Selfless Love

Introduction

The solemn faces stared back at me, not quite daring to believe. There were never questions after a talk in Germany in 1947. People stood up in silence, in silence collected their wraps, in silence left the room.

And that’s when I saw him, working his way forward against the others. One moment I saw the overcoat and the brown hat; the next, a blue uniform and a visored cap with its skull and crossbones.

It came back with a rush: the huge room with its harsh overhead lights, the pathetic pile of dresses and shoes in the center of the floor, the shame of walking naked past this man. I could see my sister’s frail form ahead of me, ribs sharp beneath the parchment skin. Betsie, how thin you were!

Betsie and I had been arrested for concealing Jews in our home during the Nazi occupation of Holland; this man had been a guard at Ravensbrück concentration camp where we were sent.

Now he was in front of me, hand thrust out: “A fine message, fräulein! How good it is to know that, as you say, all our sins are at the bottom of the sea!”

And I, who had spoken so glibly of forgiveness, fumbled in my pocketbook rather than take that hand. He would not remember me, of course–how could he remember one prisoner among those thousands of women?

But I remembered him and the leather crop swinging from his belt. It was the first time since my release that I had been face to face with one of my captors and my blood seemed to freeze.

“You mentioned Ravensbrück in your talk,” he was saying. “I was a guard in there.” No, he did not remember me.

“But since that time,” he went on, “I have become a Christian. I know that God has forgiven me for the cruel things I did there, but I would like to hear it from your lips as well. Fräulein”–again the hand came out–“will you forgive me?”

And I stood there–I whose sins had every day to be forgiven–and could not. Betsie had died in that place–could he erase her slow terrible death simply for the asking?

It could not have been many seconds that he stood there, hand held out, but to me it seemed hours as I wrestled with the most difficult thing I had ever had to do.

For I had to do it–I knew that. The message that God forgives has a prior condition: that we forgive those who have injured us. “If you do not forgive men their trespasses,” Jesus says, “neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.”

I knew it not only as a commandment of God, but as a daily experience. Since the end of the war I had had a home in Holland for victims of Nazi brutality.

Those who were able to forgive their former enemies were able also to return to the outside world and rebuild their lives, no matter what the physical scars. Those who nursed their bitterness remained invalids. It was as simple and as horrible as that.

And still I stood there with the coldness clutching my heart. But forgiveness is not an emotion–I knew that too. Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart.

“Jesus, help me!” I prayed silently. “I can lift my hand. I can do that much. You supply the feeling.”

And so woodenly, mechanically, I thrust my hand into the one stretched out to me. And as I did, an incredible thing took place. The current started in my shoulder, raced down my arm, sprang into our joined hands. And then this healing warmth seemed to flood my whole being, bringing tears to my eyes.

“I forgive you, brother!” I cried. “With all my heart!”

Matthew 5:43–48 ESV

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Defining Enemy

Matthew 5:43 ESV

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’

Jesus here quotes from the Old Testament law in the first half of the quote. Leviticus 19:18 “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.”

“Hate your enemies” though is not found in the law. It is possible that some teachers of the law in Jesus’s day thought the inverse of the command as just as authoritative as the command itself.

It is most likely that first-century Jews applied the terms “neighbor” and “enemy” to “Jew” and “gentile.” In other words they divided people down ethnic lines.

You may remember Peter’s struggle with living out Jesus’s teaching in regard to demolishing these ethnic barriers. Peter was given a vision of all sorts of animals and was told “Kill and eat” and “Do no call what I have made clean to be common.” The he enters into a gentile’s house—which the teachers of the law would have forbidden him to do.

Later on he is eating a meal with some believers (including gentiles). The teachers of the law (not the law itself) would have forbidden him from doing this. Some believers from the circumcision party walk in and he gets up and moves. Paul has to rebuke him for this.

Jesus here defines the enemy for us:

The enemy is one who opposes everything a believer stands for (v. 43, cf. v. 11).

It seems contradictory because last week, we saw you aren’t supposed to treat people as a personal enemy, but that does not prevent other people treating you as such.

And notice that the enemy is one who ultimately opposes us because of Christ. This does not apply to the person who persecutes us for some other thing.

It’s also not like what the teacher’s of the law would say that neighbor and enemy is based on ethnicity. You’d think this issue would have died in WW2 or maybe even the Civil Rights Movement. But no, in the name of “diversity, equity, and inclusion” people have decided to merit certain people simply based on their ethnicity rather than their ability. If you merit one group based on their ethnicity, you automatically demerit another group based on theirs. Like, didn’t we think this through?

The government through forcing DEI has furthered the illusion that ethnicity is something that makes enemies, just like the teachers of the law in Jesus’s day. And now, some people are pushing back by going to the other extreme of Nazism which certainly defines enemies along ethnic lines. This is not where Jesus defines enemy.

Matthew 5:11 ESV

“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.

Notice that “on my account.” The enemy is not defined for the Christian based upon ethnic lines but on theological lines. The enemy is not someone you have a personal conflict with. The enemy is not a foreign nation with whom we are at war. The enemy is someone who is completely opposed to everything the Christian believes and stands for, and tries to prevent his moral style of life. Yet, at the same time, it almost does not matter how enemy is defined because we are to treat the enemy the same way as we treat the neighbor.

