Are things getting better or are things getting worse? On the one hand the rich keep getting richer and the poor poorer. On the other hand, the number of people living in what economists call absolute poverty has dropped from 44% in 1980 to 10% today. On the one hand the potential death and destruction of war has never been higher. On the other hand, nations no longer look on going to war as a matter of policy but only as a last resort. On the one hand, racism is alive and well. On the other hand, most everyone in today’s society would look on lynching as an abominable crime. One the one hand diseases like ebola and SARS have the potential to cause world-wide pandemics. On the other hand world-wide life expectancy has arisen from 58 years in 1955 to 72 years in 2017. Are we doing better or worse?
What happens if we pose that question about our behavior, about our morality or ethics. Are we acting any better than before? Two thousand years ago Jesus challenged his followers, which is to say us, about how we are to live. “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you. To the person who strikes you on one cheek offer the other one as well. Give to everyone who asks of you. Stop judging.” My suspicion is that while we can admire Jesus’ vision of a peaceable kingdom we don’t believe it to be realistic. If we live as Jesus instructs us, won’t we become doormats? Won’t the terrorists run rough-shod over our lives? Won’t the bullies find our cheeks attractive targets for striking? Won’t the pan-handlers keep asking until we have to join them because we have nothing left? Is the ethic Jesus urges on us really possible given the realities of life in Chicago? The enemies are around. The bullies are here and the askers are only too frequent. How realistic is an enemy-loving, cheek-turning, glad-handing Christian? And just to raise the ante even higher Jesus says we have to imitate God. “Be merciful, just as your heavenly Father is merciful.” Obviously we can’t live that way… Or can we? Can we tap into the power of God? Can we find a way of living that keeps us true to the teaching and example of Jesus in the midst of the nitty-gritty of daily life?
A few years ago you saw bracelets or hats that had WWJD written on them. The letters stood for What Would Jesus Do. The idea was that you and I need to make every decision as Jesus would. Since we claim to be his followers we should act as he would. I remember seeing a bumper sticker which took this to its logical conclusion: “Would Jesus drive an SUV?” Even something seemingly as secular as the kind of car that we drive should be viewed through the lens of walking in the footsteps of Jesus. Although the scripture doesn’t give us any direct car buying advice we are given by the gospel clear direction about what Jesus would do. He would forgive his enemies. He would turn the other cheek. He would give to those who asked. Can we, living on the mean streets of Chicago, do that? Can we really do what Jesus would do? The short answer is no, WE can’t. You and I do not possess within us the power to live this way. Enemies need to be confronted not forgiven. Cheeks are not made for slapping. And we have to make judgments all the time. So we don’t have the power to do what Jesus would do.
However! God has the power. God has the power to make a world where enemies are loved, not hated; a world where revenge is not sought for injury; a world where those who ask receive. As Dr. King proved during the civil rights era, light overcomes darkness, love overcomes hate. St. Paul in the epistle to the Corinthians tells us that there are two kinds of people, the earthly and the heavenly. As earthly people we aren’t able to love our enemies and turn the other cheek. But we’re a different kind of person. Through our baptism into Christ Jesus we have become spiritual people, heavenly people. We might look like everyone else. We might talk like everyone else. We might smell like everyone else. But we’re a new creation. Jesus is a new Adam, the progenitor of a new race, the heavenly people. Do you remember the story of Superman? He was visitor from another planet who had great power on earth. As Christians we’re not visitors from another planet but we are citizens of heaven. As such we have great power too – the power to love enemies, the power to forgive those who hurt us, the power to give and not to count the cost.
I know. “Great theory, Father, beautiful theology, but how does that help me with racism in the work place? How does that equip me to deal with bullies in the school yard? What does it tell me to do when I go passed that outstretched coffee cup going into the EL?” Perhaps the answer to questions like those can be found in the image that as heavenly people we are the children of God. Earthly children have to learn how to do all those things that earthly people do. They have to learn how to walk, how to use the bathroom, how to use a fork. Church, as the children of God we have to learn how to live as heavenly people do. As just as the toddler falls often before perfecting walking, just as there is many an accident before a child is potty trained, just as there are plenty of spills before mastering silverware, so with heavenly children. We won’t get loving enemies all at once. We have to practice turning the other cheek. We must discern how best to give to those who ask. But the promise is that we can do it. We can tap into the power of God to become a heavenly creature. Once we do that, we’re well on the way to being re-formed into the image of Jesus and then everything is new.
