“Reciprocity”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Saturday, April 27, 2024
Matthew 5:38-48 (Forward, p. 89) CEV p. 987
Sadly, unfortunately, much of our world, and much of our civil discourse today has been reduced to ‘tit for tat’. Any thought of a ‘win-win’ outcome has disappeared from our thinking. Instead, it is merely a ‘win-lose 1proposition, which means that neither ‘side’ in any dispute or even any conversation is willing to give in or compromise. There once was a time even in our Canadian federal political system when all parties worked together in committee to come up with the best possible solution. All of them were focused on the ‘common good.’ Nowadays it seems to be entirely partisan, entirely divided on party lines, which each party trying to get its way or ‘score points’ at the expense of the others.
On other levels, it is no better these days. Many of our successive protests are no longer aimed at raising awareness or eliciting support, as were once their purpose or goal. No, nowadays, they are aimed at forcing the hand of some institution, browbeating or coercing them to give in to whatever their demand happens to be at that moment. Many of these protests like to suggest that apartheid was dismantled due to world-wide protests, but this is not true. It took place because two people, Christians no less, one a Black African and one an Afrikaans, decided to listen to God together and do as God dictated.
So, what is it that lay behind this? It was simply a decision to put Jesus’ words, as found in today’s reading, into action. It was a decision to no longer render ‘tit for tat’ or look only to one’s own interests. It was to forego standing on one’s own rights, as in putting up with such a grievous insult as a slap across the face with the left hand or as in being so inconvenienced as being forced to carry the baggage of some odious soldier from an occupying army. Indeed, as Jesus put it, it was even a willingness not to stand on one’s own property rights for the sake of the other person. And here Jesus doesn’t even stipulate that it was because the other person ‘needed’ it. Indeed, in one instance, the case of the person being sued, it seems to be out of spite.
And furthermore, Jesus commands us to love them, no matter who they might be—He calls them our ‘enemies’—and work for what is in their best interests. Indeed, He tells us to pray for those who mistreat us. And why is
that, why are we to do that? It is because God our Father loves all people, regardless of who or what they are, and bestows His blessings on all of them. And, Jesus says, we are to be like Him.
And so the reciprocity of revenge, of ‘tit for tat’, of replying in kind, is broken. Instead, it is replaced with a new possibility, namely the reciprocity of love and respect—and potentially, working together for the common good. None of this is guaranteed, but in South Africa, and elsewhere, it worked. And besides, as one wig put it, ‘an eye for an eye’ merely results in everyone being blind. So, let work for the reciprocity of love, care and respect that Jesus commanded and lived.
Forward notes “But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (verse 44).
“I participated in a civil discourse class that began with psalms addressing common difficulties and sources of conflict. Since the psalms have been sung and prayed for centuries, we know it is not a new circumstance.
“As a model of how to talk to one another, we developed rules for discourse, providing examples of what was civil and what was not. We then used this framework to converse about issues of concern in our country and our world, some quite thorny because participants represented the full range of political/ social convictions. We even had one session on areas of agreement, which surprised us all.
“We finished each session by praying together the Prayer of Saint Francis, which includes his call for addressing hate and enemies: Where there is hatred, let us sow love. The reading from Matthew today has another relevant suggestion: Love your enemies and pray for them.”
Moving Forward: “How do you respond in concrete ways to the command to love your enemies?”