That's Not What It Means

Let's get right to the key verses of the day and we'll read them before we talk about them. This is part of Jesus' famous Sermon on the Mount. The excerpt we'll be looking at today comes from Matthew chapter 5 starting in verse 38. Jesus says -

"You have heard the law that says the punishment must match the injury: 'An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.' But I say, do not resist an evil person! If someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also. If you are sued in court and your shirt is taken from you, give your coat too. If a soldier demands that you carry his gear for a mile, carry it two miles." -Matthew 5:38-42

Now, I said this was one of the most misunderstood passages in all of scripture. It's so misunderstood that a common phrase in our society now means something different than the original intent that Jesus was talking about. How many of you knew that "Go The Extra Mile" was a phrase that originated right here in Matthew 5:42? This is the origin of the phrase. "Go The Extra Mile. And in our culture - that's a good thing. Hertz rental cars ran an "Extra Mile" campaign, rewarding loyal members with elevated customer service - chauffeured rides, VIP seating at sporting events.

Dollar General stores had a campaign about "Going The Extra Mile" demonstrating that their stores and employees go above and beyond to support local communities.

There are a number of insurance companies and attorneys at law and advertising companies and basically any business that you can think of that advertise or make a part of their customer service philosophies and promises that they "Go The Extra Mile" for you. Which is great and positive in the modern day application and understanding of the phrase. But not what Jesus was addressing AT ALL in this passage. We'll get to the real meaning in bit.

Let's talk about "turning the other cheek." And people have been taught, or they have understood this phrase, in many cases to mean - "endure abuse." That if someone hit them or took advantage of them or was being evil to them that they were to just peacefully "take it." And not only "take it," but offer them the chance to do it again. Sometimes this idea was well meaning - because people thought they were behaving like Jesus. People saw a non-violent response as a positive AND IT IS… but it is only half the story.

If you have been told or have misinterpreted "turn the other cheek" as a way of saying "endure the abuse." "Continue to stay in a negative situation." "Let the person who is doing you harm get away with it unchallenged" and you think you should do that because its "Christ-like." I want to apologize to you right now and say that it is VITAL that we get this straight today for your well-being and for the sake of justice. Cultural context matters. And we'll explain the meaning of this phrase within the culture it originated in in just a second.

I would be remiss if I didn't take this time to state that "turn the other cheek" has also been weaponized and abused in our culture as a way of telling victims and those who are hurting or those who are victims of injustice to "be quiet." "Stay silent." Those who have been absued, discriminated against, bullied, harassed or manipulated have heard "turn the other cheek" as a suggestion to silence them. To hand-wave away consequences for those on the other side. To say - "Don't make a scene. Don't rock the boat." "Be like Jesus. Be the bigger person."

"Turn the other cheek" IS about being the bigger person in many ways. But it is not about remaining silent in the face of injustice. And it is not about "taking it." And it is most certainly NOT about not drawing attention to or not calling out bad behavior directed toward you. And again, if you've ever gotten that peace of advice in the face of somebody behaving terribly toward you - somebody continually violating your boundaries or the boundaries of those who you love or whom God loves - then once again, I apologize for the bad advice you have received. And I think it's necessary to point out that sometimes the people saying to you "turn the other cheek" and meaning "shhhh. Don't say anything. Don't make a scene. Don't stand up for yourself." Sometimes they think they are protecting peace… at any cost…even if it costs YOU because you continue to suffer in silence or are being held to a higher standard than your oppressor. They are mistaken. They are not protecting peace. They are protecting the person or entities causing harm or the they are protecting the system that allowed it in the first place. And they may be doing that consciously. They may also not even realize they are doing it subconsciously. Because let's face it - it's a lot easier to tell a wounded person to be quiet than it is to confront the one doing the wounding.

When Jesus said "turn the other cheek"… He was not telling you to be quiet.

Likewise. When Jesus said "turn the other cheek"… He was not telling you to be a doormat.

He was not telling oppressed people to accept oppression or let it go unchallenged. He was not telling abused people or people in harm's way to stay in dangerous and toxic situations.

On the contrary - Jesus was calling His followers to take courageous steps to resist evil and reclaim our humanity and dignity without being evil or violent ourselves.

See - far too often, we see things as binary. There are only two options when faced with oppression and injustice and violence toward us -

Option A: Choose violence. Hurt them back. Hurt them in the same way they hurt me. But clearly, that's not what Jesus is calling for. He takes the old law of "an eye for an eye" and says - nahhh. Let's not do that.

