How To Be Authentically Righteous In The Face Of Evil And Compromise.

Preached by Bob Keay on 2nd May 2010  in Cregagh Congregational Church, Belfast.(Apologies to the preacher if these words are not exactly what you said - they are what I heard through God's voice.)

How to be authentically righteous in the face of evil and compromise.




Preached by Bob Keay on 2nd May 2010 at Cregagh Congregational Church – Matthew 5:17-20 and vs38-48.

The Fulfillment of the Law

 17"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

An Eye for an Eye

 38"You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.'[g] 39But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. 41If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. 42Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.

Love for Enemies

 43"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor[h] and hate your enemy.' 44But I tell you: Love your enemies[i] and pray for those who persecute you, 45that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.





Is Jesus asking us to be a door mat in these verses – is this a do not resist message. If it is, how do we square this with some of the things Jesus said and did? Just how can we practically apply this text since we are 2000 years remove d from the events? We often do not pick up on the clues that can tell us what these verses actually mean.



Verse 38 says “an eye for an eye…” This was OT law. But Israel was no longer a sovereign and free nation. Israel was under Roman rule and therefore could no longer enforce their law and live by it. There was a great debate at the time how to live under Roman law. The Pharisees said that everyone should try to be as holy as the priests and God’s blessing would overthrow the Romans when God saw the peoples’ righteousness. The Sadducees said that Roman rule was God’s judgment on the people because of their sin, therefore they said that Israel should just put up with the Romans and get on with it. The Essenes took that attitude that it was best to get out of town and live as a people apart from the rest. The Zealots sought to overthrow the Romans by violence and murder.



So Jesus come into this situation and people ask what Jesus said. And so at this point Jesus says do not resist an evil person, to turn the other cheek. In verse 39 the “do not resist” is translated poorly. It could be better translated “do not retaliate with evil.” So when an evil man strikes you, do not retaliate in kind.



So what do we do? “Turn to him the other also”, If he strikes you on the right cheek, it would be with the right hand because the left hand was considered unclean. So this would be a slap with the back of the right hand. This insult was designed to make people conform, to make people obey. - to put an inferior in their proper position. So to turn the other cheek means that you refuse to be humiliated. When you turn the other cheek you are saying that you will not be slapped on the right cheek. This is a very courageous challenge to your enemy. In turning the other cheek you have made a very strong statement that you will not be compromised - that you will not conform, that you will continue to follow Jesus.



40And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.

This situation obviously talked about a law suit. The Romans imposed heavy taxation on the people which could result in much debt. If you were owed a debt, you could take the debtor to court and sue him for his clothes. You must remember that in these times, most people only owned two pieces of clothing - an inner and an outer garment. So Jesus was in fact saying that if you were sued for one inner garment, give them your outer garment too - and have no clothes. This would bring shame on the person who sued you. This brought shame on the Roman system. Nakedness was a shame to the person who brought about the nakedness, the one who refused to help. This verse is a very powerful expression of standing up for what is right.



41If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.

This situation could and did happen. A Roman soldier could force a person, by invoking the law, to carry their equipment for exactly one mile and no further. Any more than a mile and the soldier could be punished. So Jesus says go two miles instead of one mile and you turn the tables on those who seek to oppress you. That soldier would be afraid of being caught out and punished. You no longer are the oppressed in that situation.



APPLICATION



So 2000 years later, how do we apply the lessons Jesus taught an astonished crowd?



Jesus is not giving specific advice here in these verses, he is giving some examples of how to respond in different situations where we may be oppressed or compromised. We should think how we can turn the tables and use this situation to be in control Jesus told use to be as wise as serpents and as harmless as doves. These situations are used to teach the principle - learn from his teaching.



So when we find ourselves in situations where we are asked to compromise our faith, we need to follow this advice to expose the reality that we are being oppressed and made to compromise. This throws light on the system of the world So in vs 42-48 Jesus is saying love your enemies and pray for them.



Jesus is saying that you are not doing anything that is evil if we follow his advice here in vs 38-42, on the contrary we are actually throwing light on an evil and oppressive regime. We are showing Him to people, and offering a way out



So this passage is not contradictory to what Jesus teaches about the Pharisees and Sadducees. All of Jesus' life is a bold illustration of His teaching. This takes courage and the Spirit of God. It is not weakness, it shows strength and courage and willingness to stand up to those oppressors and even in the end to die.