This week we will be exploring the sixth commandment in Exodus 20:13, Honoring Human Life.
Two words in Hebrew. That is all the sixth commandment is.
Lo tirtsakh (Hebrew)
You shall not murder. Or, perhaps more literally, "never murder."
These two words carry so much weight.
Respect life. Honor life. Protect life.
Stand in awe at the wonder, beauty, and dignity of human life.
From the moment of conception, life is a miraculous thing. In all of our intelligence and technology, we cannot replicate life. It is beyond us. It is incomprehensible. It is divine.
Each person is made in the image of God. This fact alone is enough to make us stop and think. We are the representatives of God on earth. How we treat one another is a reflection of our view of God.
Each human life is sacred and should be treated as such.
The principle is simple but living it out is not easy...and not always clear.
What about capital punishment? What about fighting in a war?
The sixth commandment also touches on such contemporary issues as abortion, euthanasia, eugenics, racial discrimination, suicide, self-defense, drug abuse, verbal abuse, and even AI.
Two words in Hebrew...with tons and tons of meaning.
We will scratch the surface on Sunday and remind ourselves of how amazing, beautiful, and sacred is human life... and how important it is to see each person as made in the image of God.
We will also celebrate communion on Sunday as fellow partakers of God's amazing grace!
May God fill us with His Spirit so that we can live each day as His ambassadors and ministers of reconciliation on this earth!