Jesus: Perfection

Who is Jesus?  A bible study through the season after Epiphany during which you use the See-Judge-Act methodology.  Aida Irizarry-Fernandez describes this way of bible study as an "action/reflection process rooted in liberation theology and thinking." (Engaging the Bible: Critical Readings from Contemporary Women chapter III "A Communal Reading" page 17)  You'll need an open heart, a willing spirit, and a creative imagination to explore the text in this way.  When you finish your study, discover your own breath prayer.  The breath prayer is an ancient form of repetitive prayer which will emerge from your engagement with the biblical text.

Study Suggestion:  Why not consider asking a few people to join you in a "communal" reading using this See-Judge-Act method!  

Matthew 5:38-48
"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. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well; and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile.  Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you.  "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'  But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.  For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?  And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?  Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Movement 1/See (Read the Text closely/Examination:) We pay attention to the story, the characters, and their original context.   Re-create the scene in your mind’s eye.  Consider time, place, and people.  Consider what you learn from your five senses.    What do you see, hear, smell, taste, and touch?    Visualize what Jesus was doing as he engaged other people … family, friends, strangers and enemies.

This is our fourth week with the Sermon on the Mount as we continue to listen to Jesus teaching his disciples and followers.   To give our study context this week I turn to Jesus and Nonviolence: A Third Way by Walter Wink.   As Jesus invites people into the kingdom of God, he challenges both the violent “fight” and the passive “flight” reactions to abuse and oppression.   

In an online essay entitled Beyond Just War and Pacifism: Jesus' Nonviolent Way, Wink identifies this “third way” as the way Jesus embodies the kingdom.  He says, “nonviolence is not just a means to the kingdom of God; it is a quality of the kingdom itself.”   He also points out that nonviolent resistance was not a new idea to the Hebrew people.   Read Exodus 1:15-21 and remember the brave midwives Shiphrah and Puah?   Take the three instances referred to in our study passage and listen to Wink’s interpretation of the passage through the culture of early Christianity.  (See Beyond Just War and Pacifism: Jesus' Nonviolent Way)

1)     if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also

°         “We are dealing here with insult, not a fistfight.  The intention is clearly not to injure but to humiliate, to put someone in his or her place.  One normally did not strike a peer thus, and if one did the fine was exorbitant ... A backhand slap was the usual way of admonishing inferiors.  

2)     if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well

°         If one were to do this, it “would mean stripping off all their clothing and marching out of court stark naked!  Imagine the guffaws this saying must have evoked.  There stands the creditor, covered with shame, the poor debtor's outer garment in the one hand, his undergarment in the other ... Nakedness was taboo in Judaism, and shame fell less on the naked party than on the person viewing or causing the nakedness 

3)     if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile

°         This saying “is drawn from the relatively enlightened practice of limiting the amount of forced or impressed labor (angareia) that Roman soldiers could levy on subject peoples to a single mile ... forced service was a constant feature in Palestine from Persian to late Roman times, and whoever was found on the street could be compelled into service … In order to minimize resentment in the conquered lands, at least some effort was made by Rome to punish violators of the laws regarding impressment.”

Much of the time we interpret these passages and have them interpreted for us in such a way to make us passive.  Wink says that “part of the confusion surrounding these sayings arises from the failure to ask who Jesus' audience was … victims.”    As victims of oppression and workers for peace and justice, we should be able to read the sermon on the mount and rejoice that we have all been give freedom to recover our “human dignity” by learning to live by principles of nonviolence in the same way Jesus did.   There is the sense as we are coming close to the end of the sermon on the mount that we are being called to a higher standard of living than we imagine.  Indeed Jesus calls us to “perfection” which is a rather unfortunate translation of the Greek word teleios {tel'-i-os} which means finished, completeness growth, mature and whole.   It does not mean that one makes no mistakes, only that one is on a journey of healing, wholeness, and continual maturation.    In Wesleyan theology, Jesus is talking about sanctifying grace.

The followers of Jesus were broken and demoralized.   The early Christians were victims of the Roman Empire.  Read the text closely with this context in your mind and with a measure of sensitivity to the situation of the oppressed.   Listen to Jesus speaking into your heart as though you were sitting on that mountain not knowing how to change emerge from your brokenness to live in the love that Jesus speaks of …

How does one come to “love their enemies?”   How do you feel about these strange things that Jesus says after hearing the passage with deeper knowledge of the culture in which he spoke them?    What is the overall message that Jesus is trying to convey to his followers? 

Jesus says, “be perfect.”   What does that mean to you?   What is Jesus really saying?

Movement 2/Judge (Look at your Life/Spiritual Discernment:) We seek to examine our own lives as we live in community ... search the text as you keep it in its original context and bring it into the "now" through the act of cross-cultural reading.   Consider why Jesus acted as he did and said the things that needed to be said.  Concentrate your attention on Jesus as you seek to be formed in his image and live as he lived.  

Reread the passage, again keeping its context fresh in your mind.  Who are the people in your neighborhood?  Is there oppression or brokenness that you know of?  What is the good news that needs to be heard?  What is God’s purpose for the church in light of what we have heard?   How can we “be” the church for others, especially for those who are fearful of the “church?”    Do we need to make any changes in the way we interact with the people in our neighborhood?  Are we making a difference in anyone’s world?   How are we challenged by this passage and the sayings of Jesus?   How do we embody the kingdom?

Movement 3/Act (Take action in Light of your Faith/Transformation:) We are called to work so that the reign of God can be realized in the world today.  Work with creativity and compassion, follow the Spirit, meditate on the Word and expect that God will show you how to take action as you apply what you have learned.  

What steps need to be taken in order for our church to change?  What steps need to be taken in order what we might work to change our world?  How will our family, friends, community welcome or rebel against any changes that are made.

What specific things are we doing to build up the kingdom of God? 

Prayer:  “From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required.”  (Luke 12:48b NRSV)  As we are called to act, we sincerely seek the empowerment of Spirit and we are changed.  We become more like Christ.  I invite you to discover your breath prayer

·         Take time to quiet yourself within. Acknowledge and then let go of all your busy thoughts.

·         Allow a “new” name for God to emerge or simply use the name you usually use when you pray to God

·         Consider the invitation to follow Jesus that emerged during your time of study

·         Work with your words until you have about 6-8 syllables which is the most comfortable to breathe … or pray this one:  

(breath in) O God, make me whole … (breath out) make me holy … 

As you continue to pray your prayer as you breathe throughout the day, you may find that God’s invitation seeps into you and that God’s love begins to flow in to you and out from you into a world that hurts.