Telling the truth and getting slapped

Each week we’ve seen how Jesus’ teaching on how the “Kingdom of the Heavens” being “at hand” changes…well everything for us.  We’re not given rules to live but new life and a new frame of reference to live by.  Last week we saw how Jesus’ turns up the heat on anger.  Why be captive to anger? Why be a victim to victimizing someone else?

This week we find out in Matthew 5:33-42 how telling the truth and getting slapped are related.

These two very familiar passages: “Let your YES be YES and your NO be NO” and “Turn the other cheek” seem unrelated at first blush.  These two ethical statements seem pretty straight forward, “Tell the truth” and “Don’t be violent.”  I look forward to learning with you how these two passages reveal some of Jesus’ most creative teaching on the Kingdom of God.  Too often we think of creativity as relegated to the arts or entrepreneurship or eccentricity.  Jesus shows us that the very way we live draws from God’s creativity to take the status quo of duplicity and death and turn them into truth, life and love.  And this, of course, makes all the difference in the way we live, every minute of every day.