Most of us would like to be judged on our good intentions, not necessarily on things we actually do. We want to do the right thing, but so often temptations or distractions get in our way. I may intend to eat properly in order to stay on a healthy diet, but if I am distracted and eat too many treats, my body is not going to judge me by my intention. I will gain weight. Some good intentions which go astray are less benign. I’m sure that when a newly elected senator or congressman first is elected, they have all sorts of ideas of the good that they are going to do in Washington. But soon, their intentions are corrupted by the need to raise money for reelection; they become captive to the interests that support them, and they become part of the system. I understand that even Osama bin Laden did not start off with the idea that he would start a terrorist organization; his intention was to help the poor people of Saudi Arabia. What starts off as well intentioned can soon become corrupted by our human desires for power, or recognition, or security. The best of intentions can turn evil.
Our institutions start with great purpose to serve humanity, but they can be corrupted too. We all get caught up in them, we become enmeshed in them. There is a scene in John Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath in which a bank manager comes out to a farm to tell the owner that his farm has been foreclosed. The manager is his neighbor and friend, and he would do anything to help, but he is an agent of the bank and has to do his duty. It’s just business, and they are both caught up in the system. The leaders of Egypt probably wanted a good life for the people, but threats to their power resulted in a brutal repression instead. They too were caught up in their corrupted system. Our own banking system exists to help people with financial concerns, but it became corrupted by greed, lost its bearings, and almost brought down the whole financial system. Our healthcare system is in place to help people who are sick and injured, but it has become so big, and people, hospitals and insurance companies are making so much money from it, it is draining our economy without improving our overall health. Even churches whose purpose is to form people with the Good News of Jesus, providing hope for the world, are susceptible to power plays, sexual misconduct, and doctrinaire and exclusionary behavior. It is so with all of our human institutions, and we are caught up in the corruptions of the systems, sometimes as victims, sometimes even as perpetrators.
The thing is, we need these systems. They exist for good reasons, they begin with good intentions. They provide governance and justice, help the sick, give people jobs, help with finances. We need government, we need churches, we need banks, and we need healthcare. How do we deal with them when they become corrupted, when they do not live up to their good intentions? If they cannot be destroyed, they must be redeemed.
Our temptation is to destroy evil and to kill our enemies. Walter Wink calls this the myth of redemptive violence. It is a myth that is ingrained in our culture. It is in many of our movies and stories. Clint Eastwood comes to town and blows away the bad guys, and everything is supposedly returned to its state of goodness and light. But something happens to the Clint Eastwood character along the way. Violence has hardened him, he has taken on the evil that he came to destroy. The townspeople, feeling relieved but guilty and cowardly, ask him to leave.
But in today’s gospel Jesus says we are to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us, so that we may be children of our Father. We cannot love our enemies by killing them. The sun rises on the evil and the good, the scripture says. God loves even our enemies. Even our enemies are children of God, made in his image. We cannot destroy what God loves. If they cannot be destroyed, they must be redeemed.
That does not mean that we should not resist evil institutions or become victims of our enemies. Jesus resisted the power of the Roman empire and the Jewish establishment. He refused to follow the purity codes that kept people in their place, he treated women as equals, he defied the laws that maintained the hierarchy, he held up the dignity and equality of every human being, not just the rich and powerful.
And in today’s gospel he shows how to resist our enemies without killing or destruction. “If anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other cheek.” This is not a manifesto for victimhood. It is actually a call to nonviolent resistance and insistence on one’s own dignity. Walter Wink explains that when you strike someone on the right cheek, you can only do it with your right hand by a backhand blow. That was only done to slaves, women, and others who were ‘lesser’. To turn the other cheek required that the person had to be hit like an equal.
“If anyone takes your coat, give your cloak as well.” In other words take off all your clothes and stand there naked. While that may have been shameful, it would be even more shameful for the one who forced you into nakedness. You would be exposing not only your body, but the injustice of the situation. It is also a way of asserting your personal free will in a situation of force.
“If anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile.” It was Roman law that a soldier could press anyone into service by requiring them to carry their pack for one mile. This was the law that allowed them to require Simon of Cyrene to carry Jesus’ cross. But there was a limit, only one mile. To go also the second mile again asserted one’s autonomy in an otherwise dehumanizing experience. It could also get the soldier in trouble if their superior officer found that the gear was carried farther than was allowed.
Rather than giving in to the oppression of the powers that ruled over them, the scenarios that Jesus describes are acts of defiance. By taking the injustice and expanding them to their ridiculous conclusion, these acts highlighted the injustice. By doing so there might even be a chance, just a chance, that the enemy will realize their inhumanity and act differently. In any case, the victim has asserted their humanity and made a statement against the injustice without violence or breaking the law.
By such acts of resistance and by loving our enemies we have a chance to redeem at least a part of the systems we are caught up in. It can actually work. Witness the remarkable events in Egypt last week when nonviolent protest brought down a corrupt regime. The protesters insisted on their own humanity and dignity. They called out and named the corruption that oppressed the people. They brought the government back to its best intention and its original purpose to provide justice and opportunity for all.
Loving our enemies is not for namby-pambies. It takes a lot of courage to turn the other cheek, or strip naked, or go the extra mile. It took courage to protest in Tahrir Square in Cairo. But that is what God calls us to do. We are to love our enemies, correct them when they are wrong, pray for them to see the light. We are to love our enemies back to their best intentions, back to goodness, back to their sacred purpose. Because that is exactly what God does for us. When we wander off our path, God loves us back to our best intentions and highest purpose. God loves us into redemption.