WATCHWORD:
38 “The law of Moses says, ‘If a man gouges out another’s eye, he must pay with his own eye. If a tooth gets knocked out, knock out the tooth of the one who did it.’ 39 But I say: Don’t resist violence! If you are slapped on one cheek, turn the other too. 40 If you are ordered to court, and your shirt is taken from you, give your coat too. 41 If the military demand that you carry their gear for a mile, carry it two. 42 Give to those who ask, and don’t turn away from those who want to borrow. Matthew 5:38-42
Meditation:
Go The Extra Mile
The year was 1953. I was a 19-year-old, on 30-day leave after service in Korea, traveling with my army buddy around the world on MATS (Military Air Transport Service) mostly for the fun of it and the bragging rights. We were on a US military base located on a slice of Leonardo da Vinci Airport on the outskirts of Rome waiting for a flight with space for two low-rank, free-loaders going back to the States.
For five or six days, we had been killing time, waiting, exploring the community around the airport (that’s another story). I was explaining to my friend a little of the history of this stone-paved section of road near the airport, called the Appian Way, we were standing on. I knew it was part of an ancient Roman highway, a network of paved roads built by Rome, and I knew that at one time crosses of the crucified lined both sides of this very road for miles out of the city. More recently, through the magic of Wikipedia, I learned that the Roman road system was begun 300 years before Christ’s birth, and at its peak connected the 113 provinces of The Empire, and joined 372 great great roads for an amazing total of 250,000 miles, of which over 50,000 miles were stone-paved.
What is my point? Well, nothing about the actual road, rather about Roman law, Roman soldiers and citizens. In Jesus time, it was the law, that if a soldier told someone to carry his pack, the citizen would have to drop everything he was doing and go out of his way to obey. Jesus used this fact of daily life as a parable to teach the principal of charity and generosity. Jesus says, “Not only do I want you to carry it one mile, I want you to carry it an extra mile.”
You can almost hear an exchange between a Christian and the soldier. A Roman soldier says to a Christian, “Hey you, carry my pack.” The Christian says, “Yes sir!” And then he joyfully starts walking along with the soldier. After one mile the soldier says, “Okay, you can put it down now.” The believer says, “I would really like to carry it another mile for you.” The shocked soldier asks, “Why would you do that?” The Christian explains, “I am a disciple of Jesus Christ and He told us to do this for you.” The soldier asks, “Who is this Jesus that you follow?” By carrying the pack an extra mile, it not only showed him the love of God but opened up an opportunity to tell him about Jesus.
If you think about it, the principle applies to every area of our lives today—in our relationships, within our community, at home, in our work and church-life, but also in our giving of material goods and our wealth. Christ calls us to go the extra mile, going above and beyond what is asked of us.
Something for us to think about. When have we gone the extra mile? Maybe reminded by the voice of the Holy Spirit within? Maybe you thought it was your “conscience” nagging you, one time or another – oh, I should have done this or I should’ve done that or I could have done more, and possibly we learn something from it. Maybe it’s not your “conscience”, maybe it’s the spiritual voice of our Lord speaking. We need to listen carefully. The extra mile has its own rewards. So be it.
Wisdom from John Durham:
“What often screws us up the most in life is the picture in our head of how it’s supposed to be. And the reason so many of us give up is because we tend to look at how far we still have to go, instead of how far we have come. Remember, life is a journey, not a destination. This moment, like every moment, is a priceless gift and an opportunity. Be positive, smile, and make it count. Pretend today is going to be great. Do so, and it will be. Research shows that although we think that we act because of the way we feel, in fact, we often feel because of the way we act. A great attitude always leads to great experiences.”
“Kindness, like a boomerang, always returns. The kindest word in all the world is the unkind word, unsaid.”
“Go the extra mile. It’s never crowded.”
Read Go the Extra Mile by John Durham
Closing Prayer:
Forgive us Heavenly Father when we too often parse out our generosity, and consider how much can we spare and still maintain our comfort and our wealth. Instill in us a commitment to follow your lead, and love our neighbor as you have loved us, with graces too great to number. Open our hearts, Lord, to realize that all we have comes you and, yet, we have a tendency to hold it really close to our chest. Take from us that possessiveness and give us open hands to share with reckless abandon and love for we know that your graces will continue. Thank you Heavenly Father, it’s in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior that we offer this prayer. Amen.
