2005-08-19
Good Morning Faithful Readers,
The Holy Spirit leads me to continue with a series of questions that will take up the next several devotions. These are important questions, ones that delving into will give us a deeper understanding of why God has called us to a higher law than mankind's. The first question is: would we be in the situation we find ourselves in now, had we been living under God's laws rather than mankind's?
To begin, let's review MT 5: 38-42 for Christ's words from the Sermon on the Mount. "You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.' But now I tell you: do not take revenge on someone who wrongs you. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek; let him slap your left cheek too. And if someone takes you to court to sue you for your shirt, let him have your coat as well. And if one of the occupations troops forces you to carry his pack one mile, carry it two miles. When someone asks you for something, give it to him; when someone wants to borrow something, lend it to him." The phrase "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth" comes from EX 21: 23-24 in a section of the Torah about dealing with violent acts. In that reference, if a woman is hurt, her husband has the right to demand the same punishment for her attacker. Another reference to this concept is found in Balaam's vision after God has told him to only say the words He gives him in LV 24: 20. "Amalek was the most powerful nations of all, but as the end it will perish forever." This one has its immediate and its symbolic meaning. The Amalekites were among Israel's first enemies, and you'll remember that a fierce battle was fought with them during which God was teaching the Israelites obedience. That's the battle in EX 17: 8-16 in which Hur and Aaron were instructed to help Moses keep his arms up. As long as they were up, the Israelites were gaining control. If they were dropped, Israel began to lose it. Balaam's prophecy in LV 24: 20 also pointed toward the future, one that hasn't happened yet even in our time. That is the time when we have been promised that evil will be ended, the same one that is prophesied in DN 9: 27. There is also a reference in DT 19: 21 in a section of the Torah discussing the making of false accusations which uses the "eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth" concept. "In such cases show no mercy; the punishment is to be a life for a life, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, and a foot for a foot." This is the same section in which Jews are told "at least two witnesses are necessary to prove that a man is guilty" [DT 19: 15]. These instructions in the Torah gave mankind as system of God's justice, which had never been seen before.
In MT 5: 39-41 above, Christ's law takes us to a higher plane of righteousness by eliminating retaliation altogether. From personal experience, I can testify to how difficult it is for flesh-driven mankind to practice this elimination of retaliation, much less to understand and accept it. For example, suppose someone combines truth we don't want to face with fiction in a statement that is an insult to us. Our first instinct is to strike back. We want to say something has hurtful as was said about us. This instinct transcends getting a good education, as I have seen such exchanges in print with interpretations of archeological evidence discovered or in medical journals where one team of researchers is questioning the voracity of findings by another. I have also seen them in the course of a brawl outside of a bar in east Oakland, CA (where I had been sent by the insurance company I was then working for to take a recorded statement at the scene of a burglary). Righteousness is learned behavior, and it isn't learned overnight.
Our materialistic human nature makes us recoil at the thought of giving away or loaning what has been acquired as we are told to do in MT 5 :42. Had we been obeying the message of MT 6: 19-21, regarding placing our riches in heaven, it would not be so hard for us. But sadly, most of us are not. This is particularly true in a materially wealthy community such as our own. Most of us can't know from first-hand experience if the need is genuine when we are asked for a donation, because we haven't experienced the need ourselves. But Christ is telling us, it's better to donate anyway to avoid risk of refusal if our own need does become genuine. This teaching is most certainly an out-growth of the Jewish emphasis on the giving of alms, God's effort to train us away from the natural selfishness of our fleshly selves. God will also tell us when to give by leading us to check out if a charity is genuine; there are web sites that will assess how much of the donation actually goes to the cause for many of the main charities. We also become very willing to donate or even raise money for a charity that helps the cause of an illness from which either we or a loved one suffers. In my own experience, I've been burned when loaning books to people who don't share my same scruples about returning them when finished. To that end, I make it my business to keep a written list of things loaned, so after a reasonable time I can ask for their return. This was born out of a bad experience I had. The only sample of my deceased father's signature that I have is in the front cover of a little book on the U.S. Constitution that I used to study for an American civics exam. A friend asked to borrow that book, and took three years to return it-only after I had asked her for it a few times.
In asking ourselves why Christ's teaching here is so important, we can go back to MT 7: 13-14, as I often do, to think of Him opening the narrow gate that leads to the hard path to eternal life. It's the thought that He will take us by the hand and even carry us on that path, if we will only let Him do that.
PRAYER: O Lord, part of our imperfection is our desire for godless retaliation at the wrongdoing of others (either perceived or real) and our materialistic self-centeredness. Alone that is bad enough, but in combination with other imperfections, we can begin to see why You were motivated enough to give Your only begotten Son on the cross for us, so that we might be saved from slavery to sin. What a great sacrifice that was for ones who never deserved it! We are blessed by that, and we are blessed by the compassion of Your heart in donating His physical life to this cause. You told Him, in JN 6: 39-40, that His main purpose should be to bring as many of us as possible that You have given Him back to Your side in heaven for eternal life. Your love has been shown in Your own purpose which was stated in EPH 1: 4-5, "Even before the world was made, God had already chosen us to be His through our union with Christ, so that we would be holy and without fault before Him. Because of His love God had already decided that through Jesus Christ He would make us His sons-and this was His pleasure and purpose." We know that without You, there would be no righteousness in us, and we acknowledge our on-going need for a love relationship with You. We need Your leadership in our lives. We also acknowledge the unselfishness and goodness of the great sacrifice of Your Son for our opportunity for salvation. And yes, Dearest Abba, we thank and praise You for the gift of the Holy Spirit, who teaches us and encourages us to travel the hard path that leads to eternal life. Your lessons don't come easily to us, but we will still set our hearts at learning them and in sharing our faith in Christ with others. We dedicate our lives and ministries to Your glory. In Christ's name, amen.
Next week, we will look at the next question: Did Christ come to change the Law? The answers will help us deal with the overarching question of why we, as believers in Christ, are called to a higher law. In the meanwhile, how can we not take time to observe the many evidences revealed to us of God's love for each of us. While somewhat dated, the story of footsteps in the sand, really illuminates this. God knows traveling that hard path leading from the narrow gate is difficult. He is willing to take our hand all along this path, even carry us when we can't stay on our own feet. All we must do is yield up control of our lives to Him and let Him lead. He was created for that purpose and does it so much better than we can. Because of His loving heart, He encourages us to gain strength by working through our challenges in a God-led way. We must trust the truth that God never places challenges in our lives too great for us to overcome when we live by His word. He has promised us that it is not His intent to break our spirits in 1 COR 10:13. Our Lord loves His human creation, and must be severely disappointed when a person continually rejects Him. His desire is for each of us to know Him well, trust Him, and for us to spend a blissful eternity with Him. So, we are encouraged to "keep our eye on the prize" as Paul says in PHIL 3: 14. Real happiness and joy is not only in the process of living out faith in Christ, but in receiving and affirmatively answering "our call through Christ Jesus to the life above."
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn