JESUS’ CODE OF ABUNDANCE Exodus 16:1-5, Mark 8: 1-10, Nov. 9, 2024 D. Johnson
Back when we had an evening newspaper, the Albuquerque Tribune, the editor, Phil Casaus, once phoned me wanting to do a column about humor in the church newsletter. I was the pastor of Sandia Presbyterian Church at the time. And what happened was that his daughter had attended Sandia’s VBS. We put the names and addresses of all families involved on our NL list, and Phil’s wife had started reading our NLs. She alerted him to the jokes and cartoons. He liked our format and wanted to know more about it.
I told him that Sandians were busy. It was difficult for some to find time to read the newsletter. So, I motivated them with a joke at the beginning and a cartoon at the end, saying, “Read from the joke to the cartoon, and you’ll know what’s going on at church.” He replied that humor isn’t traditionally associated with church life, and I said, “But we Presbyterians are the spiritual descendants of John Calvin. We’re a hilarious bunch. Our favorite TV programs is “Hee-Haw.” Some of you will remember “Hee-Haw.” And I may have stretched the truth, but it allowed me to tell him about Grady McNutt, a Baptist minister who was once a regular on the show.
Rev. Grady Mcnutt used to sit around on Hee-Haw with the men at the town store, or pop up in the cornfield, joking about this or that. But between shows he conducting a church humor ministry. And he said about his ministry, “Humor is the hand of God on the shoulder of a troubled world.” And I have always found that to be true. The editor then asked if it was difficult coming up with jokes. I said, no, humor is just part of my family code. My father and grandfathers, my cousin Jay Johnson is a ventriloquist, we just like to joke around. He then wrote a nice column.
So, what is included in your family code? Or your personal code? Too often nowadays we think of one’s code as no more than the numbers we punch into an alarm system or to get into our accounts online. Traditionally, though, one’s code consists of the rules and the values by which one lives. And a code is important. Crosby, Stills, and Nash nailed it on the head when they sang, “You, who are on the road, must have a code, that you can live by. And so become yourselves because the past is just a goodbye.” We need a code on the journey of life or we risk not becoming our true selves.
Jesus had a code that he lived by. Biblical scholar Walter Brueggeman called it a code of abundance. Jesus constantly pointed out that there is more than enough to go around, which is irritating at times when it comes to private prayer. Why? Because so often we want to explain to God why we can’t do this or that, which is, “God, I just don’t have enough of what it takes.” But if we begin our prayer time by reciting TLP, we’re reminded that Jesus prayed, “Give us this day our daily bread,” in the sense that God provides enough for us to be faithful. “Give us spiritual daily bread. It’s enough. We need no more.” God provides enough to always fuel our faith.
And what major biblical story backs up his code of abundance? The Exodus story, of which I just read a portion. The Israelites have left slavery behind in Egypt and are headed toward freedom in the land of Canaan. But to get there they have to pass through the Sinai Peninsula, which doesn’t have a Smith’s, an Albertson’s, not even a 7-11. The Sinai is a food desert, a desolate place, and the people are saying, “We can’t continue our journey. We don’t have enough food. And, yes, we will become slaves again by returning to Egypt, but at least we can eat our fill there. Out here we’re going to die of hunger!”
And exactly like these Israelites, rather than stepping forth in faith, we at times stay enslaved to the status quo because we think we don’t have enough for the challenge ahead. But what happens to the Israelites? God rains bread, manna, daily. The same sort of abundance we find in our NT reading. “There was a great crowd without anything to eat. Jesus called to his disciples. “I have compassion for the crowd... If I send them away hungry, they’ll faint on the way – for some of them have come a great distance.’”…. “But there’s nothing you can do,” say the disciples. “Simon Peter did a head count, and there are 4,000 men here. Multiply that by 2.5, to add in women and children, and we’re talking 10K people!”
“But how many loaves do you have?” asks Jesus. “Seven.”…. “Well, then, there you have it!” Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, broke them, and gave them to his disciples. They distributed the loaves to the crowd, who ate its fill and had leftovers. Then he sent the crowd home.
But how did he do that? we ask. How did seven loaves feed so many, which is not a helpful question. The question that is helpful here is what does this story say about Jesus that is relevant to our lives? And what it says is that Jesus was the sort of person who looked for and found an abundance as opposed to the sort of person who assumes there isn’t enough and doesn’t even try.
Bible scholar Walter Brueggeman says that the Bible is filled with stories of God’s abundance. God graciously provides enough of what we need, but what can happen? #1, there can be a human caused distribution problem. We humans don’t adequately distribute God’s abundance to one and all. And/or #2, humans take more than what we need so that there’s not enough left to go around, which is an act of unfaithfulness. For if we go a bit further in the Exodus story, we find that once the people discover the manna, Moses tells them, “Gather as much of it as each of you needs, an omer per person in your tent. Do this daily. Do not store any of it overnight.” But some disobeyed and what happened? The excess manna they stored for the next day became foul, wormy, unusable. In God’s world, when it comes to what we all of us rely on, it is a foul thing to take more than we need.
A fellow named Tim Sanders was once the head of human resources for Yahoo. Back when I first knew of him, he was the business world’s advocate for living by a code of abundance. He had case studies that proved disastrous things happen both to people and businesses when people begin to define themselves by what they don’t have. He says our businesses and/or our personal lives will begin a downward spiral if we don’t stop focusing on what we don’t have and start concentrating on the abundance we do have.
An example of this involves my great-grandfather. His dad, my great-great grandfather, owned the Schnitker Brick Company of Cincinnati, OH. He had eleven sons. And how many TV programs or novels have you seen or read that detail how sons and daughters fight for control of their parents’ company? Well, my great-grandfather was the eleventh-born son. And rather than feel sorry for himself that the older brothers got positions in the company and the younger brothers got nothing, he simply left home to make a life as a farmer, and a pretty good life it was. Sometimes there isn’t going to be enough in a given situation to go around, but there are an abundance of situations. We can move on to another.
Do you recall the television program MacGyver? Secret agent Angus MacGyver took on the bad guys armed with no more than duct tape, a Swiss Army knife, a match, and a basic understanding of chemistry. In a 2007 poll of Americans, MacGyver was voted the fictional hero they’d most want with them in an emergency. And in 2008, the saying emerged, “What would MacGyver do?” And who else do we say such a thing about? What would Jesus do? He would think and act as though there’s enough to live faithfully.
And Jesus would say that many of us may need to change our way of approaching the future. Look for abundance in all things, and practice daily acts of generosity, one such as Tim Sanders, the yahoo from Yahoo, stumbled into at an airport. On a layover, Tim Sanders decided he needed a shoeshine. The woman shining his shoes was named Rose, and she asked him where he was going. He said he was on a promotional tour for his new book about business. Rose said that she loved the idea of having her own shoe-shine stand but didn’t see how she ever would. All she was making was minimum wage and tips working for the owner of that particular stand.
