CHRISTIANITY 101: LIVING ABOVE THE LAW OF RECIPROCITY
The Boston Marathon is an annual event that is always held on Patriot’s Day, which falls on the third Monday in April. Begun in 1897, the Boston Marathon is the world’s oldest marathon, and it attracts about half a million spectators every year. This year, there were 26,839 people registered to run the Boston Marathon. It’s a fabulous event that challenges the will and inspires the utmost in human endurance.
On Monday, April 15th, this year’s Boston Marathon began like any other. Officials actually swept the area twice for bombs, finding nothing…so people were allowed to come and go freely. Then at 2:49 p.m. – about two hours after the winner had finished the race, but with more than 5700 runners still on the course – two bombs detonated on Boylston Street near the finish line. Three people were killed and 282 people were injured, some critically. One of the people killed was a 29-year-old female restaurant manager, one was a 23-year-old female grad student, and one was an eight-year-old boy.
The bombs were placed in pressure cookers. When they went off, many victims suffered lower leg injuries and shrapnel wounds. Doctors described removing ball-bearing-type metallic beads a little larger than BBs, and small carpentry nails about an inch long. One might be led to believe that – out of ignorance or out of malice – these bombs were intended to maim more than they were intended to kill. And perhaps that makes what happened even worse.
The FBI took over the investigation and soon released photos and videos of the two suspects. They were identified – with help from the public – as a pair of Muslim brothers from Chechnya. Shortly after the release of the photos, the suspects killed an MIT police officer, carjacked an SUV, and engaged in a shootout with police in Watertown. The older brother was killed, while the younger brother escaped on foot. He was eventually captured, cowering in the hull of a boat, badly wounded but still alive.
If you’re like me, as you watched these events unfold, you became more and more incensed. Sixty years ago, the fact that they were Russian might have invoked our ire. Today, the fact that they are Muslim is what seems to upset us most. Many of us have just about had it with these Muslim fanatics. We want them stopped, and we want them stopped now! When they hit us, we want to hit them back harder: an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth…what we call the law of reciprocity. Yet as disciples of Jesus Christ, is that really the appropriate way for us to respond? Is that really the appropriate way for us to feel? Keep that thought in mind as we move on.
A number of weeks ago, we noted how – each and every day – we make decisions that move us closer to a life of virtue, or closer to a life of ruin. Though the past may be written in stone, the future is more like wet cement…pliable, soft, and ready to be shaped by the decisions we make. Our goal is to develop a more godly life narrative. Our goal is to discover what it means to live a life of virtue. Our goal is to seek to discern where our deep happiness may truly be found.
We suggested that our deepest happiness is found in the kingdom of God. We noted that the kingdom of God is not just something we hope to attain the future. As Jesus clearly stated, the kingdom of God is also a present reality. Thus, the kingdom of God of which we speak is not a place. The kingdom of God of which we speak is an interactive relationship with God…an interactive relationship that brings us peace of heart and mind.
We noted how many of us will not even consider a more godly life narrative – many of us will not even begin to seek out an interactive relationship with God – until we encounter a drought in life…until we come up against something that we cannot control. So what we did was consider a social problem that appears to be beyond human resolution: bullying in the classroom. We postulated that while we may not be able to resolve all the social ills that surround us, God is able to resolve the un-resolvable. What we need to do is recognize that fact, and be open to the movement of God’s Holy Spirit. That, my friends, is where our own transformation truly begins.
Then we got a bit more specific on how we build an interactive relationship with God. The first thing we aimed at was conquering anger. We contrasted anger with Sabbath rest. Anger is a result of our need to control; Sabbath teaches us to trust in God’s strength. Anger is a result of the narrative that we need to be perfect; Sabbath teaches us that we are forgiven. Anger is a result of our fear that God has lost sight of us; Sabbath ensures us that God is watching over us at all times.
Our subsequent goal was to overcome lust; certainly not an easy thing to do. In the words of Harry Emerson Fosdick, “Only by a stronger passion can evil passions be expelled,” and, “a soul unoccupied by positive devotion is sure to be occupied by spiritual demons.” What we sought was what we called the expulsive power of a new affection. We determined that if our new affection was, in fact, the kingdom of God…then lust would simply lose its grip on us. Thus, perhaps the solution to our problem here…is prayer.
Then next thing we aimed at was overcoming lying. What we determined was that as we move further into kingdom living – as our hearts become more and more transformed into the likeness and image of Christ – what we need to do is use our tongues to bless and encourage, rather than to harm or humiliate. We need to learn to build up, rather than tear down. In short, we use our tongues to speak words that bestow the grace of God upon others. While that means, on the one hand, that we do not lie…it also means that our general tone is one of compassion and kindness.
Today our goal is to learn to live above the law of reciprocity. In the kingdom of this world, people often feel disempowered, vulnerable, or exposed. The easiest way to deal with such an insecurity is to do what you can to reverse it. Do you feel like a 98-pound weakling? Go to the gym and build some muscle. Do you feel vulnerable financially? Do what you can to build your portfolio. Do you feel as though you’ve been treated unfairly by others? Fight back; take them to court; assert your rights. The dominant narrative here is: If someone hits you, you hit them back harder. When faced with injustice – whether it be public humiliation, unfair treatment or intentional harm – our natural inclination is to demand an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. That’s what the law of reciprocity is. Of course, as Gandhi once put it, “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth…makes the whole world blind and toothless.”
