41 If someone forces
you to go one mile, go with him two miles.
Matthew 5:41 (NIV)
The issue addressed here is one of compelled service. For
more than 600 years dating back to the Persians the idea of compulsory service
has been reality of life for many people throughout the Middle east of the
time. We have no specific knowledge of
the forms in which this was practiced in Roman Palestine, but since Persian
times impressing people and animals without notice for temporary service to the
authorities had been customary and legal; the practice has been well
documented. The Persians were the first to create a kind of Pony Express in
which the mail-carrying rider simply “borrowed” horses along the way.
The hostility that the 1st
Century Jews had for their Roman masters made this even more distasteful.
Whenever a Roman official or soldier could ask (compel) anyone within the
Empire to carry a burden a mile, that person had to do it regardless of who he
was or what the circumstances were. Almost all Jews had been subject to this,
and they hated the very mention of it. It is suggested that this compulsory
service was the reason behind Simon of Cyrene being forced to carry Jesus cross
to Golgotha.
This recommendation to generously
and ungrudgingly comply with this law would have the power to turn an exaction
into genuine public service, that was generously given to a representative of
the government who has ‘need’ of it. Compulsory and often unpaid or poorly paid
public service has not been uncommon in America. Think the draft that has
plagued us as far back as the mid 1800’s. The Israelis require a couple of
years of compulsory armed service and the Swiss do something similar. With tax
season quickly coming upon us a case could be made for taxes being a form of
compulsory service.
Does this mean that Jesus is endorsing the practice of
impressments? No. In a situation in which changing the rules is not a
possibility, the proposed response will have the capacity of turning the nature
of the transaction from one in which both parties felt worse about each other
after the encounter to one in which positive human interaction might become
possible.
So how should we react when forced to serve our country?
Well if we can’t affect a change via the polling booth we need to comply with
good grace.
It has been suggested that this choice to rejoice even in
the midst of discomfort, displeasure and duress was effective in the Gospel
sweeping across the Roman Empire and ultimately bringing about the
Christianizing of the Empire.
Learning to go the extra mile and liking it!
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