Love Your Enemies?!! Really? The Way (Part 4)
Luke 6: 27 - 38
(Pre-sermon disclaimer for safety: It is really important to have a bit of a disclaimer about this command to love your enemy and to turn the other cheek. For better or worse, there are people who stay in abusive relationships because the Bible says these words. And that is not the intent of these words. Really. We have to be careful not to minimize the trauma of abuse that relationships can create.)
Who is not made squirmy by this text in Luke’s gospel?
I mean…really…
This passage is a continuance of the sermon on the plain which we began last week – you know, in which Jesus looked his disciples in the eye and said, blessed are those are poor and woe to you who are rich…so what are you going to do about it?
…and then as we continue today, Jesus begins with what can sometimes feel like the hardest pill to swallow.
Love your enemies.
And it just goes on from there —
Bless those that curse you.
Pray for those that abuse you.
Be merciful, just as the Father is merciful.
Who doesn’t squirm a little bit recognizing that THIS is how we are called to be in the world?
Here we are in week four of our exploration of the Way of Jesus Christ that we’re called to follow.
We’ve looked at how this way turns the world upside down,
how each of us, with our unique gifts and graces, are actually called by God to follow this way,
how the way invites everybody and has room for everybody
…and today…
The Way requires us to love our enemies. And it requires us to treat one another as beloved creations of God. No matter what.
That can be a benevolent and loving act. It can also be an act of non-violent resistance.
Let’s begin with some base assumptions about who Jesus is and what he’s doing.
Believing that we are all created in the divine image is what is at the root of this teaching by Jesus. Recognizing that when I look you in the eye, I am looking into the eye of someone made by the same loving hands and intentions that created me.
Perhaps we have been shaped by different life experiences. Perhaps different life choices have resulted in very different ways of being…perhaps it wasn’t even choice — perhaps circumstances beyond our control have separated us from one another in deep ways, but still…this is my brother. This is my sister. This is my sibling, also created in God’s love.
Ugh.
Jesus is dismantling the law, particularly the Levitical system of stickers for the right behavior and demerits for the wrong behavior (blessings and curses if you will) and replacing it with a lofty expectation — that we will love our enemy. That we will do to others as we would have done to us. We will demonstrate to others the love that God has for us.
But in Jesus’ context, there is something else going on here as well.
Remember that his is a society in conflict.
Within the Jewish community, there is tension among different groups. There are groups that believe the law is all-important and its interpretation is black and white. Your behavior is either right or it is wrong.
There are groups that believe that they are actually obligated to love or hate you depending upon your adherence to the law.
Then there is an overlay of outside power – the Roman occupation that has each of these sects scrambling for favor, protection or protest. The Roman occupation makes infighting more intense.
And into the midst of it all, Jesus suggests that you love your enemy, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who abuse you. That you turn the other cheek.
Lest we be wooed into thinking that Jesus is calling for some sort of supernatural passivity, he’s also calling for non-violent resistance.
As in…don’t let them get you down. Keep showing up. Keep showing love. Force their hand.
I realize that this isn’t playing cards – where the term “force their hand” comes from, but really….think with me about this:
One of my favorite theologians, Rob Bell, has done some work with the “turn the other cheek” parallel in Matthew…and one reading of that in this ancient Jewish society, there were two socially acceptable forms of “hitting”. First — you would have only hit a person with your right hand because your left hand was always reserved for personal hygiene. You didn’t touch others with your left hand. You didn’t eat with your left hand. So that leaves us with the right.
So…these two forms of hitting another…The backhand would have been used by someone in a higher social station to put someone in their place. But a punch would have been used between equals. In “turning the other cheek” the person who is hit forces the hitter, someone of superior social standing, to transition to the punch position – rendering them an equal.
Stop and think of that. Forcing their hand. Making them act as an equal. Making them take a step down the social ladder in order to engage.
So…turning the other cheek was NOT a subservient act. It was, in fact, an act of resistance. It forced the hand of the power structure.
Love your enemy. And you do that by doing good to those who hate you, blessing those who curse you, praying for those who abuse you. By turning the other cheek. By giving not just your cloak but your shirt…
…by doing to others as you would have them do to you.
