Taking Things a Bit Far

But whoever
slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to
sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. And whoever
compels you to go one mile, go with him two. (Matthew 5:39b-41)

Come
on now. Really? Isn’t that a little extreme? Turn the other cheek and let
someone slap you again? Give even more, even when what has been taken wasn’t
fairly deserved? Keep on going and going and going, even when you shouldn’t
have had to go at all?

Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, at least in its basic premise, is widely known by most
Christians. We realize that on that day, surrounded by His disciples and
hundreds if not thousands of other curious followers, Jesus raised the bar. He
demanded a righteousness that surpassed that of the most pious Pharisee, but He
also doled out lots of grace, right? 

Hmm. Not so much that day. Actually on that day, He required grace…from His followers, from those who had received such amazing grace.

Fortunately,
Jesus’ sermon wasn’t an explanation of how to get into the Kingdom of Heaven.
If it were, none of us would be able to enter. But instead this powerful and
compelling treatise is a description of the kind of behavior expected of those
who are already kingdom bound, those who have accepted God’s grace gift of
salvation and set out on their journey with Jesus.

As
Christ followers, we are expected to live contrary to the rest of the world,
but also contrary to the demands and desires of our own flesh. This is no
picnic, folks. This is pure, hard obedience.

How
do you do it? How do you turn the other cheek, give more than expected, go the
extra mile?

Sermon
on the Mount living requires real humility. We have to put others first,
realize we don’t deserve anything,
lay down our rights, submit to Christ’s authority and the authorities He has
put over us, and yield… Yield to Him, yield to others, yield the
right-of-way.

The
way I see it, the only way that’s going to happen in my life is if I first
develop a true and abiding trust in my God. You see, if I trust Him to defend
me, trust Him to provide for me, trust Him to bring about justice, trust Him to
avenge me, trust Him to take care of me, trust Him to heal my hurts, trust Him
to bless me….

then
I’ll be able to stop looking out for “number 1” and willingly and gladly give
to, love, and yield to others instead.

Do
you trust God enough to let go? Do you trust that He has your back? Do you
trust that He is good all the time and that He has promised to never leave you?
Do you trust Him enough to obey…no matter what?

That
is Sermon on the Mount living.

Have you been
wrestling with something God has asked you to do because you feel it isn’t fair?
Forgive, sacrifice, submit, obey, go further, wait, yield your rights? You can
trust Him. Really you can.