"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 the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. (Matthew 5:39-41, ESV)
For many people, applying Jesus’s teachings in the Sermon on the Mount are just plain difficult. Christians may be able to repeat the Beatitudes, but few can remember exactly what the Sermon on the Mount teaches. Yet, if I understand the gospel at all, I believe that this is the very heart of Jesus’s message and it is imperative for Christians to live according to these teachings. We know that the Spirit is given to us to recreate us into really spiritual men and women, living in a world of darkness and evil. The Spirit is God and the Scripture plainly teaches, “for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” ( Philippians 2:13, ESV) We can only know what kind of person He wants us to be by looking again and again at the Sermon on the Mount. There is the essence of spiritual living in one sermon.
It would seem that one of the more difficult teachings is overcoming the desire to seek revenge or giving “tit for tat.” When we have been wronged, often totally uncalled for on our part, we would really like to lash out at the person who injured us. And we are even devious in the ways in which we express that desire. “Lord, please forgive the guy who smashed my car in the parking lot today. Please do something to bring him down so he knows that he is full of sin and hurting others.” We pray like that. No real forgiveness on our part, but rather a real desire for God to strike that person back. Oh, yes, we want the perpetrator to become a Christian and we really hope God will bring some terrible calamity on him so that he will wake up and turn to God. Notice, though, that we really want that terrible whatever to come upon that person!
Jesus said to turn the other cheek. When we read that, we are thinking of someone walking up to us, hitting us across the face and then, as really good Christians, we will just turn our cheek and let them hit the other, too. But that isn’t really the way things happen, is it?
Week before last, I was walking my dogs down the alley behind our house, as I do every morning, when we were attacked by a Pit Bull mixed dog belonging to one of the neighbors. We have been attacked before, but no injuries happened. The dog is kept behind a steel fence, but when the owner backs his car out, he opens the gate and doesn’t bother to put the dog in the garage temporarily or on a chain or whatever. So we have been attacked, not once but several times. This time, though, he bit deep into the shoulder of my Lab, leaving a deep puncture wound. I took her to the vet and spent almost 400 dollars for blood tests, an overnight stay in the hospital, a minor surgery to put in a drain, etc., and antibiotics. I called Animal Control, which I have done in the past after my wife and daughter were chased by the animal, and lodged a complaint. I took my bill to the door of the house, not once but three times, but both the people from Animal Control and I have had the same response; no one comes to the door. This leaves me with a feeling of anger, that the owner will not take responsibility for his own actions. My unspiritual self wants the bill paid, especially just before the holidays.
But what would Jesus tell me to do? I think He would tell me to drop it, to suffer loss. Going the extra mile is to be defrauded of time. To turn the other cheek is to suffer personal injury, whether physically or mentally. If we buy into pop psychology as dished out on television, we could convince ourselves that it is for the other person’s own good to make them pay, to make them be responsible. Human rights are not the same as Christian rights. The Christian has the right to suffer loss, to suffer harm, to return good behavior for evil behavior. These are the rights we should staunchly defend as Christians.
That we live in an age of increasing irresponsibility is a given. Nations are irresponsible, politicians are irresponsible, parents are irresponsible and on and on goes the list. By turning the other cheek, we show the greater responsibility. I have been in situations where I was wrongly accused and you probably have, too. Let us promise to turn the other cheek, thereby disarming the power of Satan. We must believe that it is Satan who is the real adversary, the one who wants the power. He wants us to seek revenge, to give the other person “what’s coming to him.” We serve the Risen Jesus and help to disarm Satan by living like Jesus, turning the other cheek. How can we read the trial scene, when Jesus did not even open His mouth to defend Himself and think that we should be any different? To live our lives bathed in His blood, life incarnadine means to deal decisively with our desire for revenge, to get even, to make things right in our eyes. That is the sermon that this world desperately needs to hear and every Christian should be preaching it, every day.