This week as I walked through the world with this text on my heart, I realized that in some ways, the command to love our enemy could be easier than the golden rule — that part about treating others the way you want to be treated.
Here’s what I mean by that….
I understand conceptually the idea of loving my enemy. It’s difficult. But usually I have some power to separate myself from those who have hurt me enough for me to say I hate them. In some ways “hate” and “enemy” are abstractions to me…generalizations. Ways of categorizing things that don’t feel intimate. Or ways of creating distance for my own safety.
It’s an act of self-preservation in some ways.
That may just be me.
But this golden rule…this is not limited to those I hate. It is for everyone.
It is not lost on me (again) that this portion of the text arrived in the lectionary readings on the weekend that the United Methodist Church gathers to determine how it will include one segment of the population that has, since roughly 1972, been deemed uniquely sinful as homosexuals.
It is not lost on me that the text has fallen into a season of our life as citizens of the United States when we are struggling hard to be in conversation with those we disagree with.
I know that sometimes, when we are in loving relationship or at least caring relationship, we feel empowered to say things or maybe we feel safe saying things…
…sometimes things that are not very nice.
“But I love you…” I care for you. I don’t mean anything by this, but…
I have found in these days of divisiveness, we often feel more empowered to be just plain mean with those we “care for.” (Air quotes inserted.)
Because, after all, we don’t “hate” them. Right?
Sometimes it is harder to tend gently to those who surround us every day.
Somehow we are emboldened to say things out loud we might actually not ever say to a bone fide enemy.
The Way requires us to love our enemies. And it requires us to treat one another as beloved creations of God. No matter what. Every single day. In every action.
In doing so, we tilt the world a bit. We change the atmosphere. For our enemies. For those we care for day to day. For our selves. For the kingdom of God.
(On this Sunday, we transitioned to the Table. First we passed the peace of Christ, mindful of a story told by one of the Bishops in St. Louis yesterday about the Commission on the Way Forward — and how when they last celebrated communion together, they greeted one another this way – “If I have done anything, intentionally or unintentionally, to hurt you, please forgive me. And may Christ’s peace be with you…”. We passed the peace with the song I Need You to Survive as a backdrop. We then served one another communion, celebrating our oneness in the body of Christ.)
(Pre-sermon disclaimer for safety: It is really important to have a bit of a disclaimer about this command to love your enemy and to turn the other cheek. For better or worse, there are people who stay in abusive relationships because the Bible says these words. And that is not the intent of these words. Really. We have to be careful not to minimize the trauma of abuse that relationships can create.)
Who is not made squirmy by this text in Luke’s gospel?
I mean…really…
This passage is a continuance of the sermon on the plain which we began last week – you know, in which Jesus looked his disciples in the eye and said, blessed are those are poor and woe to you who are rich…so what are you going to do about it?
…and then as we continue today, Jesus begins with what can sometimes feel like the hardest pill to swallow.
Love your enemies.
And it just goes on from there —
Bless those that curse you.
Pray for those that abuse you.
Be merciful, just as the Father is merciful.
Who doesn’t squirm a little bit recognizing that THIS is how we are called to be in the world?
Here we are in week four of our exploration of the Way of Jesus Christ that we’re called to follow.
We’ve looked at how this way turns the world upside down,
how each of us, with our unique gifts and graces, are actually called by God to follow this way,
how the way invites everybody and has room for everybody
…and today…
The Way requires us to love our enemies. And it requires us to treat one another as beloved creations of God. No matter what.
That can be a benevolent and loving act. It can also be an act of non-violent resistance.
Let’s begin with some base assumptions about who Jesus is and what he’s doing.
Believing that we are all created in the divine image is what is at the root of this teaching by Jesus. Recognizing that when I look you in the eye, I am looking into the eye of someone made by the same loving hands and intentions that created me.
Perhaps we have been shaped by different life experiences. Perhaps different life choices have resulted in very different ways of being…perhaps it wasn’t even choice — perhaps circumstances beyond our control have separated us from one another in deep ways, but still…this is my brother. This is my sister. This is my sibling, also created in God’s love.
Ugh.
Jesus is dismantling the law, particularly the Levitical system of stickers for the right behavior and demerits for the wrong behavior (blessings and curses if you will) and replacing it with a lofty expectation — that we will love our enemy. That we will do to others as we would have done to us. We will demonstrate to others the love that God has for us.
