The sermon on the Mount and the Plain are all about giving sacrificially, as has been written in past blogs. Even though this seems to dominate the sermons, there are other themes as well, one of which is giving judgment to or forgiving others others.
Luke 6 surrounds the judgment passage with texts saying that whatever you give, you will get back even more. The context of the dishing out judgment passage suggests that if you give out judgment, you will receive a lot more than you dish out. If you give forgiveness, you will receive all the more. So if you see other people with problems, work out your own problem first...then when you get you problems fixed you will be able to help others.
One of the problems about judging others is what I call looking through the log. Jesus said, "Stop judging others, and you will not be judged. For others will treat you as you treat them. Whatever measure you use in judging others, it will be used to measure how you are judged. And why worry about a speck in your friend's eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying, `Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,' when you can't see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log from your own eye; then perhaps you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend's eye.
So here's the concept. You got a log in your eye so you see it everywhere you look. Do you know people like this? As a pastor I saw it frequently. A lady came to me for counseling who was convinced that her sister, her husband and others she knew were having or had affairs. As we talked the truth came out...she was having an affair.
In the 1970s and 80s Jimmy Swaggart ranted continuously about the evils of pornography while regularly visiting prostitutes and buying adult magazines. He was seeing things through the log he had in his eyes. Ted Haggard spoke regularly against homosexuality while he was taking drugs and hiring homosexual prostitutes. He was seeing things through the log he had in his eyes.
I believe that Jesus was addressing a problem that he saw among the spiritually elite - the religious leaders of his day. But it wasn't only the elite who judged...his own followers were just as easily pulled into the trap of judging others. If not, then he would not have needed to warn his disciples about judging others.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Friday, January 28, 2011
The Sermon in 1st Century Practice
I have concluded these points about the Sermon on the Mount and the Sermon on the Plain:
1. Jesus called his followers to radical giving...even to the point of giving away materials crucial to human survival.
2. In order to give so boldly, Jesus affirmed that God cared for his creation and would take care of each giver.
So how did this work out in practice? Acts tells us that the early church had all things in commonand gave to each other as there was need. I believe this early church experiment in giving and sharing was a response to Jesus' teachings. People like Barnabas sold what land they had and gave the money to the disciples for distribution. Their gifts then helped those who had given away what they had or those who had never had enough to get by. So then as a person became destitute from giving away too much, he/she would in return receive from those who had. In this way God was taking care of them.
Although the result of all of this was very exciting for the people of the early church, it didn't last forever. Within a few short years there was a famine and the group of Chrisians in Jerusalem did not have enough rescources to feed the ever giving community and ever growing community. While the church in Jerusalem continued to trust God to take care of them, a church in Antioch raised offerings and sent a small team with a gift for the believers in Jerusalem.
As for the fate of the early church community experiment there is no mention. In all likelihood it was a failed experiment...almost like a pyramid scheme. Although the early church was extemely successful in building a community with all things in common, time wore the church down. It had a great start but it "petered" out as it grew and as the rescources dried up for whatever reason.
When I was a young Christian during the 70s in the deep South (of the U.S.) I heard some small time preacher explain the famine of Jerusalem as the result of the communist experiement the early church practiced when they first started (ie: having all things in common). Even though I shrug off that preacher's paranoia about communism, I still can't shake the idea that perhaps that famine was partially due to early church's sharing experiment.
1. Jesus called his followers to radical giving...even to the point of giving away materials crucial to human survival.
2. In order to give so boldly, Jesus affirmed that God cared for his creation and would take care of each giver.
So how did this work out in practice? Acts tells us that the early church had all things in commonand gave to each other as there was need. I believe this early church experiment in giving and sharing was a response to Jesus' teachings. People like Barnabas sold what land they had and gave the money to the disciples for distribution. Their gifts then helped those who had given away what they had or those who had never had enough to get by. So then as a person became destitute from giving away too much, he/she would in return receive from those who had. In this way God was taking care of them.
Although the result of all of this was very exciting for the people of the early church, it didn't last forever. Within a few short years there was a famine and the group of Chrisians in Jerusalem did not have enough rescources to feed the ever giving community and ever growing community. While the church in Jerusalem continued to trust God to take care of them, a church in Antioch raised offerings and sent a small team with a gift for the believers in Jerusalem.
As for the fate of the early church community experiment there is no mention. In all likelihood it was a failed experiment...almost like a pyramid scheme. Although the early church was extemely successful in building a community with all things in common, time wore the church down. It had a great start but it "petered" out as it grew and as the rescources dried up for whatever reason.
When I was a young Christian during the 70s in the deep South (of the U.S.) I heard some small time preacher explain the famine of Jerusalem as the result of the communist experiement the early church practiced when they first started (ie: having all things in common). Even though I shrug off that preacher's paranoia about communism, I still can't shake the idea that perhaps that famine was partially due to early church's sharing experiment.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
The Heart of the Sermon - Going the Extra Mile
(Luke 6:38-42)
"You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.
BACKGROUND
Throughout the OT an eye for an eye was the fair way of living in community. It was a matter of justice and keeping the communities and individuals within communities from escalating revenge.
In this passage Jesus told his listeners how they should respond to aggressive behavior from others. Rather than responding in the way they had been taught (an eye for an eye), Jesus told them to respond to aggressiveness with passive acceptance... maybe even aggressive acceptance.
It is very likely that any one individual would have only one cloak and one tunic. So to give both to another who was suing was to give away one of life's necessities. Is this verse an overstatement designed to be more symbolic than literal? Or did Jesus want his followers to sacrifice their well being for some greater purpose such as shock the aggressive person into seeing how greedy and selfish they are by taking away someone's cloak (after all taking someone's cloak was forbidden by the Law of Moses)?