Jesus addresses the law of reciprocity in the passage we read from the gospel according to Matthew. He does so by turning conventional wisdom on its ear. Jesus says, “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 evildoer. 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. Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you.”
Let’s try to take this statement apart. First of all, Jesus says, “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’” The people who were listening to Jesus would have more than just heard this statement. It was in the Torah! Read Leviticus 24, verses 19 and 20. It’s in our Old Testament as well.
Jesus is trying to tell us that in the kingdom of God, there is a better way than the law of reciprocity. He cites four specific examples. The first one has to do with turning the other cheek. Two thousand years ago, it was common to see a master slapping a slave on any city street. Since the right hand was used for slapping, to slap someone on the right cheek was to give them the back of your hand.
Usually when this happened, a slave would cower in submission. Unfortunately, that allowed the abuse to continue. Oh, a slave could hit his master back, but there were grave consequences for doing so. Jesus presents a stunning, new idea: offer the left cheek instead. This would leave the striker wondering what to do next. Don’t do it smugly; do it sincerely. It should completely diffuse the situation.
Then Jesus says, “If anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well.” In Jesus’ day, the poor were often at the mercy of the rich. Many people were so poor that they had nothing to offer as collateral for a loan except the clothes on their backs. A lender could ask for the money he had loaned to be repaid at any time, and if the borrower could not pay, the lender could take his tunic. That would leave the poor person with only his outer coat. Jesus says to offer that as well. Why? Because the guiding principal of the kingdom is love. If someone takes something from us, our natural reaction is to cling to it. Those who understand God’s abundant provision are able to take a different approach. We say, “You want my shirt? Here, you can have my coat as well.” In the kingdom of God, we are never in a position of scarcity. Thus, we can afford to freely give of our possessions.
Jesus then adds, “If anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile.” Two thousand years ago, a Roman soldier could force a Jew to carry his luggage. That such a privilege not be abused, the Roman government actually enacted a law that made it illegal for a soldier to force a Jew to carry his bags any more than a mile. Jesus asks his disciples to do the unthinkable: carry the bags another mile. Why? Because the guiding principal in the kingdom of God is love, and love seeks the good of another. That, my friends, is literally what it means to go the extra mile.
Finally Jesus says, “Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you.” This one’s really hard. One time I put a transient person up in a motel room using what we call the Lindley Fund. Then I gave him twenty dollars out of my own pocket because he said he hadn’t had anything to eat. Believe it or not, I got a call from the motel clerk later on that day. He said, “Did you give so-and-so money?” I said, “Yes. He said he needed something to eat.” The motel clerk then said, “I just wanted you to know that he came back to the motel carrying a twelve-pack of beer and a carton of cigarettes!”
At that point, what could I do? My philosophy on those kinds of things is this: I do what I feel I am called to do as a Christian. If someone’s pulling the wool over my eyes, I figure they’ll have to answer for that themselves one day. At least I know I did the right thing…and I can sleep at night.
In each of the aforementioned situations, Jesus asks his disciples to do the unnatural; to do the unthinkable. Yet we are in a unique position when we abide in the kingdom of God. We believe the kingdom of God is unshakable. We believe the kingdom of God is never in trouble. And because of that belief, we can be bold enough to actually do the unthinkable.
Are you familiar with the story of the patriarch Joseph? Joseph was the 11th born son of Jacob. Jacob loved Joseph more than his other sons and gave him what the Bible calls a coat of many colors. Broadway changed the name of it to the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. One day Jacob sent Joseph out to check on his older brothers who were tending the sheep. When he told them of a dream he’d had where they all bowed down to him, they were outraged. They sold him to a group of Midianite merchants, smeared blood all over his coat of many colors, and told their father that he’d been killed by a wild animal.
The Midianite merchants later sold Joseph to a military captain in Egypt named Potiphar. When Potiphar’s wife took a liking to Joseph and Joseph refused to commit adultery, she accused him of molesting her. This landed Joseph in prison. Yet Joseph had the unique ability to interpret dreams. When none other than Pharaoh himself had a perplexing dream, Joseph was called upon to interpret it for him, and essentially saved the nation of Egypt from a famine. This got Joseph promoted to second-in-command of all of Egypt.
Eventually the famine in the land was so severe that Joseph’s brothers had to come to Egypt to beg for food. They appeared before Joseph, but they did not recognize him as their brother. When he revealed to them who he was, they trembled in fear and begged his forgiveness. Joseph said in essence, “Fear not. For what you intended for evil, God intended for good.” Joseph forgave them, and they essentially lived happily ever after. Joseph had gone from riches, to rags, to riches again…and in Joseph’s mind, it was all God’s doing.
That’s what kingdom living looks like, and that’s how we live beyond the law of reciprocity. We trust that God – in spite of the odds – can somehow turn that which is evil into good. Why? Because our new kingdom narrative assures us that the kingdom of God…is never in trouble. Amen.
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