In the
Louvre Museum in Paris there stands a seven-foot-long stone on which is
inscribed the Code of Hammurabi – who ruled ancient Babylon over 3500 years
ago. It is among the oldest written laws in the world. It gives great insight into the laws of the
time. It also contains the great Law of Talion – Lex Talionis – an eye for an
eye, a tooth for a tooth. It may seem to be a very cruel law, but historically
it was a great move forward. It limited vengeance. Because of this, the Torah of Moses embraced
the Law of Talion. And yet, Gandhi would say – if all of us were to practice
the “eye for eye” the whole world would be blind and toothless.
Some say
that there are basically two responses to injustice: Fight or flight.
Fight – we
oppose evil on its own terms. They want to fight you – you fight them. The
answer is violence – and it can only get worse.
Flight – run away. Do
nothing.
Jesus proposes a third
way
-
Turn the other cheek – see, I will not
lower myself to your level. Jackie – break color barrier – was spiked.
Teammates wanted to hit next batter – no, just win!
-
Take your cloak, give your shirt. Boy had
his lunch taken at school. Next day, he went up to the kid – here, my mom made
you cookies. He did that every day. Soon – stay away from me! Drown him with
kindness.
-
Roman soldier could force you to carry
his things 1 mile – like Simon of Cyrene – no, go 2 miles. (Now he will get in
trouble!)
This is the way of
holiness – Hebrew – kadosh – to be set apart. Set apart – no, I want to fit in.
Leviticus – Be holy, for
I, the Lord your God, are holy. We are
called to live a different way!
Lincoln once let a
southern prisoner go – received a letter criticizing him – you should destroy
the enemy. Lincoln wrote back – If I make him a friend, don’t I destroy an
enemy?!
Wade Boggs used to hate
Yankee Stadium – because of one fan – who poured hate upon him. When he joined
the Yankees – went over to this fan – are you the one who says those things
about me? What are you going to do about it? Pulled out a baseball – signed it
and tossed it to the fan. Became one of his biggest supporters.
The way of Christ is not
an easy path – but the alternative is much worse – no eyes and no teeth!