Express compassion

Matthew 5:44 ESV

But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

Loving enemies involves expressing compassion (v. 44).

The command “love” has an aspect that carries a continuous notion in the original language. It could be translated loosely, “Keep on loving your enemies.”

One way this was expressed was by praying for your enemies. Now, some my think that preposition “for” is loose. And that means we could perhaps pray “against” our enemy. In other words, pray that God would put them to death or curse them. But the preposition in the original language does not allow for such an interpretation. This prayer is for the benefit of the enemy. This is reflected in Romans 12:14 “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.”

This does not mean that we cannot pray for justice or righteousness to be done. But the prayer for justice should always include self-reflection—what would happen if the justice I’m praying for was applied to me?

Think about the radical notion of Jesus’s teaching for a moment. Loving your enemies requires showing compassion. This is more than just tolerating enemies while seathing on the inside, or growing stone cold and indifferent to how your enemy is treating you. This is praying for your enemy’s welfare while he is scourging you with the whip. This is being willing to extend the hand back to that person who had so abused you in a concentration camp and offer forgiveness.

We live in a therapeutic age—an age that boasts having general knowledge of psychiatry and how to cope and heal emotionally. You would think that we would get stuff like this right. Fox News headline, “Universities come under fire for canceling classes, providing safe spaces to students upset by Trump's victory”

We live in a therapeutic age—several universities provided counseling after a majority of Americans elected a president. Therapy culture recognizes that ideological and emotional harm can be damaging. Enemies don’t just operate to attack on a physical level, but also a psychological level.

And after kicking God out as the highest authority, the next big thing for secular people was politics. So now, people are getting pretty religious about politics. People view the opposing political party as “the enemy.”

On the other side of the country, in Tacoma, Washington, the University of Puget Sound announced a full week of "self-care" election activities for stressed students.

Students were invited to stroll in a "walkable labyrinth" with "calming lighting and music;" "recharge" their mental health in an arts and crafts corner; or make a collage in a "supportive space for election processing." Other events on the week's schedule included "support spaces" exclusively for LGBTQ students and students of color to talk about their election anxiety.

You’d think such a society that puts “therapy” at the forefront would applaud a “love your enemy” ethic. But time and time again that’s not what we see as a result. “Safe spaces” aren’t designed to put away anger, but allow them time to boil. It’s a pat on the back. Jesus says “love your enemy”

Therapy culture says, “You are whoever you feel you are. Your enemy is whatever you feel it is. Do whatever is necessary to prevent your enemy from harming your psyche.”

Doesn’t that sound . . . dangerous?

Therapy culture has bought the lie that how we treat out enemies will actually change our enemies. How we treat our enemies is not primarily about stopping them or protecting ourselves. How we treat our enemies shows who we are.

Who We Are

Matthew 5:45 ESV

so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

Loving enemies shows who we are (v. 45).

Why do we love our enemies? So that we may be sons of God. The phrase “sons of” was a common Hebrew idiom to denote the nature and character of something. Jesus calls the sons of Zebedee the “sons of thunder.” So how we treat our enemies is pivitol to who we are as people. And if we want our character to be godly, we should treat our enemies with love.

God himself causes his sun (notice who the sun belongs to there) to rise on evil and good. God causes rain to fall on both.

Often our true character is known when we are under fire. And what better way to test who you are than when an enemy is persecuting you? Then you will know if you are sons and daughters of God, or rather sons and daughters of this age, this culture.

Not self-serving

Matthew 5:46–47 ESV

For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?

Loving enemies is not self-serving (vv. 46-47).

cult of martyrs

modern victim-mentality:

People like to be the victim to get sympathy and gain a platform. Using people to get what we selfishly want—even our enemies—is something the Lord forbids.

*Misinterpretation of slap the cheek

Some people think of Jesus’s teaching here as like a master chess player: if you treat your enemy with love, he will become a friend. Jesus is not concerned with manipulation. This is not “How to Win Friends and Influence People.” Jesus throughout this section is concerned with one thing: Matthew 5:20 “For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

What is Christ’s concern? Our personal righteousness and standing before God. This bookend is reiterated in v. 48 and forms the bread of this sandwich we just went though in vv. 21-47.

Conclusion

Matthew 5:48 ESV

You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Now, the teachers of the law would say the same thing. But their emphasis of perfection was far different than Jesus’s emphasis. Anger, lust, honesty, retaliation are all matters of the heart.

Conclusion: perfection is a matter of the heart (v. 48).

The goal for most religion is to “do, do, do.” Obey this follow that, believe this. The goal for Christianity is “want.” Christ is not just after your behavior; he’s not just after your mind, he’s after your heart.

You see, you can do the right things, believe the right things, and still in your heart not want Christ.

Do you yearn for God?

Psalm 42:1–2 ESV

As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?

We can hear that phrase “be perfect” with the defeatist attitude, “I could never” and give up. That’s not Christian. We could hear that phase as a challenge and live by a meticulous check list of every law, growing more miserable in the process. That’s not Christian.

Be perfect as your heavenly Father as perfect.

When you hear that, you know you’re far from it, but you yearn for it, pursue it, you hunger and thirst for righteousness, that is the Christian response.