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Shirt, Miles...

             And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles.  Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. (Matthew 5:40-42)

 

            Historical tidbit: the idea of being forced to go a mile dealt with a Roman military custom of requiring citizens to carry the equipment of soldiers for one mile – or so I’ve heard.

            Now, if someone is trying to sue you, it is safe to assume that you have done them some harm. If you are willing to go beyond what the suit claims, you are showing that you are willing to make reparations for the damage done. That may reduce the anger felt by the person suing you, or it may put you in a more favorable light with the judge.

            The third instruction is the one that gets me. Give without limits? Lend without limit? If someone asks me for a million dollars, am I to borrow it for them? Every time? Admittedly, I think more in terms of loaning money, and in Jesus’ day, it might be that things other than money were more often borrowed. And someone couldn’t borrow something from me that I don’t have. That gives us one limit. And while Jesus doesn’t specifically state that we’re not to be foolish in our lending, there’s also no suggestion that we’re supposed to throw our brains into the fire. On the other side, the Old Testament makes it clear that loaning to people should not be based on the proximity to the year of Jubilee when all debts were supposed to be canceled.

            We seem to be being told to discern which is more important to us: the person, the money, our reputation, or something else. And that throws another whole level of complexity into the mix. If we are going to love our neighbors as ourselves, would we be loving if we gave them money for something harmful to them somehow? Are we within our rights to ask what they want the money for? May we stipulate anything about the loan? Can we insist the car be returned with a full gas tank (if it started with one)? Or that it be cleaned inside and out before they return it to us?

            What of people who have violated our trust? Must we loan again? Can we require them to remain with us and help us to return the item to the condition in which it was loaned? That would show them love, giving them the skills and practice needed to be responsible people.

            I can keep going around this, but I think it boils down to checking with God about whether or not we should loan to this specific person in this particular circumstance. But we should at least be willing to be made willing.

 

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