Real Righteousness Part 4
The idea of simply standing still when someone’s taking a shot at us is… well, it’s stupid. Certainly, in the eyes of anyone around us, it’s a sign of weakness, an opportunity to invite further attack and exploitation.
Part of the "Design of a Disciple" series
Sunday 19th October, 2008 7pm service
Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, life for life.[1]
Sounds like a pretty brutal code, doesn’t it?
It’s actually pretty natural. It’s how we naturally measure justice. And it’s all scriptural.
It’s actually pretty natural. It’s how we naturally measure justice. And it’s all scriptural.
We know instinctively that if someone does wrong, they must make some sort of restitution - they should pay. Whether it’s a criminal through the judicial system or a bully getting expelled, there is some visceral satisfaction in the knowledge that the guilty have been made to pay... something.
Getting even means exactly that. Levelling the score means exactly that. Adding insult to injury means exactly that.
Jesus quotes it, again, as an example - but it's an odd example, isn't it? Particularly in light of what he advocates next - the total abandonment of any thoughts of vengeance. So why remind the people of an eye for an eye?
That law was intended to be more than a guide for punishment in harsh crimes. It was also a limiter - and a very effective one, too. It was a governor, embedded in the Laws of Moses, to ensure that punishment was kept appropriate to the crime, and that justice would not descend into vengeance. Because that's a natural part of our view of justice, too - that the payback includes a little interest. That the pushing-back is a little more forceful than the first shove.
Jesus quoted the scriptural mandate that limited punishment, and then avocated something utterly alien.
I say to you, do not resist the one who is evil.
The idea of simply standing still when someone’s taking a shot at us is… well, it’s stupid. Certainly, in the eyes of anyone around us, it’s a sign of weakness, an opportunity to invite further attack and exploitation.
Make no mistake, there is nothing natural about anything that Jesus is suggesting here. Look at verse 38. If someone smashes you on the cheek – physically assaults you – your natural instinct is to either flatten them or run away (possibly to find someone who can flatten your attacker for you). But Jesus says no – do no harm to your enemy. If anything, give him further room to have at you again.
Verse 39 – if someone tries to take the shirt off your back (and, incidentally, there were laws to stop an Israelite suing anyone out of their clothes, so this person is seriously out of line and deserves a clocking), give him more. Context – your coat's gone, your cloak's gone – you’re in the nuddy, now. You have given your enemy everything that you physically have.
Verse 39 – if someone tries to take the shirt off your back (and, incidentally, there were laws to stop an Israelite suing anyone out of their clothes, so this person is seriously out of line and deserves a clocking), give him more. Context – your coat's gone, your cloak's gone – you’re in the nuddy, now. You have given your enemy everything that you physically have.
That’s madness!
It’s irresponsible to the rest of your family and loved ones!
And it’s what Jesus asks.
Verse 42 – someone once said to me that if someone borrows $50 off you and you never see them again, it was probably money well-spent... Wrong motive, of course. Turn nobody away. Lend what you can to someone who needs, give when you're asked
Matty said it last week. This gets down so much into who we are. It’s so much more than what we do. Unless a genuine, Christ-centred love for our enemies is part of who we are, we’ll never be able to do this.
Verse 42 – someone once said to me that if someone borrows $50 off you and you never see them again, it was probably money well-spent... Wrong motive, of course. Turn nobody away. Lend what you can to someone who needs, give when you're asked
Matty said it last week. This gets down so much into who we are. It’s so much more than what we do. Unless a genuine, Christ-centred love for our enemies is part of who we are, we’ll never be able to do this.
Unless a genuine, Christ-centred, Spirit-fuelled, God-inspired love for our enemies is part of who we are, we'll never be able to do it. As a matter of fact, we’ll never be able to understand it.
You want to weigh your heart? Ask yourself a question – do you want to see the person who has wronged you the most – cut you the deepest – ruined your world… do you want to see them in Heaven with God the Father and the risen Lord Jesus?
There’s nothing amazing about loving your friends. There's nothing wrong with that, but... it's what everybody does. How we take care of our own hardly sets us apart from the world.
There’s nothing amazing about loving your friends. There's nothing wrong with that, but... it's what everybody does. How we take care of our own hardly sets us apart from the world.
Jesus' suggestion sets us apart massively. There’s nothing easy about loving your enemy, and sometimes the only assurance we can possibly have in this is... simply this.
It's exactly what Christ did. He loved His enemy. I'm not talking about the crucifixion, although he was the perfect model of to what extreme his love would physically go. Forgive them, Father, for they don't know what they do. But that's not the enemy I'm talking about.
I'm talking about another enemy.
An old enemy of God.
A rebel, an insurgent against his Father's rule. A usurper who wanted no sovereign hand over me… an enemy of God.
But Jesus loved His enemy.
Me.
Me.
Let me take you to Rome, when Paul’s letter was being read out. I want you to feel the force of these words: For while we were still helpless, at the appointed moment, Christ died for the ungodly. For rarely will someone die for a just person—though for a good person perhaps someone might even dare to die. But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us! Much more then, since we have now been declared righteous by His blood, we will be saved through Him from wrath. For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, [then how] much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by His life! And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.[2]
Jesus asks us to do the unbelievable. Jesus asks us to do the completely unnatural. Jesus asks us to be a people whose lives are visibly defined by his grace. Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Here's the challenge.
Look at Michael Hart's observation of Christians as a whole, in their relationship to Jesus' words:
We do not normally practice love for our enemies, we do not expect others to practice it, we do not teach our children to practice it. Jesus’ most distinctive teaching therefore remains an intriguing but basically untried suggestion.[3]
It's not. It's not an untried suggestion. As hard as it is, and as poorly as we often do at this, we can keep our Master in our eyes. Because he did it first.
It's not. It's not an untried suggestion. As hard as it is, and as poorly as we often do at this, we can keep our Master in our eyes. Because he did it first.
But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us!
Amen
[2] Romans 5:6-11
[3] Michael H. Hart, The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History. London: Simon & Schuster; 1993. p 21
Photograph [ via The Associated Press] appeared in a CBS news clip. The article itself is worth a read. Click onto
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