Tim Sanders recognized in Rose an opportunity to practice the abundance he professed. He said, “Rose, I think you’d make a great business owner. I’m so confident in you that I’m going to give you $50 dollars to distribute brochures about my new book.” He then pulled out of his coat pocket 20 brochures and gave them to her. Six months later he wasn’t even thinking about Rose when he again had a layover at the same airport. He goes into a Hudson Book Sellers to buy some mints when the lady behind the counter says to him, “You’re Tim Sanders, aren’t you?” And before he can answer, she reaches down below the counter and pulls out a box with at least a hundred photocopied brochures about his book. She looks at his picture on a brochure and says, “Sure you’re Tim Sanders. I’m helping Rose. She loves your book and is busy right now trying to start her own shoe-shine stand.”
I don’t know whatever became of Rose, but I believe that we who are on the road must have a code that we can live by. And Jesus gives us a code of abundance. To follow him is to look for an abundance whatever our situation. And the situation before us as we approach year end, the traditional time of giving, is that the food distribution for those in need has been severely cut back, including funding to food pantries and for SNAP benefits. Also that we have many federal employees who aren’t being paid. Are there some of us who can be more generous in our charitable giving this year than perhaps in times past. “Give us this day our daily bread, “ said Jesus. “It’s enough. We need no more. We can help others.” Amen
Nov 2, 2025 Prayer and Staying Connected Isaiah 1: 15-20, John 15: 4-11
A televangelist and his wife were on vacation in the mountains of Colorado. After breakfast, they left their resort hotel to go on a hike. They not only got lost in the woods, but they came upon two bears. Startled, the bears began chasing the couple, who ran and ran and ran. They ran until they were out of breath. Neither was in good shape, and they were at a high altitude. Exhausted they fell on the ground, and as the bears closed in on them the televangelist prayed the prayer he had prayed so often over the years, “Lord, make them Christians!”
Suddenly, something came over the bears. They stopped their pursuit in midstride, their growling ceased, the ferocious look on their faces disappeared, and as they kneeled by the couples’ side, paws clasped together, they began to pray, “Bless us, O Lord, in these thy gifts, which we are about to receive from thy bounty.”…. Proof that we need to be careful what we pray for. We might just get it. One thing we should pray for is a secure connection to the God revealed in Jesus Christ. Jesus says in our John reading, “Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit….” Abide is the operative word here, meaning “to act in accordance with.” To abide in Jesus is to sense God’s presence and to act in accordance with God’s will. Just as Jesus did.
To abide in God is to stay connected to God and involves a deeper level or prayer life than, “Help me, help me, help me!” and “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” which are the two most popular prayers in the world. And there is certainly nothing wrong with “thank you” and “help me.” Relying on God and thankfulness are fundamentals of the faith, but prayer is more than occasionally talking to God. Prayer is also working with God, work that maintains the divine connection and gives guidance and support to our journey of faith. Prayer helps us bear fruit and not wither on the vine.
And those who are the most experienced with prayer urge us, if we’re going to engage in such work, to set aside a time and a place to pray daily, a time and place to do this work with God. It doesn’t have to always be the same, obviously, but getting into a routine is helpful when it comes to sustaining a prayer life over the long haul. The story is told of a farmer who rose earlier than anyone else in his family so he could go out to the barn first thing in the morning dark and talk over his life with God. And as the animals could attest, he most often prayed while walking about, speaking aloud, and gesturing with his hands, his breath visible in the cold morning air. Early in the morning was when he best worked with God.
The story is also told of the young widow who went into her small living room at ten o’clock every morning and sat there in silence praying and listening to what God would say to her. Her young children knew not to bother her until she emerged roughly half an hour later because her work with God was necessary. It gave her the strength and guidance to run her deceased husband’s business and take care of her kids. Prayer maintained her commitment.
There was also a regularity to Jesus’ prayer life. Luke 5: 15f says, “But now more than ever the word about Jesus spread abroad: many crowds would gather to hear him and to be cured of their diseases. But he would withdraw to deserted places and pray.” You will find his “withdrawal to pray” in the other gospels also. Jesus escaped the clamoring crowds to do this needed work with God. Marilyn McEntyre once put it like this in Christian Century magazine, “Prayer brings our attention to the fact that God is present and makes the spot of ground on which we’re standing holy ground. Prayer quiets and focuses the mind; it clarifies our intention; it wakens imagination; it opens the heart.”
Given the noise of the crowds, the requests made upon him by the sick, the teaching that he needed to do, Jesus had to get away to focus his mind. The demands of the people could wear him down. There weren’t enough hours in the day. What was his priority? Also, the people had wild expectations when it came to what the messiah would do when he arrived, one group expecting this, another group that. Jesus had to constantly clarify his intent. What did God expect him to do, not what others expected. And he certainly needed the imagination as to how best he could go about his mission.
Having established a time and place to do the work of prayer, how does one begin? Some people begin their prayer time by reading a passage of scripture and then just naturally break off into a prayer concern. Sorting out with God how that scripture applies to one’s life. Others do much the same by reading a poem or gazing at a painting. What feelings are evoked that you need God to help you deal with. Many start prayer like the farmer out in the barn by simply talking over one’s life with God. What are your challenges, fears, and hopes? Which of your loved ones are you worried about? What’s on your To-Do-List? In what way is your life floundering? Like a mechanic performing a tune up, what do you hear from God in the silence? How can God get your life running on all cylinders.
Of course, God already knows what’s going on in your life and is ready to respond. Jesus says in Mt. 6, “When praying do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” Two things are going on here in Jesus’ words. One, the gentiles he refers to have a notion of god, or gods, in which getting a hearing is difficult. So they try to wear down their gods by talking as much as the yackety, yack sort of people we try to avoid. The response that these gentiles are seeking is their gods saying, “Enough already! What do you want?” But that’s not the Christian understanding of prayer. Jesus reveals a God who is like the best of parents, one who is attentive to the situations of their children. God values us, doesn’t ignore us, knows what’s going on with us before we do.
And then, secondly, how are we to understand, “Your Father knows what you need before you ask him?” If that’s the case, why bother to pray? If God knows what we need, why pray? Because we don’t always recognize at a given moment what we need as opposed to what we merely want. Remember that Jesus says in our John reading, “Abide in me. Ask for whatever you will, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified when you bear much fruit and become (increasingly) my disciples.” That statement tells us that what God gives in prayer is not just any old thing. It’s what we need to grow in faith, bear much fruit, increasingly become
Jesus’ followers.
