The Sermon on the Mount and Resisting Fascism

Note: This post is rooted deeply in expressions of my faith. Know that before reading as I know not everyone believes as I might. But know you are welcome to read and engage regardless of what you believe!

Table of Contents

Jesus, His Vision and Modern Christians

I’m tired of seeing all of the horrible things being done in the name of Jesus and Christianity. Frankly it makes me wonder how much value there is in the label Christian these days. I care and still carry because of the life of Jesus and how transformative it has been to learn about it for me personally. When you actually look at Jesus you see something very different than what is presented by the Christofascists and Christian Nationalists attempting a full throttle takeover of the USA. They model nothing of the Jesus that was born to a poor family in a colonized land, whose parents were forced to flee as refugees because of a mad king wanting to kill the baby seen as a threat. They exhibit no knowledge of the Jesus who grew up and amassed a great following feeding, healing and loving the crowds. They definitely show no understanding of the ways Jesus nonviolently resisted the earthly empire and mad kings his way of living threatened. There’s no display of his sacrifice or his love of God and neighbor.

Jesus, in his ministry, cast vision for an alternate kingdom rooted in the inclusive love of God and neighbor that extended beyond borders, gender, class - anything that we use to other and see people as less. Jesus’ vision recogized the dignity of the image of God imprinted on humanity and his kingdom vision seeks to honor and uphold that in others. It revolves around an ethic of love that unabashedly welcoming and unafraid to seek accountability in the context of community, particularly where people fail to love God and others. There’s certainly more to be said here but it’s not the primary purpose of this post. What is the purpose is considering some of the ways Jesus’ teaching compel us to resist fascism and the lure of worldly power.

To that end I want to consider one of Jesus’ greatest sermons, commonly referred to as the sermon on the mount. It outlines some ways we can resist modern fascist inclinations and is well worth considering for those seeking to live out Jesus’ way. I’m not trying to give a full exegetical breakdown of the sermon but rather highlight some points that have been meaningful in my journey. I think the sermon on the mount is incredibly important but I’ve heard too many Christians relegate it to a thought experiment not worth applying to everyday life (incidentally many/all of those are the ones leaning into fascist tendencies).

Some Anti-Fascist Ways Found in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7)

Acknowledge and own yourself and your situation as well as the situation of others regardless of what any state might expect of you.

I’m pulling from what’s commonly referred to as the beatitudes here. It lists collectives of people in difficult situations:

Blessed are the poor in spirit…those who mourn…the meek…those who hunger and thirst for justice/righteousness…the merciful…the peacemakers..those persecuted for justice/righteousness sake…

and sees them met by God in those places:

theirs is the kingdom…they will be comforted…they will inherit the earth…they will be filled…they will recieve mercy…etc

There’s no shame in identifying and admitting the collectives we find ourselves in, be that mourning or oppressed or scared or thirsty for justice or whatever and meeting one another in those things. As people following Jesus we have a real opportunity to be empathetic and embrace one another and maybe find a tiny bit of healing. Those that believe might even find the Divine in those moments of empathy and embrace.

Live in a way that shines so brightly that the evils have nowhere to hide.

The beatitudes is followed by a passage encouraging people to live as salt and light. Salt enriches and preserves food. Light shines so brightly that darkness has no place to hide.

Both are apt metaphors for living but I want to focus on the latter. Shine light in the dark places. Don’t let evil or darkness have a place to hide. Speak up publicly! Resist publicly! Call a spade a spade!

This is particularly important because fascism thrives on propaganda and misinformation. We saw it throughout the last election. We are seeing it now. But be light! Shine on to that darkness!

Public shame can be a powerful nonviolent tool of engagement.

Nonviolent resistance is not passive but very active in engaging the powers head on. The way of Jesus isn’t sitting on your hands and doing nothing - it’s about exposing the dehumanizing ways (Shine that light!) of others and forcing them to confront who they are head on.

There is this passage in the sermon on the mount about retailiation. To some it in brief, Jesus says:

If anyone strikes you on one cheek, turn the other also. If anyone wants to take your coat give your cloak too. If anyone forces you to walk a mile, go a second one.

It’s easy to look at this and think, ”Man, these people aren’t getting anything done!” but it misses key context.

Jewish law is an eye for an eye, so the punishment is equal to the crime. Turning the second cheek magnifies the punishment and shames the one doing the punishing (as it would be illegal).

Likewise, the person giving the clothes away nakedness would shame the ones viewing it culturally.

And according to Roman law, a soldier could force you to carry his pack a mile but no further. Going the second mile puts the soldier in the position of breaking the law and shames him.

We resist evil and darkness by magnifying that light on it and forcing the perpetrator to confront their wrongdoing. This will many things likely. It’s a different cultural time and we don’t have the above situations. There are times public identification of shameful behavior might be important. It might be important to talk openly about the things others do. We will need to be open, mindful, creative and ready when the moment happens.

Love your enemies.

I thought about putting this because love is central to who Jesus is and his call to those following him. I didn’t because I think we sometimes have a wrong idea about what love is. It’s rooted in the golden rule (also found in the sermon on the mount, by the way): do unto others what you would have them do to you. I’ll also mention another passage - from 1 Corinthians 13:

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Just to make a couple of notes: “not easily angered” doesn’t mean “never angered”. Anger for the sake of love may be what is needed. Because - it doesn’t like evil and “rejoices with the truth”. I believe truth telling is one of the most loving things we can do. That’s one way love protects.

So love your enemies. Be ready to hold them to truth rather than evil. Believe they can walk in light and expect and hold them to it.

Give generously for the sake of others, not yourself.

Give not to bolster your own pride. Give for the sake of others. This is at the heart of Matthew 6:1-4. There will likely be lots of need - don’t center yourself but instead the very real needs of others. Particularly as programs are cut and funding is needed for key social safety nets - be ready to engage for the sake of others. Later in that chapter it talks about how are hearts are where are treasure is; let it be with those that need it!

Focus on today’s worries.

This maybe the most signifcant one to me: don’t worry about tomorrows problems for today has its own. It’s easy to get lost in what could be when what is today is scary enough. I’m not saying don’t be aware of what’s coming down the pipeline but rather know where to focus. More often than not that’s today and today’s problems.

Wrapping it up

I could say more about Jesus’ prayer in the sermon on the mount actively seeking God’s kingdom here and now. I could say more about Jesus’ call to “the law and the prophets”, specifically the many ways that that law and those prophets upheld love and dignity for people. From where I sit and how I read scripture and how I’ve come to know Jesus - there is a clear thread that upholds the image of God imprinted on all of humanity; any power seeking to dehumanize and degrade that, for any reason, must be resisted.