Life Preservers // Rev. Matt Kennedy // Aug 16 2026

We often describe a brand new baby as, "the miracle of life." It's an appropriate phrase because scripture tells us in a variety of ways that life is not an accident nor is it a given, but life is a precious gift from God. In the same way, there are few things that shock our sense of goodness more than when a life is taken by violence. It is the ultimate act of disorientation and desecration. "Bloodshed pollutes the land" (Numbers 35:33), and just like toxic chemicals that seep into groundwater, the act of murder poisons the bonds of human community in ways that can seem impossible to undo.This week we continue our sermon series on the Ten Commandments by considering not just the prohibition of murder (Exodus 20:12), but the task of God's people to bear witness to life's sacredness in all the ways we resist violence and vengeance, seek peace and prosperity, and live responsibly and reverently. Most important of all, we'll do what we do every Sunday as the Christian community: rejoice that the blood of the ultimate victim of violence does not stain the earth with vengeance, but washes us clean with mercy (1 John 1:7).