Ps 95, again, and today's gospel reading

And probably about time.

Do not grow stubborn, or harden not your hearts


There are lots of ways in which we do this, and one of the chief ones is by watering down those messages that we'd rather not take to heart.  Today's gospel reading is ripe for dismissal.  "Turning the other cheek" just isn't "the American Way."  It strikes us as weak and foolish to leave ourselves vulnerable for others to take advantage of us.  And we may have a responsibility to our loved ones to not allow others to infringe on what is theirs.  So how can today's gospel reading apply in a 21st century context?

Well, the first thing we should likely realize is that it isn't as if turning the other cheek was a concept likely to be embraced by the people of Jesus' land and time, either.  There may have been some radical fruitcakes who would propose such a selfless, nutty idea, but they'd have been dismissed just as quickly as we dismiss this message today.  By and large, Jesus' fellow Israelites were anxious to throw off Rome's tyrannical yoke and to rule themselves again, and they seem to have taken a dim view of those who didn't prosper.

In a previous post I reflected on the relationship between love and vulnerability.  But it is fairly easy to allow ourselves to be vulnerable to those who mostly return our love, who respond to us with kindness and thoughtfulness.  It is another thing entirely to go the way of the cross for someone who we feel has betrayed or taken advantage of us.  In truth, it's a thing that none of us should probably try on our own, because it is a road fraught with peril for both parties: it is entirely too easy for me to become an enabler of unhealthy behavior.  But we who follow Christ have been promised the gift of the Holy Spirit, who brings along many spiritual gifts beyond our own human nature.  Among these are spiritual wisdom  and discernment, by which we can know what influences are at work in a situation and have spiritual insight into what to do about them.  These gifts help me to know how best to respond to a "neighbor" who may take advantage of me in some way.  The Spirit reminds me that the Lord is my protector and savior as well as my neighbor's, and reveals how to respond that will best allow God's love to flow in any given situation.  Some situations may call for tough love, but perhaps more of them than we realize call us to simply let it go.

This passage includes the Golden Rule.  But there is another aspect to this that we sometimes neglect, as well. It may be hard for me to allow others to show kindness to me in return.  This can reveal something of our attitude toward the kindness we share with others.  If it truly isn't a burden but a blessing for me to show kindness to another, then it is truly a blessing and not a burden for them when another shows kindness to me, as well, and I should not deprive them of this blessing.  Discernment is important here, too: is it my nature to take advantage of others?  If so, then I should probably apply this idea very differently from someone whose nature is to stand on their own and not accept the generosity of others.

The vulnerability to which today's gospel reading calls us is a great challenge.  But there is a difference between responding to that challenge in wisdom and shrinking from it with a stubborn heart.