Going the Second Mile

I imagine you’ve heard the saying, turning the other cheek. It comes from the sermon on the mount. It’s a vivid picture about how pacifism and nonviolent ideas are supposed to work. The problem is, pretty much nobody does that. Yeah, the default in our world is “an eye for an eye”. It has been the standard for as long as we have had eyes. But Jesus says, instead of that, turn the other cheek. Geez, what Jesus taught in the sermon on the mount was really radical and robust. So robust that we still quote it 2000 years later. But do we follow it?

Well, I try do. Sort of.  Yep, slap me, I won’t slap you back. But there is no turning the other cheek. Try it again, I will block your hit. That is my “nonviolence” response. I guess I lean a little bit toward pacifism in my life. Or maybe I’m just straddling the fence. I am sort of following what Jesus said, and sort of I’m not. 

Maybe you’ve heard the saying, going the second mile. Going the second mile is maybe less commonly known. It means doing more than is required. It comes from the sermon on the mount as well, right next to the verse about turning the other cheek. In Jesus’s day, a roman soldier could make you carry his pack (90 pounds) for one mile. Your enemy could make you carry his pack. You had to – I mean he’s the guy who has the sword.  Jesus suggests whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two. Another radical idea. Walk the second mile.  

Here are the verses:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘AN EYE FOR AN EYE, AND A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH.’ “But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you.”           Mat 5:38-42 .

If you have never read the sermon on the mount, I’m recommending it. Chapters 5-7 in Matthew.   It takes 10 minutes and it is easy to read. Well, It is easy to grasp, but hard to apply. It is radical and it will make you think. Sort of like a bullet point list of Jesus’s teaching. And it is one of my favorite parts of the bible. There is so much truth crammed in those verses. Verses like, whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two.  

When I started thinking about that idea about walking a second mile I wasn’t thinking about carrying a heavy pack for an enemy. What stopped me in my tracks wasn’t the figurative meaning of those words but the actual meaning of those words. “Walk two miles”. It happened while I was thinking about my walking woes. If you have been following my blog you have heard me say numerous times there is a wall of sorts in my walking, it happens at 1.5 miles, and it is hard to overcome. One of my goals is the walk to church, 2 miles exactly. I have done that maybe 5 or 6 times in 5 years. And I’ve paid the price. The rest of the day I’m fatigued. I was hoping to eventually get some more miles attached to my walking distance. But that isn’t happening. 1.5 miles is where I’m at. So I am thinking about this. How do I walk a second mile?

Which second mile, you ask? Great question.  Well, I realize I’m working harder at actually walking my second mile than I am at “going the second mile” figuratively. 

But Jesus says, go with him two. 

Going the “second mile” is not part of the American experience. We do what is required, and then just leave me alone. The freedom our nation was built on, started with freedom from everything other than the basics. Don’t hurt others, and then live your life. Obviously we’ve added to it. But still, it is part of our DNA. To stop what you’re doing, and being compelled to pick up a “pack” is annoying, but to choose to carry it for another mile? That is more than annoying, it is grating. It is unamerican. To do double what is required, for an enemy, can I do that?  In my case, I will need a radical change of mindset.

Carrying a pack for a soldier in Jesus’s time was a legal way to take something you have, in this case, your labor and your time, it was sort of like paying a tax today. I don’t like paying taxes, but I do it. I pay all my taxes with all the deductibles that are allowed, and the credits that are available. If I can save a buck on my taxes, I do. It’s annoying for sure. I live in the state with the highest tax rate in our nation. And in a month we are voting on more taxes. 6 of the 14 initiatives on the California ballot will raise our taxes. Geez, we already have the highest state tax rate. I realize I’m moaning. And Jesus says, stop moaning, whoever requires one, offer them two. What a radical response. More radical than moaning.

There is something freeing about what Jesus recommends. When you do that, the ball is in your court. I decided, versus you decided. The things I would like to change are generally things I can’t change anyways. Yeah, death and taxes. I rail against them. The government decides how much to tax me. But I can decide my response. Generally, in my case my response causes me grief, moaning about what was taken. But how I respond is my choice. I can choose to walk another mile. The only problem is, in this instance, I need that money.

Here is another radical idea. How about trusting God with what you have, rather than grasping hard that what you think you have. To think about trusting God is easy. To actually do it, not so much. It takes trust and it takes faith. A couple verses later in the sermon on the mount is a promise. God will provide what you need. 

Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? “Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? ….. “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you”       Matt 6.25-26,33

What a powerful promise.

Can I walk the second mile? Or maybe better, Will I walk the second mile? 

As I was getting ready to post this, I passed one of the milestones (wow, what an interesting word “milestone”), I passed a milestone in my actual walking journey. I walked a 5K – 3.2 miles. The farthest I’ve walked since my stroke (if you’re wondering, yes I am paying the price, and yes it was worth it.) And I’m also thinking about the figurative side. Will I let go of my hard fought freedom and walk another mile, will I trust God, or will I just moan. And if I’m moaning about one, how can I offer them two? I guess time will tell. In the meantime, both figuratively and literally, I’m plugging along on my second mile journey.