1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:10,520 May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in your sight 2 00:00:10,520 --> 00:00:14,920 O Lord our strength and our redeemer. 3 00:00:14,920 --> 00:00:16,920 Amen. 4 00:00:16,920 --> 00:00:24,960 For the past few weeks, our son John has been working on his second grade living museum 5 00:00:24,960 --> 00:00:28,360 project and a lot of you were involved in that as well. 6 00:00:28,360 --> 00:00:33,520 He was assigned Jackie Robinson, the first African American to play Major League Baseball 7 00:00:33,520 --> 00:00:35,240 in the modern era. 8 00:00:35,240 --> 00:00:41,360 Though Robinson is certainly celebrated today, he was not well received when he entered the 9 00:00:41,360 --> 00:00:45,520 league, not even by his own teammates and fans. 10 00:00:45,520 --> 00:00:52,640 The Brooklyn Dodgers General Manager Branch, Ricky, recruited Robinson in the late 1940s. 11 00:00:52,640 --> 00:00:57,040 Ricky was looking for the right person to break the color barrier, someone who could 12 00:00:57,040 --> 00:01:01,800 withstand racist insults and physical aggression. 13 00:01:01,800 --> 00:01:07,020 Before signing Robinson, Ricky wanted to test his resolve. 14 00:01:07,020 --> 00:01:12,680 When Robinson claimed that he had the strength to fight back, Ricky replied, I need you to 15 00:01:12,680 --> 00:01:16,400 have the strength not to fight back. 16 00:01:16,400 --> 00:01:20,960 This echoes what Jesus says today, turn the other cheek. 17 00:01:20,960 --> 00:01:26,360 Likewise, nonviolence was key to the civil rights movement in this country. 18 00:01:26,360 --> 00:01:28,840 What if Robinson had fought back? 19 00:01:28,840 --> 00:01:36,040 What if John Lewis had encouraged the Selma foot soldiers to retaliate on Bloody Sunday? 20 00:01:36,040 --> 00:01:40,020 Robinson would have probably been expelled from Major League Baseball and the voting 21 00:01:40,020 --> 00:01:42,880 rights movement would have suffered a setback. 22 00:01:42,880 --> 00:01:49,180 It's sort of like in sports, the second guy to fight back gets the flag. 23 00:01:49,180 --> 00:01:56,360 When we resist fighting back in the face of evil, the truth is exposed, and how did I 24 00:01:56,360 --> 00:01:57,360 write that? 25 00:01:57,360 --> 00:02:03,160 And this truth is exposed, which can generate sympathy and compassion to help the movement 26 00:02:03,160 --> 00:02:04,480 forward. 27 00:02:04,480 --> 00:02:11,320 On Calvary, even the centurion saw the injustice, the Roman centurion saw the injustice of Christ's 28 00:02:11,320 --> 00:02:12,320 death. 29 00:02:12,320 --> 00:02:17,080 At the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, America witnessed the brutality against 30 00:02:17,080 --> 00:02:23,160 African Americans, and when racial insults and physical violence was perpetrated against 31 00:02:23,160 --> 00:02:28,000 Robinson, the world or the baseball community saw the error of their ways. 32 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:33,520 In all three cases, the truth was revealed, and sympathy and compassion generated a path 33 00:02:33,520 --> 00:02:36,080 toward justice and peace. 34 00:02:36,080 --> 00:02:40,640 Fighting back would have delayed the integration of baseball and the voting rights movement. 35 00:02:40,640 --> 00:02:46,140 God would have eventually ensured their success, but the struggle, the struggle for justice 36 00:02:46,140 --> 00:02:47,960 would have lasted longer. 37 00:02:47,960 --> 00:02:54,480 The Bible repeatedly shows us God's faithfulness despite our human failure, and in the end, 38 00:02:54,480 --> 00:02:58,680 God's way will prevail with or without us. 39 00:02:58,680 --> 00:03:03,620 Those opposing Robinson wanted him to fight back so that they could justify kicking him 40 00:03:03,620 --> 00:03:05,200 out of the league. 41 00:03:05,200 --> 00:03:09,800 Before we point the finger, we should also acknowledge how we sometimes look for our 42 00:03:09,800 --> 00:03:15,840 enemy to make a mistake and ignore their good qualities in order to justify our hatred of 43 00:03:15,840 --> 00:03:16,840 them. 44 00:03:16,840 --> 00:03:22,760 Today's Old Testament lesson invites us to consider what would have happened if Joseph 45 00:03:22,760 --> 00:03:26,000 had refused to forgive his brothers. 