But in Jesus’ context, there is something else going on here as well.
Remember that his is a society in conflict.
Within the Jewish community, there is tension among different groups. There are groups that believe the law is all-important and its interpretation is black and white. Your behavior is either right or it is wrong.
There are groups that believe that they are actually obligated to love or hate you depending upon your adherence to the law.
Then there is an overlay of outside power – the Roman occupation that has each of these sects scrambling for favor, protection or protest. The Roman occupation makes infighting more intense.
And into the midst of it all, Jesus suggests that you love your enemy, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who abuse you. That you turn the other cheek.
Lest we be wooed into thinking that Jesus is calling for some sort of supernatural passivity, he’s also calling for non-violent resistance.
As in…don’t let them get you down. Keep showing up. Keep showing love. Force their hand.
I realize that this isn’t playing cards – where the term “force their hand” comes from, but really….think with me about this:
One of my favorite theologians, Rob Bell, has done some work with the “turn the other cheek” parallel in Matthew…and one reading of that in this ancient Jewish society, there were two socially acceptable forms of “hitting”. First — you would have only hit a person with your right hand because your left hand was always reserved for personal hygiene. You didn’t touch others with your left hand. You didn’t eat with your left hand. So that leaves us with the right.
So…these two forms of hitting another…The backhand would have been used by someone in a higher social station to put someone in their place. But a punch would have been used between equals. In “turning the other cheek” the person who is hit forces the hitter, someone of superior social standing, to transition to the punch position – rendering them an equal.
Stop and think of that. Forcing their hand. Making them act as an equal. Making them take a step down the social ladder in order to engage.
So…turning the other cheek was NOT a subservient act. It was, in fact, an act of resistance. It forced the hand of the power structure.
Love your enemy. And you do that by doing good to those who hate you, blessing those who curse you, praying for those who abuse you. By turning the other cheek. By giving not just your cloak but your shirt…
…by doing to others as you would have them do to you.
This week as I walked through the world with this text on my heart, I realized that in some ways, the command to love our enemy could be easier than the golden rule — that part about treating others the way you want to be treated.
Here’s what I mean by that….
I understand conceptually the idea of loving my enemy. It’s difficult. But usually I have some power to separate myself from those who have hurt me enough for me to say I hate them. In some ways “hate” and “enemy” are abstractions to me…generalizations. Ways of categorizing things that don’t feel intimate. Or ways of creating distance for my own safety.
It’s an act of self-preservation in some ways.
That may just be me.
But this golden rule…this is not limited to those I hate. It is for everyone.
It is not lost on me (again) that this portion of the text arrived in the lectionary readings on the weekend that the United Methodist Church gathers to determine how it will include one segment of the population that has, since roughly 1972, been deemed uniquely sinful as homosexuals.
It is not lost on me that the text has fallen into a season of our life as citizens of the United States when we are struggling hard to be in conversation with those we disagree with.
I know that sometimes, when we are in loving relationship or at least caring relationship, we feel empowered to say things or maybe we feel safe saying things…
…sometimes things that are not very nice.
“But I love you…” I care for you. I don’t mean anything by this, but…
I have found in these days of divisiveness, we often feel more empowered to be just plain mean with those we “care for.” (Air quotes inserted.)
Because, after all, we don’t “hate” them. Right?
Sometimes it is harder to tend gently to those who surround us every day.
Somehow we are emboldened to say things out loud we might actually not ever say to a bone fide enemy.
The Way requires us to love our enemies. And it requires us to treat one another as beloved creations of God. No matter what. Every single day. In every action.
In doing so, we tilt the world a bit. We change the atmosphere. For our enemies. For those we care for day to day. For our selves. For the kingdom of God.
(On this Sunday, we transitioned to the Table. First we passed the peace of Christ, mindful of a story told by one of the Bishops in St. Louis yesterday about the Commission on the Way Forward — and how when they last celebrated communion together, they greeted one another this way – “If I have done anything, intentionally or unintentionally, to hurt you, please forgive me. And may Christ’s peace be with you…”. We passed the peace with the song I Need You to Survive as a backdrop. We then served one another communion, celebrating our oneness in the body of Christ.)
Comments
Post a Comment