The Anglican Church of Noosa

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1 Week 5: Matthew 5:38-48 Turn the other cheek really? Discussion Questions 1. Is there a moment in history that sticks in your mind when opposing forces (or even individuals) have put aside their deep grievances in order to show love even Gods love? (see Matthew 5:46) 2. Is there a moment in history that you can recall when Christians have been unable to resolve matters peacefully? a. Do you know how they justified it (in the light of being a disciple of Christ)? (If this interests you, you may like to research the just war theory.) 3. How do you typically react to an observed injustice? 4. What is your instinct when you have been wronged? 5. Who do you find most difficult to love? Why? 6. There may be someone you know or talk to (Christian or not) who has gone through a time when they have felt grievously sinful or grievously sinned against. a. Open to Exodus 21. Based on your reading (if only brief) of Exodus 21, what advice do you think you would give your friend? i. How do you think this advice stacks up against our justice system today? b. Open now to Matthew 5: Based on your reading of Matthew 5:38-48, what advice do you think you would give your friend? i. How do you think this advice stacks up against our justice system today? 7. If you were asked to justify being a Christian, when the Old Testament laws seem so strong and hard, what would you say to them? 8. How is it that we can be made perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect? (See Jude, Hebrews 2:10 or consider the notes in the sermon) a. Is there one person in your life who you might consider sharing this good news with?

2 Sermon on the Mount Radically counter-cultural # 5 Turn the other cheek St Augustine observed the following: It is the lesser righteousness of the Pharisees not to go beyond measure in revenge, that no one should give back more than he has received: and this is a great step. For it is not easy to find anyone who, when he has received a blow, wishes merely to return the blow; and who, on hearing one word from a man who reviles him, is content to return only one, and that just an equivalent; but he avenges it more immoderately, either under the disturbing influence of anger, or because he thinks it just, that he who first inflicted injury should suffer more severe injury than he suffered who had not inflicted injury.

3 The Gospel reading for this Sunday continues the series of consecutive lessons from Matthew 5. [recap last week] You may have had one of two reactions to todays Gospel. It may well be that you have heard them countless times and your familiarity with them may well cause a bit of a whatever reaction. Alternatively, if you haven t heard them a bunch of times before you may well be saying to yourself: blimey, that s a bit rough, isn t it? Any of the lessons we ve heard today or in recent weeks could sound more like a rod across the back of us who call ourselves disciples : [slide 1] - we who must exhibit a righteousness that exceeds the scribes and Pharisees. - we who must only have love in our hearts at all times! - We who must not be burdened by a love of for worldly things but must somehow remain in the world, salty and light - We must now also, it seems, be prepared to give to those who ask regardless of their circumstances - We must now also, it seems, present ourselves for a second slap in the face from those who accuse regardless of truth - and while doing all this we must be perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect. Struth [slide 2] Tall order [slide 3] "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Matthew 5:48). Seriously, Jesus? Have you even met some of us? Have you seen the depths of our jealousies, the breadth of our greed? Have you noticed how insatiable our egos are? How deeply insecure we all are?

4 I ve lost count of the number of times and ways I ve been imperfect this week even just today! [slides 4, 5, 6] And yet we re called to be perfect? I could totally understand if, at this point, you turned to me and said Dredgy you ask too much God asks too much! I quit! Well, just hang on - just hang on a second. The reading today was tough but we just need to take a breath and break it down a bit. So to start off with, please turn to Matthew 5:38 (and 39) [read] What you need to first remember is that (in regard to this law) The Lord spoke to Moses. He delivered clear commands about how this renewed society were to live. How this society needed to operate when they concluded their exile and it came straight after it had just about torn itself apart at the foot of mount Sinai following many years of wandering through wilderness. God spoke to Moses and Moses to the people those incredible commands including the 10 commandments but also some really clear and necessary stuff for a society that had just proved itself unable to resist temptation. And so, God set some boundaries, such as Exodus 21:22-27 which says [slide 7]: 22 If people are fighting and hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman s husband demands and the court allows. 23 But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise. This is just one of many laws that became stricken in stone that, in my opinion should probably have been adapted as the Israelites became less transient and more stable.