"You have heard the law that says the punishment must match the injury: 'An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.' But I say, do not resist an evil person!" -Matthew 5:38-39

And once again, context matters. If we just see "do not resist an evil person" we're not getting the full story. Jesus laying out the, at the time, accepted legal consequences "an eye for an eye" - the concept of "lex talionis" before saying not to resist an evil person was Jesus saying "Don't respond in kind." Don't let evil people make you do evil things. Just because they're behaving badly doesn't mean you should do it back to them.

So Jesus says no to Option A:

So we think - okay, well then Option B: as in BE a doormat.

Like we're just supposed to act like one of those way too cheery help-line customer service reps to our bullies? "Once again, we'd like to thank you for hurting us. Is there anything else we can do to make your experience of taking advantage of us more comfortable?"

But if we read the passage right - we would understand that Option B is not it either. Jesus rejected passivity. So should we.

Instead - Jesus gives us secret option C: and the C stands for Courageous. The C stands for Creative. And the C stands for Christ-like.

Option C: Turn the other cheek - in the way it was meant to be understood. Let's break it down.

So Jesus says,

"If someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also." -Matthew 5:39

Alright. Jesus straight up says, "if they slap you on the Right cheek." Very specific. There's a reason for that. In the ancient culture that Jesus lived in, a slap on the right cheek was usually, almost universally, delivered with the back of the right hand. A backhanded slap to the person facing you. Sometimes we call it something different, depending on what neighborhood you were raised in, but we've all seen it. Some of you, just think back to all those late 70's movies and you'll get the picture real quick.

And this slap, was less about the physical injury that it caused and more about the humiliating insult that it was. And this type of slap - it was reserved for someone of lower status than you. As gross as this is. A slave owner backhanding a slave. A Roman soldier backhanding a common Jew in the land that they were occupying. This was a way of telling someone - in the most public and humiliating way possible - "You are worthless. You are less than. You don't matter. You are beneath me." The late historian and theologian Walter Wink, called the backhanded slap "the most severe public affront to a person's dignity."

So let's say that happens. You're a Jew under Roman occupation. You're being treated not just as a commoner, but as a second class citizen, so a Roman soldier backhands you. And Jesus gives this creative advice - "Turn the other cheek." Here's why. People didn't slap with the left hand. It was considered the 'unclean' hand for reasons we don't need to go into today. So by offering the person who slapped you your left cheek, you're forcing them to slap you with the PALM of their hand. But in that ancient culture, you only slapped an equal with the palm of your hand. So when you offer the other cheek, you're saying "Okay. You can slap me again, but if you do, you'll have to treat me as your equal." You're no longer slapping somebody below you. You're slapping someone on your level. You treated me as a thing. Now you have to treat me like a person. Can you imagine the first time one of Jesus' followers did this? To a Roman soldier, someone of higher status, to a slave owner- who knows… do you know the kind of brain short-circuiting that probably caused their oppressor? They probably had no idea what to do. "Does not compute." The oppressed put the oppressor in a difficult situation publicly. And by turning the other cheek in this manner, it does a number of things. First - it reclaims the victim's humanity. It reclaims dignity through defiance. Turning the other cheek says "you can hit me, but you don't get to define me. You don't get to determine my worth. You don't set mu value. God sets my value." And look, Jesus knew who His audience was. He says - "don't respond back the same way. Don't get violent." Why? Because not only is that the best of us - but in a situation where the power dynamic was CLEARLY in one side's favor. Master vs. Slave. Occupier vs. Occupied. Means versus No Means. It would be so easy for the powers that be, the empire, to say 'this is a revolt. This is an insurrection. Look at how violent these people are.' And what would happen? They ramp up the violence and rhetoric against them. More people probably suffer because the oppressors have an excuse for their oppression. But a courageous, non-violent response - it doesn't open the doors for that. And think about what kind of message it sends to everyone watching? Does it instill courage and remove fear in the hearts of the oppressed? Does it make the oppressors think twice about what they're doing? Does it shame the oppressor? You better believe it.

Let's move on to the second suggestion Jesus gives -

"If you are sued in court and your shirt is taken from you, give your coat too." -Matthew 5:40

Okay. You ever hear the term "I'm gonna sue the pants off that guy!?" Well in the ancient world, this was actually a thing. In Jesus' culture, you could literally sue to the point of taking the shirt off of someone's back. Now think about who would be affected by that? Where you get to the point where the court takes the shirt off of your back. The poor. Those without a lot of resources. Because you sue somebody who owns multiple vineyards, multiple herds of cattle, a successful business, you're probably going to get the judgment before you get them down to their undergarments. But what about those who had nothing? To take their only thing that had value? Or to take the LAST thing that had value? And yet - people would cruelly do it. So the image is - a wealthy creditor sues someone for their shirt. And if you don't see that as a form of injustice or cruelty, maybe you work for Roman Express, I don't know.

