sermons

Summer at Reservoir

Going The Extra Mile

Ivy Anthony

Jul 21, 2024

We live in unprecedented times…at least it feels like that…

• Wars
• Famines
• Storms
• Division
• Depression
• Hatred
• Suffering
• Injustice
• Loneliness
• Anxiety

A decaying environment . . . on many fronts.

And the truth is — if history has anything to say about this — is that all of those things are not unprecedented. Empires have been built, wars have been waged, people have exercised power that has tortured and destroyed before.

Perhaps it feels unprecedented because we do have *more than ever.*  The technological advancements and access to knowledge and resources that would suggest we’d be well served by not “rinsing and repeating” the worst of history. Suggesting we should be healthier, more relationally connected, wiser…

And yet we live in an amplified reality, with voices and opinions and overwhelming amounts of information in surround sound. And the depth of hatred, the breadth of despair is so visceral — compounded by the unhinged and scary clip by which we continue to tear apart our human fabric –this all does indeed feel unprecedented.

And in the wake of such speed and unrelenting bombardment of *everything* it is certainly easy to feel like “giving up,” or avoidance, or hiding behind the guise of “civility”, or escaping into whatever it is that’s easy for us to escape into … are the best ways to live. And it might very well be the ways by which we survive — but not how we flourish. Because what we start to lose — is not only our soul — but our sights of one another.

We gather here this morning because we seek to embody a faith. A living, life-giving, honest, courageous faith — a faith that courses through our blood carrying with it the voices of our ancestors who remind us that within our cruel history is also the remarkable and magnificent precedence of kindness, solidarity and love. Unending influence that is also seeded in our landscape today that keeps our strength from atrophying. And we gather here today in part — because we know that we need each other. We need each other to cultivate hope, to empower one another — to remember that we are designed for love —  to give and receive of it — with all our hearts, souls, minds and strength.    

And boy, do we need that reminder more than ever!  

Today I want to talk about how Jesus calls us to not give up — to “walk the extra mile” and to bend toward community as we do.

Prayer

God sometimes our souls can feel scraped raw from the injustices that are moving throughout our country. Our souls can feel tired, fed up. Could you help us this morning? Could you help us to center down? Could you refresh our hearts, reinvigorate our minds and bodies — and strengthen our souls for the work of our days. And for the work you call us to — which is love.

STORY — Getting Towed

A couple of months ago at the end of my highschoolers April school vacation — I decided to take them on a quick trip to Philly. My other daughter is in college near there, and while she was not on break, we thought we could basically follow her around campus until she had a moment to have coffee with us or something. 

Because roaming a college campus was our only agenda for the couple of days we were there — I made reservations for dinner in Philly for the last night so that we could have a designated intentional time together. And it was the best plan. We found a parking spot right next to the restaurant, it was lightly raining but we sat outside in this warm, cozy enclosure. We took our time, didn’t rush —  and it was just a good time where I was conscious of the “specialness”, the “extraordinariness” of the moment.  

We left brimming with *all the things* — satiated with food and laughter and I felt so grateful.

And then we rounded the corner to where I had parked and the car wasn’t there.

My heart sank — knowing this was not a great scenario.
I entertained the argument ensuing between two of the kids — one suggesting that perhaps we were just looking on the wrong street — – and the other insisting we had indeed obviously been towed.

Indeed our car had been towed.

Turns out Friday night at 8 p.m. is a great time to visit a tow lot in South Philly and learn a little bit about what Jesus might invite us into when he says that we should “walk the extra mile.” And I’ll circle back to this story in just a minute — but let’s take a quick look at where this phrase originated and the context.

SCRIPTURE

This phrase originates in the teaching of Jesus found in the Gospel of Matthew: 

Matthew 5:41

“If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles.”

It’s situated in Jesus’ famous Sermon on the Mount — where Jesus presents a radical and counter-cultural vision of what it means to live as a follower of God.  It challenges societal norms, religious practices, and personal attitudes , calling for a transformation of heart, mind, and action that reflects the values of God’s kin-dom rather than a super power empire.

Where this verse lands is where Jesus is flipping the Old Testament principles of reciprocal justice measure for measure —

“an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.”

Under Roman military law – Roman soldiers in the streets – could ask a civilian to carry their equipment — their “pack.” And as a civilian you were required to submit to this request. 

Often donkeys would carry packs – so this request is dehumanizing – it’s humiliating to Jewish civilians.

But under military law – a soldier could only ask a civilian to carry the pack “one mile”… to force the civilian to go further carried with it severe penalties for the soldier.  

So for Jesus to say,

“when you hit the one mile mark – KEEP GOING”

is not a move to aid and abet the enemy… It is a strategic, wise move.

Can you imagine as the civilian starts to walk the extra mile – the soldier having to say

“aw, please – can I have my pack back?”

It’s a subversive move for the oppressed to turn the tables on the oppressor – and assert their human dignity into a situation and recover the initiative.

 The rules in this time were Caesar’s (and they did not change immediately) – but HOW ONE RESPONDS TO THE RULES could be in real time and sustained those who had no choice, or freedom.

