Sermon on the Mount
#7: Turning the Other Cheek: The Doormat Jesus
November 12th, 2006
Tim Schmucker
Text:
Matthew 5:38-48
“Hit ‘em in the face. Come on, you gotta hit ‘em in the face” the boys standing around us impatiently shouted at me.
It was the first real fight I had ever been in, with the real use of fists. Not just a smack or a shove. My enemy at the moment was my friend Ricky, the boy across the street. We were both about 11 or 12 years old. He was as skinny as I was husky. He was a scrappy guy and so he flailed at me with both fists. I grabbed him, pushed him down and sat on him, hitting him somewhat feebly in the arms and stomach. (I actually didn’t know how to fight.) He couldn’t move or really hit me with me on top of him. So the fight wore on, no one winning or giving up, him flailing at me and me sitting on him. That’s when our other friends who were watching got tired of this endless non-fight, this no resolution and decided that I needed some coaching. I could hold Ricky my friend-temporary enemy down, but didn’t know how to finish him off. The advice was to “hit ‘em in the face. Come on, you gotta hit ‘em in the face.”
I don’t remember what we were fighting about, but I’ll never forget the tears – both his and mine – when I finally took that advice, and hit him smack in the face with my fist. He cried because it hurt (I presume); I cried because of what I had done. I still remember feeling terrible about it, about the terrible violence I had done. While I may not have been able to recite the whole “turn the other cheek” verse in today’s Sermon on the Mount passage, I certainly knew it. I knew that we were supposed to turn the other cheek when someone hit us. I had learned that as Jesus’ followers we were supposed to accept abuse, scorn, mistreatment, aggression, violence – meekly, even willingly, and be ready to take more the next day. I understood that Jesus was calling us to be doormats.
Today’s text from the Sermon on the Mount is entitled “Concerning Retaliation”. And it’s a classic Mennonite text climaxing with the “love your enemies” part that has shaped our self-identity for centuries. This passage is at the foundation of our being a “non-resistant” people.
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 an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well; and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile.
We endure it all, meekly accepting abuse, scorn, mistreatment, aggression, you name it. And if you’re really really Christ-like, you do it with a smile. We’re doormats….
And we’re also taking this passage totally out of context. In one of the first sermons in this series on Matthew 5-7, Lydia told the story of how as a teenager she heard all three chapters read as a sermon during a difficult time in her church. A powerful story about this powerful passage. God works through such a reading. Yet when we read these three chapters – which are a compilation of Jesus’ teachings – when we read the Sermon on the Mount like that we easily miss asking the specific interpretive questions that can guide us to greater understanding. Questions like “who heard these words for the first time?” “what was their situation?” “what did it mean for them?” Let’s see if we can begin to unpack these few but greatly important words.
Turn the Other Cheek:
“If anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also.” Why the right cheek? Blow with fist would hit left. Same open-handed slap. (To hit right cheek one would have to use left hand. But in Jesus’ culture left hand was only used for unclean things.) Only way to strike the right cheek would be with a back hand. [Invites Geoff up to help demonstrate]
Now, you didn’t strike a peer this way. Backhand slap was the usual way of chastising inferiors: masters to slaves, husbands to wives, parents to children, rich to poor, and most importantly – Romans to Jews. Remember, the Jewish people in Jesus’ time were a conquered people, occupied by the Roman empire, oppressed and humiliated daily by the occupying Roman army. Jesus is talking about unequal relationships, very unequal power inbalance. And in Jesus time, a backhand slap meant an insult, not a fight. The intention is not to injure, but to humiliate, to keep one in their place.
Let’s remember that Jesus was talking to those who were on the receiving end of the humiliation (“If anyone strike you…”). Why tell an already humiliated people to turn the other cheek? Because this causes a huge problem for the hitter, the aggressor. Geoff. How to hit the other cheek now “offered”? Can’t with right back hand, can’t with left of course, and if hit with fist, is making the other an equal, a peer. So this way the person who turns the other cheek, the so-called victim, is responding: “Try again. Your first blow failed to achieve what you intended. I deny you the power to humiliate me. Your status does not change the fact that we are both humans. You cannot demean me.”
The purpose of the backhand was to reinforce institutionalized inequality, the Roman control over Jews, the rich over poor, master over slave. When offered “the other cheek” the striker has been rendered helpless to instill shame in n inferior, he’s been stripped of the power to dehumanize the other. Jesus’ “turn the other cheek” teaching is about confronting and refusing to cooperate with oppre
ssive power (economic, social, political), rather than offering oneself as a non-resistant doormat.
Strip naked:
Next Jesus teaches his followers to strip naked. “If anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well.” Jesus said that if one takes your outer robe you should give him your inner garment as well. Never contest in court, just give in. Let ‘em have everything, no resistance. Right?… Well, what’s the context? Picture a poor man in a court of law being sued for an unpaid loan. The OT Law ordered that a creditor, who takes a poor person’s outer garment as collateral for a debt, must return the garment — the poor man’s only blanket – to him before the cold night fell. You see, by Jesus’ time there were large estates owned by absentee landlords, managed by stewards, and worked by laborers and slaves. The rich used exorbitant interest rates to extract ancestral land from the poor making them tenant farmers or slaves. So Jesus is telling impoverished debtors, who have nothing but the clothes on their backs, to use the system against itself. In court, when ordered to surrender his outer garment, Jesus says to give your underwear as well. In giving up his underwear, the poor man would strip himself naked and, given the morality of that time, would heap shame on the person who saw or caused his nakedness. It would be a clear and powerful nonviolent demonstration against the injustice of the times, a conniving system of the rich to legally steal ancestral land from the Jewish peasants.
Remember, Jesus hearers are the poor (“If anyone who sue you….). Why tell them to surrender their undergarments as well? By doing so, the entire system has been unmasked, exposed literally. And the creditor is shown to be party to the reduction of a whole social class (the peasants) to landlessness, destitution, and humiliation.
Go the second mile:
Thirdly, “And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile.” This teaching has become a cliché on extending oneself to help others; go the second mile, give a bit extra, give more than expected. But to Jesus’ hearers there was a very different meaning. A Roman soldier – and there were thousands around – could conscript and order a Jew to carry his belongings a distance of about a mile – happened all the time – but the soldier could be punished if he required the man to go further. To offer to go further was to confuse the soldier utterly. Was the Jew trying to be disrespectful? Was he trying to get the soldier into trouble? What was he up to? Confusion sets in. Imagine.
[Karl and Brad mini-drama: Soldier is walking behind conscripted person who is carrying his bag.]
Soldier: Okay, mile’s up. Gimme the bag. [stops and waits for conscript to stop, turn around and give him his bag. Conscript keeps going.]
Soldier: [shouting ahead] Hey, I said the mile is up. Give me my bag.
Carrier: [looking back] No, that’s okay. I’ll keep going. [continues walking, more rapidly]
Soldier: [confused] Wha…? What are you doing?….
Soldier: [now panicking] Wait. Stop. Gimme my bag. What are you doing? Stop. ]
So, the occupied people again seize the initiative to attack the oppressive system nonviolently. Jesus does not encourage Jews to walk a second mile in order to build up merit in heaven, or to be pious, or to kill the soldier with kindness. He is helping an oppressed people find a way to protest and neutralize an onerous practice despised by throughout the empire. Jesus was teaching thousands of people. Can you imagine what would have happened when these thousands of Jews suddenly started going beyond the one mile? The soldiers wouldn’t be conscripting them left and right for fear of this new perplexing practice. They didn’t want to be punished by their military commanders, so they stop forcing the Jews to carry their bags, and the despised conscription suddenly comes to a halt.
Now of course, there was also the possibility of a violent response. As with turning the other cheek, there’s no guarantee this will work. It could engender a vicious response. Nevertheless, Jesus is saying “use your imagination.” Find creative, nonviolent ways to challenge and ridicule the system and so bring it down peacefully. To an oppressed people, Jesus was saying, Do not continue to acquiesce in your oppression by the Powers; but do not react violently to it either. Rather, find a third way, a way that is neither submission nor assault, neither flight nor fight, a way that can secure your human dignity and begin to change the power equation, even now.
Let’s go back to the beginning of the three teachings: “Do not resist evildoers.” The translation of Greek word “do not resist” is a problem. Doesn’t fit the three assertive, non-violent actions Jesus advocates as strategies for resisting oppression, evil power. The Greek word translated “resist” here is a military term, and means to “resist violently, to revolt or rebel, to engage in insurrection.” A more accurate translation would be “don’t violently resist evildoers”. Jesus’ assumption was that his followers would indeed resist evil; he was teaching them how to do it.
And then immediately after these three training lines on how to respond to a humiliating slap, a legal stealing of land, and forced conscription of their labour, Jesus says “Love your enemies”. Who was the enemy? The Roman occupying force. The unjust economic system where the rich were getting rich and the poor poorer. The social structure that afforded huge benefits to a few and relegated the masses to the pits. This love wasn’t soft or warm and fuzzy. It was confrontational, yet not demeaning. The other is always treated with respect. We see that when Jesus teaches love for enemies, he means that his followers treat enemies non-violently, refusing to allow humiliation, and force them to see the injustice in their position which gives them the opportunity to repent. In addition, by loving o
ur enemies, we become “children of your Father in heaven”. Indeed Jesus sums it all up saying by loving our enemies, we become perfect as God is perfect.
So now what? I think I’m safe to say that we’re not an oppressed or occupied people. We’re not suffering under an occupying army. So what do we do with Jesus’ teachings about how to resist evildoers non-violently? Do they have any relevance for our lives, recognizing that we’re not an oppressed, occupied people?
While we may not suffer oppression at the hands of an occupying army, there are others who do. And some aren’t very far away. Just ask any First Nations person about Caledonia or Ipperwash or Kenora. These are all in Ontario. Plus we don’t have to look very far in our own society to find poverty, racism, exclusion.
I offer three stories, ideas of resisting evildoers non-violently. No doubt these will stimulate other dreams in your imagination.
