Stand not on your rights but with Jesus

Rev. Marcel E. Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

St. Gerard Majella Church

Sunday, February 23, 2014

If there is one word that best summarizes, especially the first paragraph of today’s Gospel it is long-suffering.  The word “long-suffering” has several synonyms: endurance, tolerance, fortitude, forbearing, unresistant, docile, restrained, contained, self-control, unresponsive, resigned etc. But the most graphic definition of the word is the ability to take or tolerate violence, insult and aggression without descending to the despicable and dishonorable level of the hater or the aggressor so as to do unto them what they did unto you. Long-suffering is a virtue. Jesus practiced it. The early Christians practiced it too. Christians across the world have practiced it. Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Pope John Paul II and Nelson Mandela practiced it as well. It is generally referred to as “non-violence.”

Long-suffering or endurance was central in the teaching of the early Church. Our ancestors in faith did not only preach about it, they also practiced it. It was central in their teaching because it was the virtue that gave them the uncommon strength and courage to withstand the tortures of persecution without denying Jesus or attempting to revenge or to pay back their aggressors in their own coin. Here in the United States, we thank God there is religious freedom. Each person is free to worship God without facing trials or persecution or death. But our ancestors in faith, the early Christians did not have the same environment like we have today. They faced serious opposition, torture, persecution, hatred and even death. Those among them who did not have the virtue of endurance or long-suffering either abandoned their Christian faith or adopted the old teaching: “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” They fought back their aggressors. But in today’s Gospel, which is the continuation of the Sermon on the Mouth, Jesus recommends long-suffering or endurance as the characteristic ethic of the Christian life and as the virtue which makes a Christian man or woman stands out among others: 

“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.”’ But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil. When someone strikes you on your right cheek, turn the other one as well. If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic, hand over your cloak as well.”

This is a hard teaching, but it is not impossible to practice. From a legal perspective, an offended person has the right to seek judicial redress. An exploited man has the constitutional right to stop his exploiter from taking what belongs to him and also to regain what has been taken from him. To seek redress when you are struck in the eye is your legal right. To seek a judicial arbitration when you are unjustly and maliciously treated is your legal right. When someone harms you or illegally takes away what rightly belongs to you, you have the right, as enshrined in the constitution to seek redress. When your rights are infringed upon, legally speaking, you are entitled to fight back through litigation. But to seek redress is a right and not a duty. According to William Barclay, “The Christian thinks not of his rights, but of his duties; not of his privileges, but of his responsibilities.” Any Christian who constantly engages in litigation, who continuously fights to finish just to preserve his or her rights in the law court, who refuses to endure some of the passion experiences of Jesus has departed from the Christian way of life. The person may still be in the church, but he or she is out of the track to the Kingdom. 

In today’s Gospel, Jesus invites us to sometimes give up our rights. You may ask why? Because, as someone puts it: “If we live by the principle of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, we will all become blind and toothless.” And as Mahatma Gandhi puts it: “An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind.” The State of Florida has witnessed two high-profile cases that caught the attention of the nation: the killing of Treyvon Martin and Jordan Davis. The two men at the center of these two cases relied on Florida's “Stand-your-ground-law” to waste the lives of these two young men. “A stand-your-ground-law is a law of self-defense which gives individuals the right to use deadly force to defend themselves without any requirement to evade or retreat from a dangerous situation.” Because of this law, some lives have been cut short. I am not a lawyer, but I don’t have to study law to know that the stand-your-ground-law can easily be abused. It is possible for two adults to argue, quarrel and in some cases to fight  without any of these leading to the death of any. In a hostile situation, it is possible for one party to retreat and to walk away without aggravating the situation. But the stand-your-ground-law can be the reason for violence and aggression. But as Christians, Jesus has not called us to stand on the stand-your-ground law. He invites us to stand on mercy, forgiveness, tolerance, love and long-suffering. 

Some may say that long-suffering is a sign of weakness. Others may argue that it is a sign of cowardice. But it is none of those. Long-suffering or endurance is a sign of courage and inner strength. Pope John Paul II once said that “Powerlessness is a new kind of power.” It is much easier to revenge, to retaliate, and to fight back, and much more harder to hold back. The one who holds back retaliation, who stands on duty and not rights, who stands on mercy, forgiveness is the stronger one. Morally feeble and weak people do not forgive. Jesus wants his followers cultivate the virtue of long-suffering not because they are helpless and weak or because there is nothing they can do about the situation but because God himself is long-suffering and we are called to imitate God. Since God endures all our foolish behaviors, we are enjoined to endure that of others. Do you want mercy from God? Then show mercy to others. Do you want God to stand on patience and love when he looks at you? Then stand on love and patience when you look at others. Do not stand on your ground! Even if that is what the law says, you mustn’t stand on your ground. You can walk away peacefully. Romans 12: 19 says, “My dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the wrath of God. For Scriptures says, ‘vengeance is mine, and I will repay, says the Lord.” You can stand on compassion. You can stand on pity. You can stand on love. You can stand on mercy. You can stand on the dignity of human life. You mustn’t stand on your rights. Stand on your duty. If God stands on his rights, none of us will still be around. If Jesus stood on his rights, we wouldn’t have been saved.

Now, the virtue of long-suffering does not mean that we are to turn a blind eye on condemnable and abusive situations or that we should not work hard for a more just and perfect society. No! It means that instead of standing on our rights, we stand with Jesus. We imitate Jesus who, even in his personal life, gave up his own rights while at the same time condemned all forms of injustice.