Weakness
"You have heard it said, and eye for an eye...but...
"If someone sues your for your shirt, give him your pants too. Right there in front of everyone."
"If your boss uses his or her power to control you in ways that are not in your job description. Ask him or her if there is anything else that they need done."
Jesus taught these three little lines in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:38-42. They are short, but they are full of implications. It's interesting. I've been taught that Jesus was not weak. He was strong. He's powerful. He's in control. Hmmm...
When Jesus was in his final days, he was getting grilled from the High Courts. "Are you the king of the Jews?" He wouldn't answer their questions. He just stood there. Is that a sign of his weakness?
Then they started beating him. They took all his clothes. They humiliated him. He still didn't do anything about it. He just took it. He went along with what they were doing. Isn't that weakness?
Back to the his teaching today. What is weakness? Is Jesus teaching us to just grin and bear it? Do we have to be weak too? Why would Jesus teach us this? Why did Jesus just let people kill him? Why didn't he stop them?
In another place in the Bible Jesus is tempted by Satan. Jesus doesn't fight back. He simply answers Satan. He doesn't give in, but he doesn't really do anything but resist what Satan wants. Isn't this weakness too?
In yet another teaching, Jesus says whoever saves his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. That sounds weak.
In his commentary series, N.T. Wright explains what Jesus was doing here.
"These ideas are only sketches, like cartoons to give you the idea. Whatever situation you are in, you need to think it through for yourself. What would it mean to reflect God's generous love despite the pressure and provocation, despite your own anger and frustration?
Impossible? Well, yes, at one level. But again Jesus' teaching isn't just good advice, it's GOOD NEWS. Jesus did it all himself, and opened up the new way of being human so that all who follow him can discover it. When they mocked him, he didn't respond. When they challenged him, he told quizzical, sometimes humorous, stories that forced them to think differently. When they struck him, he took the pain. When they put the worst bit of Roman equipment on his back - the heavy cross on which he would be killed - he carried it out of the city to the place of his own execution. When they nailed him to the cross, he prayed for them.
The sermon on the mount isn't just about us. If it was, we might admire it as a fine bit of idealism, but we'd then return to our normal lives. It's about Jesus himself. This was the blueprint for his own life. He asks nothing of his followers that he hasn't faced himself."
Weakness is trying to prove yourself to everyone. Weakness is looking for approval. Weakness is insecurity. Weakness is doing things to impress people. Weakness is standing up for yourself. Weakness is being selfish.
Strength is standing up for others. Strength is enduring hardships with a smile, because you know that no person can actually change who you are. Strength is being the same person in all situations. Strength is not letting outside forces change who you are.
Strength only comes from God. Strength is a gift from Jesus Christ and his life given for you. Where does your strength come from? If it is not from God, it is not really strength. It is weakness.
Jesus has done it again. He proves that he is showing us a whole new way to live. He has come to bring us a better way to live. He teaches us what it really means to be saved by grace and live as members of the Kingdom of Heaven. How serious are you about living in the Kingdom? Do you really believe that there is a better way to live?
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