46 00:03:26,000 --> 00:03:34,560 God was building a people to reflect his light and his love in a dark and world full of hatred, 47 00:03:34,560 --> 00:03:38,880 but a famine threatens Jacob's family and the future tribes of Israel. 48 00:03:38,880 --> 00:03:44,680 If they perish, God's work would be set back once again. 49 00:03:44,680 --> 00:03:49,840 His brothers, who had sold him into slavery, were forced to beg for food in Egypt. 50 00:03:49,840 --> 00:03:55,000 When they unknowingly faced Joseph, they have two choices, or Joseph has two choices, to 51 00:03:55,000 --> 00:03:59,480 seek revenge, to let them die, or to forgive them. 52 00:03:59,480 --> 00:04:01,760 And he chose the latter, he forgave. 53 00:04:01,760 --> 00:04:07,320 As someone once said, forgiveness is what love looks like in an imperfect world, and 54 00:04:07,320 --> 00:04:11,600 God knows we live in an imperfect world. 55 00:04:11,600 --> 00:04:16,280 Through forgiveness, Israel's story is allowed to continue. 56 00:04:16,280 --> 00:04:20,160 Just as African-American story and Major League Baseball are allowed to continue because of 57 00:04:20,160 --> 00:04:25,960 Robinson's forbearance, and likewise the forbearance of those in the Civil Rights Movement. 58 00:04:25,960 --> 00:04:31,700 Now, forgiving, letting go of grudges, turning the other cheek is easier said than done. 59 00:04:31,700 --> 00:04:35,260 Anyone who has been wronged, which is all of us, understands this. 60 00:04:35,260 --> 00:04:39,560 And if you're struggling to forgive or let go, know this, you are not alone. 61 00:04:39,560 --> 00:04:44,840 You are a human being, and it is our nature as humans to seek justice through retaliation. 62 00:04:44,840 --> 00:04:50,560 Jesus' call for justice is executed through love of enemy, doing good to those who hate 63 00:04:50,560 --> 00:04:53,160 us and turning the other cheek. 64 00:04:53,160 --> 00:04:57,960 A biblical commentator compares today's gospel lesson to a child being served a plate of 65 00:04:57,960 --> 00:04:58,960 spinach. 66 00:04:58,960 --> 00:05:02,440 It's good for us, but it doesn't taste very good. 67 00:05:02,440 --> 00:05:07,020 Even if we swallow Jesus' teachings, we may not like them. 68 00:05:07,020 --> 00:05:12,680 The gospel afflicts the comfortable and comforts the afflicted, loving our enemies, blessing 69 00:05:12,680 --> 00:05:19,800 those who curse us, and doing good to those who hate us are not worldly virtues. 70 00:05:19,800 --> 00:05:26,280 The world encourages retaliation to rain down fire upon the enemy, to slander the enemy. 71 00:05:26,280 --> 00:05:30,480 But at best, fighting back only delays evil's return. 72 00:05:30,480 --> 00:05:32,780 At worst, it makes things worse. 73 00:05:32,780 --> 00:05:36,640 We often fuel conflict rather than seek peace. 74 00:05:36,640 --> 00:05:42,400 In contrast, the kingdom of heaven has a different set of virtues, loving our enemy, doing good 75 00:05:42,400 --> 00:05:49,600 to those who hate us, blessing our persecutors, which all seek to break the cycle that perpetuate 76 00:05:49,600 --> 00:05:51,120 hatred and vengeance. 77 00:05:51,120 --> 00:05:54,780 They transform evil into good and create space for renewal. 78 00:05:54,780 --> 00:06:00,840 These virtues are most clearly displayed on the cross when Jesus prays, Father, forgive 79 00:06:00,840 --> 00:06:04,040 them for they do not know what they do. 80 00:06:04,040 --> 00:06:09,600 This may seem unfair, but it really is the only way forward in this imperfect world. 81 00:06:09,600 --> 00:06:14,960 None of us would be here today without forgiveness from parents, siblings, spouses, friends, 82 00:06:14,960 --> 00:06:19,960 children, co-workers, even our enemies, and most of all from God and Christ. 83 00:06:19,960 --> 00:06:24,080 However, forgiveness does not always mean restored relationships, at least not in this 84 00:06:24,080 --> 00:06:25,080 life. 85 00:06:25,080 --> 00:06:29,600 It simply means a release from the power that sin holds over us. 86 00:06:29,600 --> 00:06:32,080 Sometimes forgiveness leads to reconciliation. 87 00:06:32,080 --> 00:06:35,600 Other times it brings freedom from a toxic relationship. 88 00:06:35,600 --> 00:06:39,420 Either way, forgiveness makes a path forward. 89 00:06:39,420 --> 00:06:43,840 Without forgiveness, we remain prisoners of our own grudges, blaming our enemies for our 90 00:06:43,840 --> 00:06:44,840 suffering. 