Fourth Sunday after Trinity, 2003
Luke 6:36-42

Little Britches is one of the best series of children's books we have discovered. It tells the story of an eight-year-old boy named Ralph who moves to a Colorado Ranch in the year 1906. His nickname is Little Britches. In those days children attended a one-room schoolhouse. The first day of school, a bully named Freddie punched Little Britches on the cheek. Little Britches' family was devoutly Christian and his mother had told him, "Ralph, if you get into a fight in this new school, I shall give you a hard thrashing when you come home. The Bible says that if your enemy smites you on one cheek, you are to turn the other. I want you to follow that teaching absolutely." With those words ringing in his ears Little Britches went to school the second day. At recess Freddie punched him again. The third day Freddie tried it once more. This time Little Britches fought back fiercely and beat him. Jesus' command to offer the other cheek has always been a hard one to heed. Let's now consider the implications of turning the other cheek.

In the Gospel passage for today Jesus sets out some challenging precepts: "Be merciful as God is merciful Judge not, Condemn not, Give [generously]" Is Jesus telling you to be merciful, generous and non-judgmental towards your friends? Yes. It is always good to be merciful and patient with your friends and family members. Sometimes we are more polite with perfect strangers than we are with the people in our house. The Lord forbids a scolding, critical spirit. Lobbing hand grenades of emotional hurt is the quickest way to destroy a home and marriage. But these orders of Jesus go beyond your treatment of friends; your enemies are included too. In context, if you back up a few verses, Jesus exhorts, "But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you. To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also" (Luke 6:27-29). These demands cover friends and enemies. You show genuine love even towards those who are hostile to you.

What kind of love ought your enemies to receive? The word is agape in the original. Agape love describes an active feeling of graciousness towards the other person; it means that no matter what that person does to you, you will still seek his highest good; you will go out of your way to be good and kind to him. This is quite jolting to some. They have become accustomed to despising their enemies, thinking bad things about them, and dreaming up ways to get revenge. If that is your practice, the Lord says "No, you can't do that!" Granted, you will be incapable of loving your enemies as you love your closest friends and family members. To do so would be impossible and even wrong. But you can see to it that, no matter what others do to you, even if they insult, ill-treat and injure you, you will seek to treat them well. Why is this required? Jesus tells us why. "Be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful." How is God the Father merciful? The Heavenly Father is "kind to the unthankful and evil." We should therefore follow His example, although, this love towards mean people does not come easy.

I have a friend who arrived early at the Rose Parade to reserve some seats. He and his buddy picked their places and waited for other friends and family to come. However, a fellow came later and tried to run them off. In the process he heckled them, hurling obscenities and insults. As much as possible the two remained calm and composed. Eventually, their good attitude allowed them to win the approval of the fellow's family, and even the police who were patrolling the route. It took great effort to put up with this guy, but it paid off. Jesus does not give us difficult instructions in order to make us miserable. If we practice this piece of teaching we will get along with each other better and live richer and happier lives. No doubt, to love our enemies takes willpower. It is something that requires hard work and we will only attain it by the grace of Christ. Nevertheless, if we can do it, the benefit is great.

"Love your enemies To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also Judge not, condemn not, forgive, be merciful" These are the guidelines for Christian conduct. Does the Lord prohibit the administration of justice in law-courts? Do these instructions even carry over to judges sitting in the tribunal? What about policemen patrolling the streets, and generals leading their troops? People sometimes get confused about how to apply these dictates of Jesus. It is a bit complex, but with the help of other Bible passages and Church history we should be able to figure it out. How has Church Tradition put these mandates of Jesus into practice? Christian tradition has made the distinction between what one may do or achieve as an individual and what is required of the community. It is the teaching of Jesus to show mercy to someone who has done me harm. As an individual, I should refuse to retaliate, and abstain from getting back. I must turn the other cheek when struck, and continue to accept the person who has done this to me as a friend. Jesus promotes this love of enemy idea so that I can move on from the wrongdoing that has been done to me in the past and seek reconciliation in the present. However, having made that point, we must insist that things change the moment we bring a third party into the equation.

Suppose you live in a condominium. Your neighbors live upstairs, and you reside in the downstairs unit. You hear your neighbor come home drunk one night and beat up his wife and kids. You're distressed about it but don't say or do anything. The next night he comes home and does the same thing, and this goes on for a week. You're really getting upset. The wife has a black eye and a broken arm; the children can't hide their bruises. What do you do, finally? Do you say, "Well, I let this go on for a week, so now I can't do anything?" No, either you call the police, or you confront the violent man yourself. And why? It is out of love of neighbor. [Example borrowed from James Turner Johnson's conversation with Christopher Hitchens. Found on the internet: eppc.org.] The law of love for neighbor moves you to defend him. The same injustice you may choose to forgive if done to yourself, you do not allow to happen to others. Love is the motivating factor. The same principle holds for the judge in the courtroom, the policeman on the beat, and the soldier in the field.