But what's the deal with the coat? Okay. There were laws against taking the coat - or the outer cloak. In Exodus 22:26-27 part of the law of Moses it says -

"If you take your neighbor's cloak as security for a loan, you must return it before sunset. This coat may be the only blanket your neighbor has. How can a person sleep without it? If you do not return it and your neighbor cries out to me for help, then I will hear, for I am merciful." -Exodus 22:26-27

So when Jesus says, "give your coat too." He's giving a strategy in which the oppressed highlights the oppression. "You want my shirt? Well all I have left is my cloak. My coat. Take it. You must need it. You're taking my shirt - so surely - take the coat too. My warmth. My sad excuse for shelter. Take it.

Imagine the shock of the court and the witnesses of the court proceeding in that moment. If they haven't seen it already - because sometimes we do this - "well it's the law. Technically they can do it. Technically they can take his shirt. It's his fault to begin with. He got sued, you know." No. When the person says "take my coat too" it shines a light. It paints the picture for what it is - not just a court proceeding based solely on the letter of the law. It's a wealthy person squeezing a poor person for everything they've got. Unchecked greed… profit without compassion or limits. That's what is highlighted when the person says, "here, take my coat too." You've taken everything from me that you can up to the letter of the law, the Spirit of the law means nothing to you. Common decency means nothing to you. Money means everything to you. Greed is highlighted and exposed. But not only that - this is another form of creative, non-violent resistance.

Right - cause I mean the desire after being pushed so far after having everything taken from you can make you feel like Milton from the movie Office Space. The greedy,. Self-centered manager and corporation have taken everything from you down to your trusty, red Swingline stapler. And at that point Milton says - "Okay. But I'm gonna burn down the building." When people have lost their dignity, when they've had it taken away - when they feel like they have no other options, they may resort to violence for revenge, to get even, to get back even the tiniest fraction of what they had, or just to shine a light on injustice.

But Jesus gives another creative option. Resistance that doesn't require violence. Resistance that ironically leaves the oppressor exposed while they are stripping their victim naked. When Jesus says "give them your coat too." He is offering the victim to say, "you can take my possessions, down to my very last thing, but you cannot take my humanity or my dignity. The victim refuses to be humiliated, and instead the greedy one with no limits, no compassion - they are humiliated publicly. Do you think the public's perception of that greedy person might change upon recognizing their lack of humanity and compassion? Do you think that those who did business with the creditor before would be so eager to do business with them after such a public humiliation?

Creative resistance. Reclaiming the dignity that is inherently a part of being a special creation of God, no matter where you stack up according to social or economic status.

Alright, let's get to the last one. The last one is my favorite. And it's the one that has changed meaning the most in our society.

Jesus tells the crowds -

"If a soldier demands that you carry his gear for a mile, carry it two miles." -Matthew 5:41

I already told you how advertisers latch onto the idea of "we go the extra mile for you." Well, a lot of Christ followers have taken that idea and ran with it and applied it in the world they live in, the lives they live, the best they know how. So they took "go the extra mile" to mean 'stay late at work. Put in extra effort. Volunteer for yet another committee or ministry. Help your neighbor move a couch." And all of those things - they are Christ-like. They are lovely. Right, we outdo each other in showing honor. That's what the apostle Paul recommended. We lay down our lives for our friends and sacrifice. That's what Jesus said to do. So that's fine. But that's not what Jesus was talking about in this passage.

Once again, this is an example of creative resistance and reclaiming dignity.

Here's the historical context - in the culture that Jesus was preaching in - Roman law allowed soldiers to force civilians to carry their gear for one mile. Not because there was a need. Just… because. Do you think this was abused? Do you think that if Roman soldiers wanted to abuse people that this might be a way of legally harassing them? Do you think this was a way that Roman soldiers could be cruel, especially to a group of people under their occupation who maybe they felt that they were above? Yeah. It probably happened all the time. Imagine you're coming home from a long day of work, and you got groceries - everything fresh - there was no refrigerators back there, and you're bringing home food for the family to eat dinner. Your butt was already dragging. All you wanted to do was go home, see your family, and eat and rest. And it's late already. But then a Roman soldier comes up to you and says "carry my stuff." So what do you do? You don't have a choice. You set the groceries down, you hope they'll still be there after you've walked two miles - the mile with the soldier and then the mile back. You hope they'll still be good. Your family is at home waiting, worrying about you, hungry. There's no cell phones to call home and let them know you got waylaid by a cruel Roman soldier. And you don't have a choice. So you carry their gear.

