February 20, 2022
Today and next Sunday we are looking at things Jesus said and asking, Did Jesus really say THAT? Did he really mean THAT? Next week is about when Jesus’ followers couldn’t heal a boy. And Jesus came on the scene and said, “How much longer do I have to put up with you?”
This week, we’re looking at the verse from Luke 6 where Jesus says, “If someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer them your left.” Let them slap you again. That just sounds crazy! What would you really do if someone slapped you? You might slap them back. Or run away and don’t let them slap you again! Or call 911. Or tell your teacher. It would not be easy to turn the other cheek. Did Jesus really say that?
Yes, he did. It is in the sermon on the mount, in the Bible in the gospel of Matthew chapters 5, 6 and 7. And it’s also in the gospel of Luke chapter 6 verse 12-49. It’s in the Scriptures twice.
If someone slaps you on the cheek isn’t the only crazy thing Jesus says. He also says, if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. And Jesus also says, do good to those who hate you.
As you read the Sermon on the mount, or in Luke the sermon on the plain, you get the idea, Jesus is asking us to do some crazy things. He has really high expectations for us. He wants us to love our enemies. He says do good to those who hate you. Jesus really DID say turn the other cheek. But did he mean it?
Jesus’ saying is challenging to us church people! Because you know, becoming a Christian is pretty easy. You pray a prayer, you come to believe in God. You confess Jesus as Lord. We might feel good that we believe the right thing, that we are Christians.
But when you read the gospels, when you read the letters of the apostle Paul, there is nothing written about anybody becoming a Christian. The first Christians did not call themselves Christians. The word that is used often instead of Christian in the Gospels, is disciple: which means follower. The word Christian is only used three times in the New Testament. Jesus’ followers were first called disciples. The word disciple was used 238 times in the gospels. Jesus invited people: come, follow me. Jesus had many disciples, there weren’t just the 12. There were many people, who decided to follow Jesus.
So, the question of following Jesus isn’t, did I check the box of believing the right thing: I believe in God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit? The question instead is, am I following Jesus’ example?
The thing is, Jesus said these crazy things, like if someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to him the other. He said do good to those who hate you. To do what Jesus said, to be Jesus’ follower always costs something.
When Jesus gave this sermon on the mount, (as it’s called in Matthew) or the sermon on the plain, (as it’s called in Luke), it was a big deal! A large crowd of his disciples was there: not just the 12. People from all over came to hear Jesus and be healed of disease.
Jesus preached to them, If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?…Love your enemies, do good to them, and lend without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked (Luke 6:32-35). People in the crowd were amazed. Jesus taught with authority! He had these extraordinary values that didn’t make sense to people. But they were so amazing!
Did Jesus really MEAN what he said? Did he really MEAN you should turn the other cheek and let someone slap you a second time?
Jesus preached this great, inspirational sermon, but did he MEAN it? Did he do what he told his many followers to do?
Right after the sermon, Jesus went to Capernaum. A Roman Centurion sent some Jewish elders to Jesus, asking for help. A servant, whom the centurion highly valued, was sick and near death. Would Jesus cure him?
To the disciples who had listened to the sermon Jesus just preached, they thought, surely Jesus won’t help this guy. He is a Roman Centurion, a commander who enforced discipline among the people. He wasn’t Jewish. The Romans were the ones who would throughout history, come in and desecrate the Jewish temple, ignoring the religion of the Jews. The Romans would take Jews as slaves. About the time Jesus was a baby, it was the Romans who would start using crucifixion as punishment. Crucifixion wasn’t just a way to kill people. It was designed to maximize pain and suffering. There was too much history of how horrible the Romans were to the Jews. So, when a Roman officer shows up and asks Jesus to heal his servant, surely Jesus will say no! If the Centurion was a common person, even a Roman, who never hurt anyone, he might help him. But he is a military officer with Jewish blood on his hands. He causes suffering for a living!
What would you do? You might help a stranger who never hurt you. But would you help someone who hurt you and your people?
But when the centurion sent for help, Jesus said, yes. Sure, I’ll help. Jesus is here, walking the walk, not just talking the talk. He is living out the sermon he just preached. He will help the Centurion, the enemy of the Jews.
Jesus through his actions is teaching a new morality, a new way of seeing everybody in the world. He will help this centurion, who is an officer for the empire that will eventually, oversee Jesus’ own execution: his death on a cross.
But still, Jesus says, ok, I will help.
Jesus expects his followers to do good for those who won’t do good to them Jesus expects you to do good for those who don’t look like you, who don’t live like you, who don’t think like you, and who don’t agree with you.
Jesus not only taught crazy things in the sermon on the mount and the sermon on the plain. He actually DID those crazy things. He said turn the other cheek, and he actually meant it! Jesus helped his enemy.
I majored in Russian language in college, and in 1984 I studied for a semester in a program for American students in the Soviet Union. I was very curious to see what Russians thought. Why would they put up with their repressive government? Most Russians I knew just stayed away from the topic of religion or government. Some Russians I talked with who were willing to criticize the government spoke to me in their apartment with the phone off the hook and the TV on, so they wouldn’t be easily recorded or heard. They knew their phone was bugged.
But Sasha was a student I met who wanted to talk about government and religion. He spoke with no TV on. He liked the Soviet government. He liked strong leaders. He said he liked Stalin. Stalin was the leader of the Soviet Union from 1922 to 1953. During his leadership he had millions of his own citizens killed. He likely killed more people than Hitler did. Mao Zedong, who was the founder of the People’s Republic of China, killed millions when he led China. To Mao, Stalin was a hero. Mao you could say was a disciple of Stalin. Stalin has a horrific legacy. The Soviet Union took down a lot of statues of Stalin; he was too much even for the Soviet Union! But Sasha like Stalin, a strong leader.
And you know what Sasha said to me about Christianity? He said, “I heard that Jesus said, ‘When someone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the left.’” Sasha thought that was weakness! He said hat Christianity makes people have no backbone.
I told Sasha that yes, Jesus said that, and I believe what Jesus said is true. I didn’t change Sasha’s mind.
But when you look at history, would you rather follow Jesus, or Stalin? What Jesus said about loving your enemy sounds crazy. But genocide is much crazier! It’s horrifying! Stalin was a strong leader. But I will take Jesus any day!
Jesus words and actions are breathtaking! He teaches and acts in a way that is extraordinary in what he asks of his followers. Christianity is more than being content to believe in God. In the end, the people who make a difference in the world are not the ones who believe right. They are the ones who follow Jesus: even when it costs them.
Who are the inspirational people to you? When you think of a Christian you would consider an outstanding Jesus follower, who do you think of? It’s most likely someone who talks the talk and walks the walk of Jesus.
My homework for you this week is to think, what’s your next step as a Jesus follower? Who can you move toward?
Don’t settle for Christian. Jesus doesn’t call us to be Christians. Jesus instead calls each of us to follow him. There is always a cost. We are all confronted at some point by our own version of a Roman centurion: an enemy. God demonstrated his own love toward us by sending his son to die for us. God takes away our sins and does not give us what we deserve. The people who make a difference in the world are not the ones who believe right. They are the ones who follow Jesus: even when it costs them. Jesus says, “Go and do likewise.” Amen.
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