7th Epiphany 2011
Matthew 5:38-48
Making forgiveness perfect.
For years we in the church have been challenged by the initials, “WWJD.” The initials stand for What Would Jesus Do? For the most part it is easy at times to follow these simple guidelines, but sometimes it goes totally contrary to human nature. Loving your enemies is great in theory but the practice is so much harder. Then the whole WWJD question must be understood in terms of Radical Love.
Too often we associate these actions with that of a wimp, someone who is too spineless to respond. Let’s take for example the incident Jesus is speaking of in this passage. Someone slaps your face, it’s an insult and you are supposed to be insulted, and walk away, what does offering your other cheek do? It’s says, “Hey I am not humiliated by you. Your insult to me is not going to cause me to lose the joy of my salvation”
Now who looks stupid, the guy who has had his face slapped or the guy who is doing the slapping, who humiliated who?
That one was fairly simple to understand, but the second one takes a bit more understanding. If someone sues you for your coat give them your shirt as well. In Jesus’ day, a coat was a way of guaranteeing a debt, if you could not pay it back then they would usually take your coat. In that time, the average person wore two layers of clothes, a coat and a long shirt. To bring this saying into today’s language, what is basically being said is don’t just give him your clothes give him your underwear too. Give him your underwear and watch their embarrassment. The reason for this sounding so strong is, nakedness is taboo in Jewish society. By Jewish tradition and Jewish law you might ask a man for His tunic, but never His cloak. And yet Christ is saying, even that which is protected by law, be ready to give up. Even that which you don’t want to give, give.
Now lets look at the go the second mile part. Roman soldiers had the legal right to pick on any one to carry their bags for a Roman mile, Jesus was saying, go the extra mile and watch that soldier fall over. Imagine the embarrassment upon his fellow soldier’s face when he tells them what happened and they don’t believe it, I mean people do not do that sort of thing. Think of how it might convert another person.
Do you remember Simon of Cyrene? He was the man who was forced to carry the cross of Christ. That was the only other time that this word which we translate as forced was used in the Bible. The Bible also mentions that he was the father of Alexander and Rufus. If you look carefully at the rest of the New Testament you will find that his two sons became leaders in the first century church. You better believe that this experience of being compelled into service made a difference in this man’s life.
Now you could obey the soldier one of two ways: the first would be with grudging acceptance, like the little boy who was told to stand in the corner and he sat there with his arms crossed and said "I may be sitting on the outside but I standing on the inside" you ever do that? I sure have.
Or you can cheerfully do your best. There are always two ways to do something, 1) doing it with the bare minimum and that’s it, or 2) do what you’re asked to do and more, graciously and cheerfully. But listen up, don’t wait until you are pressed into service by a Roman soldier type, because it probably won’t happen. But you will have all kinds of opportunity as you go through your daily walk.
The Christian shouldn’t be concerned with only doing what he likes to do instead he should only be concerned with being able to help, even when the demand is discourteous and unreasonable. And so Jesus has given us three guiding principles for our Christian life: 1) Christians shouldn’t resent or seek retaliation 2) The Christian shouldn’t stand on what we feel is our rights 3) The Christian shouldn’t be thinking of his right to do as he pleases instead he should be seeking to help, or go the second mile if you will.
Christ summed it all up in Matthew 5:44 (NIV) But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, as a matter of fact if you were reading in the New King James Version of the Bible it goes into even more depth because it says "But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, But you ask, "how do I love people like that?"
We show we are God’s children by how we act. Jesus says that we will be known as God’s children by how we reflect God’s mercy and goodness in the way we treat one another.
This passage reminds me of how the Amish reacted to the tragedy of the school shooting at Nickel Mines. Violence in an Amish community is a shocking occurrence. However, the Amish choose to respond to those who do violence to them and those they love. Forgiveness is a rule of life in an Amish community.
One Newspaper reporter asked the million dollar question, “How can the notion of forgiveness be considered while viewing news photos of body bags being carried out of the one-room Amish schoolhouse in Pennsylvania?”
What are the Amish thinking? Are the Amish folks different from you and me? The Amish funerals are conducted in German and focus on God, not on commemorating the dead. There is no singing, but ministers read hymns and passages from the Bible and an Amish prayer book.
Do Amish families grieve as we grieve? The families of the little girls certainly endured the same deep grief as anyone outside their community grieve. They embrace each other and they weep as uncontrollably as anyone outside their community.
Do the Amish ever question what has happened in their lives? The Amish are just like you and me. They will always wonder how something like this could have happened to their children and to them. They will heal but this incident will affect the entirety of their lives.
What kind of questions do the Amish ask? The Amish are asking, “What does God require of us? What would please the Lord?” And, they are listening to the Word of God in Micah 6:8, “Act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with your God.”
The Amish take the bible seriously.
• They believe what it says and practice their understanding of God’s Word.
• They are devout followers of Jesus Christ.
• They understand that they are sinners and that Christ died for the sins of all sinners.
• They believe that God forgives and gives eternal salvation to those who repent of their sins and invite Jesus Christ into their lives.
• They believe that this life is to be lived as a life of faith in God’s sovereignty and obedience to the teaching of Jesus Christ.
• They believe that one day Jesus Christ will return and establish a visible Kingdom, which will be characterized by peace.
But more pointedly, what are the Amish thinking in regard to the Nickel Mines shooting? They are thinking the words of Matthew 5:38-48 need to be practiced in their community and before the watching eyes of the world. And they do just that…
The Amish are demonstrating their belief that…
1, Holding a grudge has no redeeming value. The Amish do not believe that justice and mercy are contradictory terms. They believe God desires justice and demonstrates mercy…
2. The Amish believe justice is in the hands of God. “Justice is mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. Deuteronomy 32:35 and Hebrews 10:30. The Amish do not believe the shooter is necessarily off the hook… but they choose to leave vengeance and retaliation in the hands of a just God.
3. They also believe mercy is something they can do as part of their faith. Ephesians 4:31-32 and Colossians 3:12-13 tells us, “Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words… instead be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.”
Grudges are destructive and revenge is not sweet.
One of the simple but great inventions is the eraser. It acknowledges the fact that no one is perfect. It reminds us that there is hope and new possibility for those who mess up their lives and hurt others. When we erase a hurt, we experience freedom, peace and inner joy.
Warren Wiersbe, former pastor of Moody Church in Chicago and Director of Back to the Bible Broadcast in Lincoln, NE said, “The worst prison is the prison of an unforgiving heart.” If we refuse to offer others the gift of mercy and understanding, if we refuse to acknowledge that others, like ourselves are just people, we are only locking ourselves up in a small cell of bitterness where we wallow in our own torment. Wiersbe said, “Some of the most miserable people I have known in my ministry are people who would not forgive others. They lived only to imagine ways to punish those who wronged them.”
One classic definition of forgiveness that I have heard is “surrendering my right to hurt you, for hurting me.”
The Amish know that grudges have no redeeming value and that mercy does. The Amish take Jesus seriously and consequently have an unusual understanding when it comes to retaliation. They simply do not do “tit for tat.” Tit for Tat may feel like justice but it is not Christ like. Jesus is not instructing his followers to be weak or doormat-people. He is asking us to be strong people. He is asking us to be strong enough to practice restraint in our responses to those who hurt us.
I want to challenge you to let the words of Christ, in all their richness, live in our hearts and make us wise. May we use his words to teach and counsel each other… and whatever we may do or say, let it be as representatives of the Lord Jesus.
