Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well; and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile.”
NL Daily Devotion for Thursday, January 26, 2023
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
I’ve heard it preached that turning the other cheek is an act of defiance. A refusal to be intimidated. I definitely prefer that interpretation to one that requires followers of Jesus to accept abuse and oppression. Instead it’s the essence of active nonviolence. If someone sues you for your coat and you pre-emptively give them your coat and your cloak, you effectively take away the power of their attempt to subdue you. If someone forces you to walk a mile and you willingly continue on for a second mile, you take back your agency. If you fight back when you are clearly not in a position of power, you simply justify your enemy’s continued assault. But if you strategically practice active nonviolence, you expose your enemy’s unsupportable violence.
It doesn’t mean you do nothing. Quite the contrary. It is active nonviolence after all. But it does mean you don’t engage in pointless one-upmanship and revolving revenge.
When have I had the opportunity to stop an unhealthy cycle in my life by ‘turning the other cheek’?