For us, this “go the extra mile”, is an invitation of how to live NOW. To live as we think human beings should live — in defiance of all that is bad around us. 

Speaking of bad —

Back to being towed in Philly.

As I stood there on the sidewalk in the rain not really knowing what to do, I called the phone number on the street sign for the Philly Parking Authority. In the midst of listening to the long, long automated message there was an option that said, “if you’d appreciate a call back from a person enter your phone #.”

I frantically did that — while simultaneously learning that the Philly Parking Authority would open on the next business day at 9 a.m. Which it was currently Friday at 8 p.m… meaning I had a chance of getting the car on Monday. I was scheduled to preach that Sunday — and every other preaching pastor was on vacation. So I felt ….… relaxed.

In that moment — my phone rang… and it was a woman from the Philadelphia Parking Authority who proceeded to give me the address of the tow lot, confirm that my car was there and told me how much $$ it would be to get my car out.

A 15 minute Uber ride later….

The four of us arrived at the tow lot. A super special place.

I can’t quite articulate how much dread flooded my body as I walked up the steps to this long narrow trailer — entering to find 50+ people squished in. Someone quickly filled me in on what the protocol was — you get in the first line (indistinguishable from any other line) — to pay your fine. And then you get in the next line to show your license, insurance and registration. Of course for 90% of the people the insurance and registration is IN their vehicle. Which means you need to go back outside and stand in line to access your vehicle beyond the barbed wire gate — and then come back to the trailer line and stand in line again to actually show your documentation.

Some people had been there for six hours, seven hours, eight hours. 

It was hot. People are breathing on you. 

I mean this is a perfect setup for people to lose their absolute minds… 

But people weren’t!

People were talking to each other, not looking down or at their phones — they were offering a seat to the mom who has been holding the wriggly two-year old — not worried about their spot in line. People were offering to translate for a couple of people who did not have any documentation and for whom English was not their first language — offering suggestions or ideas to help in some regard. My son was playing with little kids on the floor, and the staff was also helpful and willing and leaning ‘in’, listening … 

People were simply kind. Gentle even. Patient.

Not just civil to one another.

But actively kind. 

Which felt like … ‘care.’ Care of one another at a baseline.

Solidarity.

I’ve watched my husband Scott recently care for his mom who’s been sick — with this same attention — kind and gentle. Helping her eat, adjusting her oxygen tubes, raising a straw to her mouth,

“do you need anything mom?”

“are you doing ok?”

Palliative care. Palliative questions.

Palliative simply means — kindness and gentleness.

It is to offer comfort, dignity, and support — TO INCREASE the QUALITY of LIFE even as they face something bad, even as they die.

Friend of Reservoir, Gareth Higgins says that

“few of us feel like we’re dying — but all of us are…” 

This is just a plain fact.

But it also speaks to the state of our souls — and the soul of our nation….slowly dying. (Or rapidly!)

It’s got me longing for what a palliative nation could be — that tow truck trailer one micro example, an extraordinary example — and Scott’s care for his mom a very specific special example… but couldn’t it illuminate the ordinary.

And for sure — a more

“palliative world demands huge systemic and structural change. But in others, it only demands the tiniest of personal shifts.” (Courtney Martin)

And it might be what it means to “go the extra mile” for us today.

 Throughout Jesus’ life he embodies a palliative way of being. 

His attention to those left to die on the outskirts of the dominant culture. His invitations to gather at a table, to share a meal, to kneel, to turn, to see the face of, to physically heal — but to also bend people back to community — to restore people by way of social and spiritual reintegration.  We see this with his interactions with people afflicted with leprosy, the woman with the issue of blood, the man possessed by demons living in the tombs, Zacchaeus the tax collector , the paralytic, the disciples themselves — a bunch of outcasts and oddballs who again and again gathered at a table in community sharing purpose and meals.

Bending people back to community. Not just for the individual’s wellness — but for the community’s flourishing — and it’s more than just niceness or ‘welcome.’  Cole Arthur Riley, says that she has a friend who calls this mutuality, the truth that says

“we don’t just welcome you or accept you; we need you. We are insufficient without you.”

One part’s absence renders the whole impoverished in some way, even if the whole didn’t previously apprehend it. In mutuality, belonging is both a gift received and a gift given. There is comfort in being welcomed, but there is dignity in knowing that your arrival just shifted a community toward deeper wholeness… toward a better quality of life. This is the work of going the extra mile. 

Luke 7:11-17 New International Version

In the gospel of Luke we see Jesus raise a son back to life and return to his widowed mother.  In scripture it reads,

“As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out—the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her.

13 When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.”

14 Then he went up and touched the bier they were carrying him on, and the bearers stood still. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!”

15 The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.

16 They were all filled with awe and praised God. “A great prophet has appeared among us,” they said. “God has come to help his people.”

17 This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country.

I didn’t remember this story when I was reading through Luke this week.

I remembered the story right before this — the one of the centurion and the centurion’s servant being healed, and I remembered the one of Jairus’ daughter and Lazarus — all raised from the dead.

