A blind, toothless nation...........

Matthew 5:38-48     

³⁸ “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ ³⁹ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. ⁴⁰ And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. ⁴¹ If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. ⁴² Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.       (NIV ©2010)  thank you to www.biblegateway.com 

Here is the same passage from Eugene Peterson's The Message (c.2003)

"Here's another old saying that deserves a second look:  'Eye for eye, tooth for tooth.'  Is that going to get us anywhere?  Here's what I propose:  'Don't hit back at all.'  If someone strikes you, stand there and take it.  If someone drags you into court and sues for the shirt off your back, giftwrap your best coat and make a present of it.  And if some takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life.  No more it-for-tat stuff.  Live generously."

Live generously.  Live the servant life.  There are few other passages which so succinctly capture the contrast between the kingdom in which we live and the kingdom of God which Jesus invites us into.   At exactly the moment when this world is pushing all your buttons; when you are at the end of your rope; when, in fact, someone has taken advantage of you.....then you are called to live generously, to live the servant life, to be change makers, to make a difference in our own small way.

Living generously....what does that look like?  I think there is a great deal of joy in living generously.  I can hear a person say  'If I had more, I could be generous'  but I don't believe that generosity is born out of an abundance of resources.  Rather, generosity is the ability to always look at the resources you have as abundant!  It is not about what it will take to make you happy; it's about being happy with the what you have.

Living generously may have something to do with living in the Spirit.  The Spirit provides us with the power, the energy and the motive to be a part of the nurturing and growth of others. 

Now, if you look at the commentaries they will also point out the possibility that this generous life will embarrass, maybe even humiliate, the oppressors.  Can you imagine someone with only two garments to their name, a cloak and a tunic, being asked to give over their cloak as a pledge for a loan (Why would someone that poor be receiving a loan instead of a gift?) and when this oppressive request is made (for the cloak was also their blanket at night) they strip off their tunic, stand buck naked in the courtroom and say, "OK, if that's what you need, here it is."


Now let's look at the second part of the lesson

NIV translation verses43-48

    ⁴³ “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ ⁴⁴ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵ that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. ⁴⁶ If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? ⁴⁷ And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? ⁴⁸ Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

The Message  43-48

"You're familiar with the old written law, 'Love your friend,' and its unwritten companion, 'Hate your enemy.'  I'm challenging that.  I'm telling you to love your enemies.  Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst.  When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer, for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves.  This is what God does.  He gives his best - the sun to warm and the rain to nourish - to everyone, regardless:  the good and bad, the nice and nasty.  If all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus?  Anybody can do that.  If you simply say hello to those who greet you, do you expect a medal?  Any run-of-the-mill sinner does that.

 "In a word, what I'm saying is, Grow up.  You're kingdom subjects.  Now live like it.  Live out your God-created identity.  Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you."

Jesus' teaching goes on.  This is what the new kingdom looks like: love your enemies, live generously, begin the change.  Mahatma Ghandi was once quoted as saying that the only result of an eye for an eye was an entire world that was blind.  What is needed for a new community to be created?  How will people be brought into a transformational relationship with the God of Sinai if nothing changes?  How will we be transformed from the old to the new unless we take up the struggle of wrestling with Jesus' new way of living in him? 

To quote one commentator, "We could, in our worship, pray vehemently for the passing of the old order and quietly live our lives the rest of the week, or we could pray vehemently for the passing of the old order and plant the seeds of the new by the living of our lives the rest of the week."

This is a radical call to live the life of servants of God, agents in the birthing of God's kingdom here among us.  In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus brings down a flood of blessing from God, 'the implications of God's love gush forth so relentlessly that they cut the ground out from under our feet.'   We might prefer to have God's blessings some at a more leisurely pace so we can fit them into the orderly frames of our lives, but God will be God and Jesus is the Savior. 

One last question -

When we are told that God rains on the just and the unjust, how often do we think that in the eyes of others, we are the unjust ones?