We may want others to be kind to us, when what we need is to be a good neighbor regardless of how we’re treated. We may want it now, whatever it is, when what we need to learn patience. We may want God to give us an easier situation, when what we need is to learn how to live in the situation we’re in. Or the determination to work with God to change our situation.
So, the work of prayer may involve a clash of wills. God’s will on the one hand, ours on the other. In our Isaiah reading today, God says, “Come, let us argue it out, let us reason together.” The reality is, though, that no one wins an argument with God. No one’s reasoning is better than God’s We may want what we want, but God gives that which we need, which also helps us grow in the faith.
And look at whom God is dealing with in our Isaiah reading. People who are the cause of or complicit in maintaining a sick rather than healthy society. God says, “When you stretch out your hands, (which is the posture of those who look to God for help), I will hide my eyes; even though you make many prayers, I won’t listen; your hands are full of blood. Wash yourselves…. Remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good, seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.” E.g., my people, we have work to do here before we can move forward. Your spiritual lives need an overhaul.”
And there are consequences to doing the work of prayer or not doing it. Through prayer God can work a spiritual transformation. Apart from prayer things can fall apart. God says, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they can be like snow… If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword.” A reference to the danger that superpower Assyria holds over the middle east at that time.
Prayer is not just asking from God whatever we want and going on our merry way. It is working with God to change ourselves for the better. “Mold me, God. Shape me. Help me avoid temptation. Help me make the right decision. Help me live up to my commitments. Change me so I’m more like Jesus and less like the poor role models of the world.”
As Marilyn McEntyre says, prayer brings to our attention that God is present wherever we are and makes where we are sacred ground. E.g., whatever we’re facing here and now, God is facing with us. Every square inch of the earth belongs to God, and God provides guidance for every situation. Prayer quiets and focuses the mind. It helps us tune-out the noise and confusion of the crowds and calms us. It clarifies our intent, which is to be faithful to God. It opens our hearts so that what we want most of all is to do God’s will. It wakens our imagination so that we might accomplish even the most difficult task... God is for us, not against us. And prayer is how we prove this time and time again. Amen
Oct. 19, 2025 When it Seems God Has Let You Down Job 38: 4-11, 42: 1-6; Romans 8: 28, 37-39
Mrs. Jones was my 10th grade English teacher, and Herbert was the teacher’s pet. One noon time, walking by the teacher’s lounge, some of us kids overheard other teachers say that Mrs. Jones was vain about her age. She had been so depressed about turning 40 a week earlier that she didn’t come to school on her birthday. So, before English class we said to Herbert, “Did you know that we missed Mrs. Jones’ birthday last week? How about let’s sing Happy Birthday to her today!”
Herbert was in the school chorus and delighted to lead the singing. So, the bell rings after lunch, Mrs. Jones takes a seat at her desk and begins to take roll. Herbert, big grin on his face, walks up, stands by her desk, and begins to lead us in singing “Happy birthday to you…” Problem was he was singing solo. None of the rest of us joined in. And with fire in her eyes, Mrs. Jones glared at him. “Herbert, just what do you think you are doing?”
Well, ole Herbert was being let down by the class. Shame on us. It was a terrible prank, and those of us involved feel sorry about it to this very day. And we all of us know how Herbert felt. We can compose a list of people who have let us down and how they have done so. We can also compose a list of people we’ve let down, but that’s another sermon. Let’s focus today on being our feelings of being let down or abandoned by none other than God.
Have you ever felt like God has left the building…to cave in on you? As we think about God in our lives, let’s emphasize that our relationship with God isn’t like our relationships with others in one significant way. God is invisible, inaudible, and untraceable in the world of our five senses. The problem this presents us with is how do we know how and when God is there and what God’s up to? With people, we know what they do for us or to us. We see them. With God, there is uncertainty, but it is an uncertainty that the Bible can help us with.
The Bible is our religion’s history with the invisible God. The Bible is clear that God doesn’t promise an easy life. There will be scars, emotional and physical, having to do with what we’ve been through. Read the Beatitudes. Blessed are you when you are persecuted for doing the right thing because you’re on the right track. Jesus tells his disciples, “I send you out like lambs among wolves.” God does not promise a safe, easy life. What God does promise is to be with us, to be supportive, and to help us become skilled in dealing with whatever comes our way.
In the movie, “The Magnificent Seven,” villagers from a town in Mexico that’s under the thumb of a bandit go north to a border town and hire a fellow played by Yul Brynner to recruit a group of gunmen to free their town. And during this recruitment, as these villagers help him keep an eye out for men who might be helpful, they see a fellow walking along the street with a scar on his face obviously made by the slash of a knife. “How about him?” they ask. “He’s a tough looking hombre.” “No,” comes the answer. “We want the man who made that scar.”
Well, the fellow with a scar on his face may may not have been recruited for battling the bandits, but our scars, emotional and physical, remind us that God has been our support in times past and has delivered us intact to this point in time. Our Romans reading says, “In all things God works for good for those who love God and are called in accordance with his purposes.” We are called so that we might become more like his Son, who was also scarred even nailed to a cross, yet overcame the world. God seeks our good always. Still, at times we forget this reality and feel that God has let us down. “How could God let this happen to me?”
Some of you will remember when Princess Diana died in the car wreck. Philip Yancey, author of Reaching for the Invisible God, received a telephone call from a television producer shortly after Princess Diana died. The producer asked, “Can you appear on our show? We want you to explain how God could possibly allow such a terrible accident?” Yancey replied without thinking, “Gee, could it have had something to do with a drunk driver going ninety miles an hour in a narrow tunnel? How exactly was God involved?”
After hanging up, Yancey pulled out a folder containing notes in which God had been blamed for letting certain people down. Boxer Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini, who had just slugged another boxer so hard that the boxer died, said at a press conference, “Sometimes I wonder why God does the things he does.” Why God does the things he does? Who was it slugged the other boxer? And in a letter to Dr. James Dobson, a young woman actually wrote, “Four years ago I was dating a man and became pregnant. I was devastated. I asked God, ‘Why have you allowed this to happen to me?”
Our Romans reading does not say that God gives us immunity from the laws of nature, but that in all things God is at work to help us grow in the spiritual likeness of Jesus. Nothing can happen to us that God cannot use for our spiritual wellbeing. Thus, the question is not how God could let this happen to me, but how is God trying to work in and through me for my good and the good of others in my life? To this end, the great Christian philosopher Kierkegaard said that prayer should be thought of as a struggle with God. We say, “Give me this, God.” God says, “But you need that.” And we may go round and round, but as Kierkegaard says, prayer is a struggle of wills in which we win when God wins. When we agree that God meeting our need to grow spiritually is better than receiving a comfortable life.