This was publicly humiliating. It reduced humans to being 'beasts of burden.' Alright, but there was a catch. A legal catch. The solider could only force a civilian to carry their gear for one mile, maximum. If they forced the civilian to carry the gear further than a mile, the soldier could be subject to serious punishment including but not limited to paying fines, loss of pay, demotion in rank, flogging by a centurion's vine-staff, or even dishonorable discharge. And by now, after seeing the other creative examples Jesus gave, you're probably starting to get it.

So let's say you're the unlucky civilian that got picked by a cruel Roman soldier to carry their gear for a mile. Just to mess with you. Just to humiliate you. To treat you like a beast of burden. To demean you and to make their life easier. So you go. But then as the mile marker is coming up, you keep going. You keep walking. The soldier tells you to stop. But you're like, "nah, I got this. Your shoulders must be hurting. I'm sure you're exhausted, even though you're one of Rome's finest. I got this. Let me carry it another mile for you." And you know the soldier would start sweating. He'd start worrying. Cause civilians aren't supposed to carry their stuff more than a mile. He'd be reaching for his pack - "give it back. Right now." And you just keep going - "Look, I know I'm just a commoner without your mighty Roman soldier stamina and strength, but you look a little faint. Let me take this another mile for you." And you just know the Roman soldier would be like "Give it back! Seriously!"

And suddenly the one who forced you to take the extra load is begging you to give it back.

It's a total flip of power dynamics. And it takes the one who was forced to do something, and gives them back agency. The power to choose. And what would that look like for everyone watching? Does it humiliate the soldier? Does it make the 'lesser than' look powerful and in control? Does it reclaim human dignity and confidence and dare I say, 'swagger?' You know, this happens a couple of times and word gets around, how many Roman soldiers do you think are gonna think twice about forcing someone to carry their gear for a mile?

It's another example of creative resistance in the face of oppression. Another example of publicly shining a light on abuse and injustice and reclaiming dignity without resorting to violence.

And that's the genius of Jesus.

So now that we understand the situation, let's add this to our list -

#38 on our list of Fifty Things

#38 - TURN THE OTHER CHEEK

But see, it's a catchy phrase… it's one we use in our society - but we use it wrong. And we don't have Go the Extra Mile or Give them your Coat too on here. That would be a really long entry. So how should we put this? Maybe like this -

#38 - RESIST INJUSTICE (CREATIVELY & NON-VIOLENTLY)

Turning the other cheek, Going the extra mile, Giving your coat too… it's not about submission to evil intent or unchecked power. It's resistance through freedom of choice. At the end of the day, it is about standing up against injustice and reclaiming freedom and dignity.

Obviously Freedom will be on the minds of many this upcoming weekend. Fourth of July. Independence Day. The 250th birthday of this great experiment. And as I was researching for this message, I kept thinking of modern day applications of these principles. Because the scenarios may change, but the idea of resisting injustice creatively and non-violently still works and is still very Christ-like.

And I couldn't help but think of some of the times our country didn't always get it right. For long periods of time. I kept flashing back to the Civil Rights Movement and the non-violent and creative resistance of individuals like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and those who stood alongside him.

They faced attack dogs without attacking back themselves.

They stood up to hatred without becoming hateful.

They shined a light on evil. They exposed evil without becoming evil.

Dr. King had a famous quote and I'll share it with you here because I think it aligns with the stuff we've been reading today. He said - "Violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars."

But History proves that turning the other cheek, going the extra mile and creatively and non-violently resisting injustice brings freedom. Love and truth and dignity exposes injustice and wins freedom.

Look, our nation, our systems,, our government, our politics, our economy, our media, our laws, and quite frankly the world as a whole doesn't always get it right. And we may encounter injustice on a grand scale, like the civil rights movement, like economic disparity, like oppression of people groups, or we may encounter it on a personal scale - things that are happening in our own homes, our workplaces, our peer groups, even in online communities.

