A mother ran into the bedroom when she heard her seven-year-old son scream. She found his two-year-old sister pulling his hair. She gently released the little girl's grip and said comfortingly to the boy, “There, there. She didn't mean it. She doesn't know that hurts.” He nodded his acknowledgement, and she left the room.
As she started down the hall the little girl screamed. Rushing back in, she asked, “What happened?”
The little boy replied, “She knows now.” (Joke a Day Ministries Group; www.PreachingToday.com)
When somebody hurts you, it’s only natural that you want them to feel your pain. Like somebody once said, “I don’t get mad; I get even.” “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” After all, that’s what justice is all about, isn’t it?
Well, is it? What does Jesus have to say about how to treat those who hurt you? If you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Matthew 5, Matthew 5, where Jesus talks about “justice” in His Kingdom.
Matthew 5:38 You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ (ESV)
That’s what the law said, which protected the guilty from excessive punishment. In a time when government authorities would capriciously impose outlandish penalties, God introduced this law 1500 years before Christ to limit those penalties to the equivalent damage caused by the offender.
However, in Jesus’ day, people used this law, meant to limit government overreach, to administer their own revenge against those who hurt them. Instead of letting the government impose justice, they took matters into their own hands and sought to impose their own justice. The ancient scribes allowed for this interpretation of the law, but Jesus strongly disagreed.
Matthew 5:38-39a You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. (ESV)
In other words, don’t take matters into your own hands.
DON’T RETALIATE.
Don’t be hostile towards the evildoer. Don’t set yourself against the one who has harmed you. Wow! That’s hard, because our natural tendency is to get even, but Jesus says, “Let it go.”
Earlier this month (October 2, 2019), a Dallas County jury sentenced former Dallas police officer Amber Guyger to serve 10 years in prison. A year earlier, she shot and killed an innocent man when she entered his apartment, believing it was her own.
The sentence appeared to initially disappoint the family of the victim, Botham Jean, who had hoped for far harsher punishment for Guyger. Several members of the family broke down in tears, shaking their heads as if in disbelief of the jury's decision.
But Botham’s 18-year-old younger brother, Brandt Jean, took the witness stand and spoke to Guyger, saying, “I know if you go to God and ask him, he will forgive you.”
“I love you just like anyone else and I'm not going to hope you rot and die,” Brandt Jean told Guyger. “I personally want the best for you. I wasn't going to say this in front of my family, I don't even want you to go to jail. I want the best for you because I know that's exactly what Botham would want for you. Give your life to Christ. I think giving your life to Christ is the best thing Botham would want for you.”
Brandt Jean then asked Judge Kemp if he could give Guyger a hug, a request the judge granted.
He stepped off the witness stand and met Guyger in front of the judge's bench and embraced as Guyger broke into tears.
Moments later, Judge Kemp spoke to Guyger privately. She also hugged Guyger and gave her words of hope, along with her own personal Bible, which she had retrieved from the judges chamber.
Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot described the compassion Brandt Jean showed to Guyger as “an extraordinary act of healing and forgiveness.” He said that in 37 years of practicing law, “I never saw anything like that.” (“Extraordinary act of mercy: Brother of Botham Jean hugs and forgives Amber Guyger after 10-year sentence imposed”, ABC News, October 2, 2019, 6:47 PM ET).
It was a powerful moment and a beautiful picture of what Jesus is talking about when he says, “Do not resist the one who is evil.”
Jesus Himself did not resist when evil people nailed Him to a cross. Instead, He cried out, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). He prayed for your forgiveness and mine, because it was OUR sins that put Him there!
How do you treat those who hurt you? Kingdom justice says, “Don’t retaliate.” Specifically, don’t return insult for insult. Don’t repay rudeness with rudeness. Just let the backhanded comments go, and...
ACCEPT INSULTS WITH PATIENCE.
Jesus said, If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also (Matthew 5:39b).
Now, if someone slaps you on the RIGHT cheek it’s going to be a backhanded slap. Let me show you... Invite a volunteer to join me on the stage. Have him stand in front of me and point to his right cheek. Now, if I’m going to slap him on the right cheek, there is only one way to do it, and that’s with the back of my hand.
