2021.05.16 What About Capital Punishment?
Notes
Transcript
What About Capital Punishment?
What About Capital Punishment?
What do they need to know? Capital Punishment is consistent with God’s character, but He sometimes opts for mercy
Why do they need to know it? When we don’t know…mercy!
What do they need to do? Choose mercy!
Why do they need to do it? We received mercy, and so we should be people of mercy
How can I help them remember? Visual – broken stick…mend it!
Me
I’ve talked before about the proper way to approach Scripture, and today is going to be largely based on that approach. I don’t believe the Scriptures were given:
in order to lay the foundation for a criminal system (although there are some legal principles within)
give a detailed historical account of events (although the history is regarded as very reliable even by secular historians)
tell us how to behave (although there some behavioral admonitions)
Those elements are in there, but I don’t believe that was the purpose of God’s self-revelation … self-revealing to His creation!
As a quick example of what I mean, we could easily look at the Gospels as a historical account, but that’s not why any of them were written. We don’t call the Gospel writers historians…we call them EVANGELISTS.
The order of the events recorded in the Gospels is all mixed up, it’s really hard to get an idea of the chronological order of the miracles and Jesus’s travels. John specifically explains why toward the end of his Gospel:
30 Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book;
31 but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.
What About Capital Punishment?
What About Capital Punishment?
So, I believe the purpose of this compilation of writings is not so we would know history or law or facts of earth, but so that we would know the character and the nature of Yahweh … the one who created us.
That impacts my approach to Scripture. It means if my current ideas and beliefs conflict with Scripture, they conflict with the living God and I am necessarily wrong. I am forced to change not by a stronger logical argument, but by a contradiction with my Creator who calls me to be his and to be transformed back into his likeness.
We
Scripture is misused in multiple ways all the time, but probably the most common misuse of Scripture is when it’s used to defend what we believe, rather than establishing what we believe! We look for what is convenient or what already ‘fits’ what we think, and we reject the inconvenient parts.
I revisited something I wrote online a few years ago for this month’s newsletter article. In case you didn’t read the article, it was about a prominent UM pastor who suggested that we divide Scripture into 3 ‘buckets’.
Scriptures that express God’s heart, character, and timeless will for human beings.
Scriptures that expressed God’s will in a particular time, but are no longer binding.
Scriptures that never fully expressed the heart, character, or will of God.
I would suggest that pastor has lost his mind (and did just that in an email exchange with him), and that all of scripture falls into one bucket … writing that communicates God’s eternal heart and character and his timeless will for humanity to return to Him! Period!
Nowhere are we granted the privilege of eliminating inconvenient passages of Scripture as he suggests. I do not believe Scripture represents the work of men about God. I believe Scripture represents the work of God through men. In our email exchange, it was clear that he and I certainly disagree on that point.
This approach may present some problems if we are looking for a clean answer to some common problems. If we are looking for the character of God, let’s look at the difficult passage that was read for us:
God
9 ‘If there is anyone who curses his father or his mother, he shall surely be put to death; he has cursed his father or his mother, his bloodguiltiness is upon him.
10 ‘If there is a man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, one who commits adultery with his friend’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.
11 ‘If there is a man who lies with his father’s wife, he has uncovered his father’s nakedness; both of them shall surely be put to death, their bloodguiltiness is upon them.
12 ‘If there is a man who lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death; they have committed incest, their bloodguiltiness is upon them.
13 ‘If there is a man who lies with a male as those who lie with a woman, both of them have committed a detestable act; they shall surely be put to death. Their bloodguiltiness is upon them.
14 ‘If there is a man who marries a woman and her mother, it is immorality; both he and they shall be burned with fire, so that there will be no immorality in your midst.
15 ‘If there is a man who lies with an animal, he shall surely be put to death; you shall also kill the animal.
16 ‘If there is a woman who approaches any animal to mate with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal; they shall surely be put to death. Their bloodguiltiness is upon them.
