041120 Breaking Hate
Breaking the Spiral of Hate: Nov. 21, 2004
(Last weekend was a holiday weekend and some of you were away and a few of you perhaps felt “led” to slip off a bit early to pray for the Lions at B.C. Place at B.C. Place. Go Lions!). A number of people who where here told me this week that the message on Pure Sex was helpful; if you weren’t here, I want mention that the cd’s and tapes from last week should be available at the counter in the back.
---------------------
I’m sure most of us here have seen the work of Salvador Dali, the famous Spanish surrealist artist. He’s the one who painted the picture with the limp clocks that bent in the middle and flopped down like a pancake would if you were holding it in your hand like this.
Salvador Dali was not only a very creative painter, but he was also very creative in how he responded to his enemies. One time he had a really turbulent fight with his dad, and the young Dali stormed out and went home. He masturbated in an envelope and sent that to his dad.
I remember I got a group email on how to deal with enemies: I don’t remember all suggestions, but there were some good ones. One was go to the house of your enemy with a cow pie (i.e. cow manure), put it in front of your enemies front door, pour gasoline over it, light it on fire, and then the ring the door bell and run! (your enemy has to stamp out the fire with their foot)
I thought that’s a good one! Got to remember that one!
We could come up with of creative ideas about how to stick it to our enemies. It’d be kind of fun—in a twisted sort of way. We can also think of creative ways to love our friends and loved ones. But Jesus in his Sermon on Mounts gives us insight into, but something that we don’t naturally think about, but something we and the world really need—that is insight about how we can creatively love our enemies.
If you have your Bible, pleases turn to Matthew 5:38
An Eye for an Eye 38"You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' 39But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. 41If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. 42Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. Love for Enemies 43"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' (that’s not the Bible by the way) 44But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
When Jesus says, “Eye for eye, tooth for tooth,” he is quoting part of what we call the Older Testament part of the Bible. This eye for eye, tooth for tooth ruling, out of context, sounds like it encourages revenge. I remember as a boy I used to love playing street football out in the cul de sac in front of our home. I remember one of the kids my age, getting hit inadvertently in the mouth, his lip starting bleeding and after a few expletives… this kid would shouted out… “eye for eye, tooth for tooth…” I had no idea where that saying came from, but it sounded like it was from some kind of important document… Well the reason God allowed “the eye for eye, tooth for tooth” ruling was NOT to encourage revenge, but to limit it. If someone punches a person and knocks out their tooth, the other person typically wants to knock out all their front teeth and give black eye as bonus. So, the “law eye for eye and tooth for tooth” was intended to limit violence so that if a person took out your eye, ALL you could do was to take out one eye of the other person--no more.
But Jesus says, don’t resist an evil person. Another translation of the Bible that seems to get at the heart of what Jesus is meant, reads… “Don’t try to take revenge.” I.e., Don’t try to get even, Don’t try to “settle the score.”
This verse is not saying, by the way, if we see evil done to others, we are not to take action. There are times when we see others being hurt and we must take clear action against the person doing the hurting.
Some years ago, I discovered that someone very close to me had been and drugged detained against her will. I went (unannounced) to the place where this person was being held and got her out of that situation. I called the police. The crown ended up pressing charges. This person and I testified against this person in court. (It turned out that he had detained, drugged and abused a series of young women and some of them also came forward to testify against him). He ended up being put in prison.
There are times when we have to step in on behalf of another and resist a perpetrator.
There are times when we have been the victim of a wrong doing. The responsible thing may well be--especially when we consider the larger picture--is to pursue justice.
When Jesus says don’t take revenge, he is not saying that when another’s rights are abused that we should doing nothing. And he is not even saying that if we are abused that she should do nothing.
But Jesus IS saying, when we are hurt, don’t try to get “even” with your oppression. Ivana Trump, Donald Trump’s ex says, Don’t get even, get everything. Jesus says don’t--out of anger—try to get even with your enemy and don’t out of spite try to get everything.
