Does Jesus want us to be wimps? – Matt. 5: 38-42

   When someone stole little 12 year old Mark’s bike he complained to his parents. “I just want to get back at whoever stole my bike.  I want them to fall off the bike and really hurt themselves”. He felt hurt and he wanted the thief to hurt too, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.  I think we understand, but I wonder what we might say as Mark’s parents.  What would we suggest Mark do with his feelings of anger and wanting to get even.  Would we quote the passage for today about turning the other cheek.  Would we quote the eighth of the ten commandments, do not steal….

As followers of Jesus we surely want to hold on to the idea that we do not repay evil with evil.  But what does that look like? 

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An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth – no says Jesus there is another way.  If someone hits you on the right cheek offer the left as well.  We need to understand a couple of things.  Firstly this is humiliation slapping not out and out violence. The second thing is that in middle eastern society you differentiate between right and left hand.   The right hand is always extended in welcome, the right hand is always used in eating, because the left hand is used for other things.  I won’t go into detail but your left hand is unclean.  The right hand is also used for striking.  Did you notice that our passage specifies the right cheek so let’s have a practical demo of striking with my right hand on your right cheek.  The blow has to be a back hander.  In Jesus’ culture a back-hander had a very specific meaning.  It was used by people in power to humiliate someone.  Masters back-handed slaves, Romans back-handed Jews, husbands back-handed wives, and parents would back-hand children.  The message was simple – “I’m putting you in your place”.     But notice what happens when you offer the left cheek.  The striker must still use his right hand but no longer can he back-hand you.  It’s got to be a hit with the open hand, and that’s a hit reserved for equals.  By turning the other cheek, you are actually refusing to hit back, but you are also refusing to be submissive and humiliated.  You are saying something very powerful.  Hit me if you like but I refuse to submit.  I wonder where this little encounter goes next.  There is I believe a real possibility that a new bridge will be crossed as the bully finds someone stands up to them.

   The next image has a similar theme.  If anyone takes your coat, give him your cloak as well.  It sounds a bit strange to us but in the poverty ridden times of Jesus, garments were often the only thing people in poverty owned.  The scene is probably set in a courtroom and the defendant who has lost everything is being asked to turn over their coat or outer garment to help repay a debt to someone we would call a loan shark.  It’s the epitome of screwing someone for every last cent.   The scene was depressingly common in Jesus’ time, but Jesus’ advice is dramatic and stunning.  Offer your “chiton” as well.  This is usually translated as undergarment, but your “chiton” in effect is your underwear.  The result is startling as you give your outer cloak and then proceed to strip naked.  The greedy creditor suddenly finds himself in an embarrassing situation because public nudity was shocking.  Instead of taking the garments, the creditor will now be giving them back and urging the loan defaulter to cover up again.  The power of public humiliation has been used to expose the greed and hopefully educate the creditor.  The encounter hasn’t been about getting even, but about establishing real justice. 

   The third image concerns another practice known at the time.  “If anyone forces you to go one mile, go also a second mile”.  In Palestine at the time the Roman occupying soldiers were allowed to ask locals to carry their packs.  It was a form of forced labour, but the Romans were very careful not to push things too far.  One mile of pack carrying was the limit.  So, imagine the scenario.

   You’ve just carried the heavy pack of the hated soldier for a mile along the Roman road where there are markers every mile.  The solider, knowing the rules says, “OK I’ll find someone else, you can get lost now”.  But you say, “no. no, it’s OK, I’ll continue to carry your pack.  Very happy to be of service!”.  Suddenly the Roman solider is worried.  The rules are clear and he could get into serious trouble if his superiors discover someone has carried his pack for more than a mile. He’s now begging for his pack back.  Again injustice is exposed, and maybe just maybe the soldier will see you as a real person rather than a resentful Palestinian.  Maybe just maybe a plank of the bridge building that needed to occur between Roman soldier and Palestinian peasant has been put in place. 

   Jesus talked of forgiveness that renounced vengeance and getting even.  No more an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, but he doesn’t want us to be wimps either.  We need to find creative ways Jesus doesn’t want us to be doormats who simply roll over when people put the boot into us or treat us as rubbish.  Jesus asks us to find creative ways to expose the injustices and really make things right again.

   Six-year-old Sam had agreed with Diane, his mother, that his chore would be to set the table each evening in time for dinner at 6 o’clock.  Two evenings in a row the table was not set on time.  Each time Diane discussed the situation with Sam.  On the third evening, at 6.15 the table was still not set.  Sam’s hungry sister and father impatiently offered to do it so Diane could serve dinner.  Diane said, “If you help Sam by letting him take advantage of us, you won’t really be helping him or us”.  Finally Sam arrived.  Before he could trot out a story about why he was late Diane cheerfully asked the whole family to sit down at the table.  She brought a pot of spaghetti from the kitchen and plopped a pile of it down on the bare wooden table in front of each person.  Then she piled spaghetti sauce on top, and salad dressing on top of that.  Maintaining a calm, friendly and non-shaming attitude, Dianne finally brought out the frozen yogurt dessert and put some on top of each person’s spaghetti.  As astonished Sam experienced the logical consequence of his failure to set the table.  From then on, Sam set the table on time!

