The other cheek
When I was young, I shared a room with my brothers. It was mostly amicable. But we were carefully attuned to fairness, which meant that one’s assets (toys, souvenirs, personal space) were scrutinized for any hint of excess. We noticed if one had more than another, or less, and in general the balances would be equalized.
My older brother did press his advantage, though. Somehow, I got a pair ofboxing gloves for Christmas—just one pair. My parents didn’t think this through sufficiently, but my brother did. “Steve, why don’t I take the right-hand glove for the first round, and then we’ll switch so that you can finish strong with the right hand.” I thought this was rather generous until I was immediately caught with a strong right hook in the first round. There was no second round. And I did not have the opportunity to turn the other cheek nor to seek out the cheek of my opponent.
In general, though, I don’t have many memories of strife over these things. Why? I think it was because my parents loved us and provided for us, and we did not experience lack. We did not feel the pressure to take what belonged to each other because it wasn’t necessary.
It has been much harder for me to feel this sense of wellbeing from God as I’ve gotten older. I carry wounds from life experiences that make me fear loss—ofmy job, my household, my reputation. And when I’m afraid of losing something, I feel threatened and my desire to be generous diminishes.
God wants us to know that in all the things that matter most, we have more than enough. Through his generosity, we have all we need to be generous towards others—even our enemies. We need not fear, we need not feel threatened, we need not conserve or hide ourselves from engaging others.
As the missionary Jim Elliot famously said, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”
This Sunday, we’ll explore Jesus’ teaching from the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:38-48) that informs us how to respond to those who take from us and those whom we consider to be our enemies. And there we’ll see that the key to generosity is love.
