A jury deliberated for 37 minutes Friday before finding Scott Roeder guilty of premeditated, first-degree murder. The 51-year-old Kansas City, Missouri, man faces a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment with the possibility of parole after 25 years. Roeder testified that he shot Tiller in the head May 31 in the foyer of Tiller's church in Wichita because he believed Tiller posed an "immediate danger" to unborn children.
As Christians, we must not view this case too lightly. Tiller, the abortionist, was clearly engaged in some disgusting practices. Even though the law allowed him to abort babies, his actions were morally abhorrent.
Even so, Roeder did plan and calculate Tiller's murder. His actions were equally morally abhorrent. That he claims he did so for God does nothing to edify the church in our post-modern culture.
While I can surely find justification for God's displeasure over the death of innocents, I can not imagine Jesus cutting the man's hands off with a sword (as Roeder planned) or shooting him as Roeder did. As Christians, we must not choose to act as "God's vigilante" which neither gives glory to God nor does it serve to advance the cause of Christ.
Having discerned that Tiller attended a church, Roeder would have acted better to befriend attempt to persuade him that abortion is antithetical to the value God places on human life. Instead, both men must face harsh justice.
On the night of his betrayal at the hands of Judas Iscariot, Jesus told Peter to put his sword away. "Those who live by the sword shall die by the sword," he continued. This statement hearkens back to God's own words that urge us not to take justice into our own hands, "Vengeance is mine. I will repay." Some would extend this statement to public policy, but I think it is abundantly clear from Jesus' ministry that he is not concerned with corrupt government institutions, rather, he is speaking to the state of the individuals heart. So too, I have every reason to believe that Jesus did not command Scott Roeder to shoot Dr. Tiller and so Roeder will face justice here on earth just as he administered justice of his own.
The message of the Bible should move us to be instruments of God's mercy; having the faith to believe that He Himself will administer justice in His own perfect way.