   A wealthy slum landlord had exploited his tenants for many years by charging them excessive rent for substandard housing.  Finally he was arrested for numerous violations of the housing code.  The judge sentenced him to live for one month in one of his own rat-infested smelly rooms with broken pipes and no heat, and the man became a responsible landlord. What would our justice system look like if we practiced restorative justice instead of the current punitive justice system. 

   Forgiveness is not about being a wimp.  Forgiveness requires courage and creativity as we see those who hurt us not as enemies to be punished, but as God’s children who need to grow and find another way.  Forgiveness is hard work, and sometimes we simply won’t have the energy.  It sometimes takes a long time.  Invariably it will take prayer.  We need the creative spirit to guide us and encourage us.  The result however is worth it as we make new friends, and we all draw a little closer to the kingdom of heaven.

   AS many of you know I have a little project along the Heathcote River not far from where we live.  We’ve formed a little group to look after the Laura Kent Reserve which was an overgrown wilderness beside the river.  We’ve removed poplar and blackberry and planted lots of natives.  It looks great.  But earlier this week on my morning walk I discovered  some of the larger trees that we had planted had been snapped off and just left.  I was angry and sad.  Who would do such a thing.  There was part of me that wanted to inflict damage on the people involved.  I imagined a group laughing as some of them tried to snap the trees.  I had to catch myself and ask so how should I respond as a follower of Jesus.  I prayed about it.  As I reflected with God I sensed I should be asking how can I help those involved grow towards God.  Killing these trees was certainly not a godly activity.  I have no idea who is responsible but I held them in prayer before God and asked God to work in their hearts.  Specifically I asked that they would grow to realise life in all forms is sacred.  I am concerned that if they break trees they may also inflict violence on others.  I also wrote a little sign which I hope might unlock some goodness that I believe will be inside them.  I didn’t want to put them down but I did want to say it wasn’t OK, and I wanted to evoke compassion for the trees that had been killed.  Will it work… I don’t know but I trust a door has been open opened for God to move.

The way of Jesus means:

1. Giving up the desire to get even. 
2. Confronting the evil.
3. Building bridges of (re-)connection. 

There are no guarantees, but this is the way of Jesus that I believe will true peace into the world.

Dugald Wilson February 2020

Matt 5:17-37

   The ten commandments are rules that have shaped our society.  While many people say religion is a waste of time they are happy to accept much of the heritage that comes from religion in the form of moral teaching and values that come to us from many years of human experience and reflection.  Jesus assumes we need moral guidance to live well, but he makes the bold claim that rather than have rules imposed from the outside we need an internal guidance system.  The rules that came from places like the ten commandments are good, but we need to build them into our internal being if we are to find happiness and fulfilment in life.   He doesn’t say the old rules should be ditched;  “Do not think I have come to abolish the law or the prophets,” but he adds, “I have come not to abolish but to fulfil”.  To underline what he’s saying he pick out the fastidious rule keepers the Scribes and Pharisees and says , , “unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees you will never enter the kingdom of heaven”.  How could anyone be more righteous and fastidious than that pious crowd?   

   As Jesus continued it was clear he wasn’t looking for stricter adherence to rules but was proposing something else.  Jesus talked of people becoming alive, but true aliveness wouldn’t come through strict conformity to tradition like a cracked record going around and around.  Nor would it come from throwing the baby out with the bathwater and ditching tradition altogether.  The traditions weren’t dead meat – they contained life, but only when we discerned and fulfilled the true intent of tradition as a life giving power that takes root in our hearts and minds.  

   Maybe we could see tradition and past teaching we find in our scriptures as a road that began long ago but continues to the present.  Jesus proposes that the road isn’t finished yet.  There is a whole new landscape that has grown up around us.  To extend the road into this new landscape we need to look back and  get basic guidelines, but we must also be prepared to step beyond where the road currently ends, venturing off the map so to speak into new territory.  To stand still and hold fast to the letter of the law is to risk turning into a pillar of salt.  Our faith tradition was born in what is called the reformation and we are a reforming church.  In such a community faithfulness requires us to walk beyond what we know and make the road that will discover the life of God now and take us forward into the future. Faithfulness invites us to take the essence of our traditions into our hearts so that our lives are transformed and we become travel guides in a world that is looking for direction.

