Let me simply add to Alison's work from yesterday Jesus then goes on to show clearly that righteousness cannot be defined by the law, but the roots of righteousness must be found at the level of desire. He reveals the evil of human desire to be much more drastic than the law could fathom and righteousness as having to do with a transformation of that desire: so anger is the same as murder, a lustful look the same as adultery, being caught up in the stumbling blocks of desire much worse than any form of physical defect, not one of which can exclude from heaven. This world of drastically sinful desire is treated as a relational reality: Jesus is not talking about some sort of wicked desire locked into the solitude of an individual person which must somehow must be exorcised. He is talking about a deformation of relationality such that we are scandalized by each other and give scandal to each other. This can be shown by the remedy: freedom is to be found by not allowing oneself to be caused to stumble by the evil done to one: one must not resist evil, on must go the second mile. I have to stop here. This is not a 'give up' attitude or give them a break or let them off the hook. It is - an action that says I will not go along with that evil. I will not let that evil turn me into another form of evil. I will stop the action - now. I will - even if it means that I will suffer consequences that may be the end of me - love that enemy - that neighbor. Most would call that foolishness. And yet, we are taught that it is on the way during that second mile that lives can change and transformation can take place. In the presence of the followers of the Messiah - life, in all of its violent potential, can take on another face and a new direction. We may not see the change - that is not our task. We are invited into life that does not fall for the desire to judge and therefore bring us all to the brink of warfare. We are invited into the miracle of dialogue - always a relational adventure. Connection: Going that second mile seems next to impossible. It is tough enough to put up with the junk in place right now. Going the second mile is tough because it can so easily be viewed as going along with the evil. Yet, the second mile must be full of faithful argument and imagination so that there can be that movement from blame to mutual healing - something we may never thought was needed. O God of life, take us on the road again. Open our hearts to your loving presence so that we will be a part of the healing and transformation of our relationships. Amen. |
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