Homily for Epiphany 7 2011
Have you ever had to do something that was really hard? I remember in sixth grade we all had to do public speaking and I was horrified. You may laugh now considering who I am and what I do, but back then it was a scary thought. We had to give a five minute presentation on something that was important to us. No I did not talk about Boston Pizza, there was no such thing back then. I did end up talking about sports, basketball to be specific. I remember it being really hard. I told my parents "I don’t think I can do that.” They encouraged me as they always did, and told me they had confidence in me. Dad told me to picture everyone in their underwear. In sixth grade that was not such a good idea so I decided I would just take a deep breath and do my best.
In the Gospel story read for us today we hear things that are really hard. Some of Jesus teachings are simple like "Love God”, or "Be generous.” Other times we get passages like today where he says a lot of things that are difficult, and may feel downright impossible to achieve.
Listen to what he says in the Gospel today.
"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 evil doer. 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.” What does all that mean? Well what would we normally do?
If someone slaps your cheek in our society you usually deck them. If someone wants to sue you for your coat you also get a lawyer and defend yourself and maybe even get revenge with a counter-suit. If anyone forces you to go an extra mile carrying something we usually retaliate somehow.
That is not what Jesus is saying. He is saying an eye for an eye tooth for a tooth society leads to a bunch of eyeless and toothless people. It is a vicious cycle and has no end. Remember the story of the Hatfield’s and McCoy’s? Most communities have examples of gangs or families that keep retaliating against one another. In Mafia families the killing of a family member often leads to what? Jesus is saying this is no good.
It might help a bit to know a little bit about the examples Jesus is giving here.
"Turn the other cheek.” This is one of the most misunderstood things Jesus says. It seems so passive so as to be a foot stool for people to put their feet on but consider this.
Slaves were permitted to be struck on the cheek with the master’s right hand. If the slave turned the other cheek after being struck the master could no longer strike them in following the honor/shame society. Because the cheek was turned the master would have to strike them with a fist which could only happen between equals. It was in fact a subversive act that gave the master time to consider their next move.
Jesus lived in a legalistic society that followed the law fundamentally and had an emphasis on an eye for an eye”. In giving someone your coat you lost your outer garment, by giving someone your cloak you were naked. It was shameful to see someone else naked in public. By offering the cloak you give the person pause to think one again about their actions.
Roman soldiers were allowed to have the servants carry stones for a mile. But there were strict laws about the servants carrying the stones past that point. Imagine then the image of the slave who will not put the stone down but keeps walking. You would have the Roman soldier trying to take the stone away knowing the punishment that awaits them. Again this gives them pause to consider the whole system.
Jesus is talking about a form of challenging your enemy that is looking out for everyone’s good. Rather than retaliate, allow your enemy the opportunity to turn their hearts, to do right by you and come closer to God.
This does not change that this is really hard, and it gets even harder as Jesus continues:
" You have heard that it was said, you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy, but I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”
We are called here to the seemingly impossible. Have you every tried to loved your enemies by yourself? We are called here to love as God loves. This is the image of the heart of God, the one who comes to love us in the world despite all of our imperfections. Turn the other cheek, give your cloak, go the extra mile with your enemy because that is how God loves.
If you want to follow Jesus you will find yourselves capable of incredible spiritual resilent acts including profound acts of forgiveness and letting go.
By ourselves this is an impossible task but through the Holy Spirit at work in us and in the community of the church God is acting in powerful ways that lead us to turn the other cheek, give our coat, and go the extra mile for the unlovable.
Think of how revolutionary this teaching of Jesus is. In his society people were under the pressure and watchful eye of the Roman Empire who had power of life and death over them. This is the environment to which Jesus speaks of non-retaliation. No matter when the time the temptation for retaliation remains.
Have you ever received a nasty email? What did you do? Did you retaliate and right back something as mean and nasty.
Years ago I received a very nasty hurtful email from someone in a parish. I had thought myself to be very supportive of these people despite certain personalities and so was doubly hurt. When I read the email I saw red!!! I took off my clergy collar and opened my top button of my clergy shirt and said "Ok no more Mr Nice Guy.” I sat down and retaliated, I wrote an email indicating just what I thought of them, but something made me pause before I sent it. I just looked at the screen and saw that I had forgotten who I belonged to. I belonged to the one who said "Love your enemies, pray for those who are against you.” So I wrote a different note, expressing my hurt and disappointment, but also leaving room for them to think about what they had done. The nasty exchange stopped.
Retaliation engages the reptilian brain we all have. The reptilian brain means we have tapped into our fight/flight response and it is about survival. It is the "eye for an eye” that Jesus speaks of. When we realize that we do not go alone into any situation, that God is with us, that God is acting through the Holy Spirit to give us extraordinary ability to turn the other cheek, walk the extra mile, give our coat, and look for the best in everybody. What can I do right now that drains the energy from this situation. This is a powder-keg Lord, and I need you. I need to pray I need to pause, and I need to trust that Jesus is working in me to give me the strength to face this.
God is at work in us encouraging us. It is about being part of this community that seeks a different way of living. It is life in the Christian community with Christian values. Some may resist these values and do their own thing. Some do not trust enough to live by Gospel values of non- retaliation. The one we follow did not only speak of it he lived it.
When Jesus was arrested he did not allow retaliation to be the way, he loved his enemies. He was beaten and whipped and he did not retaliate. On the cross he said "Father forgive them they know not what they do.” This community Jesus creates is one that always puts others ahead of self. It is always about finding the best for all. It is loving our neighbours, those who are easy to love, but it is also loving our enemies, finding ways to pray for the best for them, creating opportunity for them to rethink their choices and draw nearer to God.
When I was traveling in Calgary a number of years ago we went to the mountains. I began to look around the vegetation on this rocky mountaintop and noticed a purple flower blooming there, in a place where there was no soil and where the conditions could be windy and dry. This little beauty came right out of the rock and I was taken by it.
The ranger told me that the seeds are blown by the wind and deposit themselves in the tiniest of crevasses, and that the plants have adapted to flourishing in a landscape that is at times hostile. Eventually, he said, the plant itself could crack the rock, or the boulder, in which it grew; it would just take time and persistence. How like that flower are the seeds of the new order that Jesus announces today, inviting us to lives of transformational living even in the midst of the old ways of living. As communities of faith, we might just find ourselves taking small but important steps to overturning the ways of alienation and separation, by practicing the kind of faith Jesus talks of in a hostile and unforgiving world. Sooner or later, we may just find that we have begun to shatter the old order, or at least open some well-placed cracks in it, so that the new order Jesus preached could begin.
Today we welcome the twins into a new life in Christ. Today reminds us we live in a harsh world where retaliation either violence or otherwise is something that is common. We also offer today as an alternative, a community that gathers to pause to think about these things, to listen to Jesus and to try to be the purple flowers that grow in the crevice of the mountain.
Amen.