   Having laid out the general principle Jesus give us some very practical examples that relate to our human lives.  Using some of the key commandments he unpacks and re-orientates them with fresh vision.   No longer are they some rules to keep or not keep but they are seeds within our hearts that sprout and grow new life within us.  Food for our core being, our soul, our internal battery, our guidance system.    

   Starting off with one of the Ten Commandments he reminds us not to murder.  Most of us will say to ourselves, ‘safe on that one! –I’ve never been up for murder and never likely to be.’   But that’s the issue with outside rules we can easily tick them off and say passed or failed that one.  Jesus goes deeper. This commandment is really about the sacredness of human life and the taking away of this life can happen in all sorts of subtle and not so subtle ways.  Jesus raises three possibilities.  Firstly he tells us that when we are angry with someone else we invariably risk diminishing their sacredness and will murder them in some way with thoughtless words or actions.  It’s a huge issue in our society leading to violence ad all sorts of abuse and we are all infected and affected in some way.   Secondly the verbal put downs that I suspect we have all used to dismiss someone by calling them names or a useless fool takes away their life and sacredness.  It doesn’t need to be something we say face to face, but is there in our heart as we look at someone or some group of people.   We name and we write them off as someone I value.  And thirdly Jesus points out we murder people when we refuse to actively work towards reconciliation.  When we allow the fences to remain and put others on the other side out of sight and refuse to engage in meaningful ways that will resolve our separation.  

   Dear Jesus this commandment was something I could keep at arms length and even give myself a pat on the back with but you have introduced a whole new picture.  You are calling me to plant this commandment in my heart and in my soul and to live it.  To treat every human life is sacred, special, God breathed.   You are saying to take this rule into every sphere of my life.  How I see my own life, how you see my friends, how I see those I don’t get along with so well.  You are asking me to listen harder to those I want to dismiss, to make space for those I want to keep at arms length, to stand up for those others want to demonise.  You are asking me to be very careful with my angers, the way I put people in boxes, and neglect relationships that involve fences.  When I hear someone writing off Chinese people and saying they are all responsible for spreading a virus I will not remain silent.   When I celebrate Waitangi Day I will do so knowing we still have work to do to resolve the injustices of the past, and to shape a society in this land that is not only bicultural but multi cultural – a land where we welcome difference and diversity while honouring the good from all our traditions. 

   Jesus takes another seed when he says you have heard it said you shall not commit adultery.  But I say to you anyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.  For some reason Jesus seems to aiming this at men!  However what he is really aiming at is looking at anyone as an object for your consumption.  It’s treating others as an object to be used, abused, manipulated, or enslaved for your own purposes.  Again we find ourselves drawn into planting this seed in our heart and soul.  From thinking we may have got a pass mark we find ourselves on the wrong side of the line.  Greed and competition fuels or society.  Stepping on others to get ahead is part of the game.  If you can get a bargain no matter what the workers are paid go for it.  If someone else is a sucker and takes on a role of leadership and responsibility and I can sit back why should I?  There are all sorts of way we use others for our benefit and Jesus is asking us to treat our relationships with respect and honour. 

   After sowing this seed Jesus does a little side sowing and addresses the issue of divorce.  Divorce was legal in Jesus’ day and in reality was very common because all a man needed to do was sign a certificate of divorce and send a woman on her way.   It remains so in many societies.  But Jesus says you can’t treat women in such a degrading way.  He accepts divorce will occur, but is saying the easy divorce of his day was unjust and women who had been thrown on the scrapheap of failure through being rejected should in fact be considered still married and honourable

    And another seed concerning the swearing of oaths.  Turning to a higher being or authority to reinforce your word was a common practice in Jesus’ day.  We still do it in court when we swear to tell the truth on the Bible.  I guess the thinking is that failure to tell the truth will get us into trouble with God.  But Jesus says don’t promise your loyalty to any system or authority – let your word be enough.   Welcome to a world where we talk with absolute simple truth to one another and our word is good.  It’s a world we can trust one another, where we are no longer suspicious of someone asking for help, where we no longer play games to get what we want.  In our world of image, fake news, manipulated truth, I long for this world Jesus talks of.    

   Simply keeping the letter of the law was not enough in Jesus’ eyes.  To be one of his disciples we are expected to live out the heart of the law, and let the law take root in our heart.   For Jesus keeping the law is not about keeping the rules, but is about what’s going on in our heart and in our thoughts.  The rules say, as long as you don’t sleep with another woman you don’t commit adultery, or as long as you don’t pull a knife on someone you don’t murder. But for Jesus keeping the law is all about something deeper.   It’s about transforming our deeper beings and desires.   It’s about growing a new person by nurturing the seeds from our heritage and tradition in our hearts and letting the essence of those seeds shape us as individuals and as a community of that honours Jesus.

Dugald Wilson 9 Feb 2020