Of Crime & Punishment (S15 Episode9)

Sometimes I feel as though I have the word ‘sucker’ written on my
forehead. Kristen likes to say I am every salesperson’s dream. I
haven’t met an upgrade or extended warranty I have passed on. I
can be easily taken advantage of. Which is why Jesus’ next
teaching about the Good Life initially feels a little disconcerting to
me.
I am referring of course to the “turn the other cheek”
passage in the Sermon on the Mount. It starts with Jesus
referencing one of humanities oldest laws (the eye for eye bit) and
moves to not resisting evil people. The examples Jesus uses to
illustrate what this might look like involve getting slapped twice (at
least), finding yourself naked without any clothes, walking a lot,
and lending a lot of people money. On the surface, it sounds like a
recipe for people like me getting walked all over.
Ah, but naturally, there is whole lot more going on here. And
we are in for quite the ride. We will need to explore the earliest
human laws we have on record and why implementing those laws
still seems beyond us (think Ukraine and the Middle East). I will
need to tell you about the anxiety I experience when getting my oil
changed, my mission to stop Amazon thieves, and what to do
when an elderly couple backs into your car.
We also have plenty of stops to make within Scripture, from
what David did when he caught Saul using the bathroom, to a
question from the apostle Paul that I find to be both wise and hard
to swallow, and of course, why Jesus’ instructions here are not
only wise, but psychologically astute as well. If we can begin to
master what Jesus is getting at in this teaching, we will be well on
our way to the good and flourishing life.