The Sermon on the Mount: Matthew 5:38–48
 “Don’t be a Wimp! Love your Enemy! Turn the other Cheek!”

February 19, 2017
Epiphany 7 A

GOSPEL LESSON: Matthew 5:38–48
“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 the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

When someone does something wrong to us, we want revenge. We want “justice.” We “justify” our actions by quoting scripture, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ We think that that is justice. We overlook the passage where God says, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay” [Deuteronomy 32:35, Romans 12:20].

Jesus tells us not to fight back. He said, “But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.” If a right-handed man wants to slap another man on his right cheek, it is very awkward to do unless he slaps him with the back of his hand. According to Jewish Rabbinic law, to slap a man with the back of the hand was twice as insulting as to hit him with the flat of the hand. So Jesus is saying that even if you should be insulted by the most deadly and calculated insult, you should not retaliate and you must not even resent it. To turn the other cheek would show how little you thought of the insult. “Can’t you do better than that? Give me a real insult if you can. Try it again.” A good example of ignoring an insult was when Jesus was captured and insulted by the Jews and the soldiers. Jesus was silent and did not fight back. Another good example is the example of Christian saints and martyrs.

Some people might think it a sign of weakness to turn the other cheek, but it takes a lot of courage to do so. The next blow might be greater and really hurt us. Some people think that Christians are weak. We talk all the time about peace and love and forgiveness. The “fruit of the Spirit” in Galatians 5:22 gives the following list: “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” And in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus said that it was blessed to be meek and to be peacemakers.

People outside the church sometimes think that Christians are weak. That is because we pray and we worry about sin and we think we need help from God. Tough people do not need God, they think. It is not kool to be meek and weak.

It takes a lot of strength to live in the Kingdom of God as Jesus talks about it in the Sermon of the Mount. But we are weak. Seeking revenge is a sign of weakness. It is admitting that you have been hurt. It is a sign of a weak faith, that you do not believe that God will take care of you. When it comes to other passages in the Sermon on the Mount, who really wants to go the extra mile? If it is for a friend, then it is a sign of love or friendship, otherwise it is hate at every step. Stinginess comes from a weak faith that does not trust God to take care of us, and so we do not give to charity or help others.

Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.”

This seems to be one of the most ridiculous things that Jesus ever said. “Love your enemies and pray for them.” Sure, I will pray for my enemies. I will pray for their defeat and death and destruction. If I pray in Christian love, then I should pray that their hearts will turn so that they will love me. Then they will no longer be my enemies and I can pray for them as I would a neighbor. But let’s be realistic. Most of our enemies will never love us. They will never change. But Jesus wants us to love them even though they are our enemies, and to pray for their happiness and well-being. It is because our Father in Heaven loves them. He gives them the blessings of the sun and the rain, and everything they need to live – even if they do not believe in God, even if they are evil people. That is the perfect love of God. And Jesus says to us, “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Living as a Christian in the Kingdom of God according to the words of the Sermon on the Mount is very difficult. If we read the Sermon on the Mount, we fail in just about every verse. And it is hard as a Lutheran Pastor to preach on the Sermon on the Mount because there seems to be no Gospel here. We are condemned at almost every verse. We see our weakness and helplessness to act as a Christian. And so we are thrown into the mercy of God. And the confession of sin is at the same time a confession of faith. That is because we see ourselves in the eye of God. We pray for mercy, we pray for forgiveness, we pray for the help of the Holy Spirit. And we know in faith that God does have mercy and forgiveness. We see that in Jesus Christ. He had strength when he was arrested, beaten, and crucified. On the cross he loved his enemies and prayed for their forgiveness because they did not know what they were doing. He loves us and prays for our forgiveness.

That is the strength of a Christian. It is not our strength, but that of Christ. As St. Paul said, Philippians 4:13, “I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” So, “Don’t be a Wimp! Love your Enemy! Turn the other Cheek!”

Amen.

Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church


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