You have heard the law that says
the punishment must match the injury: ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a
tooth.’ But I say, do not resist an evil
person! If someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek
also. If you are sued in court and your
shirt is taken from you, give your coat, too.
If a soldier demands that you carry his gear for a mile, carry it two
miles. Give to those who ask, and don’t
turn away from those who want to borrow.
Matthew 5:38-42
From many of my devotions, one would be able to gather that
I have a decent sense of the civil rights challenges of the 1960s. This became a topic this week as the last
living speaker at the March on Washington from 1963, John Lewis, died over the
weekend. It was of course a somber
moment, but also one to pause and reflect on the great contributions he
made. He was only 23 when he made his
speech in Washington, which was a pretty good speech. In fact, it was a great speech for such a
young man, but of course, there was another speaker who would steal the show
that day. However, he would be
remembered most of all for being beaten by police in a peaceful march in Selma,
AL, but taking a beating was but a small piece of the story. The beating he took was to him a small
sacrifice for what he wanted; freedom for the people of his cause. And once that
beating was seen across the world, it would become the catalyst that pushed the
Civil Rights Bill to be passed later that year.
Would any of us be willing to take a beating for that? We serve a God who did more than that as
Jesus allowed Himself to be placed on the cross for our sins. You see we gain far more for giving our lives
for others than we would for ourselves.
In serving God, we gain far more serving Him than
ourselves. In reading today’s verses, it
talked about not taking vengeance out on those who would do us harm. But as I looked at it today, it occurred to
me that this is not necessarily just about our taking vengeance into our own
hands. It’s about realizing God’s plan for our lives. It’s about the gift of grace that only He can
give. These verses don’t explicitly say
it, but it is clear what the intent is.
We cannot find fulfillment in vengeance at all. However if we surrender
our will to God and are willing to give rather take in those circumstances, we
gain God’s favor, and our hearts become filled with His Spirit. That explains why we feel so much better when
we give rather than receive. Our
willingness to sacrifice for the benefit of others takes on a closer walk with
God. It takes our focus away from others
(man) and puts it squarely on Him. That
is something we all aspire to do.
Being able to give our lives to God in all things is the
true sense of life living for Him. Jesus
also said, “There is no greater love than
to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:13) There is a reason the old hymnal goes, “Oh,
what a friend we have in Jesus.” He laid
it all down for us. All we offer in
return pales in comparison, and while He certainly did not do it with an
expectation of something in return, we owe it to Him to not waste the
opportunity given by His willful sacrifice.
That is why I am grateful for the sacrifice of a John Lewis. It is why we should willing give of ourselves
to Christ to help those who so desperately need a savior like ours. Let us show others the love as Jesus has
shown us. Who can you commit to give
more of yourself for Him? What areas of
your life could you give more to help others?
My prayer is that we take from the example of others who came before us
and give for others. Amen.
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