{"id":4379,"date":"2026-03-08T17:06:02","date_gmt":"2026-03-08T17:06:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/2026\/03\/08\/radical-nonviolence-based-on-matthew-538-42-umc\/"},"modified":"2026-04-01T12:13:48","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T16:13:48","slug":"radical-nonviolence-based-on-matthew-538-42-umc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/2026\/03\/08\/radical-nonviolence-based-on-matthew-538-42-umc\/","title":{"rendered":"Radical Nonviolence"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cRadical Nonviolence\u201d based on Matthew 5:38-42 UMC Social Principles on War (Part 1 of War and Military Service)<\/a><\/h1>\n
\n
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

There are 4 really specific pieces of advice in our short scripture reading today and are are more radical than they first appear. Some of you have heard this before, and for you it is a review. Some of you haven\u2019t, and this is new information. Both are good.<\/p>\n

When I was a child I was taught that these recommendations were to be a doormat -to allow violence to be done to me and to\u2026 well, I guess to suck it up as passively as possible. That\u2019s not what the text says.<\/p>\n

Jesus tells his followers to turn the other cheek. Why? Because there was a difference in ways people were hit. Equals were slapped (or punched). Subordinates were backhanded. To be backhanded was to be put in one\u2019s place, and that place was \u201clower.\u201d To turn the other cheek is to REFUSE the other person\u2019s narrative that you are lesser.<\/p>\n

Important note here, only the right hand got used for hitting people, the left hand was unclean. Not because lefties are bad, but because left hands were used for unclean tasks so one hand could be clean.<\/p>\n

Walter Wink explains, \u201cThis action robs the oppressor of the power to humiliate. The person who turns the other cheek is saying, in effect, \u2018Try again. Your first blow failed to achieve its intended effect. I deny you the power to humiliate me. I am a human being just like you. Your status doesn\u2019t alter that fact. You cannot demean me.\u2019\u201d 1<\/a> Because if the person strikes the second cheek the only way they can do that is to treat the person as an equal! Which is to say that the Biblical themes that all people are created in the image of God and are beloved by God is the basis of this advice! To turn the other cheek is to refuse the position of subordinate and to reclaim one\u2019s status as a full human being!<\/p>\n

Similarly, comes the bit about suing a person for their outer garment. Let\u2019s be clear, only someone who has nothing else would put up their (one) outer garment as collateral. And the Bible knows this well enough that there are repetitions of the law that if an outer garment is taken as collateral it must be returned to the person every night so they have it for warmth while they sleep.<\/p>\n

As Wink says, \u201cIndebtedness was endemic in first-century Palestine\u2026 It was the direct consequence of Roman imperial policy. Emperors had taxed the wealthy so stringently to fund their wars that the rich began seeking non-liqiuid investments to secure their wealth. Land was best, but it was ancestrally owned and passed down over generations, and no peasant would voluntarily relinquish it.\u201d2<\/a> So high interest and high taxes were used to squeeze landowners out of their land and get their land into the lands of the wealthy. Note that Jesus assumes his hearers are the poorest of the poor, the ones whose outer garments are their debt security.<\/p>\n

So why does he tell them to offer their inner garment as well? Because it would leave them naked. They couldn\u2019t win in court, they couldn\u2019t change the system, but they could expose it. \u201cNakedness was taboo in Judaism, and shame fell less on the naked party than other person viewing or causing the nakedness.\u201d3<\/a> Thus, nakedness became a prophetic protest! And, it took back power and dignity for people who didn\u2019t have any in the systems of the day.<\/p>\n

So, too, is the recommendation to \u201cgo the second mile.\u201d The context here is that Roman soldiers could require someone to carry their heavy (65-80 pound) packs ONE mile, but not more than one. And the soldiers were known to abuse this regularly, so there were various punishments for them, although it wasn\u2019t ever clear what the punishment would be it if was violated. Offering to carry it a second mile would take a person whose labor had been forced and give that person back their dignity. The solider wouldn\u2019t\u2019 want the second mile, would have to ask the person not to, would have to acknowledge the person. And meanwhile the person whose labor had been forced would \u201chave taken back the power of choice.\u201d4<\/a><\/p>\n