Terrible things do happen to us and to others that we clearly cannot blame on God. People take guns to schools and kill students. Not God’s will. People starve to death. Not God’s will. Nature is presently being trashed. Not God’s will. Clearly, there is much that is not God’s will out there, but then there are those things that we’re not so sure about. Like, “Why did I come down with this disease when I’ve always taken care of my health?” Or why didn’t I get the promotion. I was the best candidate.” Or “Why is life so difficult for me, when it’s so easy for my friends.” There are many such questions, and our tendency may be to blame God for letting us down. So, let’s look further at Job’s experience.
We know four things about Job from early on in the story. One, he has suffered the loss of all his wealth. Two, he has suffered the death of all his children. Three, he’s lost his health. And four, because we can see behind the scenes, we know that in none of this is Job to blame. Whereas we cannot detect with our five senses what the invisible God is doing or not doing in our lives, the author of the Book of Job gives us a glimpse behind the scenes in chapter 2. And so, we know from early on in the book that God is not punishing Job for some sin.
Job, though, doesn’t know what we readers know. In his opinion, life should be fair. You do right, you should prosper, not suffer. And he’s always done right. He’s done nothing to deserve such suffering. God has let him down, God is unfair. And so, Job does the unheard of. He demands an audience with God, “Oh, that I might appear in his presence. I would lay my case before him and fill my mouth with arguments. I would learn what he would say to me. There I could reason with him, and there it would be proven that all of what’s happened to me is unfair.”
And surprisingly, God grants him an audience. A conversation between the two begins in chapter 38, which we looked at earlier, and consists largely of God asking Job to imagine how complicated and incomprehensible the workings of God’s creation are. “You seem to think it’s easy being God, Job. You try it.” For example, God makes it clear that he still does daily battle with his old enemy, chaos. Do you remember Genesis 1? “In the beginning when God began to create the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void.” This formless void is a swirling mass of chaos. God separated light from this dark chaos, and land from this watery chaos, etc. But even today, the chaos is still around. It won’t disappear, according to the Book of Revelation, until Jesus returns, “then the chaos is no more,” and the new world begins. But this chaos can now slap us around at times as it oversteps its boundaries in the realm of nature or in human relationships.
God says to Job, “Where were you…when I prescribed boundaries for the sea and said, ‘This beach is as far as your waves come, and shall then stop.” Well, Job obviously wasn’t around when God created the world, and he has given little thought to how difficult it is to keep the chaos of this life – floods, tornadoes, droughts, fires; not to forget germs and diseases; also not to forget lies, quarrels, violence, accidents, etc., etc. – from overstepping their bounds and slapping us around. Most of the time such chaos stays in its place – after all, God set out to create an orderly world in Genesis 1 – but not always. And in our scripture readings Job begins to understand what God’s up against daily. He says, “I have complained about things of which I have no understanding.”
There is no promise made in the Bible that we will have an easy life, but there is the promise that in all things God works for the good of those who love him and want to be gain the spiritual skills of Christ in whatever situation. And this assurance and this outcome help us keep going. Yes, there likely will be scars, but God will give us the needed strength to be faithful, and by our experiences we will gain the skill to handle whatever befalls us.
Did you hear the story about the group of sailors going through basic training? The objective before them that day was to climb a 12-foot high diving platform and jump off into a swimming pool. This one sailor, when it’s his turn, gets to the end of the diving board but can’t bring himself to jump. The instructor calls out, “Your ship is sinking! All hands overboard! What are you going to do?” The sailor answers, “Let it sink ten more feet.”
When our ship is going down, it is not wise to let it sink ten more feet before we make up our mind as to whether God has abandoned us or is with us. By then we could be pulled under with the ship. Ours is to believe the good news that in all things God is at work for our good and to take the leap of faith into whatever comes next while we can. As Paul says in our NT Lesson, “In all things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us…. Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Amen
Sept 14, 2025 Be an Encourager Genesis 27: 21-29, Romans 16: 1-16 Rev. Dewey Johnson A couple once came to me wanting a wedding like a celebrity they had heard about. I can’t recall the celebrity, but there was a bubble machine. The Goo Goo Dolls sang The Wedding Song, Lady GaGa sang Stand By Your Man. It was the GooGoo-GaGa wedding. And as great as this was in some people’s opinion, I told this couple that I didn’t do googoo-gaga. A song was fine at a wedding, so was poetry and scripture, but the focus was to be upon the promises made by the groom and bride as witnessed by those gathered. I was not encouraging of their plans.
Some endeavors do not merit encouragement on behalf of Jesus Christ, but others deserve all the encouragement those involved can receive. In fact, there is a NT personality named Barnabas, whose name means “son encouragement,” Barnabas encouraged his fellow Christians, including the Apostle Paul, and Paul, in turn, encouraged others. For example, he does so in our NT reading by listing people in the congregation at Rome that he wants to greet. Simply remembering and mentioning people at times can be encouraging. There is a husband and wife, Aquila and Priscilla. There is a man, Rufus, and his mother. A brother, Nereus, and his sister; brothers Andronicus and Junias: sisters Tryphena and Tryphosa. There is an elderly fellow, Epaenetus, a single woman, Mary, and a single man, Herodian. And who are these people exactly?
As I have mentioned before, these names sound like any old list of names that when reading the Bible, especially the OT, we assume we can just hurry through. Move on to the next chapter. There’s nothing much here. But sometimes lists of names are much more than just lists of names. For example, over the years we have seen how people went to Washington D.C. and stood before the list of names of those who died during the Viet Nam War. We have seen on our TVs how they hold up children so they can put their little hands on a name, seen how they leave remembrances at the bottom of a column of names, seen how they hold each other and weep. And what this tells us is that there are lists of names that are much more than just lists of names.
“No, these folks are not just a list,” says Paul. “Aquila and Priscilla, why they risked their necks for me, put their lives on the line. Andronicus and Junius, we were in prison together for the faith. Phoebe, she’s been one of my best friends in the Lord. I wouldn’t take for her. And Mary, Mary has always worked so hard. She’s the one who says, “Now Paul, you go on home. I’ll put up the hymnals and clean the coffee pot.” I’d tell her than she needs to get on home too, and she’d answer, “But I don’t have to ride a donkey halfway across Asia tomorrow spreading the gospel like you do. You go on and get some rest. I’ll finish here.”
“Epaenetus, “says Paul, “was the first person converted under my preaching, and I was so excited that I didn’t sleep a wink that night. Tryphena and Tryphosa, identical twins, always dressed the same. I can’t tell one from the other. Now one does have a mole on her left cheek, but I never can remember which one. And tell Rufus hello, and his mom as well, for she is like my own mother. I’d be in a hurry to get on the road of a morning, but she wouldn’t let me out of the door. ‘Breakfast is the most important meal of the day,’ she’d say. ‘Sit down and eat your waffles.”
