[Propertalk] homily for 2/20

[Sil Galvan]

Friends,
This is the first time I have encountered this text since I was ordained 
back in 1996 so here is my effort for tomorrow. Comments welcome.
Sil Galvan

Justice or Forgiveness?

This gospel passage has our Lord quoting probably one of the most famous 
texts in all of Scripture: an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. In 
researching this passage, I came across the following commentary which I 
found to be very informative. The author, William Barclay, writes:
∙ “Few passages of the New Testament have more of the essence of the 
Christian ethic in them than this one. Here is the characteristic ethic 
of the Christian life, and the conduct which should distinguish the 
Christian from others.
“Jesus begins by citing the oldest law in the world--an eye for an eye, 
and a tooth for a tooth. That law is known as the ‘Lex Talionis’, and it 
may be described as the law of tit for tat. It appears in the earliest 
known code of laws, the Code of Hammurabi, who reigned in Babylon from 
2285 to 2242 B.C. This law is often quoted as amongst the blood thirsty, 
savage and merciless laws of the Old Testament; but before we begin to 
criticize them, certain things must be noted.
1) “The ‘Lex Talionis’, the law of tit for tat, so far from being a 
savage and bloodthirsty law, is in fact the beginning of mercy. Its 
original aim was definitely the limitation of vengeance. In the very 
earliest days the vendetta and the blood feud were characteristic of 
tribal society. If a man of one tribe injured a man of another tribe, 
then at once all the members of the tribe of the injured man were out to 
take vengeance on all the members of the tribe of the man who committed 
the injury; and the vengeance desired was nothing less than death. This 
law deliberately limits vengeance. It lays it down that only the man who 
committed the injury must be punished, and his punishment must be no 
more than the equivalent of the injury he has inflicted and the damage 
he has done. Seen against its historical setting this is not a savage 
law, but a law of mercy.
2) “Further, this was never a law which gave a private individual the 
right to extract vengeance; it was always a law which laid down how a 
judge in the law court must assess punishment and penalty.
3) “Still further, this law was never, at least in any even 
semi-civilized society, carried out literally. The Jewish jurists argued 
rightly that to carry it out literally might in fact be the reverse of 
justice, because it obviously might involve the displacement of a good 
eye or a good tooth for a bad eye or a bad tooth.
4) “And most important of all, it must be remembered that the ‘Lex 
Talionis’ is by no means the whole of Old Testament ethics. There are 
glimpses and even splendours of mercy elsewhere in the Old Testament.
“So, then, ancient ethics were based on the law of tit for tat. It is 
true that that law was a law of mercy; it is true that it was a law for 
a judge and not for a private individual; it is true that it was never 
literally carried out; it is true that there were accents of mercy 
speaking at the same time. But Jesus obliterated the very principle of 
that law, because retaliation, however controlled and restricted, has no 
place in the Christian life.” (1)
In essence, this principle of “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a 
tooth” addresses a basic human need for retribution, revenge and 
vengeance, or as Barclay notes “retaliation”, to address a wrong. In the 
days before there was a judge and jury, it was really a basic form of 
justice. And all of these words, (justice, judge and jury) and many more 
that have to do with justice, derive their origin from the Latin root 
jus which means “right” or “law”.

