Impossible
Love
The
past few weeks, the New Testament readings have been from the Sermon on the
Mount. These are a collections of
teaching given by Jesus which call us into a deeper spiritual way of living. The Beatitudes begin the collection of
teachings, and last week, we heard the teaching of the wise man building his
house upon the rock. Jesus is
encouraging those that hear his words to also live them out. Those that hear and do are like the wise
man. Those that hear but do not live out
the word, are like the foolish man that builds his house upon the sand.
Today,
we have another set of teachings, giving guidance to people in how to live
specifically within their current cultural context. Many of us have heard the saying: an eye for an eye and a tooth for a
tooth. If someone attacks you and it
results in you losing an eye or a tooth, the punishment for that person would
be the removal of an eye or a tooth.
Right, fair is fair. You caused
this harm to me, so the consequences are the same harm back to you. We believe in consequences for behavior, but
rather than causing the same harm to people, the consequences could be jail
time, financial retribution, community service, some form of punishment, but
other than the death penalty, we don’t inflict bodily harm back to a person
that has wronged us.
So,
when people come across this passage that we read today, if someone strikes you
on the right cheek, turn the other also, it just doesn’t seem right. What do you mean, turn the other cheek? I was just hit, I want justice. But we have to remember the cultural
context. According to the Companions in
Christ study on the Way of Forgiveness, turning the other cheek was not a sign
of weakness, but rather a definite act of self.
People struck each other with the left hand, the left hand was
considered unclean. So, by turning your
left cheek to someone, they would be forced to strike you with their right
hand, which was a sign of being an equal opponent. So, if a Roman soldier were to strike you,
you would want to show that you are an equal and turn the other cheek towards
him. It was an assertion of non-violent
power in a time where the people were feeling very powerless.
If
someone sues for your coat give them your cloak as well, and go the second mile
are also nonviolent ways of asserting your power in a negative situation. Depending on your wealth, you may only own a
coat and a cloak. Your coat was your
outer garment and the cloak was your inner garment. You may even use your coat at night for a blanket. If someone takes your coat, and you give you’re
your cloak, you are now naked. In the
cultural context, if someone sees another naked, it brings shame upon the
person seeing you. Roman soldiers were
allowed to force people to carry their gear for up to one mile, but no
farther. So, by going the second mile,
you were putting a Roman soldier into an awkward situation, and he could be
punished by your actions. All three of these teachings point out the
injustices in the current system and expose them. Giving power to the one being oppressed.
Okay,
so examining things through the cultural context helps to make these teachings
a little more understandable, but what about the next part: Love your enemy. This one can really hit home with us in today’s
world. Jesus, we know you are teaching
about love, we know and understand that God is love, but this love that you
speak of, is just too much, asking us to love our enemies is impossible
love. I cannot love the one that has
caused great harm in my life, that has killed thousands of people, that seems
to be a source of evil in this world. I
just cannot do it. So why do you ask it
of us?
Although
Paul writes after the life and death of Jesus, Paul proclaims this: overcome evil with good. By at least trying to love our enemies, if at
least by trying nonviolent ways of empowerment, we are not retaliating with
greater force which is then met with greater force, snowballing the situation into
even greater harm than with which it began.
We can play a role is escalating violence or we can play a role in
calming the waters. Remember, one of the
Beatitudes is Blessed are the Peacemakers.
We are not to be doormats, allowing others to oppress us or walk all
over us, but we have a role in how we allow situations to grow. Right, don’t
make a mountain out of a mole hill?
So,
on this day as we ordain and install our new leadership, these are good
teachings for us to all follow, both the leaders of the church and the
congregation. There may be issues that
come before us this year where we are ready to speak our mind, but we also need
to remember that we are a community, which involves listening to the various
voices and discerning what is best for the whole. Jesus is teaching to a community, a community
that he loves, a community that he wants to succeed in the harsh world in which
they live.
We
do want to be open and honest with each other, but we also don’t want to allow
conflict to escalate. It is a good
practice to always honor each other, listen with respect, and agree to
disagree.
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