“No,” says Paul, “this is not just a list. These are the people of my life, people with whom I have shared life in Jesus Christ, fellow church members. So greet one and all. They’re all special to me!” And how are they to be greeted? Perhaps in accordance with how Paul begins his letter to the Romans, “To all God’s beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
All that Paul means by the word saint is that followers of Jesus, including us, for we’re saints too, are set aside to do God’s work. In the Bible, a saint isn’t perfect, sometimes far from it. But a saint knows that his or her job in this life is working alongside Christ as God transforms this tired old world into the new world coming. “Saints R Us,” our T-shirts could say. But we are tempted to behave like others in our society, not like Jesus; determined to get our own way as opposed to God’s will. We’re tempted to ignore injustice, tempted to be hateful or uncaring, tempted to be complicit in the wrongs done by others. We’re tempted to not be saints, and so Paul immediately in his letter provides these saints of his life one of the most encouraging lines in the NT, “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Paul begins all his letters in this manner, “Grace to you and peace.” What you will not find is the reverse order, “Peace to you and grace.” It’s always “Grace to you and peace.” Why? Because grace, which is the internal strength God provides us to live by faith, is sufficient to bring about peace. Being at peace with the life or task that God gives us is not something we have to manufacture on our own. God gives us the needed strength and courage to fight off the stress, laziness, frustration, fears, etc., if we will only take delivery. God’s grace makes peace with our lives possible.
Given, though, the situation that some people are in, or the mood they are in at the time, it may seem to us that a word of encouragement likely will fall on deaf ears. Some of the people we want to encourage may give up or give in regardless of what we do or say. So, let’s think about whether or not words and deeds of encouragement are actually that powerful. And let’s do so by looking at our OT reading.
In the biblical world it was believed that a word, once spoken took on a life of its own, produced the intended effect by its own innate power, and could not be taken back. This, of course, sounds strange and magical to us. We live in a world in which words of advice and words of encouragement often seem “a waste of breath.” Yet, what happens if you stand up and yell “Fire! Fire!” while watching a movie in a dark theater? What happens when careless words are spoken as gossip or in anger? What happens when words are spoken that leave another person feeling disrespected” Words can have an immediate and lasting effect.
Ancient people seem to have understood the effect of words better than we do today. If they wished a person ill, they might pronounce a curse on the person. If they wished a person well, they might pronounce a blessing. And what was considered a high-powered blessing were the words uttered by a father on his deathbed to his eldest son. Words like those in our Genesis reading, “May God give you the dew of heaven and the fatness of the earth and plenty of grain and wine. Let peoples serve you and nations bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers and may your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you and blessed be everyone who blesses you!”
Powerful words that could not be taken back. Jacob and Esau were fraternal twins, Esau first-born. Jacob was their mother Rebecca’s favorite. Esau was their dad Isaac’s favorite, and even with twin boys, first born was important. By tradition, Esau was to get father Isaac’s Isaac’s deathbed blessing. But Rebecca urged her son Jacob to cheat Esau out of it. We read part of this story today. The entire account is in Genesis 27, including the ill will it caused toward Jacob on Esau’s part. Esau was mad enough to kill Jacob, but with the passage of years and God’s grace he forgave his brother.
By and large we do not do death bed blessings anymore, but people we love and respect from time to time may wish us well in a memorable way. A friend or family member may write you an encouraging note or email or say something in passing that puts Hallmark to shame. And like a blessing, these words become a power for good in your life. This person is with you and for you. Instead of lacking courage, you are encouraged. And isn’t the speaking or writing of such words a worthwhile activity for us all? Should not all of us be encouragers of others on Christ’s behalf.
Some twenty years ago when the new Abraham Lincoln Library opened in Springfield, Illinois, one of the displays had to do with the night that Lincoln was assassinated. Found on his body were a small handkerchief embroidered with “A. Lincoln,” a young boy’s pocketknife, a case for his eyeglasses held together with a string, a Confederate $5 Bill, and a worn-out newspaper clipping listing his accomplishments as President. The clipping began, “Abe Lincoln is one of the greatest statesmen of all time.” And why would he carry around such a clipping. Not because he was an egomaniac. No. His popularity soared only after his death. While he was alive he was opposed, criticized, and bitterly hated by many politicians and people on his own side, the North. He was not popular while he was in office. And so he carried the encouraging newspaper article as evidence of his need to be reminded that there were people of goodwill who valued him. Just like Paul valued the members of the Roman congregation.
Our NT reading today lists people that Paul encouraged, the people of his life. And sure, they had ups and downs. They didn’t always get along or agree. Still, Paul loved and appreciated them. Likewise, each of you has people in this church and in other groups, as well as family members and longtime friends who are the people of your life. And just as you need and appreciate their encouragement at times, they need and appreciate yours. So, “Grace to you and peace from God the Father and his son Jesus Christ.” Amen
Some endeavors do not merit encouragement on behalf of Jesus Christ, but others deserve all the encouragement those involved can receive. In fact, there is a NT personality named Barnabas, whose name means “son encouragement,” Barnabas encouraged his fellow Christians, including the Apostle Paul, and Paul, in turn, encouraged others. For example, he does so in our NT reading by listing people in the congregation at Rome that he wants to greet. Simply remembering and mentioning people at times can be encouraging. There is a husband and wife, Aquila and Priscilla. There is a man, Rufus, and his mother. A brother, Nereus, and his sister; brothers Andronicus and Junias: sisters Tryphena and Tryphosa. There is an elderly fellow, Epaenetus, a single woman, Mary, and a single man, Herodian. And who are these people exactly?
As I have mentioned before, these names sound like any old list of names that when reading the Bible, especially the OT, we assume we can just hurry through. Move on to the next chapter. There’s nothing much here. But sometimes lists of names are much more than just lists of names. For example, over the years we have seen how people went to Washington D.C. and stood before the list of names of those who died during the Viet Nam War. We have seen on our TVs how they hold up children so they can put their little hands on a name, seen how they leave remembrances at the bottom of a column of names, seen how they hold each other and weep. And what this tells us is that there are lists of names that are much more than just lists of names.
“No, these folks are not just a list,” says Paul. “Aquila and Priscilla, why they risked their necks for me, put their lives on the line. Andronicus and Junius, we were in prison together for the faith. Phoebe, she’s been one of my best friends in the Lord. I wouldn’t take for her. And Mary, Mary has always worked so hard. She’s the one who says, “Now Paul, you go on home. I’ll put up the hymnals and clean the coffee pot.” I’d tell her than she needs to get on home too, and she’d answer, “But I don’t have to ride a donkey halfway across Asia tomorrow spreading the gospel like you do. You go on and get some rest. I’ll finish here.”