.jpg)
The Nagasaki Martyrs, 17th Century Japan
Monday, December 17, 2007
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Living Virtuously - Herod and the Pharisees
“Now they had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. And he cautioned them, saying, “Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” (Mark 8:14-15, ESV)
As we discuss the true Christian life, one that is lived bathed in the blood of Jesus, we are reminded by Christ Himself to separate ourselves from the worldly influences of two different groups: the politicians and the morally self-righteous legalists. The Herodians, or followers of Herod, represented the political aspirations of Jesus’s time, while the Pharisees represented the morally self-righteous legalistic religionists. I say religionists because the Pharisees seem to have lost their love of God in favor of a slave like mental attitude toward the Scriptures.
Both of these extremes are very visible in our world today. It would seem that many Christians believe that our western democratic form of government is the only viable government for the promotion of Christianity. Many years ago I heard a man pray, “Thank you Lord for the United States of America which made Christianity possible.” I don’t doubt the man’s sincere belief in God but I am perplexed that someone would believe that a democratic form of government was necessary in order for Christianity to thrive. Please don't misunderstand me: I love the democratic form of government and I served my country during the Viet Nam conflict. I deeply respect the political institutions in the United States and Canada, to mention a couple.
In Jesus’s time, a Roman emperor ruled the known world, the Jews had the upper hand in local politics and Christians were the extreme minority. While the book of Acts is thrilling, considering three thousand converts on the Day of Pentecost to the point where the numbers were multiplying, nevertheless, Jews and pagans outnumbered Christians. Despite the overwhelming odds, the apostles were emboldened to preach the good news to any and every group or person who would listen. Paul did some of his best work from inside a jail cell. But following the warnings of Jesus, Christians worked hard to steer clear of the negative influences of politics or the extremes of the religious establishment.
How does this play out in the twenty-first century? Every time the ACLU presents a lawsuit against prayer or some Christian observation, be it Christmas or whatnot, e-mails start circulating rapidly around the world, asking people to not only read the note, but to affirm that this is true and to pass it on or reap the consequences. One hoax alleging that Madeline Murray O’Hare is working to get religious broadcasting off the airwaves still circulates, years after her death. Many Christians truly believe that unless the United States is preserved as they understand it, the nation is doomed to godlessness and the churches will all die out, around the world.
During the Biafran War in Nigeria several decades ago, the non-Christian Nigerians did their best to annihilate the Biafran tribe which was largely Christian. However, during the entire war, the number of Christians among the Biafrans doubled, even though their community was incarcerated and murdered regularly.
Much of the hype coming out about the direction of the nation of the United States is fomented by Pharisaical religionists. One such a person has on occasion suggested the assassination of leaders of other countries to preserve the United States. Beware the leaven of the Pharisees is the admonition given by our Lord. We can get carried away with politics thinking we are fighting to preserve the Christian faith when in fact we are playing into the hands of the real enemy, Satan.
Christians need to be informed, they need to be people who trust in God before trusting in man. I don’t watch the news much anymore, especially since 9/11. I find that it doesn’t inspire me, it doesn’t fill me with good, it fills me with worry and concern about matters that God can deal with better than I. The New Testament writers Peter and Paul had a profound respect for governmental leaders, even though they suffered at the hands of some of these brutes. Their teaching? Pray. Pray for the emperor, pray for those who have the power. We should be a people who pray for the president and the congress men and women. We should pray for our local leaders. Ask yourself a question: if you are a Republican, did you pray for President Clinton during his presidency, especially during his impeachment hearings? If you are a Democrat, did you pray for Mr. Nixon during Watergate or do you pray for Mr. Bush during these times of war in Iraq? Most of us cannot answer in the affirmative. I know I didn’t pray for Mr. Clinton as I should have. I haven’t prayed for Mr. Bush as I should. I also need to pray for Mr. Harper here in Canada and those local leaders who help me to live in peace in this country. Living life incarnadine means to live it in the world, but not of the world. We should never let politics divide brother and sister in the church, we should never think that politics will save us. It won’t. Only Jesus Christ can do that. And last I checked, He’s still very much alive and still very much involved in our current history. Let’s dare to live our lives bathed in his blood, life incarnadine.
