Matthew 5:38–48
The lectionary text for the day is located within Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. This particular chunk of text is known for its “you have heard it said … but I say …” statements. Jesus is looking to the wisdom in Hebrew Scriptures that are already calling for equity and acts of mercy, and is then calling his listeners to take it even further with radical generosity and acts of gentleness.
The Bible Project sums up this part of the Sermon on the Mount by saying, “Jesus is calling us to be people who value peace more than getting even,” which requires us to see the true humanity of those around us.
When I think about my own childhood and who best taught me about the humanity of others, I can think of few public figures who were more pivotal in this area than the Rev. Fred McFeely Rogers — best known to us as Mister Rogers.
The call in Matthew 5:38–48 is sometimes misinterpreted as calling us to be quiet, keep our heads down and be passive. But the truth is what is required of us is generosity, nonviolence, mercy and integrity — all of which require bravery and boldness.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed just four years before the first episode of “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” aired. Despite the law’s passing, segregation continued in many ways. One of those ways was at swimming pools, where Black folks were often still excluded, even violently.
On May 9, 1969, just over a month after the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Mister Rogers invites the character Officer Clemmons, a Black man, to cool down by putting his feet in a children’s wading pool with him. Initially, Officer Clemmons declines because he does not have a towel, but Mister Rogers encourages him, promising that Officer Clemmons can share Mister Rogers’ towel. The two men sit side by side with their feet in the pool. Afterward, Officer Clemmons dries off his feet with Mister Rogers’ towel, and in an extra act of intimacy, Mister Rogers dries his own feet with the same towel.
Nonviolent. Gentle. Merciful. Humanizing.
Prayer:
God of all people, may we see the humanity in each person so that we might live a life of mercy, nonviolence and gentleness. Amen.
The Rev. Rachael McNeal is the associate pastor of Youth and Outreach at Memorial Presbyterian Church in St. Augustine, Florida. She is a proud graduate of Flagler College and Princeton Theological Seminary. Rachael loves to take walks on the beach; make pottery; read novels; drink coffee; and spend time with her husband, Kevin; two children; four chickens; and dog, Fred Rogers McNeal.
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