What Jesus is saying is hard.
What Jesus is saying seems out of synch with common sense.
Jesus, in this passage, is saying we are to love our enemies in creative ways.
Jesus says, if someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.
Jesus gives the example of someone striking us on the right cheek. It seems that Jesus is describing a violent attack on us, but don’t think of Todd Berttuzzi skating up behind Steve Moore and striking him on the right side of his head. In this culture, if you struck someone on their right cheek with the back of your right hand, you would dishonor a person, but not send that person into the emergency ward.
Jesus says if someone strikes you on the right cheek turn to him the other also…
Jesus is saying if you belong to me, don’t be obsessed with “defending your honor.” During Jesus’ trial, we see Jesus demonstrating extraordinary strength and poise, but we don’t see a person who is at all preoccupied with maintaining his honor. When we follow Jesus Christ, we will not be people preoccupied with defending our honor.
We don’t retaliate in kind, so we don’t get caught up in a cycle of escalating hostility.
Jesus says, 40And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.
Jesus is NOT saying that we should give whoever what he or she wants: there are times when that would be irresponsible: say you’re 10 old says, dad can give me the keys for the Honda. It would be irresponsible for you say, here son and here’s of keys, and dude I’m going to give you my keys to give keys to for my Harley Davidson… If someone around Hastings and Main Street who obviously is drug addict asks you for some change, it would irresponsible for you to say, I’m giving a couple hundred so you can some get some good Cocaine, some real good rock, and so you can really party…
What Jesus IS saying is that as those who follow him, we will tend to give more than what someone asks of us… even if that person is our enemy. We will have a spirit of generosity even toward our enemies.
Jesus says, 41If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.
A Roman solider by law could force a person to carry their pack a mile, but no more than a mile. Jesus says even a if Roman—your arch enemy--forces you to go one mile, go
two. If you think about it, if you lived back then and had been forced to carry a soldier’s pack a mile you would have done it begrudgingly, but when you came to the end of that mile, and remembered the words of Jesus about going the second mile, you could that mile with joy because that mile is no longer forced, but voluntary…. And likely during first mile you were silent, but perhaps during that second mile you get in a good conversation… so how goes the battle…?
Did you have to do chores as kid? Most of us probably did our chores: the dishes, cut the grass, raked the leaves, reluctantly. But if we ever decided on our own that even when it was NOT our turn to do the dishes or cut the grass, but just did it voluntary isn’t it true that we could do that with joy? There’s something second mile that enables to serve with joy.
Jesus says we are to go the “second mile” not just for our family and friends, but for our enemy.
Turning our cheek or going the second mile with our enemy is hard: it leaves vulnerable, subject to humiliation. Jesus words, make want to say, Jesus we really like the old “eye of eye,” “tooth for tooth” rule.
But as Jesus says love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you that (vs. 45) we may be sons and daughters of our Father in heaven.
It as, only as, we recognize that we daughters and sons of God, that we can love like he loves.
Les Miserables, as some of you know, has been playing in town.
Les Mis is the story of a young man named Jean Valjean who is sentenced to 19 years for stealing a loaf of broad and trying to escape from the police. He becomes a terribly bitter man and his bitterness only deepens as he begins to suffer the indignity of being an ex-convict in 19 century France.
Once released on parole, in desperation he seeks lodging for a night at the bishop’s home. The bishop retreats him with respect and kindness. He says, Jean Valjean this home is yours. But in the middle of night, Valjean gets up angry and steals most of bishop’s silver flat wear, but he caught by the police. When the 3 policemen take him back to the priest’s home they say, “This criminal maintains you gave him this silver,” and the priest says yes, “That right. You may release him,” and her turns to Jean Valjean and says, “But you left so early, you forgot I gave these also, the bishop hands over two silver candlesticks.”