“Epaenetus, “says Paul, “was the first person converted under my preaching, and I was so excited that I didn’t sleep a wink that night. Tryphena and Tryphosa, identical twins, always dressed the same. I can’t tell one from the other. Now one does have a mole on her left cheek, but I never can remember which one. And tell Rufus hello, and his mom as well, for she is like my own mother. I’d be in a hurry to get on the road of a morning, but she wouldn’t let me out of the door. ‘Breakfast is the most important meal of the day,’ she’d say. ‘Sit down and eat your waffles.”
“No,” says Paul, “this is not just a list. These are the people of my life, people with whom I have shared life in Jesus Christ, fellow church members. So greet one and all. They’re all special to me!” And how are they to be greeted? Perhaps in accordance with how Paul begins his letter to the Romans, “To all God’s beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
All that Paul means by the word saint is that followers of Jesus, including us, for we’re saints too, are set aside to do God’s work. In the Bible, a saint isn’t perfect, sometimes far from it. But a saint knows that his or her job in this life is working alongside Christ as God transforms this tired old world into the new world coming. “Saints R Us,” our T-shirts could say. But we are tempted to behave like others in our society, not like Jesus; determined to get our own way as opposed to God’s will. We’re tempted to ignore injustice, tempted to be hateful or uncaring, tempted to be complicit in the wrongs done by others. We’re tempted to not be saints, and so Paul immediately in his letter provides these saints of his life one of the most encouraging lines in the NT, “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Paul begins all his letters in this manner, “Grace to you and peace.” What you will not find is the reverse order, “Peace to you and grace.” It’s always “Grace to you and peace.” Why? Because grace, which is the internal strength God provides us to live by faith, is sufficient to bring about peace. Being at peace with the life or task that God gives us is not something we have to manufacture on our own. God gives us the needed strength and courage to fight off the stress, laziness, frustration, fears, etc., if we will only take delivery. God’s grace makes peace with our lives possible.
Given, though, the situation that some people are in, or the mood they are in at the time, it may seem to us that a word of encouragement likely will fall on deaf ears. Some of the people we want to encourage may give up or give in regardless of what we do or say. So, let’s think about whether or not words and deeds of encouragement are actually that powerful. And let’s do so by looking at our OT reading.
In the biblical world it was believed that a word, once spoken took on a life of its own, produced the intended effect by its own innate power, and could not be taken back. This, of course, sounds strange and magical to us. We live in a world in which words of advice and words of encouragement often seem “a waste of breath.” Yet, what happens if you stand up and yell “Fire! Fire!” while watching a movie in a dark theater? What happens when careless words are spoken as gossip or in anger? What happens when words are spoken that leave another person feeling disrespected” Words can have an immediate and lasting effect.
Ancient people seem to have understood the effect of words better than we do today. If they wished a person ill, they might pronounce a curse on the person. If they wished a person well, they might pronounce a blessing. And what was considered a high-powered blessing were the words uttered by a father on his deathbed to his eldest son. Words like those in our Genesis reading, “May God give you the dew of heaven and the fatness of the earth and plenty of grain and wine. Let peoples serve you and nations bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers and may your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you and blessed be everyone who blesses you!”
Powerful words that could not be taken back. Jacob and Esau were fraternal twins, Esau first-born. Jacob was their mother Rebecca’s favorite. Esau was their dad Isaac’s favorite, and even with twin boys, first born was important. By tradition, Esau was to get father Isaac’s Isaac’s deathbed blessing. But Rebecca urged her son Jacob to cheat Esau out of it. We read part of this story today. The entire account is in Genesis 27, including the ill will it caused toward Jacob on Esau’s part. Esau was mad enough to kill Jacob, but with the passage of years and God’s grace he forgave his brother.
By and large we do not do death bed blessings anymore, but people we love and respect from time to time may wish us well in a memorable way. A friend or family member may write you an encouraging note or email or say something in passing that puts Hallmark to shame. And like a blessing, these words become a power for good in your life. This person is with you and for you. Instead of lacking courage, you are encouraged. And isn’t the speaking or writing of such words a worthwhile activity for us all? Should not all of us be encouragers of others on Christ’s behalf.
Some twenty years ago when the new Abraham Lincoln Library opened in Springfield, Illinois, one of the displays had to do with the night that Lincoln was assassinated. Found on his body were a small handkerchief embroidered with “A. Lincoln,” a young boy’s pocketknife, a case for his eyeglasses held together with a string, a Confederate $5 Bill, and a worn-out newspaper clipping listing his accomplishments as President. The clipping began, “Abe Lincoln is one of the greatest statesmen of all time.” And why would he carry around such a clipping. Not because he was an egomaniac. No. His popularity soared only after his death. While he was alive he was opposed, criticized, and bitterly hated by many politicians and people on his own side, the North. He was not popular while he was in office. And so he carried the encouraging newspaper article as evidence of his need to be reminded that there were people of goodwill who valued him. Just like Paul valued the members of the Roman congregation.
Our NT reading today lists people that Paul encouraged, the people of his life. And sure, they had ups and downs. They didn’t always get along or agree. Still, Paul loved and appreciated them. Likewise, each of you has people in this church and in other groups, as well as family members and longtime friends who are the people of your life. And just as you need and appreciate their encouragement at times, they need and appreciate yours. So, “Grace to you and peace from God the Father and his son Jesus Christ.” Amen
Oct 12, 2025 Upset Beyond Repair Psalm 23, Matthew 5: 38-42
There is a series on Netflix called, “The Vikings,” not the people who attack your credit card or who compete against the Packers, but those who raided England ca. a thousand plus years ago. The Vikings believed in Odin, Thor, and Freda, the old Nordic religion; the Kings of England and their people were Christian, one side or the other constantly outraged by the other’s religion. “Let’s retaliate against those ‘filthy pagans,’ or let’s get revenge on those ‘dirty Christians.’ Back in those days, of course, what both sides needed was a bath with lots of soap.
The series showed how the beliefs of each religion guided the respective leaders. The Viking gods encouraged getting revenge; the Christian God is against revenge, of course, but often ignored. The series covered enough years that some of the Vikings began to question their way of life, as well as their gods. They grew tired of always being angry and vengeful. It was not a good way of life.
Their war weariness resonated with me because I have known people in my past who were “upset beyond repair,” constantly offended by one person or another for this or that. My question has always been, “Where do people get the time and energy?” Constantly being upset is an exhausting way of life, yet more and more people are choosing to go into it. Frank Bruni, the columnist, says, “We live now in an era defined and overwhelmed by grievance – by too many Americans obsessed with how they’ve been wronged and their insistence on wallowing in anger. This anger reflects a pessimism that previous generations did not feel… It’s a problem of humility.” Or put another way. When we’re acting arrogantly, we feel entitled to things going our way. And when they don’t, we’re outraged. And note that Bruni is not saying to never be upset by another’s behavior. How can we not? He would agree with those of us in the church who say, “Deal with it, and move on. Otherwise, you are ignoring the joys of and wasting the opportunities of life by doing no more than wallowing in anger.
