But what about my rights? (Matthew 5:38-48) Has anyone here ever heard of someone named Edmund Dantès? Edmund Dantès. Well, let me give you a hint. First of all, heʼs not real. Heʼs the main character of a book that youʼve probably heard of. It was written back in 1844 by Alexandre Dumas, and itʼs an all-time popular book. If you havenʼt read it, chances are youʼve seen it on TV or as a movie, because there have has been 18 screen versions, with the latest in just 2002. Does anyone know what book this is? Itʼs the Count of Monte Cristo. The story goes something like this. Edmund was coming up in the world and soon to be married to his beautiful fiancé. But her cousin, out of jealousy, had him arrested on false charges. He was then sent away to a horrific island prison. While in jail, he met a old priest, who educated him and before he died, told Edmund where to find a vast treasure. Edmund later escapes after 14 years in prison, finds the treasure, and uses that wealth to transform himself into the Count of Monte Cristo. As then, with this new identity, with his wealth and influence, he has one plan, and thatʼs revenge. Edmund wants to destroy the man who destroyed his life, who robbed him of 14 years and his fiancé. You know, I think this story has been so popular over the years because we can all relate to it. I think most of us know that feeling from time to time, wanting to get back at someone who took from something from us or hurt us. You know, to give that horrible person a taste of their own medicine? Wouldnʼt most people even take a sort of pleasure in sweet revenge? Well, Jesus says, the Christian shouldnʼt. Once again, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus comes out with radical and confronting statements. In this morningʼs passage, Heʼs telling His followers what to do when wronged. And so weʼre going to answer the question, How should a follower of Jesus act when faced with evil or persecution? What do we do in that sort of situation? The first answer is that we should react with humilty. Listen as I read vv38-39 again: You have heard that it was said, ʻEye for eye, and tooth for tooth.ʼ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. Once again, Jesus is telling them what the Old Testament commands really mean. Youʼve had such and such taught to you, but look, this is how youʼre supposed to understand it. Youʼve heard, an eye for an eye, but I say, Donʼt resist when youʼre faced with evil. See, the problem was that the Jews of Jesusʼ day were abusing that law. That phrase, an eye for an eye was originally meant for the court system, so that bloodshed wouldnʼt get out of hand. It basically says that the punishment must fit the crime, and it was designed so that individuals wouldnʼt take the law into their own hands. But by the time of the Sermon on the Mount, people were using this as an excuse for personal revenge. You hurt me, so I have the right to hurt you just as much. Bern Merchant Grenfell Presbyterian 21 June 09 page 1 of 5
But Jesus says, donʼt retaliate. Lashing back in hatred and revenge is not what God was saying when He gave that command. And so Jesus goes on to give four examples. Verse 39: If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone actually hits you, donʼt fight back. Donʼt do evil yourself. Donʼt react in anger and get into a fistfight. My followers, as I said earlier in the Sermon on the Mount, are peacemakers. But thereʼs an obvious question, isnʼt there? Does not resisting someone, and not striking back mean that every Christian should be a pacifist? Is there never a time to sort things physically? Well, there are a number of Christian views, but Iʼll tell you how I understand it. I think if you follow the pacifist argument to the nth degree, eventually you end up with some problems. If we canʼt ever react physically, then how can we have police? Does that mean that our country canʼt have an army to defend itself? Or how could we have a court and justice system, since they resist evil, they deal with it so that our society can move on in peace? Or let me bring it down to the personal level. If someone broke into our house and attempted to hurt Alison and Anouk while escaping, do you think I should just stand there and watch him beat up my wife and little girl? Or if you happened to come across someone being mugged, could you step in to stop it? What do you think? My personal answer is that subduing someone is different from beating them up. I think protection and defense are different from selfish violence and unnecessary retaliation. I think minimal and deliberate force are different from uncontrolled anger. See, I donʼt think Jesus is even talking about war or the police or defending people here. Other parts of the Bible make it clear that God cares for the helpless, and that Heʼs the One who has put our civil rulers in place. I think Jesus is just giving an example of humility by telling us what to do when someone personally hurts us physically. And in that case we might have to endure some violence. Itʼs probably better to not hit back, to avoid a fight. Itʼs better to swallow your pride than to provoke more anger and allow rage to control you. God is a God of peace, and we are to represent His kingdom. Remember, Jesus Himself suffered torture and death for the sake of the Gospel. These are very challenging words. Have a look at verse 40. If someone takes you to court and sues you for your tunic, give him your cloak too. Now these words wouldʼve stood out at the time because Jewish law said that you couldnʼt sue someone for their cloak. Everyone agreed that this outer garment was necessary to keep warm. But Jesus says here, go above and beyond in being good to even the person suing you in court. Be generous with what you have. Hold on loosely to your possessions. Bern Merchant Grenfell Presbyterian 21 June 09 page 2 of 5
