August 23, 2009

• The Third Way

  In this study I was amazed. I am often amazed at the Words of Jesus as they so very often challenge me to dig deep. They so very often are literally, the truth…..upside down. We basically all agree with what Jesus says….but often find it hard to apply these truths to our lives because they are so counter to what we have been taught in the world (the so-called “common sense” of real life). This is one of those teachings that challenged me. If we look very close…Jesus teaches us a “third way” of dealing with things in our lives.

  Statements like, ” do not resist an evil person“, “If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.”, “And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well.” ….and this one isn’t to bad, “Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. ” Most of us, especially as Christians, would agree with what Jesus says here…..however….most of us would have a hard time putting these ideas into practice because we would feel that we are being taken advantage of, we find it hard not to fight back in word or deed. So….what exactly is Jesus saying here? Could he be saying more than what we read on the surface with just a quick reading of His words? What is the rest of the story? Let’s look…..

  Okay, this is a long post (I don’t write short stuff, do I? LOL). Hopefully you can endure the trip

  Matthew 5:38-42 ( TNIV )
  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. 
  
  For weeks now we have been talking about how the “truths of Jesus” are the “truths upside down”. So often these truths are opposed to popular wisdom, however, as we have looked at these truths we have seen that they are rather amazing….and the results of applying these truths are better for us.

  Today we will look further at the “Truth Upside Down”. I can take little credit for this message. I would like to thank Pastor Rob Bell in Grand Rapids. However…this message, I believe , is a very important message. Let’s look at “The Third Way”:

  Have there been times in your life where someone did something to you or something happened to you that you wanted to exact revenge on them or you wanted to retaliate against them? These are the times that Jesus lived in………first century Israel. Times that were unbarable. Times that retribution and retaliation were a key word.

  What I want to do is to look a little at those times and then to look at the wisdom of Jesus in dealing with a tough life. Because we all in one way or another struggle through tough times. We face times that are hard for us each day and our times are not always that easy as we interact with others. We are going to talk about a “THIRD WAY” of dealing with the pressures of this world (the first way is passivity..the second is retaliation and retribution).

  Imagine that Canada invaded the United States the Canadians were setting out to rule the world and were moving from country to country setting up a “Canadian Empire”. Imagine that the Canadians have been quietly planning and now they have conquored America. The new national sport is hockey and every week as I study at IHop…..I have only one choice of syrup….maple.

  Not only that, Canadian soldiers are everywhere, riding their horses looking for any sign of unrest or uprising….looking for any sign of rebellion. Why today as I went into the office, a Canadian soldier on his noble steed looked down at me and wanted to know what we were doing inside the church office. He was concerned because we were having a meeting………planning a rebellion perhaps……

  

   And there’s more…. Canada now has to pay for all these mounted soldiers occupying the land so they tax us heavily, and of course we’re already taxed by our own government. Imagine paying 25-30% of all that you earn to our government and then also being taxed another 25-30% by the Canadians. Over half of all that you work hard for must go to pay taxes, not to mention the taxes on maple syrup and taxes on cigarettes and gas. Times are unbarable …people are having to sell their houses just to pay their taxes! 

   

   

  And on top of that……Christians (yes, Christians) are taking advantage of these hard times and buying our houses and then charging us high rent to live in them!

  This is first century Israel! They had been conquored by the Roman empire…a giant global military superpower…and so there were Roman soldiers everywhere in the land. The rich Jews were buying up the family lands of their own people and these same people were having to work the land for a pittance.

  And not only that, as good God fearing American Christians, we come from a tradition that God is on our side. We, as Christian Americans, are God’s people!

  Again…this is first century Israel. The Jews had been especially choosen by God to spread the message of a loving God…a just, fair God of peace.

  So, here we are in America and we have this big problem. We’ve been conquored by the Canadian Empire who is taxing us to financial ruin and on top of that, they don’t even believe in our God they have their own god’s and they laugh at our customs and beliefs. Every day, on a regular basis we would bump up against the rules of this Canadian  Army…… because we were living as an occupied people.

  All of this was so very humiliating for the first century Israelites……….because in first century Israel, just like it would be to us today here in America, these Roman soldier’s job was to keep the people in line. This is the setting for the times that Jesus lived……

  Let’s look at what Jesus has to tell us. What wisdom did Jesus impart to those who’s life was a struggle? What did Jesus have to say about dealing with the humiliation of being bound by society being affected by other peoples actions? Let’s look some more at the “truth upside down”….the key is…..it’s still the truth!

  Matthew 5:38-39 ( TNIV )
  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.

  I love what Jesus is saying here. Why, because it’s a great illustration of how the Israelites (just like us today!) take Scripture out of context and apply our own distorted truth to it! You’ve heard an “‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’…… what does that mean?

  This comes straight from God’s wisdom in the Old Testament Scriptures. But remember, Jesus came to fullfill the Law, not abolish it. Jesus came to show us what God really meant, because we just plain get it wrong so very often! We often look at this passage and stand strong in “exacting revenge”…. ”Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth” we yell!  But this is actually a passage that was repeated throughout the Old Testament whose purpose was to cut down on violence, not increase it!