The final piece of advice is to give to everyone who asks, which is hard and complicated and like the rest of these deserves its own sermon, but here we are. The gist seems to be that the only way the peasants could survive was if they engaged in mutual support and sustenance.<\/p>\n

Taken as a whole, these pieces of advice establish a radical system of nonviolent resistance. They are a significant part of the reason that the first few centuries of Christianity were emphatically nonviolent, and nonviolence was considered the essence of living out Christian faith. But nonviolence isn\u2019t passive, nor powerless. All of this was mean to empower, to connect, to expose, to invert the system.<\/p>\n

These are teachings central to Jesus\u2019s third way. That is, NOT violence, NOT passivity, but nonviolence. This is one of the cores of our Christian tradition. And, as we heard in our shared reading of our United Methodist Social Principals, there is now a debate about whether or not violence is ever acceptable and while I think that conversation has immense value, we\u2019re not focusing there today either.<\/p>\n

However, it seems worth mentioning that those who believe violence and war are sometimes necessary usually would do so within the confines of Just War Theory which states that before a decision to go to war can be considered justified these conditions must be met:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \ufeff\ufeff\ufeffThe war must have a just cause.<\/li>\n
  2. \ufeff\ufeff\ufeffIt must be waged by a legitimate authority.<\/li>\n
  3. \ufeff\ufeff\ufeffIt must be formally declared.<\/li>\n
  4. \ufeff\ufeff\ufeffIt must be fought with a peaceful intention.<\/li>\n
  5. \ufeff\ufeff\ufeffIt must be a last resort.<\/li>\n
  6. \ufeff\ufeff\ufeffThere must be reasonable hope of success.<\/li>\n
  7. \ufeff\ufeff\ufeffThe means used must possess proportionality to the end sought.5<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Note that for Christians and United Methodists, stating that Just War conditions have been met and it is thus legitimate to go to war is the most permissive standard within our Christian tradition, and others would say that there is no such thing as a just war, nor any justification for violent action.<\/p>\n

    Walter Wink is one of the thinkers who lands in that second position, but he points out that there are places where those who believe in just war and those who believe only in non-violence line up:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Both acknowledge that nonviolence is preferable to violence.<\/li>\n
    2. Both agree that the innocent must be protected as much as possible.<\/li>\n
    3. Both reject any defense of a war motivated solely by a crusade mentality or national security interests or personal egocentricity.<\/li>\n
    4. Both wish to persuade states to reduce the levels of violence.<\/li>\n
    5. Both wish to hold war accountable to moral values, both before and during the conflict.6<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      I would suggest for us that those are the principals we use was we make our shared assessments about what our faith requires of us in the days we are living. And, I\u2019m going to go ahead and state the obvious that the current war in Iran does not meet the standards we hold.<\/p>\n

      Furthermore, the non-profit \u201cMilitary Religious Freedom Foundation\u201d reported this week that complaints have come in that commanders are telling their troops that the war in Iran is part of God\u2019s plan to usher in the return of Christ.\u201d7<\/a> More than 200 such complaints have come in, from more than 40 units (as of Thursday). The first one was. \u201cA combat-unit commander told non-commissioned officers at a briefing Monday that the Iran war is part of God\u2019s plan and that Pres. Donald Trump was \u201canointed by Jesus to light the signal fire in Iran to cause Armageddon and mark his return to Earth,\u201d according to a complaint by a non-commissioned officer on behalf of 15 of them.\u201d8<\/a><\/p>\n