Now does this mean that we can never go to court? No, I think thereʼs a responsible way to use the justice system. But have you ever seen those cheap lawyer ads on TV? You know, Ever been in a car accident, been cheated, lost your job? Did you get what you deserve? Call so and so now, and weʼll get you a big cash settlement. No risk guarantee. If we donʼt win, you donʼt pay. Christians shouldnʼt go anywhere near this sort of thing. Weʼre not out to get what we can in this life. Theyʼre just possessions. Let them go if that means being a good witness for Christ. Verse 41 says that if someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Now back in the time of Jesus, an ordinary Roman soldier could make any citizen travel with him and carry his gear. A good example of this was when Jesus was too weak to carry His cross. The soldiers made Simon the Cyrene carry it for Him. And so Jesus says here, go with the soldier and double your efforts. Donʼt grumble about it. Pay back this hardship with good. Reach out in kindness to that person, even if it puts you out. And, finally in verse 42, Jesus says to give to those in need. Be generous. Again, does that mean we just give to everyone without discretion? No, we can be generous while being wise. It might be better for example, if someone wants a handout, to bring them to the shop and buy them food, rather than to hand out cash. But still, we canʼt ignore Jesusʼ words - donʼt turn away someone in need. Be generous. As it says in 2 Corinthians 9, God loves a cheerful giver. Now Iʼve gone through those four situations fairly quickly. Thatʼs because I donʼt think Jesus meant for each verse to stand alone as the total answer for each of those issues. Each one is a brief picture of humble living in the time of Jesus. I think we need to put these pictures together to come up with the principle behind them. And I think it comes down to this. Humility is seen in selfless living. Our actions are to show us as putting others first, instead of ourselves. To say this another way, the Christian doesnʼt ask, But what about my rights? The follower of Jesus doesnʼt actually have any rights anymore, in the earthly sense, because our whole lives have been given over to Jesus. And so we donʼt have the right to pummel someone into the ground in retaliation, or the right to be greedy with possessions, or the right to complain if something interferes with our time, or the right to to ignore people in need. Weʼve exchanged those rights, those worldly selfish rights, for the right to be a citizen of the kingdom of heaven. Weʼve exchanged a me-focused life for a Jesus-centred life. Weʼre not out to get what we can, to gain for ourselves in an earthly way - we are to do what brings honour and glory to Jesus and His gospel. We are to be seen as kingdom people. So we have to be humble. From this passage we see that this means forgiving, being a peacemaker, being generous, kind, and obliging. Thatʼs our first answer on how to act in the face of evil. Bern Merchant Grenfell Presbyterian 21 June 09 page 3 of 5
The second is to be like God and show unconditional love. Listen as I read verses 43 to 45: You have heard that it was said, ʻLove your neighbor and hate your enemy.ʼ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. Again, the people of Jesusʼ day had corrupted the original meaning from the Old Testament. It doesnʼt say to hate enemies, just to love neighbours. But the teachers of the law decided to redefine who neighbours were and said that meant to hate everyone else. And so Jesus corrects them. Not only should you not hate enemies, you should love them. And not only should you love them, you should pray for them. By doing this, youʼre acting as children of God. So what do we do in face of persecution? We love. We donʼt put people in categories and treat them as they treat us. As Jesus says, our heavenly Father is unconditional with His love. Both the good and evil get sun and rain, gifts from God. Think about it like this. Picture in your mind Grenfell and all the surrounding properties and farms. We can honestly say that some of the people here are Christians and some arenʼt. Some follow Jesus and so theyʼre in Godʼs family, and some have chosen not to follow Him. But when the sun shines, does God arrange it so that itʼs cloudy over the farms of those who donʼt follow Him, and sunny over the believers farms? Or when we get the gift of rain, do we get a handful of tiny isolated showers just watering the farms of those who love Jesus? Of course not, God is generous and good, even to those who are His enemies. And while we were Godʼs enemies, He gave up His Son for us. Jesus Christ died on the cross, to pay for the sins of people in rebellion to God. Romans 5:8: But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. If God treated us as we deserve, where would we be? How do we act in the face of evil? We act like our heavenly Father. We love those who persecute us. We react in kindness. We donʼt hold grudges. We donʼt talk about them behind their back. I would say we even look for opportunities to do good for them. And we pray for them. Whoʼs on your prayer list? Is there anyone there who you find hard to love? Or someone who doesnʼt like you? What about the grumblers within the church? If you donʼt get along with someone, pray for them. Donʼt just pray that God will comfort you in the time of hardship or conflict. Pray for the other personʼs well-being and that theyʼll come to Jesus if they donʼt know Him. Pray that youʼll treat that person with the Christlike love that youʼve been shown. You might be surprised at how God will soften both that person, and you. The principle behind todayʼs passage is this. Our lives are no longer ours, so we canʼt just do whatever we want. We have to live as kingdom people, as authentic followers of Jesus, Bern Merchant Grenfell Presbyterian 21 June 09 page 4 of 5
by reaching out to all people, even those who hurt us, with His love. We donʼt react in anger, or selfishness, and we donʼt ignore, but we model Christʼs active and selfless love. Afterall, Heʼs our best example. Remember, when Jesus was being nailed to the cross for our sakes, Heʼs the One who cried out, Father, forgive them. Letʼs pray. If you would like to speak with Bern about this sermon, please feel free to contact him on (02) 6343 2013, or bernm@iinet.net.au. Bern Merchant Grenfell Presbyterian 21 June 09 page 5 of 5