Resistance & Repentance

Resistance & Repentance
Welcome to the 4th Sunday in Lent…Lent is the 6 weeks or 40 days that lead up to Easter. It’s the season in the church where we are preparing for the celebration of Jesus’ resurrection. But in order for Jesus to be resurrected, it means that Jesus has to die. So, Lent is that journey that we remember Jesus makes, but also that we make…So that we may trim away the part of us that needs to die in order for us to experience the full potential of Jesus’ resurrection. The way we have been doing that here at Sheridan-Norway United Methodist Churches is through our series, “From Hurt to Healing.” Each week, we’ve explored a theme or topic relating to being hurt or hurting others. We’ve discussed shame—the feeling that those victims or sinned-against feel when something has been done to them that is not right. We’ve discussed guilt—the feeling that offenders or sinners feel when they’ve done something wrong and they realize that it is wrong…And last week, we shook our pop cans up in our discussion of anger—what happens when our anger turns into rage and that it’s okay to be angry, but we need to be angry at the right things…And each week as we’ve done that, we’ve had some physical responses—we’ve been packing our suitcase along this journey & filling it with those things either an actual item or written down—those things that are keeping us from recognizing the full power of Easter and Jesus’ resurrection & our healing….
This week, we are starting to shift into healing…Our first 3 weeks were working at identifying the hurts or what may be at the center of those hurts…For those who experience shame, I hope that you’ve explored why that is for you—what has someone done that has developed that shame in you? Or what is it that you feel guilty about? What have you done to someone else that you feel you have done wrong? Or what are you truly angry about and how do you channel your anger into something positive rather than something destructive and avoiding rage.
Those who have been wounded naturally seek revenge in anger—destructive or creatively…Our job is to channel our anger into something creative rather than something destructive. The ideal situation when someone has been wronged would be for the offender to recognize it and seek forgiveness, but that doesn’t always happen. So if it doesn’t the victim needs to confront the offender because by doing nothing means that the victim allows the offender to live with their wrong. To punish or get rid of the offender in someone way really just starts a new cycle of resentment & violence…as Ghandi once said, “An eye for an eye ends up making the whole world blind.” And Jesus taught very clearly in our passage from Matthew about turning the other cheek. So what does it mean to turn the other cheek? Or go the second mile? Or give someone your cloak?
In his book From Hurt to Healing, Andrew Sung Park identifies three principles in Christian responses to victimization: challenge, care, & respect. Now, the order of these should be: care, respect, & challenge because we can’t challenge the offender without care or respect because if we didn’t—it would only lead to further conflict. Think about the last time someone had given you criticism…did you accept it or did you get offended? How much of that had to do with the person giving you the feedback and whether or not you knew that they cared about you?
Let’s look first at challenge…And we’ll look at it using the passage from Matthew—specifically: “If anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also.” Now, let’s look at this for a moment…In order to hit someone on the right cheek how do you have to do it? One of two ways—either with your left hand or with the back of your hand. Here’s what makes that offensive…the left hand in Jesus’ time was considered to be completely unclean…if you ate with the right hand—you did other business with the left hand. So to be slapped with a left hand was an insult and dirty…Now to receive a backhanded slap meant something very insulting and demeaning…Actually, today we don’t have wonderful slang terms to describe this type of slap either. What did it mean to be slapped with the back of someone’s hand? A backhanded slap was twice as insulting as a front handed slap. Because a backhanded slap was what one did to another who was inferior or less than them…Masters would backhand slaves to humiliate them… parents to children, Romans to Jews…It was a mark of insult to receive a backhanded slap. And Jesus challenges this behavior by saying, “If someone hits you on the right cheek, turn the other also.” Essentially Jesus is saying, “Let them hit you again.” Some of you may be a little shocked at hearing that because that’s not the way most people have heard or interpreted that part of the passage…This is a very clear form of non-violent resistance as Jesus is saying that the backhanded slap did not do what it was intended to do—I deny your power to humiliate me. Turning to offer the left cheek meant that it would be a front handed slap—the kind of slap that happened between equals. By turning the other cheek, Jesus is saying that we demand to be treated as an equal, not as someone who is less than.
The same is true as Jesus says, “If anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give them your cloak as well.” The cloak refers to the undergarments… So if someone sues you for your coat, give them your cloak as well…In order to give someone both your coat & cloak meant that you would be walking out of court naked. Which as it still is today, was taboo in Israel…But the shame was not on the person who was naked, but on the person who caused them to be naked. It was the Law of Moses that if anyone took someone’s cloak, they were required to give it back at the end of the day because it may be the only thing that they have to keep them warm at night. The very act of taking leaving naked will show the cruelty of a creditor who is exploiting someone who is poor. Walter Wink says that the act can be summed up this way, “You want my robe? Here, take everything! Now you’ve got all I have except my body. Is that what you’ll take next?”