Now, according to Jewish Rabbinic law, to hit a man with the back of the hand was twice as insulting as hitting him with the ?at of the hand (William Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew, Vol.1). (Go ahead and sit down)
So Jesus is saying don’t return insult for insult. Jesus Himself practiced what He preached. 1 Peter 2:23 says, “When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.” Instead of retaliating, He trusted God to fight His battles for Him.
Comedian Steve Martin once said, “Before you criticize a man, walk a mile in his shoes. That way, when you do criticize him, you'll be a mile away and have his shoes.” (“Monday Morning Insight,” www.ChurchStaffing.com, 4-25-05; www.PreachingToday.com)
Now, I’m sure that’s NOT what Jesus meant, but it gets close. He is saying, when you’re unfairly criticized, don’t retaliate. Just walk away and accept the rudeness with patience.
That’s what Melina Salazar did for nearly seven years. Every day, for those seven years, Walter "Buck" Swords cursed and stomped his feet, demanding that he get his food exactly as he wanted it, in the Luby’s Cafeteria where she served as a waitress. And every day, Melina Salazar offered a patient smile and did whatever she could to help her most stubborn customer. Then after years of thankless service, Salazar was rewarded. When Swords died at 89 years old, he left Salazar $50,000 and his seven-year-old Buick.
“I still can't believe it,” she said. After all, she says, he was always “kind of mean.” (Associated Press, “Man leaves $50,000, Buick to waitress,” USA Today, 12-28-07; www.PreachingToday.com)
Even so, she patiently endured his insults, “turning the other cheek,” if you will, and serving him with kindness. It’s the way God’s Kingdom people treat even those who mistreat them. Kingdom justice says, don’t retaliate. Specifically, accept insults with patience, and...
ACCEPT JUDGMENT WITH GENEROSITY.
Give more than what is required. When sued, deliver more than what is demand. Jesus said...
Matthew 5:40 And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. (ESV)
The tunic was a long, sack-like under-garment made of cotton, which even the poorest people would have two or three. The cloak was the great, blanket-like outer garment, which a person wore as a robe by day and used as a blanket at night. Now, most Jewish people in Jesus’ day only owned one cloak. And the law of Moses actually required that a cloak taken in pledge for a loan be returned to its owner before sundown, so the borrower had something to use as a cover when he went to bed (Exodus 22:26-27).
So, when Jesus said, “If sued... let [the plaintiff] have your cloak as well,” he was telling his followers, “Go beyond what the law requires.” Don’t selfishly demand your rights. Instead, give up those rights and give more than what is required.
On June 17, 1966, two black men walked into the Lafayette Grill in Paterson, New Jersey, and shot three people to death. Prosecutors falsely charged a black boxer, Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, and a friend of his for the murder. Then after a highly publicized and racially charged trial, the jury wrongly convicted Carter for murder, who maintained his claims of innocence. He became his own jailhouse lawyer; and after serving nineteen years, Carter was released.
It was a grave injustice, perpetrated by hateful and racists people, and Carter would have been well within his rights to sue the pants off his accusers. So how did he respond as a free man?
Here’s what he said in his own words:
The question invariably arises, it has before and it will again: “Rubin, are you bitter?” And in answer to that I will say, “After all that's been said and done—the fact that the most productive years of my life, between the ages of twenty-nine and fifty, have been stolen; the fact that I was deprived of seeing my children grow up—wouldn't you think I would have a right to be bitter? Wouldn't anyone under those circumstances have a right to be bitter? In fact, it would be very easy to be bitter. But that has never been my nature, or my lot, to do things the easy way. If I have learned nothing else in my life, I've learned that bitterness only consumes the vessel that contains it. And for me to permit bitterness to control or to infect my life in any way whatsoever would be to allow those who imprisoned me to take even more than the 22 years they've already taken. Now that would make me an accomplice to their crime.” (James S. Hirsch, Hurricane: The Miraculous Journey of Rubin Carter, Boston/New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2000, p. 310; www.PreachingToday.com)
By not bitterly retaliating, Ruben “Hurricane” Carter demonstrated a generosity of spirit that truly set Him free! By rights, He could have demanded more than his release from prison. Instead, He chose to give grace to those who had wronged him.
It’s the way Kingdom people treat those who mistreat them. Kingdom Justice says, don’t retaliate. Specifically, accept insults with patience; accept judgment with generosity; and
ACCEPT HARDSHIP WITH GRACE.