91 00:06:44,840 --> 00:06:51,100 Jesus died on the cross to set us free, not just from our sins, but from the sins of others. 92 00:06:51,100 --> 00:06:57,120 He died so that we might be free to love, free to do good, free to bless even the enemy. 93 00:06:57,120 --> 00:07:02,400 He died so that we might, in Christ, we are neither victims nor villains, but victors 94 00:07:02,400 --> 00:07:04,560 over sin and death. 95 00:07:04,560 --> 00:07:07,680 These forces no longer get to tell us what to do. 96 00:07:07,680 --> 00:07:12,520 Instead, God's call to love and forgive get to tell us what to do. 97 00:07:12,520 --> 00:07:17,560 Practicing forgiveness and loving our enemies is not something that happens overnight. 98 00:07:17,560 --> 00:07:21,480 These are gifts from Christ, what St. Paul might call gifts of the Spirit or fruits of 99 00:07:21,480 --> 00:07:22,480 the Spirit. 100 00:07:22,480 --> 00:07:26,160 They grow in us as we follow Jesus and worship God Almighty. 101 00:07:26,160 --> 00:07:30,520 Jesus' Sermon on the Plain, which we're reading from right now, addresses the question, how 102 00:07:30,520 --> 00:07:33,480 do I know if I'm really following Jesus, if I'm doing this right? 103 00:07:33,480 --> 00:07:38,280 Well, the answer is if our lives bear the fruit of the Spirit, if our lives seek to 104 00:07:38,280 --> 00:07:43,760 love our enemy, to do good for those who hate us, if we have the strength not to fight back, 105 00:07:43,760 --> 00:07:46,040 if we can turn the other cheek. 106 00:07:46,040 --> 00:07:52,900 Now all these things might sound passive, but this doesn't mean that we are allowing 107 00:07:52,900 --> 00:07:55,280 injustice to go unchecked. 108 00:07:55,280 --> 00:07:58,560 Would you call Jesus' call for forgiveness on the cross passive? 109 00:07:58,560 --> 00:08:01,000 No, it changes the world. 110 00:08:01,000 --> 00:08:05,880 Turning the other cheek is an act of strength and reveals the truth. 111 00:08:05,880 --> 00:08:11,520 It is a response from someone who knows that hatred will not win, that hatred is temporary, 112 00:08:11,520 --> 00:08:12,720 but love endures. 113 00:08:12,720 --> 00:08:17,760 It is a response from someone who trusts in Christ's victory over sin and death. 114 00:08:17,760 --> 00:08:23,200 Jesus is not addressing victims in today's lesson, but his disciples who've just been 115 00:08:23,200 --> 00:08:27,600 told in the Beatitudes that they possess the riches of God's grace. 116 00:08:27,600 --> 00:08:29,080 They are the privileged ones. 117 00:08:29,080 --> 00:08:33,840 Jesus is giving them and us a new perspective, showing that love and forgiveness are the 118 00:08:33,840 --> 00:08:35,960 way forward. 119 00:08:35,960 --> 00:08:40,860 This path is forged through Christ's death and resurrection, a way that we as humans 120 00:08:40,860 --> 00:08:42,900 would not naturally choose. 121 00:08:42,900 --> 00:08:48,160 We would try to go above or around or under our problems, only to find ourselves right 122 00:08:48,160 --> 00:08:49,840 back where we started. 123 00:08:49,840 --> 00:08:54,840 In Christ, we are not victims of a hateful world, yet we are victors in a world that 124 00:08:54,840 --> 00:08:57,240 does not yet know that it is loved. 125 00:08:57,240 --> 00:09:02,080 And this should inspire us, as Thomas Merton said, to love without questioning whether 126 00:09:02,080 --> 00:09:04,300 someone is worthy of that love. 127 00:09:04,300 --> 00:09:08,880 It should inspire us to love without expecting anything in return, to love for the sake of 128 00:09:08,880 --> 00:09:13,400 Christ, the one who died because of and for his enemies. 129 00:09:13,400 --> 00:09:19,020 He loves us even while we are still sinners, while we are still his enemies. 130 00:09:19,020 --> 00:09:24,880 As victors in Christ, we see that our enemies act from a place of fear and not strength. 131 00:09:24,880 --> 00:09:30,120 And in Christ, we embrace a truth that the only way forward is found in the strength 132 00:09:30,120 --> 00:09:32,880 not to fight back. 133 00:09:32,880 --> 00:09:38,800 And it is in the wake of this strength that Christ's forgiveness and in compassion have 134 00:09:38,800 --> 00:09:44,080 the power to transform a world of hate into a world of love. 135 00:09:44,080 --> 00:09:52,800 Amen.