Dead Man Walking

A Sermon by Dr. Neil Chadwick


A little over ten years ago, a Roman Catholic nun by the name of Helen Prejean wrote a book chronicling her relationship with a convicted killer of two teenagers - he was sentenced to die in the electric chair of Louisiana's Angola State Prison. The book remained number one on the New York Times Best Seller List for 31 weeks. It also was an international best seller having been translated into ten different languages. The title for this book came from the traditional call of a prison guard as a condemned prisoner is led onto Death Row - "Dead man walking, dead man walking here!"

If truth be told, this could also be said of all of us, "Dead man walking, dead man - dead woman - walking here!"

We may not be physically sitting on Death Row awaiting our execution day, but we are all as good as dead.

Of course we understand that there are several different kinds of deadness.

    When someone is deep in sleep, we say they are "dead to the world." After taking a very difficult exam, we might complain that now we are "brain dead." Some churchgoers often appear in such a state at this time most Sunday mornings!

      One of my favorite preacher stories is about a pastor who sat next to a University student while on a cross-country flight. This doctoral student told about the paper he was preparing. Through reading and exacting studies with many patients, the student was prepared to report that the type of conversation that went on in the operating room had a definite impact on the recovery rate of surgical patients.

      The minister was especially interested in the finding that even though a patient under anesthesia was totally "out of it", in a comatose like condition, positive conversation by doctors and other attendants had a very beneficial affect on the patient. As the pastor listened to this revelation, his face suddenly lit up, and he said, "At last I've found some hope for the people who attend the Sunday morning church service."

    We can be dead emotionally due to some very deep hurts inflicted by those we thought cared for us; we can be dead relationally when the one we care about does not respond to our needs or expectations. In fact, there are a number of expressions that have become part of our vocabulary, dead end, dead meat, deadpan, dead head, deadbeat, and others.

What we're going to learn today is that one way or another, we are all dead, and it's up to us to decide for ourselves which kind of dead we would prefer. In fact, the call of the prison guard could precede all of us here today, "Dead man walking, dead man walking here!"

In line with this, in the New Testament we have statements from both Paul and Peter - they both teach us that we were dead and we are dead.

Paul is the one that seems to focus a lot on ideas about deadness - we'll consider one reading from his letter to church members at Ephesus:

    "As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions -- it is by grace you have been saved." (Ephesians 2:1-5 - a companion passage is Colossian 2:11-14)

Here Paul is speaking to believers, referring to the deadness that characterized their lives prior to coming to Christ. In short, Paul says that due to sin, they were like Dead Men Walking.

Right away, we bristle at this talk about sin. Who me? Me sin? No way!

    Many of you have at least heard of the book written by Dale Carnegie, "How to Win Friends & Influence People." One of the points made in this book is that it is not a good idea to criticize another person because it only makes that person defensive and causes him to strive to justify himself. "Criticism is dangerous," Carnegie wrote, "because it wounds a person's precious pride, hurts his sense of importance, and arouses resentment."

    Of course the reason for this is simple - few of us are willing to view ourselves as a bad person. Here are a couple of examples provided by Carnegie.

    In 1931, a car thief and cop hater known simply as Two Gun Crowley became the center of a massive manhunt in New York City after he had shot and killed a police officer. Crowley had been making out with his girlfriend on a country road named Black Shirt Lane in North Merrick, Long Island when a policeman came up to the car and asked to see his license. Crowley pulled out his gun, shot the officer several times, and then jumped out of his car, took the gun from the policeman now lying on the ground, and shot him again. After he was cornered on the top floor of an apartment building, a gunfight broke out when the police failed to smoke him out with tear gas. According to Carnegie, Crowley, huddled behind an overstuffed chair, took out a pen and on his blood stained paper wrote this note, "To whom it may concern. Under my coat is a weary heart, but a kind one - one that would do nobody any harm."

    Really!

    Then there was the most famous gangster of them all, Al Capone. This is what he said, "I have spent the best years of my life giving people the lighter pleasures, helping them have a good time, and all I get is abuse, [mine is] the existence of a hunted man."

To some degree, we're all like this, at the end of the day, we all want to come out smelling like a rose. We want to think of ourselves as being good people. However, according to our Bible, we are all sinners, and apart from Jesus Christ, we are Dead Men Walking.

In fact, the more we try to deny the sin, the more we become guilty of it. Another of the first great Apostles, John, wrote, "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us." (I John 1:8)

In Paul's Ephesian passage, those who are dead in transgressions and sins exhibit certain characteristics. Dead Men Walking are those who are "following the ways of the world." That is, they are enslaved to selfish pursuits, they have unquenchable thirst for superficial happiness, and have blatant disregard for others' feelings, they are disobedient to God's laws and are prone to violence in word and deed.

To put it plainly these people are following the ways of the devil. What are they? The big "D" represents such big "d" words as deceiving, destroying, and despising - resulting in disobedience.