The priest resists every human instinct for revenge and loves his “enemy.” This act of love melts Valjean’s heart of granite he becomes a person who loves others… He chooses to raise an orphan girl as single father and spares the life of a parole officer who has spent 15 years hunting him down…
He turns from being a person of hate to love, to a person who goes the extra mile and loves his enemy because he experiences the grace of God…
When we experience the love of God, we too can change.
When we realize, that we are luckiest bums in the world, we can learn to love even our enemies!
I recently heard Jennifer describe a young woman who experience this is a powerful way and I’ve asked her to share that:
(Jennifer Wilson shares testimony)
Aboriginal people, given all that they and there people have been through, are sometimes understandably angry, but when the love of God pours into the life of even an angry aboriginal, that person can learn to love her enemies.
Dale Lang said, after his 17 year son Jason was shot and killed in an act of seemingly random violence in his high school in Taber, Alberta, said, “If I didn’t know God, I would want to kill someone right now.” But instead he went to place in the high school where his son had been shot prayed that God would forgive and bless the young man who had killed his son.
If we experience the love of God, we can show even to our enemies.
(There is a movie called Hiding Place which is based on the real life story of Corrie Ten Boom, a young, Jewish girl who is imprisoned with her family by the Nazi’s during world war II. There’s a scene where Corrie Ten Boom is in a cell with her sister. Her sister was very angry at the Nazi guards who had abused her and her sister Corrie, and Corrie says to her sister you must forgive. You must forgive. Her sister says, “I won’t forgive them, unless they come to me and ASK me to forgive them!” Corrie says, “You must be free long before that.”
University of Michigan psychologist Christopher Peterson, has indicated forgiveness is the trait most strongly linked to happiness. Peterson said, "It's the queen of all virtues, and probably the hardest to come by."
If we know the love of God in our lives, we can forgive and even love our enemies; we can be set free and know joy)
Jesus’ teaching on applies on a personal level. What about on a national or inter-national level?
On a larger geo-political level, we face what seems to be a never ending series of wars. Samuel Huntington, who teaches political science at Harvard, in his powerful, landmark book, The Clash of Civilizations argues that the wars of our time and the foreseeable future will be the wars where civilizations clash their because of their conflicting values.
The assumption for most people is that maybe on a personal level you cut a little slack to your enemy here and there, but when it comes to facing your enemy on a national or international level you must meet force with force, violence with violence.
(I recognize that there are different views on this and) while I am not personally going so far as to say there is never a time to go war, I do believe that Sermon on the Mount gives us a third way, a way to conquer evil not with evil, but with good.
We’ve seen this third way in the creative, non-violent protests of Ghandi, who was profoundly influenced by these words of Jesus that we are looking at today in the Sermon on the Mount.
We’ve seen this third way by Rev. Martin Luther King who, of course, was deeply influenced by Jesus’ teaching here in the Sermon on the Mount and exhorted his sisters and brothers suffering under the oppressive heat of racism: “Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into violence. We must rise to majestic heights, and meet with physical force with soul force.
Our own Darrell Johnson and his family have witnessed first hand what it is like to be part of a country that is going through a revolution and I’ve asked him to come and share part of his experience with us.
(Darrell Johnson shares testimony)
When Darrell was minister of the Union Church in Manila his sermons where broadcast by radio across the Philippines. The sermons were broadcast one week later. 2 weeks before revolution, Darrell spoke on how Christ’s death on the cross and his rising from the dead shows us that good ultimately triumphs over evil. With the broadcast delay, this message was broadcast the week before the revolution.
The week before the revolution, Darrell preached a sermon from this very text where Jesus calls us Love our Enemies! The revolution happens, just after the revolution, with the broadcast delay, this sermon on loving our enemies, called “It works, It works” is broadcast across the nation just after the revolution.
President Corrie Acquino, sought out the Darrell to thank to him for the role he played in the revolution by making clear to people the way of Jesus.
Loving our enemies works! But, loving our enemies does NOT always “seem” to work short term. The Sermon on the Mount is not self-help.
Bengino Acquino, Corrie Acquino’s husband, had been a senator in the Philippines and the opposition leader to Filipino president Marcos. Acquino, whose life was in danger, became a political refugee in North America. While here on our contient, Mr. Aquino took a teaching post at Harvard. Mr. Acquino who was a Christian felt he needed to go back to the Filipinos and run for president. But, he knew that if he went to the Philippines his life would be in grave danger—imprisoned or killed by Marcos. As many of you know, on August 21, 1983 Acquino flew to the Philippines seconds, after getting off the plane at the Manila International Airport, he was shot to death.
It seemed like evil had won. But in his hand as he was shot was a speech with this quote from Gandhi:
“The willing sacrifice of the innocent is the most powerful answer to insolent tyranny that has ever been conceived by God or man.” Those words would prove prophetic.
Short terms, there are times evil seems to win, but long term good wins.
Did you see the PBS special with Bill Moyers and Chris Hedges the journalist who had covered many wars for the New York Times and author of the War is A Force that Gives us Meaning. Hedges experiences in war caused him to become against war in general and the invasion of Iraq in particular.
At one point Hedges in the interview says, “Well, I think any soldier that's been through combat hates war in the way that only somebody who's seen war can. It's those that lose touch with war and find it euphoric.”
Bill Moyers says, “But doesn't power exercised with ruthlessness always win?”
Chris Hedges says, “Power exercised with ruthlessness always is able to crush the gentle and the compassionate. But I don't believe it always wins. Thucydides wrote about the war with Sparta that, yes, raw Spartan militarism in the short-term could conquer Athens. But that beauty, art, knowledge, philosophy, would long outlive Sparta and Spartan militarism.”
As I watched this I thought so it is with the Kingdom of God: sometimes (as we’ve seen this morning on the feature of the persecuted church) evil seems to wins short term, but long term, God and good, triumph over evil. This is the message of Revelation.
So, hear the words of Jesus anew. He says love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.
46If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
(Last weekend was a holiday weekend and some of you were away and a few of you perhaps felt “led” to slip off a bit early to pray for the Lions at B.C. Place at B.C. Place. Go Lions!). A number of people who where here told me this week that the message on Pure Sex was helpful; if you weren’t here, I want mention that the cd’s and tapes from last week should be available at the counter in the back.
---------------------
I’m sure most of us here have seen the work of Salvador Dali, the famous Spanish surrealist artist. He’s the one who painted the picture with the limp clocks that bent in the middle and flopped down like a pancake would if you were holding it in your hand like this.
Salvador Dali was not only a very creative painter, but he was also very creative in how he responded to his enemies. One time he had a really turbulent fight with his dad, and the young Dali stormed out and went home. He masturbated in an envelope and sent that to his dad.
I remember I got a group email on how to deal with enemies: I don’t remember all suggestions, but there were some good ones. One was go to the house of your enemy with a cow pie (i.e. cow manure), put it in front of your enemies front door, pour gasoline over it, light it on fire, and then the ring the door bell and run! (your enemy has to stamp out the fire with their foot)
I thought that’s a good one! Got to remember that one!
We could come up with of creative ideas about how to stick it to our enemies. It’d be kind of fun—in a twisted sort of way. We can also think of creative ways to love our friends and loved ones. But Jesus in his Sermon on Mounts gives us insight into, but something that we don’t naturally think about, but something we and the world really need—that is insight about how we can creatively love our enemies.
If you have your Bible, pleases turn to Matthew 5:38
An Eye for an Eye 38"You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' 39But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. 41If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. 42Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. Love for Enemies 43"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' (that’s not the Bible by the way) 44But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
When Jesus says, “Eye for eye, tooth for tooth,” he is quoting part of what we call the Older Testament part of the Bible. This eye for eye, tooth for tooth ruling, out of context, sounds like it encourages revenge. I remember as a boy I used to love playing street football out in the cul de sac in front of our home. I remember one of the kids my age, getting hit inadvertently in the mouth, his lip starting bleeding and after a few expletives… this kid would shouted out… “eye for eye, tooth for tooth…” I had no idea where that saying came from, but it sounded like it was from some kind of important document… Well the reason God allowed “the eye for eye, tooth for tooth” ruling was NOT to encourage revenge, but to limit it. If someone punches a person and knocks out their tooth, the other person typically wants to knock out all their front teeth and give black eye as bonus. So, the “law eye for eye and tooth for tooth” was intended to limit violence so that if a person took out your eye, ALL you could do was to take out one eye of the other person--no more.
But Jesus says, don’t resist an evil person. Another translation of the Bible that seems to get at the heart of what Jesus is meant, reads… “Don’t try to take revenge.” I.e., Don’t try to get even, Don’t try to “settle the score.”
This verse is not saying, by the way, if we see evil done to others, we are not to take action. There are times when we see others being hurt and we must take clear action against the person doing the hurting.
Some years ago, I discovered that someone very close to me had been and drugged detained against her will. I went (unannounced) to the place where this person was being held and got her out of that situation. I called the police. The crown ended up pressing charges. This person and I testified against this person in court. (It turned out that he had detained, drugged and abused a series of young women and some of them also came forward to testify against him). He ended up being put in prison.
There are times when we have to step in on behalf of another and resist a perpetrator.
There are times when we have been the victim of a wrong doing. The responsible thing may well be--especially when we consider the larger picture--is to pursue justice.
When Jesus says don’t take revenge, he is not saying that when another’s rights are abused that we should doing nothing. And he is not even saying that if we are abused that she should do nothing.
But Jesus IS saying, when we are hurt, don’t try to get “even” with your oppression. Ivana Trump, Donald Trump’s ex says, Don’t get even, get everything. Jesus says don’t--out of anger—try to get even with your enemy and don’t out of spite try to get everything.
What Jesus is saying is hard.
What Jesus is saying seems out of synch with common sense.
Jesus, in this passage, is saying we are to love our enemies in creative ways.
Jesus says, if someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.
Jesus gives the example of someone striking us on the right cheek. It seems that Jesus is describing a violent attack on us, but don’t think of Todd Berttuzzi skating up behind Steve Moore and striking him on the right side of his head. In this culture, if you struck someone on their right cheek with the back of your right hand, you would dishonor a person, but not send that person into the emergency ward.
Jesus says if someone strikes you on the right cheek turn to him the other also…
Jesus is saying if you belong to me, don’t be obsessed with “defending your honor.” During Jesus’ trial, we see Jesus demonstrating extraordinary strength and poise, but we don’t see a person who is at all preoccupied with maintaining his honor. When we follow Jesus Christ, we will not be people preoccupied with defending our honor.
We don’t retaliate in kind, so we don’t get caught up in a cycle of escalating hostility.
Jesus says, 40And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.
Jesus is NOT saying that we should give whoever what he or she wants: there are times when that would be irresponsible: say you’re 10 old says, dad can give me the keys for the Honda. It would be irresponsible for you say, here son and here’s of keys, and dude I’m going to give you my keys to give keys to for my Harley Davidson… If someone around Hastings and Main Street who obviously is drug addict asks you for some change, it would irresponsible for you to say, I’m giving a couple hundred so you can some get some good Cocaine, some real good rock, and so you can really party…
What Jesus IS saying is that as those who follow him, we will tend to give more than what someone asks of us… even if that person is our enemy. We will have a spirit of generosity even toward our enemies.
Jesus says, 41If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.
A Roman solider by law could force a person to carry their pack a mile, but no more than a mile. Jesus says even a if Roman—your arch enemy--forces you to go one mile, go
two. If you think about it, if you lived back then and had been forced to carry a soldier’s pack a mile you would have done it begrudgingly, but when you came to the end of that mile, and remembered the words of Jesus about going the second mile, you could that mile with joy because that mile is no longer forced, but voluntary…. And likely during first mile you were silent, but perhaps during that second mile you get in a good conversation… so how goes the battle…?
Did you have to do chores as kid? Most of us probably did our chores: the dishes, cut the grass, raked the leaves, reluctantly. But if we ever decided on our own that even when it was NOT our turn to do the dishes or cut the grass, but just did it voluntary isn’t it true that we could do that with joy? There’s something second mile that enables to serve with joy.
Jesus says we are to go the “second mile” not just for our family and friends, but for our enemy.
Turning our cheek or going the second mile with our enemy is hard: it leaves vulnerable, subject to humiliation. Jesus words, make want to say, Jesus we really like the old “eye of eye,” “tooth for tooth” rule.
But as Jesus says love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you that (vs. 45) we may be sons and daughters of our Father in heaven.
It as, only as, we recognize that we daughters and sons of God, that we can love like he loves.
Les Miserables, as some of you know, has been playing in town.
Les Mis is the story of a young man named Jean Valjean who is sentenced to 19 years for stealing a loaf of broad and trying to escape from the police. He becomes a terribly bitter man and his bitterness only deepens as he begins to suffer the indignity of being an ex-convict in 19 century France.
Once released on parole, in desperation he seeks lodging for a night at the bishop’s home. The bishop retreats him with respect and kindness. He says, Jean Valjean this home is yours. But in the middle of night, Valjean gets up angry and steals most of bishop’s silver flat wear, but he caught by the police. When the 3 policemen take him back to the priest’s home they say, “This criminal maintains you gave him this silver,” and the priest says yes, “That right. You may release him,” and her turns to Jean Valjean and says, “But you left so early, you forgot I gave these also, the bishop hands over two silver candlesticks.”
The priest resists every human instinct for revenge and loves his “enemy.” This act of love melts Valjean’s heart of granite he becomes a person who loves others… He chooses to raise an orphan girl as single father and spares the life of a parole officer who has spent 15 years hunting him down…
He turns from being a person of hate to love, to a person who goes the extra mile and loves his enemy because he experiences the grace of God…
When we experience the love of God, we too can change.
When we realize, that we are luckiest bums in the world, we can learn to love even our enemies!
I recently heard Jennifer describe a young woman who experience this is a powerful way and I’ve asked her to share that:
(Jennifer Wilson shares testimony)
Aboriginal people, given all that they and there people have been through, are sometimes understandably angry, but when the love of God pours into the life of even an angry aboriginal, that person can learn to love her enemies.
Dale Lang said, after his 17 year son Jason was shot and killed in an act of seemingly random violence in his high school in Taber, Alberta, said, “If I didn’t know God, I would want to kill someone right now.” But instead he went to place in the high school where his son had been shot prayed that God would forgive and bless the young man who had killed his son.
If we experience the love of God, we can show even to our enemies.
(There is a movie called Hiding Place which is based on the real life story of Corrie Ten Boom, a young, Jewish girl who is imprisoned with her family by the Nazi’s during world war II. There’s a scene where Corrie Ten Boom is in a cell with her sister. Her sister was very angry at the Nazi guards who had abused her and her sister Corrie, and Corrie says to her sister you must forgive. You must forgive. Her sister says, “I won’t forgive them, unless they come to me and ASK me to forgive them!” Corrie says, “You must be free long before that.”
University of Michigan psychologist Christopher Peterson, has indicated forgiveness is the trait most strongly linked to happiness. Peterson said, "It's the queen of all virtues, and probably the hardest to come by."
If we know the love of God in our lives, we can forgive and even love our enemies; we can be set free and know joy)
Jesus’ teaching on applies on a personal level. What about on a national or inter-national level?
On a larger geo-political level, we face what seems to be a never ending series of wars. Samuel Huntington, who teaches political science at Harvard, in his powerful, landmark book, The Clash of Civilizations argues that the wars of our time and the foreseeable future will be the wars where civilizations clash their because of their conflicting values.