  ”Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth” actually is saying “if somebody wrongs you then they need to pay back just what they’ve wronged…not more”. So it was a way to curb excessive revenge, not justify it! Plus, in Exodus, in Leviticus and in Deuteronomy where this passage, this thought, has it’s roots it’s always applied to the actions in a court of law, by judges, not to the actions taken by people as individuals.

  Now…here is the GENIUS of Jesus! Follow me here. Jesus goes on to say, “But I tell you, do not resist an evil person”. The word translated from the Greek here as “resist” is “anthistemi”  [anth-is-tay-mee] which is where we get the word “antihistamine” (because it resist illness). This word, anthistemi  has the meaning of ‘setting onself against”  or ”being hostile towards”.  So what Jesus is saying is “don’t set your self against or be hostile towards an evil person”. On top of that, the Greek word translated as “evil” is “poneros” [pon-ay-ros] which, in the sense it is used, the masculine sense, doesn’t mean to resist evil, like evil in the abstract, but it means to resist the evil person, ”one who is evil”. Jesus is simply telling us not to exact revenge!

  Looking at our situation here of being occupied by the Canadian Mounties…… Jesus is saying  that we have opportunities each and every day to fight back!  Our lives are occupied. We are often humiliated, shamed, angered,  provoked, and Jesus says……don’t be violent, don’t resist in a disruptive  or violent sort of way! I recognize that this is often a hard pill to swallow because we have been taught by the world to “get back”, to be against those who attack us either physically or in words.

  BUT WHAT IS JESUS SAYING HERE?  He’s not saying to just sit back and be passive! That’s not what He’s teaching. He’s using this specific word meaning “don’t do to them what their doing to you”. As Jesus always does, he offers us answers. He shares God’s wisdom and tells us what is best for our lives. So let’s look again at what Jesus is saying:

  Matthew 5:39 ( TNIV )
  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. 

  Now back in ancient  times, in Jewish culture, people had two hands. A right hand and a left hand. Your hands had very symbolic and practical uses. Your right hand was your “clean” hand. In fact, being right handed was generally understood as having strength, as having power, and skill. You eat with your right hand.

  Your left hand was considered “unclean”. You eat with your right hand, but with your left hand, you use it to perform those daily bodily maintenance things that allow the daily routine to go smoothly.

  Your right and left hands were used for vastly different things. So Jesus says here , “If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.” There are two ways you can hit someone. You can slap them or you can punch or hit them. Notice that in order to slap him on the right cheek you have to slap him with the back of your hand. A slap was something you did to somebody who was beneath you (remember, culture had a very strict hierarchy). You would slap somebody like….. a master would slap a servant, or how some men would slap women. Slapping was how you treated somebody who you believed was below you…a notch or two down. 

  You only hit someone that you considered an equal in status to you. So, Jesus says, “If anyone slaps you…”……..remember, the Romans saw the Jews as “beneath them”. In our illustration, the Canadians see us as beneath them! So slapping would be something we would see all the time. In those days the Jews saw masters slapping slaves, Romans slapping Jews, husbands slapping wives, and on and on. And…..it was common for soldiers to slap civilians, this was something that was seen all the time.

  Jesus says, “If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.” Now notice that if he tries to slap him with the back of his hand when he turns the other cheek…..well, he can’t do it very well. The first slap says, “I’m better than you”. By turning the other cheek he is saying, “I know you think you’re better than me but take your best shot because you and I are equals and you will not treat me as an inferior.” This is a strong statement! This simple act of turning the other cheek turns the whole cultural system upside down! Especially to the people of the day…..they would have heard what Jesus said and felt…”THIS IS AMAZING”! This set’s the whole power and violence thing upside down! So in the end…..turning the other cheek asserts YOUR dignity and shows YOUR strength of character!

  Now Jesus says in verse 40:

  Matthew 5:40 ( TNIV )
  40 And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. 

  Now…I want you to imagine the crippling effect of the taxation imposed by the Romans… (the Canadians here in America). The economy is falling apart, people are having to sell their lands and homes because of this extreem taxation. And who is there to buy these lands and take advantage…..the wealthy ….often their own people…the wealthy Jewish ruling class. And so here you are having to sell the land of your fathers….your home and land that has been passed down for generations and you are forced now to work it for a pittance…a daily wage…because it doesn’t belong to you anymore. Again…humiliating and painful. So, Jesus is talking here  about this type of situation where you are being sued by the owner of your property, often a wealth Jew of your own people!

  In that day you wore two garments. You wore a garment up against your skin…like a tunic…and then you’d wear a coat over top of that. Jesus says that if somebody comes after you and they sue you…… and the only thing of worth you have left is your coat…this is how bad it’s gotten. Wait, there’s two garments everybody would have been wearing. If he takes off his shirt or his coat, what is he now wearing? Nothing! And it’s not his birthday!