1. Colombia. William Payne and Matt Schaff of Christian Peacemaker Teams tell the story of creative risky non-violent resistance to evil in Colombia that threw the evildoers off guard, and probably saved four lives in the process. For over 5 years now, CPT has maintained a near daily presence in fisher communities along and near the Opón River, in central Colombia. It’s a region of much conflict as official government forces, rightist paramilitaries, and leftist guerrillas all fight for political and economic control of the area. The primary way of fighting is by looting and stealing, kidnapping and killing the peasants and fishers of the region. CPT travels up and down the river by motorized canoe. Don’t think of a canoe in Algonquin terms; these are large canoes, maybe as long as our meeting room here is wide. Traveling up and down the river, the team is present for communities whose residents have declared their desire to live free of interference from any the armed groups active in the region.
One day early on in their work, William and Matt were patrolling in the canoe when they saw a group of armed men on the shore waving at them. It was a despised para-military squad. Brutal. Playing innocent, the CPTers turned and willingly approached the shore. Now, before the armed men can take control of the situation, William jumps out of the canoe into the mud at the river’s edge, causing the armed men to laugh, but then he immediately starts to greet each man individually, shaking each hand and at the same time offering a CPT flyer on peace and non-violence. The armed men need to at least temporarily put down their guns to receive the handshake and literature. They are caught off-guard. Then the commander insists that his squad must search the CPTer’s canoe. “Sure, that’s fine, no problem”, respond William and Matt. “But you’ll have to leave your weapons on the shore; we don’t allow guns on our canoe. No, we’re sorry. Weapons are simply not allowed on the canoe.” The commander reluctantly agrees, and while several men search the canoe, William and Matt engage the others, talking to them about Jesus, peace and non-violence, suggesting that they could throw their guns into the river and stop the killing right now. The commander becomes agitated and calls the searchers back to shore, saying that’s enough, stop, let’s go. So the armed men leave, and Matt and William continue their way up the river.
Shortly after, they see a frantic group of people screaming for them to help. Turns out that a group of armed men had fired upon several men from their community and four were missing. Later they learn that the armed men they had engaged were the same that had fired on the community people and that they had been searching for the four to kill them. Matt and William had “detained” them long enough so that the four running for their lives were able to escape and hide in the jungle. Turning the other cheek! Going the second mile!
2. Palestine / Israel. Many injustices have been committed in the Middle East. Since 1967, when Israel captured control of the West Bank and Gaza, over two million Palestinians have been living under occupation. Tens of thousands have had their land confiscated, their homes destroyed, their basic human rights violated, their movements increasingly restricted. Grave injustices – internationally recognized injustices – have been and continue to be committed.
Over the years Palestinians and some Israelis have been resisting the injustices. Olive trees have become part of the resistance. Planting them, tending them, and harvesting them have become political acts of resistance to the injustices. Symbolic ways of saying “we will resist the injustice.” For decades already, the Israeli government has been confiscating Palestinian land to build settlements. Wherever the government determined that Palestinian land was not actively being cultivated, it was deemed “unoccupied” and available for confiscation – regardless of the fact that families had lived on that land for generations. In numerous areas, with Mennonite Central Committee’s help, Palestinians have planted trees as a way of resisting confiscation, resisting powerful injustice non-violently.
Elsewhere Palestinians, along with Israeli and international supporters, participate in the resistance by engaging in the annual live harvest. In areas where trees are on “disputed” land, these people risk arrest and at times, physical harm in order to pick the olives from the trees. Picking olives is not just picking olives; it’s a highly symbolic activity where people are saying “we will not submit to the injustice being thrust upon us.”
3. Closer to home. What are the injustices present in our nation, in our communities, in our churches, that we ought to resist? Who are the victims of injustice that we are called to stand with? What risks are we prepared to run to work for justice? What are the creative ideas to percolate that could upset unjust power balances? What do we have to say to Caledonia, for example? Or the “Americanization” of the Canadian military? Have you noticed that Canada has been charting a new course in terms of its military and defence policies? And I’m not pointing a finger at Harper and the conservatives as this change in course started before the current government. There has been significantly increased “defence” spending. We are seeing a Canadian military in Afghanistan that is oriented toward combat and war-fighting rather than p
eacekeeping. Plus Canada’s increasing involvement in the war on terror. Those who resist these new directions are often identified as naïve or ungrateful at best, or a threat to society at worst. Are we prepared to speak out against this new militarism? Are we prepared to go against the current of our society?
In closing, Jesus doesn’t teach us to be doormats as I had understood growing up, or to be passive non-resistors. Rather, Jesus teaches his followers: “Do not resist an evildoer violently. Turn the other cheek and confront the aggressor; strip naked in court and expose injustice; and carry the soldier’s bag more than the law allows, thus confusing him and perhaps stopping the abuse. Don’t permit humiliation. Find imaginative ways to upset the unjust power structures and the people who serve those systems. And in doing so, you will be loving your enemies, as God does. You will be God’s children and be perfect as God is.” Amen.