As we discuss the true Christian life, one that is lived bathed in the blood of Jesus, we are reminded by Christ Himself to separate ourselves from the worldly influences of two different groups: the politicians and the morally self-righteous legalists. The Herodians, or followers of Herod, represented the political aspirations of Jesus’s time, while the Pharisees represented the morally self-righteous legalistic religionists. I say religionists because the Pharisees seem to have lost their love of God in favor of a slave like mental attitude toward the Scriptures.
Both of these extremes are very visible in our world today. It would seem that many Christians believe that our western democratic form of government is the only viable government for the promotion of Christianity. Many years ago I heard a man pray, “Thank you Lord for the United States of America which made Christianity possible.” I don’t doubt the man’s sincere belief in God but I am perplexed that someone would believe that a democratic form of government was necessary in order for Christianity to thrive. Please don't misunderstand me: I love the democratic form of government and I served my country during the Viet Nam conflict. I deeply respect the political institutions in the United States and Canada, to mention a couple.
In Jesus’s time, a Roman emperor ruled the known world, the Jews had the upper hand in local politics and Christians were the extreme minority. While the book of Acts is thrilling, considering three thousand converts on the Day of Pentecost to the point where the numbers were multiplying, nevertheless, Jews and pagans outnumbered Christians. Despite the overwhelming odds, the apostles were emboldened to preach the good news to any and every group or person who would listen. Paul did some of his best work from inside a jail cell. But following the warnings of Jesus, Christians worked hard to steer clear of the negative influences of politics or the extremes of the religious establishment.
How does this play out in the twenty-first century? Every time the ACLU presents a lawsuit against prayer or some Christian observation, be it Christmas or whatnot, e-mails start circulating rapidly around the world, asking people to not only read the note, but to affirm that this is true and to pass it on or reap the consequences. One hoax alleging that Madeline Murray O’Hare is working to get religious broadcasting off the airwaves still circulates, years after her death. Many Christians truly believe that unless the United States is preserved as they understand it, the nation is doomed to godlessness and the churches will all die out, around the world.
During the Biafran War in Nigeria several decades ago, the non-Christian Nigerians did their best to annihilate the Biafran tribe which was largely Christian. However, during the entire war, the number of Christians among the Biafrans doubled, even though their community was incarcerated and murdered regularly.
Much of the hype coming out about the direction of the nation of the United States is fomented by Pharisaical religionists. One such a person has on occasion suggested the assassination of leaders of other countries to preserve the United States. Beware the leaven of the Pharisees is the admonition given by our Lord. We can get carried away with politics thinking we are fighting to preserve the Christian faith when in fact we are playing into the hands of the real enemy, Satan.
Christians need to be informed, they need to be people who trust in God before trusting in man. I don’t watch the news much anymore, especially since 9/11. I find that it doesn’t inspire me, it doesn’t fill me with good, it fills me with worry and concern about matters that God can deal with better than I. The New Testament writers Peter and Paul had a profound respect for governmental leaders, even though they suffered at the hands of some of these brutes. Their teaching? Pray. Pray for the emperor, pray for those who have the power. We should be a people who pray for the president and the congress men and women. We should pray for our local leaders. Ask yourself a question: if you are a Republican, did you pray for President Clinton during his presidency, especially during his impeachment hearings? If you are a Democrat, did you pray for Mr. Nixon during Watergate or do you pray for Mr. Bush during these times of war in Iraq? Most of us cannot answer in the affirmative. I know I didn’t pray for Mr. Clinton as I should have. I haven’t prayed for Mr. Bush as I should. I also need to pray for Mr. Harper here in Canada and those local leaders who help me to live in peace in this country. Living life incarnadine means to live it in the world, but not of the world. We should never let politics divide brother and sister in the church, we should never think that politics will save us. It won’t. Only Jesus Christ can do that. And last I checked, He’s still very much alive and still very much involved in our current history. Let’s dare to live our lives bathed in his blood, life incarnadine.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)