Somebody Needs It
The Rev. Dr. John Judson
April 3, 2011
[Matthew 5:38-48]‘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 an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well; and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile. Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you.
‘You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.” But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax-collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
The wimp factor…it is always with us. We don’t like to talk about it but it is always there. For Christians, or at least for men, the wimp factor is always hanging right around the edges of our faith. What do I mean by the wimp factor? I mean what Jesus is talking about this morning. Do not resist evil. Turn the other cheek. Go the extra mile. Give the one who sues you everything. Give to all who beg. Love your enemies. Pray for those who persecute you. That is a wimp factor. And this is not new. It was a wimp factor to those who first listened to Jesus. The zealots, the sicari who would stop at nothing in order to win political freedom were not about to turn the other cheek. It was a wimp factor to those Christian leaders in the Balkans in the Middle Ages who were trying to stem the tide of Islamic conquest. They were not going to pray for their enemies. It is a wimp today for many men for whom a really good hockey fight is what it means to be a man. In the real world, meaning outside of these walls, this part of the Sermon on the Mount has a really big wimp factor.
The church across the ages has understood this and tried to deal with it by offering some different ways of looking at Jesus’ words. The first is to say that what we are being asked to do is not wimpy but an act of resistance. It is the “Hey, you gonna hit me on one cheek…I’ll turn the other and show you whose really tough” school of interpretation. These actions have been spoken of as acts of defiance against the powers that be meant to inspire others against political and military tyranny. This way Christians are allowed to move from wimps to resistance fighters. The second way is to say that what we are doing is practical. In other words, turning the other cheek, going the second mile and praying for our enemies is a practical way of changing people. In a sense it is to believe that love is the ultimate app for transformational guerilla warfare. If we overwhelm people with acts of love they will ultimately come around and see the world our way. So again we get to give up the wimp tag and take on the tag of practicality.
The problem with both of these views is that they there is no evidence in the texts that this is what Jesus was getting at. Jesus’ focus is on humility and not toughness. Jesus’ focus is on the impracticality of these acts and not on them being a way to manipulate people. So why then does Jesus want us to do these things that appear to be very wimp worthy? He does so because they are the ways of God. They are the ways of the radical love which God offers to the world and which Jesus demonstrates in his life and death. Let’s return to the basics. God so loved the world that he gave his only son. Paul tells us that Jesus humbled himself even unto death on a cross for us. Jesus himself will, when he is arrested, give up his cloak, be struck on the cheek, walk to Golgotha and then pray for his enemies even while dying. What Jesus is calling us to do is to do is to radically love the world. We are to radically love not only those who love us but those who persecute us. We are to do so because this is what God does for us. God radically loves the world and everyone in it. We are to do so because the world needs the radical love of God in order to be saved.
You and I are about to come to the table of Jesus Christ. I want us, especially in Lent, to look at this table in a new way. This is the table of radical love. This is the table that reminds us of just how far Jesus was willing to go, and how much Jesus was willing to give in order that we might ultimately be saved. Jesus tells us that this is our calling as well. And let me be clear about something this morning…radical love is not for wimps. Radical love is in fact the most dangerous and difficult act any human being can perform. Sometimes it changes people’s lives. Other times those who offer it go to the cross. Ultimately however this is our calling…to be those who offer the radical love of God in Christ to a hurting world.