In fact, Jesus calls us to be peacemakers. “Blessed are the peacemakers,” he says in the Beatitudes, and elsewhere he says, “Peace be with you.” So, let’s think today about peacemaking and being at peace.
Psalm 23, the first part can be applied to a variety of situations, including wallowing in anger. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. Shall not want when it comes to calming down. Yes, what that so-and-so did is offensive, insulting, yet I’m okay. Why? In prayer the Lord makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside still waters, he restores my soul. E.g., God grants me peace, helps me regain my sense of humility. Who am I to demand that life always goes to my liking? Furthermore, He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. God’s not going to let me do something unrighteous or vengeful in an attempt to get even… And Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow I will fear no evil. God is going me get through this thing. Through and not stuck in some dark place consumed by outrage. God is with me; thus, peace is possible.
When we’re really upset by the way someone has mistreated or insulted us, it’s time to pray long and hard. For the good news is that The Lord is like a shepherd. Ours is to follow. He leads me to rest and nurture. Calms my soul. Protects me from my baser instincts. Guides me in the ways of humility and faithfulness. Supports me as I take the next step of faith.
The second part of Psalm 23, then, has to do with a different situation. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Goodness and mercy shall pursue me. Note that there is a change at this point in the psalm, from God as shepherd to God as gracious host. And it’s not you who are outraged at another, it’s others angry with you.
In the ancient Middle East, if you were on the run from enemies seeking to take revenge, literally running through the fields with your enemies hot on your heels; if you can make it to a neutral person’s tent and touch the tent flaps of the opening, your pursuers have to cease and desist until the tent owner comes out and says, yes or no, this person is under my protection. It was an unwritten law. And if you are declared to be under the tent owner’s protection, your revenge-seeking enemies have to stay a certain distance away so long as the tent owner, God in Psalm 23, gives you hospitality and sanctuary, which God does. God is gracious. God prepares a feast for you in the presence of your pursuers, who have to remain a certain distance away from the tent, yet are glaring in at you through the tent opening, looking on as God provides the care that will enable you to continue your journey. And so, there is a change of attitude. Your cup overflows as you realize that more so than the harm and vengeance pursuing you, it’s the greater goodness of God and God’s mercy that have your back.
The sanctuary of a neutral tent was necessary because arguments and accidents happened in biblical times as they do today. People hurt one another, sometimes unintentionally or accidentally; still, their intent and their relatives’ inclination was to retaliate. But rather than vengeance, the matter could be taken before a judge. There is a commandment found in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers called the Lex Talionis, that limits the retaliation one can take against another person. Jesus refers to it in our NT reading today. “A life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, wound for wound.” No more.
Let’s say that a Hatfield accidentally or intentionally gouges out the eye of a McCoy. According to this commandment, the McCoys can gouge out one of the Hatfields eyes, but no more. Can’t gouge out both eyes, certainly can’t kill him. A peacemaker’s resources include the doctrine of limited retaliation, between individuals, families, and nations.
Limited retaliation may be the most that peacemakers can hope for in many situations. Yet, Jesus expects more of his followers. In the movie version of the musical “Fiddler in the Roof,” Jews living in Russia had experienced a time of peace. But then the government enacted a pogrom and violently confiscated their property. So, a fellow Jew says to Tevye about the Russians, “We should defend ourselves. ‘An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.’” To which Tevye replies:” Very good. And that way, the whole world will be blind and toothless.” Or in the movie “Gandhi,” depicted is the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of peaceful Indians by the British. A political ally says to Gandhi, “After what the British did, it’s an eye for an eye.” To which Gandhi replies, “An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind.”
But it wasn’t Tevya, whose people were being oppressed by the Russians, or Gandhi, whose people who were oppressed by the British, or even Martin Luther King who first came up with such a principle. It was Jesus, whose people in Palestine were being oppressed by the Roman occupational troops. He says in our NT reading. “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. If anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also.”
Jesus’ mission, which he entrusted to the church, is to witness to God’s ways to all people for all people. And to bring about the possibility for peace one defuses incendiary incidents. Jesus says, “If anyone strikes you on the right cheek…” Note, it’s the right cheek, not the left. And where does that come from? Military occupation. If a Jew was in the way of a Roman soldier, say, not moving along fast enough, what might the Roman soldier do? Backhand him was the practice. And which cheek would a backhanded blow delivered by a righthand strike? The right cheek, not the left. And then to turn the other cheek requires peacefully standing one’s ground rather than cowering in the hope of not being struck again. It could cause Roman soldiers to wonder what motivates these followers of Jesus.
Such conduct is what Jesus also refers to when he says in the beatitudes, “Blessed are the meek,” which involves a Greek word, praus, that does not translate well into English. What he says, in effect, is blessed are those who oppose violence with non-violent means. They’re on the right track with their lives. For another situation that offended the Jews was this. Roman soldiers occupying a country, and they occupied many countries, by their own law, Roman law, could force civilians to carry their heavy packs or equipment a certain distance, but no further. So, when Jesus says, “If anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second,” he is saying choose to be humble. Don’t refuse, defuse, and by doing so save one of your friends, neighbors, or relatives from having to carry the pack. Show the soldier that you are different. You don’t live by hatred and revenge.
Again, being backhanded by a soldier of the occupying force is not a fist fight. It’s an insult. So is being forced to carry a soldier’s backpack. One is being treated like a pack animal. And who handles insults better – one who has self-control and chooses to be humble, or one who loses control and acts arrogantly? One whose fuse it lit, or one who defuses?
The good news today is that God helps keep us calm, helps us be in control rather than out of control. For the Lord is my shepherd when I am insulted, I shall not want. The Lord makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside still waters, he restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness rather than in the ways of grievance and retaliation. Surely God’s goodness and mercy, which are greater than insult and revenge, are with me. I’m okay. Blessed are the peacemakers. Peace be with you. Amen
There is a series on Netflix called, “The Vikings,” not the people who attack your credit card or who compete against the Packers, but those who raided England ca. a thousand plus years ago. The Vikings believed in Odin, Thor, and Freda, the old Nordic religion; the Kings of England and their people were Christian, one side or the other constantly outraged by the other’s religion. “Let’s retaliate against those ‘filthy pagans,’ or let’s get revenge on those ‘dirty Christians.’ Back in those days, of course, what both sides needed was a bath with lots of soap.
The series showed how the beliefs of each religion guided the respective leaders. The Viking gods encouraged getting revenge; the Christian God is against revenge, of course, but often ignored. The series covered enough years that some of the Vikings began to question their way of life, as well as their gods. They grew tired of always being angry and vengeful. It was not a good way of life.
