Bearers of the Image of Heaven

 SEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY   Year C   February 20, 2022

  • Genesis 45:3-11, 15  •    Psalm 37:1-11, 39-40  •    1 Corinthians 15:35-38, 42-50  •    Luke 6:27-38

In last weeks readings we were exhorted to rejoice when people speak ill of us because of the Gospel.  This week follows on with this tough message, but take heart, it isn’t all that you might think.

Our Psalm reading tells us this; “Do not fret because of the wicked; do not be envious of wrongdoers, for they will soon fade like the grass, and wither like the green herb.”

 

The tough times are here and probably there are more tough times ahead, and so it is wise to think through our reactions so that we can respond appropriately instead of reacting inappropriately.  Have you ever had the experience where you know you are going into a difficult interaction with someone?  When we know what it going on and what needs to happen, we tend to play the scene over in our minds and this can sometimes help us, as we can clarify in our own minds just what the issue is, what out come we want, and how to best resolve the conflict.

This is what Jesus does for us in telling us to rejoice when people speak badly of us for the sake of the Gospel.  He gives us a better perspective… a heavenly one.  We rejoice because we know that we are in good company, that of the saints and prophets.  This perspective enables us to be resilient in the face of hardship.  But wait there is more….

Now, I have just become a grandmother and I have some pretty strong opinions about what should be told to expectant mothers.  I have heard people say, “Oh we don’t want to tell them about the difficulties associated with breast feeding, because it might put them off the idea”.  Now my opinion is the opposite.  I believe that new mothers are more likely to push through the pain if they know that it is part and parcel of the experience.  The benefits are great, but there is a cost.  My daughter, it appears, has an allergy baby.  (no surprise), and so Brittany has had to go on a very narrow and strict diet so that Ellianna is kept healthy.  I had warned Brittany about this possibility and she is handling it all pretty well.  It is tough, but the benefits, she knows, out weigh the cost.

In the same way, I believe, Jesus warns us about the things that can happen to us also, so that we can have the resilience to endure, but not only the resilience, but that we might respond in a way that is loving and bears witness to the glory of God.

This week’s Gospel reading tells us that we need to love our enemies, pray for those who abuse us and turn the other cheek to those who strike us.  This is just to name a few of the things we are asked to do.

Now let me be clear– this up-side down way of thinking was revolutionary and it still is.  There is great potential for good, for conversion and for life by following this way.  But before I go on, I have to qualify the reading and put it all in context because a great deal of abuse within the church has, in the past, gone un-checked because of this misunderstood exhortation.

Just to pull out one example of misunderstanding; this idea of turning the other cheek is not about allowing ourselves to be abused.  I can tell you that when someone up-town is punched, very seldom does the other person not punch back… As a Christian, what would our response be and what should it be?  To understand, we need to look into the culture of Jesus time and this little article from the net explains it – from - https://shortdailydevotions.com/turn-the-other-cheek-meaning/

“To be slapped on the right cheek meant someone would be hitting you with the backside of their right hand—or with their left hand, which was associated with weakness and even impurity.  Even more, in their culture any slap was considered an insult. It was a degrading action and a sign of great disrespect. And it was doubly so if someone backhanded you.  Surprisingly, pastor Keith Krell explains in this article that if a man hit you “with the back of his hand instead of punching you in the mouth, you could collect twice the damages because an insult was worse than an injury in Jesus’ honour-shame society.” Jesus’ teaching was a sign of both brilliance and humility before God.”

 

So the equivalent on the streets of Mackay would be someone who was punched, placing their hands in the air as a sign of surrender, but moving themselves into the vision of the security personal or police.    The brilliance of the lack of retaliation means that only the perpetrator will be charged.  Most of the time, both are charged because the police don’t know who is to blame and if both have been fighting it doesn’t matter much who started it.

 

This is the kind of response that Jesus expects of his people.  Not that they allow abuse to continue, but that they bring to light the injustice and show themselves to be innocent and above reproach.

As far as loving your enemy – a couple of years ago, 2020 while in covid lock down, I decided to go through the pascal meal and ceremony.  It was a big learning curve for me, where so many things that were eaten were symbolic of the events of the Passover.  One thing that particularly struck me, was where we had to take the red wine and place drops of it on the plate in recognition of the sorrow of the Egyptians – A drop to represent each plague.   This was the enemies of the Israelites, but every year still, they perform an act that compassionately recognises the sorrow and loss of their enemies.

 

We think of our own situation.  There may be hurt there from people at work or in our families.  There are people who have hurt us.  Sometimes they have taken our opportunities to shine, sometimes they have taken our reputation, sometimes they have taken the heirloom that was meant to be ours.  Can any compare to Joseph?

 

Joseph’s brothers were going to kill him.  That is how much they hated him, but instead they sold him as a slave.  He was only a boy at the time.  They lied to their father and made out that an animal had killed him.  How much pain they caused!  They knew the truth.  They knew their father’s sorrow.  They had years of chances to repent and go search for Joseph to bring him back into the family, but they didn’t do this.  They lived years of lies.  Their father lived years of sorrow.  But Joseph was in Egypt, after spending time in prison, he was finally recognized as a man with integrity and giftedness and was made the leader that he was born to be.  Strangers enabled him to shine, where as his own family rejected and almost killed him, but certainly left him for dead.

 

Of all people, Joseph had good cause to hate his enemies – his brothers.  Joseph even had the power to harm them.  Joseph did delay in revealing his identity to his brothers, testing them and causing them to reflect on their horrific act towards him, but he certainly didn’t treat them as they deserved and he recognised the hand of God in the whole situation.  Joseph could have spent that time in Egypt becoming more and more bitter and hard – hearted, but instead, Joseph remained connected to God and he was able to see with God’s perspective.

Sometimes our own enemies will have no ability to understand us and our pain.  But we know that God died to save us all.  Jesus died to save us, and we have not always been so true to him either.  Certainly, there were those in the crowd who shouted, “Crucify him”, who were then repentant at the preaching of Peter at Pentecost.  We also know, St. Paul, who was a huge enemy of the Christians, was struck blind by God and converted.   And so, it follows that not everyone who is an enemy will always BE an enemy. 

We are all people who have gone astray at some time or other.  None of us is perfectly perfect.  Our reading from 1 Corinthians explains that we bear the image of the man of the dust - a reminder that we are approaching Ash Wednesday of our mortality and connection to Adam who sinned in the beginning.  What this image of the dust implies is that we are all imperfect.  The Good news is that, through the sacrifice of Jesus, we also now bear the image of heaven.

 

This is an incredible spiritual reality!  Are you aware that you bear the image of heaven?  As a bearer of this image, we are required to respond in integrity to the situations we find ourselves in.  In fact, we need to respond in the way that Jesus does.

People readily admit it is the golden rule – “Do to others as you would have them do to you”, but it is not so easy when we have been hurt, to ponder the example of Joseph, or to ponder the example of Jesus.  Understand that we bear the image of heaven, and though it is tough sometimes, lets determine to live in a way that bears witness to the glory of God.

A Godly perspective is one that understands that we bear the image of heaven and one day that is where we will be.  The trials of this life take on a different perspective and life’s trials pale at least a little when we understand who we truly are in God through our unity with Christ.  We are children of God…. Bearers of the image of heaven.  Let us not retaliate and repay wrong for wrong, but instead, walk in integrity, revealing the image of heaven and the love of God.