Peter also wrote to the Christians of his day concerning deadness. He would also say that we are all Dead Men Walking.

    "To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth. When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. (I Peter 2:21-25)

In this passage Peter indicates that believers are now dead to sin, so Christians are also "Dead Men Walking." You see, before Christ we are dead because of sin, after Christ we are dead to sin. When we come to Christ, we are resurrected, only to become dead in another way - dead to sin.

What this means is that sin no longer has power over us.

This may be a bit uncomfortable to talk about, but think of it this way.

    If I were to have a massive heart attack right now and die, my body would slump to the floor and lie here like a bag of bones - well, bones with a lot of fat on them. Every person here could march up to what is left of me and bark any order they want to, and I just won't do it.

    Tell me, "Get me a glass of water" - sorry, you'll die of thirst before you get it from me, I'm dead.

    Insist that I give you a hundred dollars. Nothing doing - I wouldn't do that even if I was still alive because I don't have it - do you think I'll hand it over when I'm dead?

    Suggest that I exaggerate the deductions on my income tax forms (there's still 8 days to file) - there's no way I can be tempted when I'm dead.

    Or let's say someone whispers in my ear that now I can get even with the people who have hurt me - let the whisper turn into a shout and still there will be no response - I'm dead!

    Even more importantly, if the Devil himself may try to talk me into renouncing my faith - he has absolutely no chance of success once I'm dead.

    I promise you, I will just lie there and not obey any of these commands because I am dead!

Now if it's true that you and I are Dead Men Walking, then even though our bodies are not slumped on the floor like a bag of bones, we are still un-affected by all of the commands, and enticements, and influences that are thrown at us every day.

Perhaps you noticed that the passage we read from Peter's Epistle is where the WWJD (What Would Jesus Do) movement came from - Peter says we should follow in His steps. So what did Jesus do that we should copy? Of course there could be many answers to this question, but notice the four in this passage. If we followed in His steps, there would be no deceit, no retaliation, no threats, but rather, trusting in God.

    The world says, “honesty is not the best policy.” One man, when asked about the experience he listed on his resume, experience he did not have, defended himself by saying, "I was simply phrasing it in the most optimistic way I could think." With Jesus there was no deceit in His mouth.

    The world says, "Don't get mad, get even." Somehow injuring another person is o.k. when they have done something to you first. The Golden Rule for such people is, "Do unto others as they have done unto you." But Jesus did not retaliate.

    The world's way is the way of the bully, getting what they want by the threat of violence. Jesus, although all authority was given to Him, made no threats.

    Rather, Peter tells us that Jesus "entrusted himself to him who judges justly." To "follow in His steps" means that we simply exercise faith in God. When He says we are safe for eternity, we believe Him. We don't have to lie or cheat, and try to get what we want by use of force or manipulation, but simply believe that "all things work together for good for those who love God."

    Dead Men Walking don't depend on their own strength, they rely totally on God.

"Dead man walking, dead man walking here!"

At the beginning it was pointed out that we might not be physically sitting on Death Row awaiting our execution day. However, in fact, there may be someone here today who sits under a death sentence that has not yet been commuted, and the execution day could be any day.

"Dead man walking, dead man walking here!" You have not repented of your sin, you are dead, there is no relationship with God.

Or are you among those who have accepted the forgiveness that is offered. The call also applies to you, "Dead man walking, dead man walking here!" but for you it means that you are dead to sin and alive in your relationship with God. Let's follow the example of the one who said, "I die daily" (I Corinthians 15:31), live as Dead Men Walking - unmoved by the temptations of the world.

Discussion Questions
Dead Man Walking

1. Helen Prejean, the Roman Catholic nun who wrote the book, "Dead Man Walking," wanted to speak out against the practice of capital punishment. What are some of the arguments for and against the death penalty?

2. In our culture, what are some of the ways we may refer to living people as being dead?

3. What often leads to emotional deadness?

4. For Paul, Dead Men Walking are in such a state due to sin. What does it mean to be "dead in your transgressions and sins"?

5. Why do we object to being called sinners?

6. What does John say of those who claim to be sinless?

7. According to Paul, sinners are "following the ways of the world." What are they?

8. What are some "D" words closely associated with "Big D," the devil?

9. If BC (before Christ) we are dead "in" sin, how do we relate to sin AC (after Christ)?

10. How much actual power does sin have over the Christian, and why?

11. In I Peter 2:21-25, how did the author apply the concept of WWJD?

12. Why does the worldly way of thinking support the idea that honesty is not the best policy?

13. What is the true version of the "Golden Rule"?

14. Why is it difficult to simply trust God like Jesus did?

15. When a person comes to realize that apart from the forgiveness of God through Christ he is a Dead Man Walking, what should he do?

16. What is the benefit for Christians to consider themselves to be Dead Men Walking?

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