CIVILIZATION: n. 1 a: a refinement of thought, manners, or taste b: a situation of urban comfort 2. the collection of habits, customs, and culture necessary for large numbers of people to live in close proximity, such as in cities
In no time at all, His fame had spread like wildfire. All it took were a few healing miracles and it seemed the whole world knew. And He seemed to go about gleefully doing an awful lot of miracles. Where did the power come from? Surely from Yahweh, but that did not explain how He exercised it, when none of the Temple officials, nor even the official prophets, could do anything like it.
They had not been with Him long, and they were still somewhat at that stage of discipleship when it was not yet polite to ask all the questions that burned in their minds. They were still trying to absorb the nature of His teaching, and His character as a Rabbi.
He had opened His ministry by constantly referring to the impending arrival of the Kingdom of Heaven, and that the Messiah had come. And while this naturally caused great excitement among the Jews, who had endured so very much oppression in the past few centuries, it was obvious He was not quite what they had been taught to expect as the Messiah. So much of what He said was clearly at variance with what they had been taught in synagogue. Yet the guidelines were, if anything, more strict than that of the Pharisees. It seemed He held to a standard far above the Law of Moses. Yet He spoke often of compassion, and constantly demonstrated it.
And so they found themselves out in the fields above the Sea of Galilee, not too far from their new home in Capernaum, where they lived with Jesus. As the crowds thickened, Jesus seemed to have His mind elsewhere. He motioned for His Disciples to follow Him, and began climbing the steep slope up a small mountain. They arrived at the top, winded and panting. Looking back they could see much of the crowd scattered, assuming the public session was over for the day. Some lingered for a time in clumps on the valley floor, while a few hardy souls had followed them up the mountainside. Jesus took a seat and beckoned them to gather around Him. He paid scant attention to the hangers-on.
There was a gentle breeze blowing up off the sea, and carrying the tang of salt, the faint odor of fish. In an orderly fashion, He began an extended lecture on the what it meant to be a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven. Much of what He said stood common sense on its head. He would quote some common axiom they had been taught in synagogue, then show how it had completely missed the point of what the Heavenly Father had intended.
At one point, He brought up the oldest law, the law from so far back in time that no one knew its source. "You have been told that you should treat others as you would expect to be treated yourself. And that to the degree you have been harmed, and no more, are you permitted to repay your enemies." This is what the Romans called lex talionis -- The Law of Retaliation. It was the one sanest idea to arise from the Semitic peoples, who needed that sort of restraint.
Jesus went on, "That's not how God sees it. I tell you, you must rise far above that. If someone strikes you on one side, present the other side for a second blow. If someone sues you, offer them more than they demand. If a Roman soldier compels you to render a service, do more than the legal minimum -- double it! Give freely to anyone who asks.
"You have been told that one must care about his neighbors, but that it is permitted to hate our enemies" -- and the Jews had many on their list of enemies -- "but that's wrong! I tell you that you must treat everyone alike. Show kindness to your enemies, strive to make their lives better, and seek God's face on their behalf. This is what makes you children of the Heavenly Father, for He gives the same common grace of life to all humanity, good and evil alike.
"If you love only those who love you, how are you any different from this sinful world? If you are respectful only to those who respect you, you are no better than those traitors among us who collect taxes for the Romans. You must set your heart and mind on a much higher standard: the standard of Holy God."
If we were to take Jesus' words in a baldly literal sense, we would be no closer to the truth than if we had not heard those words at all. Turning the other cheek can in some cases be a provocative act. Paying more than you owe can at times be a waste of God's resources. Being all too nice to a policeman (which is basically what Roman soldiers were in those days) would appear pretty suspicious sometimes. Giving a $20 bill to a wino who begs for quarters isn't likely to lead to righteousness. And while giving aid and comfort to the enemy during war might save your hide, it will surely mean more people dying.
The point of this part of the Sermon on the Mount was that Our Father calls us to a standard of behavior far above that proposed by human wisdom. We are called to adhere to His standard when no one else will. It doesn't matter why everyone we deal with is brutish and barbaric, we must not respond in kind. Our Father expects us to act as He does, by providing the same level of service and care regardless of whether anyone deserves it. It is for certain you and I did not deserve God's grace before we began actively to serve Him, but He gave it freely.
Christian leaders will surely have difficult followers to deal with in this life. God did not promise that all would respond lovingly to love. He promised to empower you to love the un-lovable. We may appreciate the fun poked at those pretending to nobility, but when someone acts nobly, we see in them Our Father.
Be more than just civil; do more than just the minimum to get by. Expect the minimal and tolerate it to some degree from those you lead, but never from yourself. Finesse everything that you reasonably can, but especially do so in how you deal with people.
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Ed Hurst
25 September 2002
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