  Okay, so if these guys are standing here naked. Where is all the shame? If I were standing there naked…I would be blushing. In Jewish culture, the shame of being naked wasn’t so much on the person that was now naked……it was always the person who was viewing it. That’s why Noah’s sons, when Noah got drunk and naked, were in such a bad place…it was because they witnessed their fathers nakedness. It’s the person who witnesses the nakedness who has the shame and humiliation.

  So, look closely at what you have here. Jesus paints this picture, and all the shame and humiliation is on who?  The rich man! His actions may be legal……but are they right? The poor man just flipped everything upside down! The rich man is in this awkward position. What kind of cruel, wicked, cold hearted person would actually take the persons last garment leaving him naked? To people who have been oppressed, shamed and humiliated, what Jesus is saying is turning things upside down…it’s amazing! In the end, the guy handing over his coat has asserted his dignity!

  In the first part of this Scripture….Jesus doesn’t tell us not to resist evil,  but to resist an evil person……to take the high road…which asserts our dignity. Let the final justice be in God’s hands…in the hands of the civil authorities….don’t retaliate and seek revenge.

  In the first example…Jesus tells us that turning the other cheek asserts YOUR dignity and shows your strength of character!

  In this second example…Jesus  tells us again that by giving up our last garment….we have asserted our dignity….. taken the high road…. and shown through this simple action who the evil person really is!

  Now let’s look at the third example Jesus uses:

  Matthew 5:41 ( TNIV )
  41 If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles.

  Again, let’s look at a little context here. As the peopole hearing Jesus speak here would understand…..Jesus is talking about the common practice of the Roman Army, the conquoring army, to make their subjects carry their “pack”…..quite heavy….. as they moved from place to place. In our illustration of the Canadians conquoring America…..look at it here: a Canadian soldier grabs you in the middle of whatever you are doing and presses you into his service, immedietly, and you have to obey or else you risk terrible violence and cruelty! And the interesting thing is that in their army there are rules to their cruelty! They can only command you to go one mile because farther was considered cruel…go figure!

  So there were these rules that were enforced by the generals and the leaders underneath them about what you could and couldn’t command a “conquored” people to do. By law, this powerful soldier can make you carry his load one mile…but Jesus says…..go ahead and carry it a second mile! But what does this do?

  If the soldier allows this he is breaking his own military protocol  and obviously doen’t want this to be seen by his superiors…he could get into trouble! Who’s got the power now?.  And is this power rooted in coercion and violence?     NO     The power is rooted in generosity! So again, as Jesus is telling this to the crowds, they have to be saying….”WOW…what genius!” This is amazing! This man’s generosity has exposed the cruelty of the Roman soldier.

  Okay…now let’s really take a close look at the Genius of Jesus! The original audence would not have what Jesus was saying as “some great ideas about being nice”….they would have seen what Jesus was saying as strong…tangible…ways of subverting evil…of pushing the darkness of the world away… and of asserting their own humanity! This is amazing!

  So let’s take a look at the difference between pacifism and violence:

  When faced with evil….our options are: To do nothing……OR……to react in a revengful and violent way

  Jesus is not offering a “roll over and take it” way of dealing with these things. He’s not telling us that in the face of shame and humiliation to do nothing. Jesus say’s no………there’s a third way!

  The third way is a FOCUSED….DISCLIPINED  ACTION in the face of the worlds injustice.By “turning the other cheek”….by “handing over our cloak”…..by “walking the extra mile”, we expose and unmask the situation for what it is! We drive back the darkness of the world with the light of Jesus!

  By “turning the other cheek” …….we expose the violence and deep destructive attitudes of others…especially the attitude that says “I’m better than you”! We drive back that darkness and show the light of Jesus!

  By “handing over our cloak”…….we expose the whole system of robbing people of their most basic dignity……we expose the cruelty of greed and taking advantage of weaknesses in this world. We say, “no…I won’t be a part of a system that takes basic necessities from others so that I can have more than I need.” We drive back that darkness and show the light of Jesus!

  By “walking the extra mile”……we expose the violence and humanity of using someone like a pack mule….of treating someone like an animal! We drive back that darkness and show the light of Jesus!

  
  NOW….HERE’S THE REAL GENIUS OF JESUS: When we do these things, we give the other person the opportunity to do the right thing!

  If we respond with violence, if we respond with greed, if we respond with callousness to the evil in this world……we  don’t give any room for the person to, have “a change a heart” (and I know that it may not happen…….we all know that). We take away all possibility of the world seeing the light of Jesus.

  The answer isn’t to do nothing……
  The answer isn’t to react to evil with violence….
  The answer isn’t to take advantage of others for our gain…..

  The answer is to assert our humanity…to rise above evil….to be a part of this movement of God that pushes away the darkness and exposes the light of Jesus……join me in pushing away the darkness!
  

  • 12:23 am
  • Leave a comment