Soldiers could and would by law force people to carry their loads for certain distances. Most sources say the limit was one mile: a Roman mile would have been 1,000 paces (a pace was 2 steps) which is a bit shorter than a mile.
COMMENTS
Gahndi resisted by using passive non-violence. Jesus went one step further demanding that his followers actively "go the extra mile." Being unjustly and unlawfully sued for one of life's necessities, give the aggressor even more. Rather than passively resisting a Roman soldier, his followers were to go 2 times what was required by them thus making themselves servants to those who oppressed them.
The reason behind this is debatable. Did Jesus want his disciples to go the extra mile in order to turn enemies into friends? Or was it something else? In Romans 12:19-21, Paul, who usually wrote little about the teachings of Jesus, wrote his commentary of the concept of going the extra mile.
Dear friends, never avenge yourselves. Leave that to God. For it is written,
"I will take vengeance;
I will repay those who deserve it,"
says the Lord.
Instead, do what the Scriptures say:
"If your enemies are hungry, feed them.
If they are thirsty, give them something to drink,
and they will be ashamed of what they have done to you." (literally - "you will heap burning coals on his head.")
Don't let evil get the best of you, but conquer evil by doing good.
Although some commentaries believe that heaping coals on one's head was good, the context of Romans suggests that God's wrath would be worse for them by doing good to those who do evil if we repay good for evil.
So why did Jesus tell his disciples to sacrifice life's necessities or to go the extra mile? The answer seems to be made clear in the end of Matthew 5:43-48 or Luke 6:43-48 when Jesus said:
"You have heard that the law of Moses says, `Love your neighbor' and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and on the unjust, too. If you love only those who love you, what good is that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect."
POLITICS
Does this mean Jesus was like Gandhi and practiced non-violence against governmental oppression? Unfortunately the text does not support this assumption. Jesus addressed village life and spoke within that context. The Sermon on the Mount may have indirectly pertained to the political situation, but not so in any obvious way.
Indirectly then one may conclude that Jesus called his followers to going the extra mile and to love those who were deemed enemies, who oppressed and took from their very subsistence - their rulers and tax-collectors. Jesus would be saying, "If they want to take the shirt off your back, give them more and love them while you do it, because God does."
Today you will object saying that this is unjust. Yes you are right, it is, but show them how unfair it is by giving them even more. You may say that this is foolish because you are giving away what you need to live. Jesus said "yes, but God will provide for you and if you ask and you will receive what you need (Matt 6:25-34 & 7:7-12)."
"You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.
BACKGROUND
Throughout the OT an eye for an eye was the fair way of living in community. It was a matter of justice and keeping the communities and individuals within communities from escalating revenge.
In this passage Jesus told his listeners how they should respond to aggressive behavior from others. Rather than responding in the way they had been taught (an eye for an eye), Jesus told them to respond to aggressiveness with passive acceptance... maybe even aggressive acceptance.
It is very likely that any one individual would have only one cloak and one tunic. So to give both to another who was suing was to give away one of life's necessities. Is this verse an overstatement designed to be more symbolic than literal? Or did Jesus want his followers to sacrifice their well being for some greater purpose such as shock the aggressive person into seeing how greedy and selfish they are by taking away someone's cloak (after all taking someone's cloak was forbidden by the Law of Moses)?
Soldiers could and would by law force people to carry their loads for certain distances. Most sources say the limit was one mile: a Roman mile would have been 1,000 paces (a pace was 2 steps) which is a bit shorter than a mile.
COMMENTS
Gahndi resisted by using passive non-violence. Jesus went one step further demanding that his followers actively "go the extra mile." Being unjustly and unlawfully sued for one of life's necessities, give the aggressor even more. Rather than passively resisting a Roman soldier, his followers were to go 2 times what was required by them thus making themselves servants to those who oppressed them.
The reason behind this is debatable. Did Jesus want his disciples to go the extra mile in order to turn enemies into friends? Or was it something else? In Romans 12:19-21, Paul, who usually wrote little about the teachings of Jesus, wrote his commentary of the concept of going the extra mile.
Dear friends, never avenge yourselves. Leave that to God. For it is written,
"I will take vengeance;
I will repay those who deserve it,"
says the Lord.
Instead, do what the Scriptures say:
"If your enemies are hungry, feed them.
If they are thirsty, give them something to drink,
and they will be ashamed of what they have done to you." (literally - "you will heap burning coals on his head.")
Don't let evil get the best of you, but conquer evil by doing good.
Although some commentaries believe that heaping coals on one's head was good, the context of Romans suggests that God's wrath would be worse for them by doing good to those who do evil if we repay good for evil.
So why did Jesus tell his disciples to sacrifice life's necessities or to go the extra mile? The answer seems to be made clear in the end of Matthew 5:43-48 or Luke 6:43-48 when Jesus said:
"You have heard that the law of Moses says, `Love your neighbor' and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and on the unjust, too. If you love only those who love you, what good is that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect."
POLITICS
Does this mean Jesus was like Gandhi and practiced non-violence against governmental oppression? Unfortunately the text does not support this assumption. Jesus addressed village life and spoke within that context. The Sermon on the Mount may have indirectly pertained to the political situation, but not so in any obvious way.
Indirectly then one may conclude that Jesus called his followers to going the extra mile and to love those who were deemed enemies, who oppressed and took from their very subsistence - their rulers and tax-collectors. Jesus would be saying, "If they want to take the shirt off your back, give them more and love them while you do it, because God does."
Today you will object saying that this is unjust. Yes you are right, it is, but show them how unfair it is by giving them even more. You may say that this is foolish because you are giving away what you need to live. Jesus said "yes, but God will provide for you and if you ask and you will receive what you need (Matt 6:25-34 & 7:7-12)."
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