And I want to be very clear - if you are being abused, harassed, discriminated against, manipulated, bullied, threatened or slandered, Jesus is not advocating for you to silently endure mistreatment. He is teaching us to not resist evil WITH evil. To not become what hurts us.

On the contrary, I think He wants us to combine #38 on our list

#38 - RESIST INJUSTICE (CREATIVELY & NON-VIOLENTLY)

With some other things we covered on the list of Fifty Things

"Be as shrewd as snakes and harmless as doves." -Matthew 10:16

#16 - BE SHREWD AS SNAKES

#17 - BE HARMLESS AS DOVES

We are not called to be doormats or victims. We are followers of Jesus. And Jesus was loving, and compassionate and forgiving… but He was never a doormat. He did not allow injustice to go unchallenged. This is the same Jesus that flipped tables in the temple and chased out profiteers with a whip of cords. This is the same Jesus who constantly challenged abusive power structures. This is the same Jesus who stood toe-to-toe against emperors, governors, and religious elites. Who didn't just preach love… but also preached change.

We too are called to be agents of transformation. And regardless of whatever nation or power structure that we find ourselves in, we are called to be the Kingdom of God. A Kingdom that exposes injustice. A Kingdom that stands with the vulnerable. A Kingdom where we refuse to become the evil we oppose. A Kingdom where we creatively and courageously reveal that another way is possible. A Kingdom where love wins, where dignity matters, where every person bears the image of God.

And if you are struggling with injustice right now in any way shape or form, I hope that you will hang on to the truths that we shared today and remember in your mind and write this upon your heart -

People can backhand me, but they cannot pluck me from my Savior's hand.

People can take my shirt. But they cannot remove the covering of my Heavenly Father's love.

People can force me to walk long distances to places I do not want to go, but they can never stop me from walking with Jesus and they will certainly never stop Jesus from walking with me.

You can't slap the Jesus out of me, you can't shame the Jesus out of me and you can't sweat the Jesus out of me.

In the end, love will win, injustice will not but the hard part is living in the now. Living for Jesus and resisting injustice creatively and non-violently.

You know what's even harder than resisting our enemies? Loving them. And we'll talk about that… next week.

But right now - if you don't yet have Jesus in you. If you have not yet openly embraced our Heavenly Father's love and the gift of eternal life purchased for you on the cross and abundant life available to all who follow Jesus' example and commands, if you have not experienced spiritual freedom, then there is no better day than today. No better time than now. If you would like to invite Jesus to be the Lord of your life, would you please pray this prayer right after me?

ALTAR CALL

Amen. If you just prayed that prayer, I'd love to encourage you and pray with you. In just a moment, I'll be down in the front and we'll have members of our prayer team in the corners of the room and on the sides. If you made a decision today, I want to encourage you to come and share that decision with one of us so we can celebrate and pray with you.

Also - if you're looking for next steps - baptism, joining the church, maybe you have questions - if there's any way myself or our church can be helpful to you, please let us know. We'll figure out a time to get together or you can always email

info@seacoastredondo.com

and we'll get hooked up.

Right now, I'm going to ask our worship team to play a song of reflection. During that time, you can sing, you can pray, you can worship, maybe just think about some of the things we talked about today. Whatever you need to do - but if you would like prayer for anything - our prayer team will be standing at the sides ready to pray with you. Team?

SONG OF REFLECTION

Alright. Before we go, we have the difficult but joyful task of saying goodbye or bon-voyage to one of our longtime SeaCoast family members. I was fortunate enough to have Maverick for a little bit during my youth ministry tenure. I love Mav, I love his family. He recently graduated high school Let me brag on him for a little bit because he's too humble to do it himself. (Maverick bio) And now he's heading into the Navy where I have no doubt he will be an exceptional serviceman and not only represent our country well, but also represent our Savior to those around him. We wanted to give him a little going away present today, and also we wanted to pray for Mav - for his safety and success as he sails the seven seas in the name of freedom and protecting the vulnerable. Anybody who would like to join me to pray with Mav right now, come on up, if you'd rather pray from your seat, you can do that too.

PRAYER FOR MAVERICK

And all God's people said - "Anchors Aweigh." And "Amen." We love you Mav. Come and visit us every chance you get. Let us know how you're doing and if there's ever anything you need - we'll do our best to have your back.

Happy Independence Day week everyone. Until next time, wave your flag proudly, but carry your cross faithfully. May you have the courage to stand up against injustice, the wisdom to do it without violence and the love to reflect Jesus in every step. God bless you! Have a great week! Let's sing one more song of praise before we get out of here!