The Way
Hi All,
Here are some thoughts on Luke 6:27-38. A passage of Scripture we’ll be discussing in worship.
Luke 6:27-38, comes from the section of the Gospel known as the Sermon on the plain. Its counterpart, and perhaps we can also say its more famous counterpart, the sermon on the mount, can be found in Matthew chapters 5-7. In the sermon on the mount and the plain Jesus articulates a social ethic, or a way for living out his ways in the world. It is worthy to note that prior to the formation of Christianity as a religion distinct from Judaism, followers of Jesus were simply known as followers of “The Way.” This highlights the reality that Christianity and being a disciple of Jesus is about how one lives out the theological and spiritual convictions in the world.
According to New Testament scholar Alan Culpepper, the Sermon on the Plain deals with two overarching themes… “the first part of the sermon deals with the assurance of God’s blessings on the poor…the next part instructs disciples to love their enemies” (Culpepper, 140). Again, Culpepper summarizes that “there is no place in a Christian Ethic for vengeance or retaliation” (Culpepper, 146). How then are followers of Jesus to live free from vengeance or retaliation?
Jesus recognizes how difficult and challenging his teachings will seem to those listening. For this reason, Jesus begins his instructions by inviting those who are “willing to hear” to regard his words. It is as if Jesus knows that because of the challenging and counter cultural nature of his teachings, there will be some who are simply unwilling to hear, to listen, or accept Jesus’ prophetic words. Jesus then continues with a directive, “love your enemies,” and then follows that directive with illustrative descriptives.
For those who would challenge Jesus’ teaching with the questions, what is love, or who is my enemy, Jesus offers these descriptions of each. Loving your enemy involves seeking to do the good, asking for God to bless them, and offering prayers on their behalf. According to Jesus, our enemies in this world can be considered anyone who openly hates you, curses you, or physically or emotionally mistreats you. Immediately the challenge of Jesus’ teachings is illustrated. To those who openly revile you, speak hateful words against, and mistreat you emotionally or physically, followers of Jesus are to seek to conduct “generous acts” towards them, to “ask God to do good for them,” and to offer words of prayer on their behalf to God (Vinson). I wonder, are we still willing to hear Jesus’ words as we apply them to our lives, to our enemies, to those who would hate us, curse us, and mistreat us?
Not only does the Jesus-ethic resist retaliation, but it also seemingly avoids self-defense. It seems as if Jesus is simply instructing his disciples to practice submission to those who would abuse them. Most troubling in this passage of Scripture is Jesus’ instruction to turn the other cheek. If someone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other also. How are we to hear these instructions of Jesus in light of the horror of domestic violence? For too long, both society and the church have counseled victims to remain in dangerous situations. Now we know better. Now we know that there is nothing more important we can tell victims of abuse then to remove themselves from the situation and seek safety from the abuser. How then do we interpret these words of Jesus?
Interpreting the Scriptures in this instance is another example of what CS Lewis calls the practice of taking scripture seriously, but not necessarily literally. Let me be clear. Jesus is not condoning domestic violence or physical assault on any human being. Jesus is not advising victims to remain victimized – how demonic and absurd would that be? Similarly, when Jesus instructs his disciples to offer to those who take their outer cloak their inner tunic as well, Jesus is not encouraging the marginalized of society to allow their oppressors to continue to subjugate them.
But taking these two parabolic examples together, we can begin to get a sense of Jesus’ instructions. In some ways, Jesus is instructing his disciples through the use of satire and parody. Much like Jonathan Swift’s famous satire, A Modest Proposal, Jesus through his nonsensical advice is exposing the depth of sin within the human condition when it comes to violence and the subjugation of others by the politically, socially, and economically powerful. The powerful live lives of privilege at the expense of others. The powerful take and accumulate from others with violence, and by demanding more for themselves they ensure an imbalance of power remains. Their lives of privilege take the outer cloaks from the poor. Jesus’ instructions to those who are marginalized and abused by the powerful invites them to expose the societal farce by simply offering their undergarments to those whose greed knows no limits. In effect, Jesus instructs his disciples to walk around naked to expose (pun intended) the injustice and unfairness of an oppressing and marginalizing society.
In so doing Jesus introduces to his disciples the subversive nature of submission. Turning the other cheek and offering under garments is way of exposing the excess, injustice, greed, and wickedness of others. Here we see the presentation of the power of the Reign of God, and a modeling of power in weakness. In these teachings of Jesus, one can see the makings of non-violent resistance, which models the power and dignity of all, but especially the oppressed, in the Reign of God, and exposes the demonic hypocrisy of the privileged and powerful.
But in this grand theologizing, let us also not miss the point. While this teaching of Jesus very much applies to the vast global, social, and political injustices of oppression and marginalization of peoples and societies, Jesus’ instructions are still quite directly pointed at both you and me. In the midst of our lives, Jesus asks us to consider, who are our enemies? Who are the people who we don’t like, with whom we disagree, who act in ways that are counter to our own preferences and instincts? Who would we demonize and turn into our enemies because they are different from us, or voice different perspectives and opinions? And how will we respond to them?
Jesus speaks a call to transcend our natural tendencies to meet evil with evil, violence with violence, opposition with opposition, hatred with hatred, mistrust with mistrust, difference with difference, and disagreement with disagreement. Instead, Jesus invites us to engage in something different – enacted love. He wants to remind everyone of their status as God’s beloved children – you and your enemy both. Jesus invites his disciples to live in such a way in which kindness and goodness multiply, and is especially directed towards those to whom it is hardest for us to direct it towards. To whom is most difficult for you to want the best and to do the best? Model something different from judgement, condemnation, and the lack of forgiveness so dominant in this world. Instead, be generous, be kind, and pour yourself out for others, especially your enemies.
Blessings!
Kyle