“Love Your Enemies ”
Matthew 5:38-48
Pastor Deb Troester, STHPC, February 19, 2023
As we continue with our series on the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus expands on the beatitude, “Blessed are the peacemakers,” and interprets the saying in Leviticus, “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” He begins by quoting Leviticus 24:20: “You have heard it said, ‘An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.’” While this sounds brutal, it meant that the punishment should fit the crime. In this respect, Jewish law was actually kinder than the laws of other nations, where the punishment was often worse than the crime. For example, the Code of Hammurabi stipulated that if a son struck his father, the son’s hand should be cut off. In ancient Judaism, “an eye for an eye,” set limits on retaliation, thereby preventing people from getting even by doing something worse than what was done to them.
But Jesus turns this law upsidedown. He says, “if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also.” In explaining this passage, Walter Wink, of Auburn Theological Seminary, writes:
“…Christians have, on the whole, simply ignored this teaching. It has seemed impractical, masochistic, suicidal--an invitation to bullies and spouse-batterers” to mistreat their Christian victims. Wink thinks that we have misunderstood Jesus’ words. When confronted with violence, human nature pushes us to fight or flight. Jesus encourages us to do neither. Instead, he shows us a third way, active nonviolent resistance. Wink says that “Jesus abhors both passivity and violence as responses to evil. He does not encourage submission to evil, but warns us against becoming like our agressor. As children of God, we must not react violently, but that doesn’t mean we cannot react.”
Wink explains, “Jesus says, ‘If anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.’ Why the right cheek? A blow by the right fist in that right-handed world would land on the left cheek of the opponent. The only way one could strike the right cheek with the right hand would be with the back of the hand, the way a master would strike a slave. This is an insult, not a fistfight. The intention is not to injure but to humiliate. A backhand slap was the normal way of admonishing inferiors in that culture.
“Jesus’ listeners are mostly the poor, the downtrodden – the people who have been subjected to such indignities. Why does Jesus counsel them to turn the other cheek? Because the action robs the oppressor of the power to humiliate them. Turning the other cheek is saying, in effect, ‘Try again. Your first blow failed to achieve its intended effect. I deny you the power to humiliate me. I am a human being just like you.’” As Gandhi taught, “The first principle of nonviolent action is that of noncooperation with everything humiliating.”
We can practice turning the other cheek on a daily basis, even if no one is attacking us physically. Attacks come in many forms. How do you respond when someone attacks you verbally, in a way that might reveal God’s love and justice?
Next, Jesus gives an example from the court of law. Someone is being sued for his clothing. A better translation would be “if you are sued for your outer garment, give your underclothes as well.” Only the poorest of the poor would have nothing but their clothing to give as collateral for a loan. Walter Wink writes, “Following Jesus’ advice would mean stripping off all one’s clothing and marching out of court stark naked! Imagine the guffaws this saying must have evoked. There stands the creditor, covered with shame, the poor debtor's outer garment in the one hand, his undergarment in the other. The debtor has said in effect, ‘You want my robe? Here, take everything!’” Such a response might shock the creditor into realizing the injustice of what he was doing. It might even bring him to repentence, and begin to change an unjust system.
About twenty years ago, during the Liberian Civil War, Leymah Gbowee, a social worker, and the presidents of two different Church Women’s groups, Crystal Roh Gawding and Comfort Freeman, decided to do something to bring peace. Inspired by their Christian faith, they gathered women to pray, sing, and peacefully demonstrate daily for months. They were joined by the Muslim president of the Liberia Female Law Enforcement Association, Asatu Bah Kenneth, who got Muslim women involved in the movement. Together Christian and Muslim women prayed and protested peacefully.
Finally, President Charles Taylor could ignore them no longer. The women presented him with a statement: “In the past we were silent, but after being killed, raped, dehumanized… and watching our children and families destroyed, war has taught us that the future lies in saying NO to violence and YES to peace!” The women made Taylor promise to attend peace talks in Ghana to negotiate with the rebels. A delegation of Liberian women went to Ghana to continue to apply pressure on the warring factions during the peace process. When the peace talks were in danger of failing, two hundred women, dressed in white, representing peace, surrounded the conference room. They blocked all the doors and windows and prevented anyone from leaving the peace talks until they reached a resolution. When the police came to arrest them, beginning with Layma Gbowee, the women began to take off their clothes. In that culture, a naked protest by a woman is one of the strongest curses that can be leveled at someone; it brings terrible shame to the one who has caused the woman to disrobe. The men signed the peace agreement.