But as Barclay also noted so well, “retaliation has no place in the 
Christian life”. Why is this? Because it is replaced in the Christian’s 
life by forgiveness, a principle which Christ showed us from the cross 
when, in a time of his most excruciating pain, he said “Father, forgive 
them; they know not what they do”. (It should be noted that the word 
“excruciating” also comes from Latin roots which mean “from the cross”.)
Some of you know that I have had a website for preachers on the internet 
for almost 14 years now. Over those years, I think the topic on which I 
have read the most stories, and some of the most moving ones, has been 
on what this text is all about, namely forgiveness. Out of all those 
stories, I think the one that is most relevant to this text is the 
following one with which I’m sure you are all too familiar.
∙ On October 2, 2006, Charles Roberts entered a small Amish schoolhouse 
in Nickel Mines, PA and proceeded to shoot ten girls aged 6 to 13, 
killing five and seriously wounding five others, before committing 
suicide himself. The emphasis on forgiveness and reconciliation in the 
response of the Amish community to this tragedy has been widely 
reported. However, there are some additional details which I found to be 
particularly moving.
On the day of the shooting, a grandfather of one of the murdered Amish 
girls was heard warning some young relatives not to hate the killer, 
saying, "We must not think evil of this man." Another Amish father 
noted, "He had a mother and a wife and a soul and now he's standing 
before a just God."
Jack Meyer, a member of the Brethren community living near the Amish in 
Lancaster County, explained: "I don't think there's anybody here that 
wants to do anything but forgive and not only reach out to those who 
have suffered a loss in that way but to reach out to the family of the 
man who committed these acts."
A Roberts family spokesman said an Amish neighbor comforted the Roberts 
family hours after the shooting and extended forgiveness to them. Amish 
community members visited and comforted Roberts' widow, parents, and 
parents-in-law. One Amish man held Roberts' sobbing father in his arms, 
reportedly for as long as an hour, to comfort him. The Amish have also 
set up a charitable fund for the family of the shooter. About 30 members 
of the Amish community attended Roberts' funeral, and Marie Roberts, the 
widow of the killer, was one of the few outsiders invited to the funeral 
of one of the victims. Marie Roberts wrote an open letter to her Amish 
neighbors thanking them for their forgiveness, grace, and mercy. She 
wrote, "Your love for our family has helped to provide the healing we so 
desperately need. Gifts you've given have touched our hearts in a way no 
words can describe. Your compassion has reached beyond our family, 
beyond our community, and is changing our world, and for this we 
sincerely thank you."
The Amish do not normally accept charity, but due to the extreme nature 
of the tragedy, donations were accepted. Richie Lauer, director of the 
Anabaptist Foundation, said the Amish community, whose religious beliefs 
prohibit them from having health insurance, will likely use the 
donations to help pay for the medical costs of the hospitalized 
children. (2)
It’s hard to believe that Lent is still almost three weeks away 
(normally we are well into it by now; not that I can’t wait for it to 
arrive, mind you!!) but this illustration reminds us of one of the 
principal themes of the Lenten season, namely, reconciliation. In 
situations like this, many of us might be compelled to ask: where is 
God? Well, he is certainly not in the murder of, and injury to, these 
innocent children; but rather in the almost incredible response of the 
families of the victims, a response rooted in their profound faith.
Note that in our story, one father, when speaking of Charles Roberts, 
said “now he’s standing before a just God”. In other words, he 
acknowledged that judging Roberts was not his place; it belonged only to 
God, the just judge. He believed that the responsibility of the 
community was to offer him and his family only one thing: forgiveness. 
This is based on their belief that in order to be forgiven by God for 
their transgressions, they must be willing to forgive others.
We all know that this is not easy. It flies in the face of all of the 
natural human feelings that we spoke of earlier: revenge, retaliation, 
retribution, vengeance and “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth”. 
But nevertheless, it is what we are called to do if we call ourselves 
Christians, that is, followers of Christ. If we are his followers, then 
we try to the best of our ability to live by the principles that he has 
taught us. And one of the most basic is forgiveness, a principle that 
can only be achieved through faith, as the Amish demonstrated so well.
Perhaps in your own lives you are dealing with situations that challenge 
your own faith and your ability to forgive. We all need to pray that the 
Spirit will give us the strength to be faithful followers of Christ and 
to make this virtue an integral part of our lives.

References:

1. From the Gospel of Matthew, copyright 1975 by William Barclay. St. 
Andrew Press, Edinburgh, Scotland. Used with permission. [Please be 
aware that all of William Barclay's commentaries on the 17 books of the 
New Testament from the Daily Study Bible are available for $139.95 (list 
price is $289), while individual books are also available to complete 
your set for $11.95 each (list price is $14.95). Although I am an RC 
deacon, I find Barclay's commentaries to be a good down-to-earth 
beginning for my reflections (our differences in theology 
notwithstanding!!) and often use it to explain the text to my 
congregation. You can order them, and many other resources at a 
discount, by visiting the Homiletic Resource Center.]
2. From Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amish_school_shooting .

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