Going the Extra Mile

While riding public transportation today, I found myself wishing the elderly man behind me would be quiet. A nervous sort, he continued to talk about this and that, and really absolutely nothing to the woman beside him. I wanted to say something, to ask him to be quiet until my drop-off, after which he could talk as much as he wanted to. But something stopped me.

I love the teachings of Jesus, but I confess, I don’t always understand them. The above passage is one of these teachings. As one who loves Jesus with all my heart, but needs strong boundaries with people, I never understood how I was supposed to apply this verse. After all, if I have a sandwich for lunch, and someone asks for half of the sandwich, am I supposed to give them the whole sandwich and go hungry? If someone is getting on my last nerve, am I supposed to ignore my need for space and allow them to continue getting on my nerves? It just didn’t make sense.

Then I watched a scene in a popular show about the life of Jesus, and it all started to click in my brain. Jesus and his disciples understood well the concept of going a second mile. In the series I watched, Jesus lives out this teaching before the disciples. At that time, the Jewish people lived under Roman rule. By law, the Roman soldiers could literally force their subjects to interrupt their own journey to carry the soldiers belongings. But they could legally only make them do this for one mile. The show portrays this very thing happening while Jesus and his disciples were traveling. The Romans forced them to leave their own belongings, take up the soldiers' heavy armor or supplies, and listen to demeaning jokes as they trudged along this forced mile. At the end of that first mile, the moment of truth happens. Jesus keeps walking.

As this scene unfolded before me, I finally realized what this teaching means. Going the extra mile is not a sign of weakness, but a sign of strength. Not a lack of boundaries, but a statement of generosity. Rather than cowering or grumbling, these Jewish subjects to Rome made service their choice. The Roman soldiers treated Jesus and his disciples a little better on this last mile, respecting the strength they showed.

Going the extra mile is a choice. Just like Jesus and his disciples showed dignity and gained respect by walking the extra mile, I bit my tongue for the remainder of my journey and let the man nervously talk. Not overlooking my own boundaries, but making a choice to show him grace. After all, I’ve been shown plenty of grace myself.

Dear Father, thank you for teaching me what it means to go the extra mile. Help me to continue to make the choice to do this, and let you take care of the rest.

Throughout this day: How can you make the choice to “go the extra mile” today?

Here is that scene I mentioned, from The Chosen, Season Four, Episode Five: