MATTHEW 5:38-48
MARK TWAIN SAID THAT HIS
PROBLEM WITH THE BIBLE WAS NOT THAT IT CONTAINED THINGS THAT HE COULD
NOT UNDERSTAND, BUT THAT IT CONTAINED THINGS HE UNDERSTOOD TOO WELL.
TODAY'S GOSPEL READING WOULD PROBABLY QUALIFY. IF YOU WERE LISTENING
SERIOUSLY YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN ASKING YOURSELF, WHY DID JESUS ASK THE
IMPOSSIBLE? DID HE WANT US TO BE DOORMATS, TO JUST TAKE WHATEVER A
BULLY DISHED OUT? AND WHO REALLY BELIEVES THAT HE COULD BE PERFECT
AS GOD HIMSELF IS PERFECT? DOESN'T THAT SEEM A BIT PRESUMPTUOUS,
ESPECIALLY WHEN SO MANY OF OUR PRAYERS IMPLY THAT WE ARE ALWAYS IN
NEED OF FORGIVENESS, WHICH WOULDN'T BE THE CASE IF WE WERE PERFECT,
AS JESUS TOLD US TO BE.
IT'S INTERESTING TO READ
COMMENTARIES ON THIS PASSAGE. ONE AUTHOR SAYS THAT JESUS MADE THIS
PREPOSTEROUS STATEMENT BECAUSE HE KNEW THAT ANYONE WHO TRIED TO TAKE
HIM LITERALLY WOULD FAIL, AND THEN THEY WOULD REALIZE HOW DEPENDENT
THEY WERE ON JESUS, HOW MUCH THEY NEEDED UNDESERVED GRACE.
ANOTHER WRITER IS THAT
JESUS WANTS HIS FOLLOWERS TO SPEND THEIR LIVES TRYING TO IMPROVE. HE
KNOWS THAT WE WON'T EVER ACHIEVE THE GOALS HE SETS OUT FOR US, BUT BY
KNOWING WHAT THESE GOALS ARE – TURNING THE OTHER CHEEK, WALKING AN
EXTRA MILE, BEING PERFECT – WE WILL BE SPURRED ON AND WE'LL NEVER
REST ON OUR LAURELS.
STILL ANOTHER IDEA IS
THIS: SCRIPTURE CALLS ABRAHAM AND NOAH PERFECT, BUT ANYONE WHO READS
ABOUT THEM MIGHT SEE THAT BOTH HAD FLAWS. NOAH, AFTER ALL, INVENTED
BEING DRUNK, AND ABRAHAM, DESPITE HIS CLOSENESS TO GOD, HAD A SON BY
A SLAVE GIRL. THAT'S NOT ONLY ADULTERY BUT ITS ALSO RAPE, SINCE THE
SLAVE GIRL WAS HIS PROPERTY AND ABRAHAM KNEW SHE COULDN'T RESIST. SO
WHERE DID THEIR PERFECTION COME FROM? THEY WERE PERFECT IN
OBEDIENCE, NEVER BALKING WHEN GOD TOLD THEM TO DO SOMETHING.
BUT WE KNOW JESUS ALWAYS
MEANS WHAT HE SAYS. IF HE WANTS US TO FIGURE SOMETHING OUT FOR
OURSELVES, HE'D TELL US A PARABLE, RIGHT?
ONE OF THE THINGS THAT
SEPARATES HUMAN BEINGS FROM ANIMALS IS THE FACT THAT WE HAVE FREE
WILL, WE ARE FREE TO MAKE CHOICES. BUT WE ALL KNOW THAT OUR FREE
WILL IS OFTEN LIMITED. EXTERNALLY, IT IS LIMITED BY WHETHER WE HAVE
ENOUGH MONEY OR TIME. IT'S LIMITED BY OUR BODIES. PHYSICAL STRENGTH
IS NEVER INFINITE, WE CAN'T BE IN TWO PLACES AT ONCE, SOME THINGS WE
MIGHT CHOOSE CAN LEAD TO OUR BEING CRIPPLED OR EVEN DYING. OUR
FREEDOM IS LIMITED BY OUR INTELLECTS. EVEN PEOPLE WITH VERY HIGH
IQ'S CAN HAVE A DISTORTED PICTURE OF REALITY, AND WE NEVER HAVE
ENOUGH INFORMATION TO BE REALLY CERTAIN OF ANYTHING. SO WE HAVE FREE
WILL, WE HAVE FREEDOM, BUT IT SEEMS NOT VERY MUCH.
EXTERNAL LIMITATIONS TO
OUR FREEDOM OFTEN BE OVERCOME. I'LL NEVER BE ABLE TO FLAP MY ARMS
AND FLY. I'LL NEVER BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND THE MYSTERY OF THE
TRINITY, BECAUSE MY BRAIN CAN'T MANAGE THAT. BUT WHEN YOU THINK
ABOUT IT, EXTERNAL FREEDOM ISN'T WHAT IS REALLY IMPORTANT ANYWAY.