5 But instead, out of fear of the Lord and the repercussions of failure repeated over many hundreds of years, these laws and many like it became a source of power for a small group of people who, through their grapple for power, became very ungodly. [slide 8 blank] Deuteronomy states that we should show no pity to people at judgement show no mercy instead act with brutal equality. Well, it should be no surprise to us that Jesus challenges the place of this law. It s not that it was superfluous no it was needed it was God-breathed but it was long overdue its use-by date, and Jesus sets the record straight. you, you who are chosen listen carefully. My Father once commanded an eyefor-an-eye. But I tell you that is not what the coming Kingdom looks like. The justice you tend to seek is retaliatory is it not? But what if we were to turn the other cheek and invite a second slap from our enemies? What if we were to give without questions to all those who ask or Demand? What then? Well, we would be living as the Kingdom coming is. And friends, I ve got some totally shocking and totally unsurprising news for you. NO ONE ELSE is going to build it. Not pollies Not entrepreneurs Not media moguls or mining conglomerates It s got to be us. But The love we tend to share is, typically, particular and exclusive. We too easily love those who are our neighbours. That is, we love those people who look, think and act like us. Those other people are best nobodies at worst, our enemies, and our loathing -- even if disguised by politeness or kept secret. But what if we were to truly love the stranger as though a brother or sister? Or pray for those who wish to do us harm? [slide bad eyes] - What do we make of such seemingly impossible calls to refuse the regulations that so often rule over us? - What do we make of the curtailing of revenge, - the shift from self-interest,

6 - What do we do with Jesus' teachings and how, in God s name, can we be perfect? [slide] Well, as we ponder how we might answer these questions and how we might be able to bring about Gods Kingdom through our actions, we might just discover what being perfect looks like and we might just discover that we cannot achieve perfection ourselves not in this lifetime. For perfection is found in God alone. And despite how well we balance our commitment to being in the world but not of it, we cannot help but fall short, or fail. The call to perfection is a call to follow Christ to the end and in the end, find a new beginning; made possible through the death and resurrection He offered once for all. So what must we do? Well, the simplicity of stating that we should follow Jesus despite our fallibility can get very complicated very quickly. It is one thing to imagine, here on a Sunday morning the challenge of loving your enemy, of daring him to strike you with another blow rather than take him to court It is quite another to face the challenge ourselves. It is one thing for me to proclaim from the pulpit these God-breathed words from verse 40: And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. Because this is where I crumble this is where the rubber hits the road. The radical nature of Christs love the perfection that I seek in the next life is one which puts everyone else first every time. Of course it must be. Gods nature is fully selfless the cross is meaningless if we don t believe this. So when, in death I am embraced by Christ in perfection, my nature will be changed. I will have given it all over. Until then, The Kingdom coming has got to come through US. Which means we must try and embrace the self-less nature of God.

7 Which means you guessed it IF someone slaps you; restrain your anger. Forget your injustice and love them. And in this, I have failed. Please don t hear me say that we should go looking for a slap or whatever it might be If you are living in a space where you are being abused, don t stay there; get out but still love the one who is slapping you. I m sure you can apply this somehow to your context abuse and anger comes in many forms and my spiteful tongue or my hardened heart or even my raised fist in the past too quickly And if someone wants the lesser thing you own like a tunic well give them the greater thing And in this I have failed grossly. I protect my wealth with the eye of a hawk and the venom of the viper I like to think I m a generous and charitable guy I am, but my needs and my families needs come first and this is not what the Kingdom looks like. In our capitalistic society I suspect this is the greater challenge for most of us! And If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Well, there s a reward in loving those who love you for sure. But it s not Gods reward. We are more than capable of sharing our love, as we know it through Jesus Christ, with our world around us. And our world around us is sickening itself through anger, violence and selfishness and friends, The Kingdom demands more of us. Truly these words are radical. Truly they serve to challenge us and today may we love, give and be generous to all for the sake of the world, the coming Kingdom and for the sake of our very souls. Let us pray:

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