The Straight Line

Out of the tangles of sin and death

Photo by Kier in Sight Archives on Unsplash

As you enter the house, greet it. And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town. Truly, I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town. (Matthew 10:12-15)

Jesus’ straight talk in this Sunday’s Gospel seems right on time for our twisted, violent world. The news is full of human beings, creation’s caretakers made in God’s image, tangled up with knives, guns, fire, lies, insults and just about anything at hand to harm one another.

Jesus was not coercive. He let disinterested and unwilling people walk away. And he expected his apostles to refrain from coercion as well, not kicking in doors that were slammed in their faces.

Jesus was not coercive, but he was not inoffensive. He was direct — he told his apostles that some to whom they went would be unworthy of the kingdom of heaven. And all to whom they went were in danger of unbearable consequences from God’s coming judgment.

In other words, the message of Jesus expresses the righteous demands of God, but ultimately draws a straight line to God’s loving offer of mercy in Jesus himself, described in another of this Sunday’s lessons,

God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. (Romans 5:8-9)

The church today has the ancient mission of proclaiming the righteous demands of God, just as Moses came and called the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the Lord had commanded him (Exodus 19:7). And with those demands, the church announces the offer of mercy in Jesus Christ.

Back to today’s headlines, the righteous demand of God, You shall not murder (Exodus 20:13), seems unheard or forgotten by many. Murder is rationalized with twisted academic theories about group identity and entitlement, and cultural notions of saving face by coercing “respect.”

Jesus takes the righteous demand that we not murder a step further, demanding that we go into our hearts to pull out roots of violence — anger, insults and arrogant judgments — the weeds infesting our culture and politics today,

You have heard that it was said to those of old, “You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.” But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, “You fool!” will be liable to the hell of fire. (Matthew 5:21-22)

We need to keep drawing the straight line from God’s righteous demands to Jesus Christ as the mercy we need for rejecting what God asks. The church needs to do this knowing that we’ll find many ears stopped and doors shut.

God demands limits on our violence.

But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe. (Exodus 21:23-25) Through Moses, God spoke to a culture of clan loyalty, saving face, long grudges and interminable cycles of vengeance, and demanded limits. An eye for an eye is not an unhinged scream for vengeance, but a sober application of justice, limited to one proportionate penalty for one particular harm.

We presently put up with unhinged grievance addicts who rationalize murder. They say that hurt feelings, offended pride or ideas they don’t like justify destruction and death. We need to state God’s demand for limited, proportional justice.

God demands witnesses to forgiveness.

Jesus challenges those who would follow him to limit themselves even more,

“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.” (Matthew 5:38-42)

This is not an organizing principle for earthly society, as it would quickly devolve into chaos and savagery. It is a call for witnesses to the kingdom of heaven to show the possibility of mercy in the midst of a fallen world. It is not something that every Christian will be able to offer, any more than voluntary poverty, celibacy or pacifism. But God needs willing witnesses to “impossible” qualities so that others might find freedom from the cycle of violence,

You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight (James 4:2). God demands Christ-like witnesses to display the kingdom of heaven in the midst of a sinful world, even when the world plugs its ears and slams its doors against holiness.

It is in this context that we must hear turn the other cheek, not as a call to enable abuse, but as a God-given means to disempower the abusive. And always understanding that we are free to shake the dust off our feet and walk away from them.

God demands a perfection we cannot give, and gives us perfection as a gift.

Yes, the teachings of Jesus are full of hard sayings that (rightly) seem impossible to carry out, at least with consistency.

Yet God, in his love, has sent his demands and met them on our behalf in Jesus Christ,

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:14-16)

Let us draw near to God as we labor to draw the straight line of new and eternal life in Christ for a world that tangles itself in sin and death.