Do more than what is asked. Go beyond what is requested. Jesus said...
Matthew 5:41 And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. (ESV)
In Jesus day, Israel was under a foreign, occupying force, which the Jews despised. The Jewish people were not free, because they were under Roman rule, which meant that a Roman soldier could force any one of them at any time into service often at great inconvenience and expense.
William Barclay says, “At any moment, a man might feel the touch of the ?at of a Roman spear on his shoulder and know that he was compelled to serve the Romans, probably in the most menial way. In fact,” Barclay says, “that is what happened to Simon of Cyrene, when he was compelled (or forced, same word) to bear the cross of Jesus (Matthew 27:32; William Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew, Vol.1).
In the example Jesus gives here in Matthew 5, a Roman soldier has forced a Jew to carry his baggage for a mile. Now, most Jews did this begrudgingly, hating the soldier who forced him into service. But Jesus says, do it gracefully, going well beyond what your enemy has asked.
Leif Enger's Peace Like a River tells the story of Jeremiah Land, a janitor for the local school who has been known to perform miracles from time to time. He lives a relatively quiet life with his three children: 16-year-old Davy, 11-year-old Reuben, and 9-year-old Swede, a precocious little girl.
The novel takes a dark turn when Davy kills two teenage thugs who invade his family's home. Soon, the whole community turns on the Lands, especially the school superintendent—Jeremiah's boss—Chester Holgren. Mr. Holgren is a nasty man with a diseased face. Young Reuben, the story's narrator, describes Mr. Holgren as “a man whose face was a minefield of red boils.” He adds: “I hated him, I'll admit, and would soon hate him more, but a person had to feel sorry about this face. I don't know if you've ever tried a dish called tomato pudding. It's cooked soft and is ever so red and lumpy.” That’s what Mr. Holgren’s face look like.
And he does whatever he can to make Jeremiah's life miserable, eventually firing Jeremiah for false accusations of drunkenness. The firing takes place in the school cafeteria in front of all the children. Here's how Reuben describes the scene:
“I left my milling classmates and headed for Dad, where he stood in rapt surprise facing Holgren. I hadn't in mind to say anything, and indeed I didn't; for as I approached, Dad lifted his hand, sudden as a wind shift, touched Holgren's face and pulled away. It was the oddest little slap you ever saw. Holgren quailed back a step, hunching defensively, but Dad turned and walked off. The superintendent stood with his fingers strangely awonder over his chin, cheeks, and forehead. Then I saw that his bedeviled complexion—that face set always at a rolling boil—had changed. I saw instead skin of a healthy tan, a hale blush spread over cheekbones that suddenly held definition; above his eyes the shine of constant seepage had vanished, and light lay at rest upon his brow.
“Listen,” Reuben continues: “There are easier things than witnessing a miracle of God. For his part, Mr. Holgren didn't know what to make of it; he looked horrified; the new peace in his hide didn't sink deep; he covered his face from view and slunk from the cafeteria.
“I knew what had happened, though,” Reuben says. “I knew exactly what to make of it, and it made me mad enough to spit.
“What business had Dad in healing that man?
“What right had Holgren to cross paths with the Great God Almighty?” (Leif Enger, Peace Like a River, Atlantic Monthly Press, 2001, pp.79-80; www.PreachingToday.com)
Now, the story of Jeremiah and Mr. Holgren is fiction, of course. But in the real world, Jesus calls his followers to be generous with their oppressors. Such grace is a miracle. In fact, it is two miracles! 1st, it takes a miracle of God to show that kind of grace, and 2nd, it is a miracle to be touched by such grace.
It’s the way Kingdom people treat those who mistreat them. Kingdom Justice says, don’t retaliate. Specifically, accept insults with patience; accept judgment with generosity; accept hardship with grace; and...
ACCEPT DEMANDS WITH WILLINGNESS
Willingly and without resentment give what is asked. Don’t refuse the beggar. Jesus says...
Matthew 5:42 Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you. (ESV)
Sometimes, beggars and borrowers can be a nuisance, and it’s easy to resent their demands. After all, if they’d have been more responsible, they wouldn’t have to ask you for money. But Jesus says, don’t refuse them, literally, don’t turn away from them.
I think of a story Sarah Condon shared in memory of Ed Salmon, a pastor from South Carolina, who passed away in 2016.