For her leadership, Leymah Gbowee was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. This story is masterfully told in the 2009 documentary film,
Pray the Devil Back to Hell, which has some difficult scenes, but which I highly recommend watching.
Jesus’ third example, about going the second mile, is based on the law that Roman soldiers could force anyone to carry their pack up to one mile. This forced labor was a source of bitter resentment by Roman subjects. Why carry the pack a second mile? Imagine the soldier's surprise when, at the next mile marker, he reaches for his pack, and the civilian says, “Oh no, let me carry it another mile.” The soldier might think, “Why would he want to do that? What is he up to? Is he trying to get me in trouble for violating the rules? Will he file a complaint?” The Roman infantryman might have to plead to get his pack back! The humor of this scene would have amused Jesus’ listeners.
Of course, another interpretation of Jesus’ teaching is simply, “Go beyond the law.” Instead of being bitter about Roman domination, show your enemy kindness. This must inevitably change your enemy. He will begin to wonder what kind of person you are as you do more than what is expected. This is what God’s kingdom looks like.
Either way, Jesus helps oppressed people find ways to protest inhumane treatment and recover their humanity. They can behave with dignity and agency, as well as kindness and forgiveness. The reign of God is already breaking into the world. It comes, not as an imposition from on high, but as the leaven slowly causing the dough to rise. Walter Wink says that Jesus’ teaching on nonviolence forms the charter for a way of being in the world that breaks the spiral of violence. Jesus reveals a way to fight evil without being transformed into the evil we fight. This is why he says, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” Only through compassion does one win over an enemy.
When the women of Liberia returned from the peace conference in Ghana, they made sure that the peace agreement was implemented, and that the soldiers, especially the child soldiers, were integrated back into society. In the documentary, one of the women being interviewed said, “How can we move on if we don’t forgive? …It’s hard. But then I realized that they were victims, too.” The camera switches to a view of former child soldiers, some of them permanently disabled, missing limbs, playing ball, learning to be kids again.
When the U.N. declared that all the former fighters had to turn in their weapons, the women encouraged them, holding up signs that read, “We love you. Lay down your arms.”
In a sermon titled Loving Your Enemies, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. preached: “Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.” King continued, “Forgiveness does not mean ignoring what has been done or putting a false label on an evil act. It means, rather, that the evil act no longer remains as a barrier to the relationship…It is the lifting of a burden or the canceling of a debt. The words “I will forgive you, but I’ll never forget what you’ve done” don’t reflect the real nature of forgiveness. Certainly one can never forget, if that means erasing it totally from the mind. But when we forgive, we forget in the sense that the evil deed is no longer a mental block impeding a new relationship. Forgiveness means reconciliation, a coming together again. Without this, no one can love their enemies. The degree to which we are able to forgive determines the degree to which we are able to love our enemies.”
In 1993, Mary Johnson lost her son when a 16-year old boy, Ohsea Israel, shot him at a party. She remained bitter and angry for many years. She tells how, “one day, I read a poem which talked about two mothers – one mother whose child had been murdered and the other mother whose child was the murderer. Suddenly I had this vision of creating an organization to support not only the mothers of murdered children but also the mothers of children who had taken a life… She visited Ohsea in prison and forgave him. When he was released from prison, she gave him a welcome home party. Mary calls Ohsea her “spiritual son” and he refers to her as a “second mom.” The pair now share their experience around the country as part of “From Death To Life,” a nonprofit Mary founded to provide healing and reconciliation between families of victims and those who caused harm.
Jesus lived a life of love and forgiveness. He invites us to follow him. Even on the cross, as he was dying, he prayed for his enemies. “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.” Who do you need to forgive? For whom do you need to pray? Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven. Let us pray: God of compassion, you invite us into your way of forgiveness and peace. Lead us to love our enemies, to pray for those who persecute us, following in the footsteps of Jesus our Lord, in whose name we pray. Amen.
References:
The Forgiveness Project: https://www.theforgivenessproject.com/stories-library/mary-johnson-oshea-israel/
“How Do You Forgive a Killer? A Mother Moves Past Tragedy,” Today: https://www.today.com/news/how-do-you-forgive-killer-mother-moves-past-tragedy-4B11203330
Rinehart, Michael. “The Heart of the Law: The Six Anti-Theses (Part 2)”: https://bishopmike.com/2020/02/16/the-heart-of-the-law-the-six-antitheses-part-2/#more-19043
Wink, Walter. “Beyond Just War and Pacifism: Jesus’ Nonviolent Way”: http://www.cres.org/star/_wink.htm
Deborah Troester © 2023