Turning the Tables--July 5, 2023
[Jesus said:] "...And if anyone wants to sue you and take your tunic, give your cloak as well; and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two." [Matthew 5:40-41]
How do you change things for the better when you don't have power?
How do you make a difference when you don't control the levers of political policy-makers or have the weight of your wallet to force others to do what you want?
How do you insist on your own dignity without either caving into to bullies or denying their own worth and value as humans made in God's image?
How do you expose unfair or unjust treatment without inciting more injustice against you for speaking up?
And how can love have any ability to set things right in the world if it won't coerce or threaten people into the desired behavior?
I am convinced that this is exactly what Jesus has in mind at the heart of the Sermon on the Mount as he continues to equip his followers to deal with the real world without giving into hatred and retribution. He is neither idealistic nor out-of-touch, but is addressing people who find themselves powerless (by usual measures) and seeking both to survive and seek God's will in this very real, very messy world. And it has everything to do with the way Christ-like love "bears" the injustice of the world and offers a correction for it that doesn't use the tactics of injustice or coercion to get its way.
Let's start by seeing where Jesus assumes his listeners are in the social settings he imagines. They are the ones being sued, dragged into court, and at risk of losing their livelihoods. They are the ones being forced by the Roman or Herodian soldiers (who are sort of both police and army at the same time) to carry a burden for them. But Jesus doesn't envision his followers taking someone to court to get the shirt off their back, and he doesn't envision us as the bully centurion abusing their power to intimidate an ordinary peasant into carrying their equipment for them. Jesus assumes his community is in the position of being powerless, and his counsel is for how to live justly when an unjust world is trying to squeeze you.
Now right off the bat, it's worth noticing what Jesus doesn't have in mind: he doesn't envision his followers seizing power, giving themselves the leverage, and imposing their will on others. There is no thought from Jesus of trying to replace the pagan Roman Empire with a "Christian" empire that will coerce non-Christians to do our bidding. But neither does Jesus think we are helpless to bring about change without being the ones pulling the strings. The power we have to change things isn't the threat of force or fear, though; it is the capacity to absorb and redirect the mistreatment others direct toward us without answering it in the form of more mistreatment. That kind of approach turns the tables on the bullies.
So in the case of someone threatening you with a lawsuit, and in the worst-case scenario of poor peasants who don't have much but the clothes of their backs, Jesus' response to "give your cloak as well" forces both the one suing you and the wider public to see what they are trying to do to you. Your choice not to fight on your opponent's terms is meant to compel them to see that they are trying to take your very last belongings, in the hopes that they will be shaken up and shocked into realizing that they're the villain here, not you. And even if they don't, the wider community will see, come to your aid, and give you what you need for clothes, while pressuring the one suing you to change course of action. By going to the extreme of giving the additional (and more expensive) cloak as well as your tunic, you put the one suing you in the spotlight and call attention to their course of action.
And in the instance of going "the second mile," the context is similar--it's about someone with more power pressuring you into doing something, and how you expose that abuse of power. In our culture we use the phrase "going the extra mile" to mean something different--we talk about it as if you are choosing to do an extra-special good job for a customer at work or the boss who could promote you or the family member who has asked for a favor. But Jesus is addressing a different kind of situation--it's about how we respond when someone is trying to leverage their power over us. In Jesus' setting, that's most likely a scenario of a Roman soldier forcing a bystander to carry something for them--like the soldiers did to Simon of Cyrene by forcing him to carry Jesus' cross. Jesus knows that if you mouth off to a Roman soldier (who is entrusted with enforcing Roman "law and order"), they'll have reason to arrest you, beat you, torture you, or even outright kill you, just to make an example out of you. It's not that you don't have the "right" to resist the Roman soldier, but that it could be a death-sentence for you and those you love. But on the other hand, if you just do exactly what the solider compels you to do, you give the Empire exactly what they want at a deeper level: your perfect acceptance of their terms. You give the impression that it's their intimidation that is making you do what they want.
But... what if you surprised the soldier and did more than what was ordered, and without their asking or compensation? Well, now you've shown them that you aren't doing things because they are "making" you. You are showing you aren't intimidated by them, but also that you aren't going to give them any reason or excuse for them to harass you. They can't credibly accuse you of insubordination or troublemaking... and yet you are undermining the Empire's source of power by refusing to let their threats dictate what you do. It's about not letting the one abusing power set the terms of relationship or determine your course of action. And it points to a different Reign, a different Kingdom, that subverts Rome's claim to be the Ultimate Power. Most of all, it allows the possibility--even if it is only just a possibility--that those in love with power will be moved by the power of love, as the old saying goes.
For what it's worth, this same approach is what undergirded Gandhi's nonviolent resistance to the British Empire--he called it "satyagraha," or "truth-force." And it was the same basic logic as the willingness of the Freedom Riders, sit-in participants at segregated diners, and marches across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, to shake the powerful out of their abuse of power by their willingness not to answer violence with violence or hatred with hatred. Those were movements in which people who did not have power used the witness of their willingness to answer abuse with love--to bear and endure when evil was done to them without returning it back. And even if it didn't immediately change the hearts of the ones with setting the fire hoses on them or unleashing the police dogs on them, it did draw public attention and eventually began change through social pressure on the powerful.
All too often in our day, church folks assume that the way to change the world for the better starts with Christians having to occupy positions of power, and that if we can get ourselves in charge of branches of government, then we can force everyone to do what we think they should do. But instead, Jesus calls his followers to use the position of being without power to change things without intimidation or coercion, just by our witness. Jesus' followers won't refuse to help or serve someone who asks for our assistance--even if we don't know or don't like them (I can't imagine Jesus' neighbors liked the Roman soldiers who harassed them into walking and carrying their equipment, after all). In fact those moments give us the opportunity to show Jesus' kind of love--especially for the people we don't know or like. And when we do find ourselves feeling pressured by those with power, our second-mile response has the capacity to shock the other person into reconsidering their position, as well as answering them with love rather than giving them reason for hate.
In a time when Christians are often known for a "You can't make me do something for THAT person" attitude, especially for people deemed "other," Jesus calls us to surprise those around us and to question the order of things by answering coercion with compassion and leverage with love. And that kind of subversive response has the power to change things, even if it happens one life or one moment at a time.
Lord Jesus, give us the courage to use even situations that feel powerless in ways that reveal the power of your love.
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