The decision to wage war against grievous injustice is necessary based on the love of neighbor. The Church also acknowledges the depravity of man as a factor. Of all people it is the Christian who has a realistic perspective on the nature of man. Original sin suggests that sin is spread far and deep in this world. Those who read history know that savagery is the norm. In the absence of Christian morality in society injustice threatens to break out. Civilization is fragile. Remove the restraints and people begin to rip each other apart. Evil rulers search for any weakness in their neighboring countries, and when the see an opportunity they send in their troops to invade, committing mass rape and butchery. This is the reality that the civil magistrate faces and what he is called to quell. Romans 13:1 states, "Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities he is God's minister for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God's minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil" (Romans 13:1,4). Hence, what the Bible requires for the individual and for the community is vastly different. On an individual level Jesus tells us to love our enemies, and turn the other cheek. On a group level the reverse is true. When a tyrant tries to crush innocent people it is better to defend the just against a cruel tyrant even if that means using force. St. Ambrose wrote, "the bravery which guards the fatherland from war from the barbarians or defends the weak at home or one's allies from robbers, is full of justice." For both Ambrose and Augustine, violence can be a good thing when used to defend the innocent. Love of neighbor undergirds everything. It is therefore a Christian's duty to resist the evil of a violent attack on an innocent person, even at the cost of having to use violent means oneself. [I am indebted to Mars Hill Audio for introducing me to the works of James Turner Johnson: The Quest for Peace , and Ideology, Reason, and the Limitation of War .]

About ten years ago I had a good friend who happened to be a Roman Catholic. Theologically we had our disagreements, but culturally we shared identical views on everything, everything except pacifism. He was a pacifist. Pacifists are opposed to war or violence as a means of settling disputes and they refuse to bear arms on religious grounds. We had several discussions about just war and pacifism. One point that he often brought up was the assertion that the Early Church was pacifistic. This argument I conceded to him because I had heard it before. According to some authors, true Christianity rejects violence and war, following the example of Jesus; the early Christians themselves lived out this example and rejected all involvement with war and any military service for themselves. When did things change? Once the Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity in the fourth century he persuaded Christians to enter the military. Believers thereafter became soldiers and fought. But, according to the pacifists, this was a terrible mistake and a complete turnaround from the purity of the Early Church. Well, in reality, this claim is half correct.

Around the year 200 Clement of Alexandria could write: "Has knowledge [of God] taken hold of you while engaged in military service? Listen to the commander, who orders what is right." [Ante-Nicene Fathers Vol. II, p. 200.] In several places Clement suggests that he accepts military service as one possible occupation alongside of farmers, sailors, and businessmen. One could be a soldier while growing in the Christian life.

The best piece of hard evidence we have concerns a legion called the "Thundering Legion." During antiquity a legion was made up of around 10,000 soldiers. In the year A.D. 173 the Thundering Legion was known to be composed of Christians. Whether the legion was entirely or mostly Christian we don't know. Since in those days sons almost always followed in the steps of their fathers, we can speculate that at least some Christian soldiers had populated this legion for a couple prior generations. In other words, from the outset, or at least from the year 100, Christian laymen had served simultaneously in the military and in the Church. [See Turner's Quest for Peace ; p. 46.]

At the end of the fourth century, St. Ambrose and St. Augustine began to build a theological basis for just wars. Ambrose suggested that war might be waged for the purpose of protecting Christian orthodoxy. St. Augustine gave the opinion that killing in a war determined to be just is morally justified. It does not violate the commandment, "Thou shall do no murder." In Hebrew the words for "kill" and "murder" are totally different. The Sixth Commandment prohibits murder, yet allows capital punishment and just war.

Centuries later, during medieval times, theologians such as Gratian and Thomas Aquinas continued to construct a just war theory. The Reformation made it contributions. This has been the mainstream perspective of the Church. Every just war thinker has grappled with the tough question: when is it right to make war? The conditions have to be just right because the majority of wars throughout history have been unjust. War often creates vicious behavior, causing slaughter to guilty people and innocent alike. Pacifists are right to warn of the potential horrors of warfare. On the other hand, some wars have brought about monumental good. World War II is an example of that.

What are the conditions that may justify war? It's a big discussion. One sermon fails to do it justice. Maybe we can give the answer of a typical just war theorist. Raymond of Penafort was a contemporary of Thomas Aquinas. His works appeared in the 13th century. He lists five conditions, all of which are necessary, for a war to be just:

1. The person making war must be a layman and not an ordained minister. Clergy may not draw blood. 2. The object of the war must be to recover goods or defend one's country. 3. The cause must be to obtain peace after all other means have failed. In other words, force must be the last resort, and peace must be the goal of the war. Pacifists seek peace, but so do just war advocates. 4. The intention of the war must be to obtain justice. War should never be instigated out of hatred, vengefulness, or greed. 5. Lastly, the authority to declare war may come from the church, when the war is of the faith, but otherwise it proceeds from the order of the prince, or civil magistrate.

A careful examination of Scripture and Tradition reveals two levels of response to hostility. A distinction should be drawn between the individual and the community. As an individual Jesus call you to love your enemies and be merciful to them as God is merciful. As a head of state Jesus calls you (when all other measures fail) to use force to protect other people from harm and injustice. That seems to be the message the Spirit has given the Church. Lord, help us to put it into practice your precepts.

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