He was on his way to lunch one day when he drove by Forest Park where there is usually a homeless man or two begging for money. On that particular day, there was a terribly disheveled man standing there with his sign, “I'm homeless.” Like many do, he was walking by the cars, but nobody looked at him. He got to Salmon’s car, and Pastor Salmon rolled down his window, and said, “I don't have any money with me, but my wife is going to take me to the airport in about an hour and a half, and I'll have something for you then.”
The homeless man replied, “Thank you for looking at me.” He didn’t say a word about money. He just said, “Thank you for looking at me.” (Sarah Condon, "Heaven Side Encouragement for Earth Side Ministry: A Remembrance of Ed Salmon," Mockingbird blog, 6-13-17; www.PreachingToday.com)
It’s so easy to turn your eyes away from beggars. After all, there are so many, and they’ll probably just use anything you give them on booze or drugs. However, Jesus says, “Don’t turn away from them.” At very least, look at them and get to know them as real people with real needs.
It may or may not be the wisest thing to give them a hand-OUT, but you can give them a hand-UP, and treat them as people that Jesus loved enough to give His life for them.
It’s the way Kingdom people treat others, even those who don’t deserve it. Kingdom Justice says, don’t retaliate. Specifically, accept insults with patience; accept judgment with generosity; accept hardship with grace; and accept demands with willingness.
“But that’s hard,” you say. “It’s not natural,” to which I say, “You are absolutely right; it’s supernatural! It’s not just hard; it’s impossible!”
You see, if you’re going to treat people with Kingdom Justice, you desperately need Jesus to change your heart, and that drives you back again to Jesus’ first words in this Sermon on the Mount. Take a look at them with me again in Matthew 5:3, Matthew 5:3. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
If you want to be as a true citizen of heaven, you must realize your own poverty of spirit acknowledge your own inability to do what God’s Law requires, and...
ACCEPT GOD’S GRACE WITH HUMILITY.
Receive God’s mercy for yourself. Welcome God’s undeserved kindness into your own life, before you can extend that kindness to others.
That’s what Dr. Mary Poplin discovered during an extended visit with Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity. During that visit, Dr. Poplin was trying to care for a five-month-old infant who was deformed, constantly sick, and often miserable. Dr. Poplin always found ways to avoid feeding this child, but one day it was unavoidable. She writes:
When feeding time was over, the babies were falling asleep in their bassinettes, and I was getting ready to go …. I glanced at the infants on my way out [the door] and noticed that undigested formula was dripping out of this child's bassinette. He had thrown up what must have been the entire eight-ounce bottle. Looking around for someone to tell as I left [the room], I saw no one in the infant area, and the few adults in the room had their hands full with other children.
So I decided, with no little struggle, to stay and clean up the mess. I put on my apron again, lifted the baby out of his bassinette and helped him on my shoulder as I began to gather the dirty sheets together and use them to wipe up the mess. As I was cleaning, I heard a muffled sound from the infant in my arms. Tears were pouring out of his eyes, and the only sound he could make was a convulsive sob.
As I looked at him, I saw in myself what Jeremiah called “the desperate wickedness of the heart.” I realized I had approached this task with a spirit of resistance and impatience. I had thought very little, if at all, about this child and his needs, other than to be clean. As I threw the sheets into the laundry pile, I began to bathe his little misshapen body and change his clothes. Afterward I held him to me tightly as I… looked at him, rocked him, and prayed… In a short time, he was asleep…”
Dr. Poplin says, “I must tell you that the moment I saw him weeping and realized the wretchedness in my heart, I knew it was sin. There was no doubt in my mind that this is what Christ meant when he said, ‘Out of the heart come evil thoughts.’ I asked Christ to forgive and change me. In those moments as I rocked the baby, I could feel Christ's work inside my spirit just as surely as if he were sitting next to me.” (Mary Poplin, Finding Calcutta, InterVarsity Press, 2008, pp. 82-83; www.PreachingToday.com)
If Christ’s words have made you feel uncomfortable this morning, if you have come to realize “the wretchedness in your own heart,” please, don’t ignore the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Instead, do what Dr. Mary Poplin did. Ask Jesus to forgive and change you, and He will! He will give you the love and grace to treat people as He has (and IS) treating you.