      Now, we around here are not well versed in the premise of Armageddon, so let me clarify a few things. The first is that the book of Revelation was written as a letter to support people living the violence of the Roman Empire while trying to live the nonviolence of Jesus. It is written as vision, and with some warping of time to give it deniability as being about the Roman Empire. Some parts of American Christianity have globed on to an idea of a final battle based on Revelation 16:16, \u201cAnd they assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called Harmagedon.\u201d That said, while the battle lines are drawn, in the book of Revelation they never occur, and instead Jesus comes in and ushers in the new heaven and the new earth. Which is to say that the WHOLE of \u201cArmageddon\u201d premise is just\u2026 made up.<\/p>\n

      And using those myths to justify war, which is what happens every time the US enters a war in the Middle East, is an abuse of Christianity and Christian tradition to serve the values of the empire. The debate within the Christian tradition is about if ANY war can be justified. What is being articulated to try to motivate our military is a perversion of Christianity that is antithetical to our scripture, tradition, reason, and experience.<\/p>\n

      Christianity, like other world religious, holds that are people are of sacred worth. We never take killing lightly, and the power of the state to kill doesn\u2019t change that standard. For now, we need to hold firmly to our own tradition, and refute any premise that tries to use Christianity to justify unjust war. We need to hold firm to the sanctity of human life, and commit to nonviolence in all the ways we are able.<\/p>\n

      We need to live out the love of God we have experienced, and trust that love has its own power. And, while we are at it, The United Methodist Board of Church and Society has some trainings for us about how we can respond with nonviolent resistance like Jesus taught us.9<\/a> Thanks be to God for a denomination that helps us know how to follow in the ways of Jesus. Amen<\/p>\n

      1<\/a> Walter Wink, Engaging the Powers<\/i> (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1992), p.176.<\/p>\n

      2<\/a> Ibid, p. 178<\/p>\n

      3<\/a> Ibid, p. 179.<\/p>\n

      4<\/a> Ibid, p. 182.<\/p>\n

      5<\/a> Ibid, p. 214.<\/p>\n

      6<\/a> Ibid, p. 224.<\/p>\n

      7<\/a> https:\/\/myemail.constantcontact.com\/MRFF-Inundated-with-Complaints-of-Gleeful-Commanders-Telling-Troops-Iran-War-is–Part-of-God-s-Divine-Plan–to-Usher-in-Return-o.html?soid=1101766362531&aid=3OTPFAZxIrI<\/a><\/p>\n

      8<\/a> https:\/\/jonathanlarsen.substack.com\/p\/us-troops-were-told-iran-war-is-for<\/a>, accessed 3-<\/p>\n

      9<\/a> https:\/\/www.umcjustice.org\/latest\/lenten-webinar-series-ashes-to-action-lent-as-non-violent-resistance-8953<\/a><\/p>\n

      <\/p>\n

      Rev. Sara E. Baron\u00a0<\/p>\n

      First United Methodist Church of Schenectady<\/p>\n

      \u00a0603 State St. Schenectady, NY 12305\u00a0<\/p>\n

      Pronouns: she\/her\/hers<\/p>\n

      \u00a0http:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/<\/a><\/p>\n

      <\/p>\n

      March 8, 2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      \u201cRadical Nonviolence\u201d based on Matthew 5:38-42 UMC Social Principles on War (Part 1 of War and Military Service) There are … Continue reading Radical Nonviolence<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[34,38,28,39,33,1265,1272,1271,214,403,1274,56,1269,1270,401,1268,1273],"class_list":["post-4379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons","tag-fumc-schenectady","tag-progressive-christianity","tag-rev-sara-e-baron","tag-thinking-church","tag-umc","tag-first-umc-schenectady","tag-just-war","tag-just-war-theory","tag-lent","tag-nonviolence","tag-people-of-peace","tag-schenectady","tag-social-principles","tag-um-social-principles","tag-walter-wink","tag-war-and-military-service","tag-war-in-the-middle-east"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4379"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4379\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4709,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4379\/revisions\/4709"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}