Their war weariness resonated with me because I have known people in my past who were “upset beyond repair,” constantly offended by one person or another for this or that. My question has always been, “Where do people get the time and energy?” Constantly being upset is an exhausting way of life, yet more and more people are choosing to go into it. Frank Bruni, the columnist, says, “We live now in an era defined and overwhelmed by grievance – by too many Americans obsessed with how they’ve been wronged and their insistence on wallowing in anger. This anger reflects a pessimism that previous generations did not feel… It’s a problem of humility.” Or put another way. When we’re acting arrogantly, we feel entitled to things going our way. And when they don’t, we’re outraged. And note that Bruni is not saying to never be upset by another’s behavior. How can we not? He would agree with those of us in the church who say, “Deal with it, and move on. Otherwise, you are ignoring the joys of and wasting the opportunities of life by doing no more than wallowing in anger.
In fact, Jesus calls us to be peacemakers. “Blessed are the peacemakers,” he says in the Beatitudes, and elsewhere he says, “Peace be with you.” So, let’s think today about peacemaking and being at peace.
Psalm 23, the first part can be applied to a variety of situations, including wallowing in anger. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. Shall not want when it comes to calming down. Yes, what that so-and-so did is offensive, insulting, yet I’m okay. Why? In prayer the Lord makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside still waters, he restores my soul. E.g., God grants me peace, helps me regain my sense of humility. Who am I to demand that life always goes to my liking? Furthermore, He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. God’s not going to let me do something unrighteous or vengeful in an attempt to get even… And Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow I will fear no evil. God is going me get through this thing. Through and not stuck in some dark place consumed by outrage. God is with me; thus, peace is possible.
When we’re really upset by the way someone has mistreated or insulted us, it’s time to pray long and hard. For the good news is that The Lord is like a shepherd. Ours is to follow. He leads me to rest and nurture. Calms my soul. Protects me from my baser instincts. Guides me in the ways of humility and faithfulness. Supports me as I take the next step of faith.
The second part of Psalm 23, then, has to do with a different situation. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Goodness and mercy shall pursue me. Note that there is a change at this point in the psalm, from God as shepherd to God as gracious host. And it’s not you who are outraged at another, it’s others angry with you.
In the ancient Middle East, if you were on the run from enemies seeking to take revenge, literally running through the fields with your enemies hot on your heels; if you can make it to a neutral person’s tent and touch the tent flaps of the opening, your pursuers have to cease and desist until the tent owner comes out and says, yes or no, this person is under my protection. It was an unwritten law. And if you are declared to be under the tent owner’s protection, your revenge-seeking enemies have to stay a certain distance away so long as the tent owner, God in Psalm 23, gives you hospitality and sanctuary, which God does. God is gracious. God prepares a feast for you in the presence of your pursuers, who have to remain a certain distance away from the tent, yet are glaring in at you through the tent opening, looking on as God provides the care that will enable you to continue your journey. And so, there is a change of attitude. Your cup overflows as you realize that more so than the harm and vengeance pursuing you, it’s the greater goodness of God and God’s mercy that have your back.
The sanctuary of a neutral tent was necessary because arguments and accidents happened in biblical times as they do today. People hurt one another, sometimes unintentionally or accidentally; still, their intent and their relatives’ inclination was to retaliate. But rather than vengeance, the matter could be taken before a judge. There is a commandment found in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers called the Lex Talionis, that limits the retaliation one can take against another person. Jesus refers to it in our NT reading today. “A life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, wound for wound.” No more.
Let’s say that a Hatfield accidentally or intentionally gouges out the eye of a McCoy. According to this commandment, the McCoys can gouge out one of the Hatfields eyes, but no more. Can’t gouge out both eyes, certainly can’t kill him. A peacemaker’s resources include the doctrine of limited retaliation, between individuals, families, and nations.
Limited retaliation may be the most that peacemakers can hope for in many situations. Yet, Jesus expects more of his followers. In the movie version of the musical “Fiddler in the Roof,” Jews living in Russia had experienced a time of peace. But then the government enacted a pogrom and violently confiscated their property. So, a fellow Jew says to Tevye about the Russians, “We should defend ourselves. ‘An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.’” To which Tevye replies:” Very good. And that way, the whole world will be blind and toothless.” Or in the movie “Gandhi,” depicted is the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of peaceful Indians by the British. A political ally says to Gandhi, “After what the British did, it’s an eye for an eye.” To which Gandhi replies, “An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind.”
But it wasn’t Tevya, whose people were being oppressed by the Russians, or Gandhi, whose people who were oppressed by the British, or even Martin Luther King who first came up with such a principle. It was Jesus, whose people in Palestine were being oppressed by the Roman occupational troops. He says in our NT reading. “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. If anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also.”
Jesus’ mission, which he entrusted to the church, is to witness to God’s ways to all people for all people. And to bring about the possibility for peace one defuses incendiary incidents. Jesus says, “If anyone strikes you on the right cheek…” Note, it’s the right cheek, not the left. And where does that come from? Military occupation. If a Jew was in the way of a Roman soldier, say, not moving along fast enough, what might the Roman soldier do? Backhand him was the practice. And which cheek would a backhanded blow delivered by a righthand strike? The right cheek, not the left. And then to turn the other cheek requires peacefully standing one’s ground rather than cowering in the hope of not being struck again. It could cause Roman soldiers to wonder what motivates these followers of Jesus.
Such conduct is what Jesus also refers to when he says in the beatitudes, “Blessed are the meek,” which involves a Greek word, praus, that does not translate well into English. What he says, in effect, is blessed are those who oppose violence with non-violent means. They’re on the right track with their lives. For another situation that offended the Jews was this. Roman soldiers occupying a country, and they occupied many countries, by their own law, Roman law, could force civilians to carry their heavy packs or equipment a certain distance, but no further. So, when Jesus says, “If anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second,” he is saying choose to be humble. Don’t refuse, defuse, and by doing so save one of your friends, neighbors, or relatives from having to carry the pack. Show the soldier that you are different. You don’t live by hatred and revenge.
Again, being backhanded by a soldier of the occupying force is not a fist fight. It’s an insult. So is being forced to carry a soldier’s backpack. One is being treated like a pack animal. And who handles insults better – one who has self-control and chooses to be humble, or one who loses control and acts arrogantly? One whose fuse it lit, or one who defuses?
The good news today is that God helps keep us calm, helps us be in control rather than out of control. For the Lord is my shepherd when I am insulted, I shall not want. The Lord makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside still waters, he restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness rather than in the ways of grievance and retaliation. Surely God’s goodness and mercy, which are greater than insult and revenge, are with me. I’m okay. Blessed are the peacemakers. Peace be with you. Amen