The word is clearly demanding execution for certain offenses. Should we still carry out those punishments in our day? Perhaps, but I think there is a deeper lesson to be learned here.
It is within God’s character to exact life-and-death justice. I can disagree with him. I can dislike this part of his nature. But if I believe Scripture, I have to wrestle with that reality.
In today’s culture, we often hear that God is love, and that is absolutely true! But God is not ONLY love. He is also just … along with many other facets.
Online Meme: “If anyone ever asks you, ‘What would Jesus do?’ remind them that flipping over tables and chasing people with a whip is within the realm of possibilities.”
GOD IS JUST! And sometimes our “modern sensibilities” find his justice archaic or uncomfortable.
Perhaps this will help:
9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” And he said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”
10 He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to Me from the ground.
11 “Now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.
12 “When you cultivate the ground, it will no longer yield its strength to you; you will be a vagrant and a wanderer on the earth.”
13 Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is too great to bear!
14 “Behold, You have driven me this day from the face of the ground; and from Your face I will be hidden, and I will be a vagrant and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.”
15 So the Lord said to him, “Therefore whoever kills Cain, vengeance will be taken on him sevenfold.” And the Lord appointed a sign for Cain, so that no one finding him would slay him.
16 Then Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
What do we learn about God from this passage?
God is just: “your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground…”
Cain: “My punishment is more than I can bear…”
God is merciful: “Anyone who kills Cain will be paid back seven times…” and God marked Cain
So God is just … but God is also merciful. Can you see any reason for God’s mercy in the case of Cain?
Did Cain not do the crime?
Then why did God not make him do the time?
God is just & God is merciful, and I can’t always predict which characteristic he’ll show me.
You
The legal part of the Bible tells me that I have sinned, and I own that.
I love the line from Charles Wesley’s hymn “Depth of Mercy”: Can my God his wrath forebear…Me the chief of sinners spare!
I could be considered the CHIEF of sinners and yet he spared me!
A fair judge would have given me the punishment I deserve: “The wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23a)
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
But God is merciful: “…but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 6:23b)
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
It would be convenient to pronounce “the wages of sin” upon everyone else, yet pronounce “the free gift of God” upon myself, but I’m not afforded that choice!
I cannot explain why Cain was allowed to live! And I can’t explain why I’ve been given so many chances and opportunities after all of the times I’ve squandered the Lord’s love and care for me.
What About Capital Punishment?
What About Capital Punishment?
We
So, where should we stand on capital punishment?
Number 1, and this cannot be understated … God is not a pacifist! Capital punishment is consistent with his nature. Between the direct commands found in the Law, and the slaughter He commanded Saul to carry out on the Canaanites, and the deaths of Ananias and Sapphira when they lied to Peter in Acts 5, the “God is a pacifist” argument is tired and indefensible!
However, we also cannot understate God’s propensity to provide mercy. Cain received a lesser punishment, just as Adam and Eve received a lesser punishment when they disobeyed God … just like I bear the consequences of my sin while not bearing the ultimate punishment. Yes … Yahweh is just … but thank God he is not fair … because Yahweh is also merciful.
So, I can’t really tell you where YOU should stand on capital punishment. I see both positions as defensible within the context of a discussion of God’s character.
Personally, I believe we are presented two options which are BOTH consistent with God’s character. While capital punishment is consistent with His nature, so is mercy … and I have received mercy, so unless there is a clear reason, I would opt for mercy. I firmly believe in punishing crime, but I see capital punishment as snuffing out a life that is precious to God and ripe for conversion.
While I can see justice in executing those who commit heinous crimes, I would prefer to see those criminals converted to a saving faith in Jesus Christ, and execution places an artificial timeline on that potential. I opt for mercy because I want to see God act in the criminal’s heart to bring about a mending.
Tree branch – partially broken
We can complete the brokenness
Or we can participate with God in trying to mend it
Based on my understanding of Scripture and my own experience with Yahweh, I believe that would be His desire, too. I believe he could support capital punishment, but he would prefer a repentance and reconciliation.
What do you choose?