Here we have “a widow and her son” — unnamed.

Jesus — making his way through a small town – to John the Baptist.

We don’t know the story of these two. 

There’s no obvious status. No power. No specific friendship or relationship with Jesus — just strangers along the way.

But we do know the underlying fundamental story of life and death. Of grief and sorrow.  Of suffering. Of life being ruptured by pain.

The story of being human.

Story Part #3

In the tow trailer — when someone would receive the approval to go get their car… we would all rejoice. And to me , the celebration wasn’t only “Wahoo — you are out of here– cheers!” it was “wahoo look at us — we behaved magnificently” …  We were human to each other — even to the guy with the incredibly offensive t-shirt. 

We defied the tug of all that is bad around us. .. and we defied the tug to behave badly. Because if ever there was a place to behave badly — I don’t know a tow lot trailer might be the place. 

And isn’t that a victory?

I mean isn’t that a daily victory.  It’s the extra mile we are invited to walk each and every day.

The tug of cynicism and pessimism and judgment and giving up — is strong.

Simple gentleness and kindness is defiance. Nnot just a way to bypass the injustices of the day — but a way to face them and create a new way — and that feels like a miracle when it’s experienced.

The “extra mile” that Jesus walked here isn’t in performing the miracle — it isn’t the raising of the dead… although I’d totally get that if you thought that.. You’d have a point.

The “extra mile” is his posture of the heart… right? The part where it says

“his heart went out to her.”

The noticing, the attention, the validation of what it means to be a widow in that context, and then the action …. 

“his heart went out to her.”

This is the news that spread of Jesus. His embodiment of care and love.

It’s here that the crowd can say,

“God has come to help his people.” 

He’s come to help. And

“Oh, don’t we need help!”

The help we need as Jesus shows us here — is to remember that the “meaning of life is about trying to learn how to love and be loved” — and to stand in the face of all that tries to decimate that truth.

I know in that tow lot trailer that some folks could have been experiencing the hardest days of their lives (and not the being towed part) — and part of going the “extra mile” is to tune our hearts toward that possibility, to not shut them down —

So that we can act like

“we know that everyone we meet is undergoing life as well as experiencing it. That it is likely on any given day that we will encounter people who don’t think they’ll make it to the end of that day, or who have reason to not want to wake up tomorrow.” (Gareth Higgins)

To go the ‘extra mile’ is to honor humanity and elevate dignity — even when you don’t know the entire story.

Today we stand in a national — a global landscape where it looks like it would take miracle upon miracle upon miracle upon miracle to restore the past. To bring all that is desecrated, decayed, dead to life. 

And that is right it would take a miracle.

And I don’t even know if that is the miracle we want or need.

Maybe we need to look forward — dream forward. If we hope to shape the world — for future generations — perhaps we might think of what we seed into this world. How we forge a way forward with growing abundant communities, living in a way that engages our full humanity. With simple kindness and honesty and courage and solidarity seeded into each long mile that we walk…. Seeds that fruit and when crushed — ferment – – and seed again.  

Dave Murray says that

“most of us want to be a force –and I’m all for that! — we need vigor and action —  but Jesus also calls us to be a taste.”

A taste of the kin-dom we want to create and grow here and now on Earth.

So can we go the extra mile?

Could we offer simple, kind, palliative care to ourselves — and to others?

Believing that prioritizing love over anything else is not only a human way forward — but it is also a sacred and divine way forward where Jesus comes alongside — calling us back to life — calling us to “get up.” Calling us to something better than we usually settle for — something we can only create together.

TAKEAWAYS

Here are a couple of practical tips from Gareth Higgins — founder of the Wild Goose festival. He’s a beautiful, brilliant writer,  — subscribe to his Substack if you want, The Porch. He recently offered some helpful thoughts that might get us going that extra mile together:

• Tell the people you know that you love them, and that they matter.
  • Bend them back to the voices of the community of saints, that usher out the truth  saying “you are a beloved child of God, and no one can take that from you, no matter what.”
• Reflect on your impact on others (unconscious and conscious)
  • Where it has hurt them — ask for forgiveness
  • Where it has been life-giving, do more of the same.
• Ask for what you need before the need overcomes your ability to ask.
• Don’t hoard anything but friendship, so that you can share it without becoming lonely.
• Tend carefully what you “own”, and share it widely.  “Own” perhaps literally — but also resources, time, capacity, access to power — share it.
• Don’t let resentment overwhelm your boundaries, and forgive quickly, or at least don’t take revenge.
• In encountering strangers, act palliatively. For we are all, always, in rooms with dying people. We should treat them – and ourselves – with appropriate honor.

SPIRITUAL PRACTICE

As we end this morning, I want to give you a minute to consider this phrase, “going the extra mile” . . . what does it stir in you? 

• Maybe it’s a posture of heart?
• Maybe it’s something tangible? 
• Maybe it’s a person that comes to mind?

Maybe it’s the nation. All of the above — and more?  Take a moment and consider what “going the extra mile” surfaces for you?