The assumption for most people is that maybe on a personal level you cut a little slack to your enemy here and there, but when it comes to facing your enemy on a national or international level you must meet force with force, violence with violence.
(I recognize that there are different views on this and) while I am not personally going so far as to say there is never a time to go war, I do believe that Sermon on the Mount gives us a third way, a way to conquer evil not with evil, but with good.
We’ve seen this third way in the creative, non-violent protests of Ghandi, who was profoundly influenced by these words of Jesus that we are looking at today in the Sermon on the Mount.
We’ve seen this third way by Rev. Martin Luther King who, of course, was deeply influenced by Jesus’ teaching here in the Sermon on the Mount and exhorted his sisters and brothers suffering under the oppressive heat of racism: “Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into violence. We must rise to majestic heights, and meet with physical force with soul force.
Our own Darrell Johnson and his family have witnessed first hand what it is like to be part of a country that is going through a revolution and I’ve asked him to come and share part of his experience with us.
(Darrell Johnson shares testimony)
When Darrell was minister of the Union Church in Manila his sermons where broadcast by radio across the Philippines. The sermons were broadcast one week later. 2 weeks before revolution, Darrell spoke on how Christ’s death on the cross and his rising from the dead shows us that good ultimately triumphs over evil. With the broadcast delay, this message was broadcast the week before the revolution.
The week before the revolution, Darrell preached a sermon from this very text where Jesus calls us Love our Enemies! The revolution happens, just after the revolution, with the broadcast delay, this sermon on loving our enemies, called “It works, It works” is broadcast across the nation just after the revolution.
President Corrie Acquino, sought out the Darrell to thank to him for the role he played in the revolution by making clear to people the way of Jesus.
Loving our enemies works! But, loving our enemies does NOT always “seem” to work short term. The Sermon on the Mount is not self-help.
Bengino Acquino, Corrie Acquino’s husband, had been a senator in the Philippines and the opposition leader to Filipino president Marcos. Acquino, whose life was in danger, became a political refugee in North America. While here on our contient, Mr. Aquino took a teaching post at Harvard. Mr. Acquino who was a Christian felt he needed to go back to the Filipinos and run for president. But, he knew that if he went to the Philippines his life would be in grave danger—imprisoned or killed by Marcos. As many of you know, on August 21, 1983 Acquino flew to the Philippines seconds, after getting off the plane at the Manila International Airport, he was shot to death.
It seemed like evil had won. But in his hand as he was shot was a speech with this quote from Gandhi:
“The willing sacrifice of the innocent is the most powerful answer to insolent tyranny that has ever been conceived by God or man.” Those words would prove prophetic.
Short terms, there are times evil seems to win, but long term good wins.
Did you see the PBS special with Bill Moyers and Chris Hedges the journalist who had covered many wars for the New York Times and author of the War is A Force that Gives us Meaning. Hedges experiences in war caused him to become against war in general and the invasion of Iraq in particular.
At one point Hedges in the interview says, “Well, I think any soldier that's been through combat hates war in the way that only somebody who's seen war can. It's those that lose touch with war and find it euphoric.”
Bill Moyers says, “But doesn't power exercised with ruthlessness always win?”
Chris Hedges says, “Power exercised with ruthlessness always is able to crush the gentle and the compassionate. But I don't believe it always wins. Thucydides wrote about the war with Sparta that, yes, raw Spartan militarism in the short-term could conquer Athens. But that beauty, art, knowledge, philosophy, would long outlive Sparta and Spartan militarism.”
As I watched this I thought so it is with the Kingdom of God: sometimes (as we’ve seen this morning on the feature of the persecuted church) evil seems to wins short term, but long term, God and good, triumph over evil. This is the message of Revelation.
So, hear the words of Jesus anew. He says love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.
46If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
posted by Shigematsu at 9:32 PM
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