animals, tortured as they were put to death.
Eventually there were technical innovations that became more humane. The guillotine was quick and efficient to severe the head from the body. Firing squads, poisonous gas, lethal injections, all are ways that society used to put people to death.
Crucifixion was outlawed by the first Christian Emperor in 337 A.D. because, while it was effective, it also was a very slow and painful death. Some of the early Christians suffered martyrdom by being put to death for their beliefs. The stoning of Stephen is one event that is particularly memorable.
In the face of all of this, there are scripture passages which are quoted against capital punishment. The first, maybe the most obvious, is the ten commandments where we find the words, "Thou Shalt Not Kill." Now those who are in support of capital punishment will argue, if you do some language study, that you will find that the word that is being used in this commandment in "Thou Shalt Not Murder". They will claim that there is a difference between someone killing someone in a premeditated manner, and the state applying the death penalty as punishment for a crime. I'm not sure the word study justifies that differentiation, but that is part of the debate that goes on. I already quoted from Paul in his support of the state acting as an agent of God. But there are some other verses in which Paul said something entirely different. In the twelfth chapter of Romans, very close to the passage about the government, Paul says:
(19) "Beloved, never avenge yourselves but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, 'Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord."
In Seattle talk radio, both Dave Ross and Dori Monson said that they felt that when it came down to it the bottom line for capital punishment was revenge. You had to decide whether or not revenge was appropriate. In fact those who argue the issue from a sociological standpoint will say there are many problems about capital punishment that have nothing what-so-ever to do with theology, but instead have to do with justice. They will point to the high percentage of minorities who are put to death, much greater than their percentage of the population in the general public. The majority of the people who are put to death are minorities, most of them African-American. The majority of the people put to death are male. The majority of the people put to death are poor. In addition to that there are an increasing number of people who are released from death row because they are found to be innocent of the crime. It has been shown in places like Canada that the abolition of the death penalty does not increase violent crime, in fact violent crime has been decreasing in Canada despite the abolition of the death penalty. From a monetary standpoint there is a far greater cost to our society, financially to put someone to death. It costs almost three million dollars to put someone to death, to go through the whole appeals process, in order to be able to carry out an execution. The cost of imprisoning someone for life is about one-half million dollars. So six times more expensive to put someone to death. In addition to all of that, if you look at the scripture passages, and look at the way that Jesus related to people, you will find that there is again much less justification for capital punishment.
Jesus and his ministry clearly point to a different way to look at transgressions. There is the story of Jesus and the woman who was caught in adultery. The scribes and the Pharisees are trying to get Jesus to say something that would cause trouble for him, so they question him constantly. On this occasion, found in the eight chapter of John, they brought a woman before him. A woman who had been caught in adultery. While she was standing there in the midst of them, they said:
(4) "Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. (5) Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?"
It was a big test. Jesus looked around. He bent down and wrote with his finger in the sand. They kept on challenging, pushing. When he was ready, he stood and said:
(7) "Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her. "And once again he bent down and wrote on the ground."
John records that when the people heard Jesus' words, they went away one by one. The first were the elders, till Jesus was left alone with the woman. He stood up and he looked at her and said:
(10) 'Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" (11) She said, "No one, sir." And Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again"
In another passage in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus addresses the question even more directly. He said:
(38) You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,' (39) but I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; (40) and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well; (41) and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile. (42) Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you. (43) You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' (44) But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, (45) so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. (46) For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? (47) and if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? (48) Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."
Many of the scripture passages including the teachings of Jesus are clear. I don't believe that Jesus would be in favor of capital punishment. There are among us in the Christian community, those who call out for capital punishment, basing their argument on the Hebrew Scriptures while disregarding the teachings of Jesus. There is no doubt that when a family suffers a tragic loss, there is a great deal of pain. We have all observed in the news, family members, neighbors, who have called out for the death of a murderer. To even the score. To put the matter to rest. To bring closure, so they can move on in their lives. But we have also seen people celebrating executions. People carrying placards calling for death, cheering decisions, judgments that have been handed down.
These things are hatred and revenge. They don't do anything to bring a person back to life. But they do have a negative impact on our spiritual lives. Sometimes there are murderers, like McVeigh, who ask to be put to death. To be put out of their misery. To be killed so they will no longer be a threat to society, so they will no longer have to suffer imprisonment, so they will no longer have to deal with the pain of trying to live with their compulsions. Even in those situations, I think the scriptures are clear. "Thou shalt not kill." I don't believe that capital punishment is supported by the teachings of Jesus, and it is important for us, as Christian people, to stand strong and testify to our faith when emotions run strong around us.
I pray that God's Spirit will be with us. Thanks be to God. Amen.