Have you ever heard a sermon preached on a story from the Bible that you thought you knew so well, and have the preacher bring out something you have never thought of before? Or have you read a passage in Scripture, not really understood it, or not liked what you think it is saying, and hurried on past to something that resonates better with you?
Reading and rereading the Sermon on the Mount has been like this for me. What, Jesus, I want to ask, were you really saying here? And how does it impact my life today—my living in a way that holds your blessing? Come with me on a journey of exploration as we continue to unpack this idea of responding differently to those who wish us harm.
The focus today is on the passage my Bible titles, “An Eye for an Eye” There are things that don’t make sense: “Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.” That sounds gruesome to me, until I heard it explained that the issue was to limit retribution—you could only demand recompense that fit the problem. In the world of the Israelites, this was about vengeance but put a ceiling on what could
be demanded in response to some harm done. That makes sense to me, especially in our liturgical times, when people sue for millions of dollars to somehow get recompense for a wrong suffered. We are very poor at figuring out how to do justice.
Sometimes, the Israelites were instructed not to seek vengeance, but to stand and allow God to avenge them. Remember that vengeance does not equal justice. And that God is the ultimate judge. Pause a moment and wonder if there is an invitation here for you regarding someone in your life.
Picking up from last week when we talked about not repaying evil for evil, Jesus says here, “Do not resist an evil person.” This has always seemed challenging to me. Does it mean we need to passively allow someone to harm us— “turn the other cheek”—hit us again? The Bible Project people have unpacked the word “resist” to mean to stand against or oppose, but not in a way that matches what the person did, and not make them an enemy—or if you are tempted to, remember the invitation to love your enemies!
Jesus gives three examples of how to respond to someone who harms you. All of them made sense to His audience but are a little more difficult for us to unpack. But they all require some action in response—this is not an invitation to passively allow someone to take advantage of you.
So, here is the invitation: if someone insults you or shames you in some way, what is your response to be? So often our knee-jerk reaction is to shame them in return; “but you…” Is there a way to respond that opens a doorway for the other person to see how hurtful they have been? Can you assume that person is carrying their own pain and that their words are less about you than about their own life? This is Holy Spirit business! Pause before you respond. Remember we have been looking at how to be righteous—how to treat others with kindness and generosity.
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”
Is there a way to change someone’s life by your acts of kindness?
Years ago, I was in a class on Prayer. We had been invited to a home which had a labyrinth in the garden. I don’t know if you have ever walked one, but I love to do so. For me it is a lovely invitation to walk with God and listen to Him. Our instruction before we started was to walk meditating on the verse:
“God’s kindness leads us towards repentance.” (Romans 2:4) I didn’t get very far into that walk when I was overcome by the realization that I had not been treating my estranged daughter with kindness. I left the labyrinth and went to sit on a bench and wept as I realized that our relationship would be transformed by my being kind to her. Today our relationship is filled with kindnesses to each other! There is such power in our being kind, generous and loving to others, especially those who are hurting—and isn’t that all of us at one way or another? And, if you get a chance to walk a labyrinth, I encourage you to do so!
Then there is the “go with him two miles.” No one in our world today would force you to walk a mile and carry all his stuff for him. Unless I am thinking of my neighbor who walks his dog daily the two miles around our neighborhood. Kensey and I like to do just one mile; if I meet up with Dean, though, although he doesn’t ask me to, I choose to walk with him the whole way. He is lonely and loves to talk—so even if I have a list of things I want to get done, I will gladly choose the second mile. I trust that the generosity of my giving my time to him has been a blessing through the years.
The interesting thing I discovered about this verse is that it says, “If anyone forces you to go one mile…” Somehow I have missed that all these years! Then the offer to go the second mile is an act of generosity. Ponder that one. Are there places in your life where you are in some way “forced” to an act of service, where you could offer something further as an act of generosity? Sounds like God!
When we think of God’s heart toward us, His generosity, His forgiveness, His availability to us whenever we need Him, I wonder how we can be anything else to the people in our lives.
Go, be God’s child and practice love! The reward is there for you.
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