Offenders can be challenged in several ways: nonviolent resistance, noncooperative resistance, civil disobedience, boy-cotts, sit-ins…The offended need to choose a form that does not avoid the principle of care. As Andrew Park says, “Challenge is not a choice but is an obligation for Christians in the face of injustice. Its goal is not to punish or destroy the offender but to help him or her be penitent.”
So what is care? Well let’s turn again to Matthew—“If anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile.” Roman soldiers had the right in those days to force labor on people—they could require someone to carry their supplies or gear for up to a mile, but because so many Roman soldiers had abused this…It was unlawful for a soldier to ask someone to go more than one mile. So, by going the second mile means that the Roman soldier is starting to get a little nervous! And could lead to a comedic scene as the Roman soldier begs the person carrying back his bags! By going the second mile, Jesus is teaching a new third way: not fight or flight, but find a creative alternative to violence and assert your own dignity & humanity. And most clearly doing this out of love…Unrelenting love.
It would be easy to receive a slap on the cheek and not do anything—avoid the person, but starting to build up resentment or hatred…But imagine if in love we demand justice and to be treated equally…If we care for a person, we want them to be better—we don’t want them to continue in their wrongs! It’s not easy to love those people, but if we love them we can’t let people continue in their wrongs…By being silent and not doing anything, we allow the destructive behavior to continue. But Jesus teaches us to overcome evil with good…with love & care.
Everyone needs respect—an attitude of admiration…respect provides positive self-esteem…If someone does not feel respected, it is nearly impossible for any kind of change or transformation to occur. But respect is mutual…both parties need to have a mutual respect for one another.
Elsewhere in Matthew, Jesus gives the ways that the church is deal with conflicts using these same principles. The first step is a private conversation—not calling attention to the issue for everyone, but saying it privately so as to preserve the honor of the individual. If that doesn’t work—the second step is to bring in one or two witnesses which provides protection for both parties. If that didn’t work, the third step was to involve the whole community. And if that didn’t work, the person was asked to leave until they were able to participate in reconciliation…until they were able to repent for what they had done.
Repentance is what we do when we feel guilty for doing something…Well it’s what we’re supposed to do when we feel guilty for doing something. Repentance is a transformation—first of the heart and then of the way that we live our life…The Roman Catholic Church has 6 steps to repentance, which have been tweaked a little bit for our purposes this morning…
First, repentance begins with contrition…which is an internal transformation. It is the decision before God to not repeat the sin. The act of contrition should come because God loves us and not out of fear—but love that leads us to love God & love others.
Second, confession is the next step…confession is an important step in being forgiven, because one needs to know what they’re asking forgiveness for! It can be uncomfortable to admit you were wrong or that you did something that was wrong, so this is a step that many people are unable to do. We’ll look at this more next week as we discuss forgiveness.
Third, repentance means changing one’s behavior…It is the turning around and going the other direction of what you were doing. It is the concrete response to the contrition—in contrition, we promise not to sin again and in repentance, we actually work on not sinning again.
Fourth, recompense—repentance is only genuine when it offers compensation…What can I do for what I have done? If you are not willing to sacrifice to make up for what you have done, you’re not willing to repent.
Fifth, asking for forgiveness. This doesn’t mean that you forget the acts of injustice, but that you are given new opportunities. We’ll explore forgiveness next week.
Sixth, Repentance leads to reconciliation. A genuine act of repentance leads to an opportunity to live in positive relationships once again.
The story of the prodigal child—the son who returned home realized that what he did was wrong…He demanded his inheritance which he essentially told his father he wished his father was dead because that’s the only way that you get an inheritance! Then, he squandered it all away and was forced to feed the pigs…So, recognizing what he had done, he decides that he’s going to go home…He has experienced contrition because he recognizes that he has sinned against God & his father…He has confessed to God and he’s on his way to confess to his father that he knows what he has done…He is going to change his behavior and repent…He is willing to work for his father in order to come home—he’s willing to be treated as though he were a servant in order to make up for what he’s done. He asks his father for forgiveness and ultimately, the father forgives him and they are reconciled in their relationship.
Repentance is done out of love not out of fear…We repent because a loving God leads us to repent not because we think God will love us if we do repent! We want to live our lives differently because God first loved us. We want to live in communion and community with others because God first loved us and God first loved all people!
Resistance is as much about us as repentance is…Both are about recognizing our sacred worth as individuals and that God does indeed love us enough to be better people. To be better than hurting people…To be better than being hurt…We are called to higher than that because of God’s love. God’s unrelenting and unconditional love that claims us as God’s own…The love of God that pulls us from the dark and broken places and gives us the courage that we need to work towards healing. This is not always an easy journey, but it is an important one.
This morning as Evrett plays a song for us, you may have the opportunity to come forward and place something in the suitcase…there is paper up here still to be able to write down someone that you have wronged or has wronged you…something that you need to repent for or something that you need to reclaim from someone else. The altar is also available to pray about those situations and places in your lives. After the song has ended, we will sing together the 4th verse of Amazing Grace.