WHAT IS IMPORTANT IS WHETHER MY INTERIOR FREEDOM IS BEING LIMITED,
BECAUSE THERE I HAVE CONTROL. THE BUDDHISTS SAY THAT TRUE HAPPINESS
COMES WHEN WE ARE FINALLY ABLE TO RID OURSELVES OF DESIRE. IF I
DON'T DESIRE A JUICY STEAK DINNER, I WON'T FEEL BAD IF I DON'T GET
IT. IF I DON'T DESIRE TO BE A FRIEND WITH SOMEONE, I WON'T BE
TROUBLED WHEN THAT PERSON DOESN'T RETURN MY FRIENDSHIP. AND IF I
DON'T DESIRE LIFE ITSELF, I WON'T BE UNHAPPY IF I DIE. BUDDHISTS
SPEND THEIR LIVES TRYING TO RID THEMSELVES OF DESIRE, BECAUSE THEY
HAVE LEARNED THAT TRYING TO FULFILL ONE'S DESIRES ONLY LEADS TO WANT
MORE, AND SINCE YOU CAN NEVER GET EVERYTHING YOU WANT, YOU JUST GET
MORE AND MORE UNHAPPY.
I'M NOT SAYING JESUS WAS
A BUDDHIST, BUT THERE IS SOMETHING SIMILAR GOING ON HERE. IF SOMEONE
STRIKES ME, I HAVE BECOME AN OBJECT TO THAT PERSON; MY INTERIOR
FREEDOM HAS BEEN COMPROMISED. IF I OFFER THE OTHER CHEEK TO BE
STRUCK, I HAVE REGAINED CONTROL; I AM MAKING THE CHOICE, NOT MY
ENEMY, NOT CIRCUMSTANCES. IF SOMEONE MAKES ME CARRY HIS BURDEN FOR A
MILE, I REGAIN MY FREEDOM BY CHOOSING TO CARRY IT ANOTHER MILE. AND
IF I RETURN HATE WITH MORE HATE, I AM LOSING MY FREEDOM. BUDDY
HACKET, THE COMEDIAN, SAID THAT HE NEVER CARRIED A GRUDGE, BECAUSE
EVENTUALLY HE WOULD BE CARRYING THE GRUDGE AND THE PERSON HE WAS MAD
AT WOULD BE DANCING. IF I RETURN HATE WITH LOVE, I HOLD ONTO MY
INTERIOR FREEDOM BECAUSE I DON'T LET HATE MOVE ME.
I THINK JESUS IS SAYING
THAT WE CAN BE PERFECT IN ONE RESPECT; IF WE HAVE COMPLETE INTERIOR
FREEDOM. IF OUR ONLY DESIRE IS TO DO GOD'S WILL, IF NOTHING MATTERS
TO US EXCEPT LIVING THE WAY GOD WANTS US TO LIVE, THEN NOTHING CAN
REALLY DISTURB OUR FREEDOM. SOMEONE ONCE SAID THAT BEING A SAINT
REQUIRED THAT YOU DO THE ONE THING – THAT YOU ALLOW NOTHING TO
DISTRACT YOU FROM THE ONLY THING THAT MATTERS IN THE END.
AND THAT'S HOW WE BECOME
CHILDREN OF OUR HEAVENLY FATHER. GOD IS BY DEFINITION,
UNCONSTRAINED, COMPLETELY FREE. WHILE WE LIVE ON THIS EARTH, WE
CAN'T BE LIKE THAT, EXCEPT IN OUR INTERIOR LIFE. THE SAINTS,
ESPECIALLY THE MARTYRS, LEARNED THAT LESSON. LISTEN TO THE LAST
SERMON GIVEN BY SAINT PAUL MIKI, SPEAKING FROM THE CROSS ON WHICH HE
WAS HUNG OUTSIDE THE CITY OF NAGASAKI, AWAITING THE THRUST OF A LANCE
INTO HIS HEART.
HIS LAST WORDS WERE
RECORDED BY A BYSTANDER. HE SAID, “HAVING ARRIVED AT THIS MOMENT
OF MY EXISTENCE, I BELIEVE THAT NONE OF YOU THINKS I WANT TO HIDE THE
TRUTH. THAT IS WHY I DECLARE TO YOU THAT THERE IS NO OTHER WAY OF
SALVATION THAN THE CHRISTIAN WAY. SINCE THIS WAY TEACHES ME TO
FORGIVE MY ENEMIES AND ALL WHO HAVE OFFENDED ME, I WILLINGLY FORGIVE
THE EMPEROR AND ALL THOSE WHO HAVE DESIRED MY DEATH. AND I PRAY THAT
THEY WILL OBTAIN THE DESIRE OF CHRISTIAN BAPTISM.” HE WENT ON TO
SAY, “LIKE MY MASTER I SHALL DIE UPON THE CROSS. LIKE HIM, A LANCE
WILL PIERCE MY HEART SO THAT MY BLOOD AND MY LOVE CAN FLOW OUT UPON
THIS LAND AND SANCTIFY IT TO HIS NAME.”
BOUND TO A CROSS, UNABLE
TO MOVE, ABOUT TO DIE, BUT FREE, BECAUSE HE HAS NOT SUCCUMBED TO
RESENTMENT, HATE, REGRET; AND HE HAS COMPLETELY EMBRACED LOVE AND
FORGIVENESS. HE TRULY LEARNED FROM JESUS, HIS MASTER. AND SO MUST
WE.
