Seventh Sunday after the Epiphany

Scripture

Luke 6:27–38 “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you. “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”

Sermon . . . The Middle Command

I am convinced that we have a faulty view of Jesus’ teaching. What I mean is that we who love Jesus tend to romanticize what it was like for those who heard Him. I think we imagine a crowd of people standing around Jesus, hanging on His every word, in awe that they are right here, right now. We have a Jesus that looks like Elvis. Every time He takes the stage, He is surrounded by adoring fans that want to get closer. People who listen to everything He says and celebrate it. They stand around saying, “Oh, that’s so good!” “He is so smart!” “I wish I would have thought of that.”

I don’t think it was like that at all. Now, that’s not to say there weren’t those who followed Him seeking to hear what He had to say, but there were those who opposed Him, there were those who didn’t know what to think. There were those who followed Him as long as they liked what He had to say but who left Him when they didn’t.

And if we were going to be less than pleased with Jesus’ teaching, I’d think it would be these verses we just heard. I imagine that after Jesus said what He says here, there would be many who would walk away, shaking their heads and wondering did you hear that?

Did you hear Him say, “love your enemies”? What was that about? And what was that bit about doing good for those who hate you? Someone mockingly says, “bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you”. What a wimp! I mean Jesus was basically telling us to be a doormat to everyone else. Yeah. Turn the other cheek, Ha. Everyone knows if you get hit on one cheek, you better hit back. And that thing about giving up your cloak and shirt? Does He expect us to walk around naked?

I’d guess that many of those listening to Jesus were not pleased with these words. To be honest, I don’t know many people who stand and say, my favorite passage of scripture is found right here. People still today question the validity of turning the other cheek. People still today will avoid those who don’t love them. People who criticize them or who they feel don’t appreciate them. And everyone knows it’s just good business practice to lend to those who can give it back. You go out of business lending to people who can’t pay back their debts.

But what was that thing He said in the middle? The command He gave? “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” Now, while we might not like much of what Jesus said on either side of this, if we stop and think about this one statement, it revolutionizes the way we approach others in the following ways.

It’s gives us a marker for how we ought to treat others. We can first ask ourselves, “is this the way I’d like to be treated?” If so, then we can move forward. If the answer is no, then we can go back to the drawing board and find a new way to approach a situation so that we treat people the way we would want to be treated.

It highlights the way God through Christ loves us. Not in a way that says, “I’ll love you as long as you love me back.” But Christ loves us in the way He, Himself would like us to love Him. He set the example of someone who turned the other cheek, who lends to those who can’t afford to pay it back, someone who gives more than what they are being asked for, someone who fulfills the beginning, the end, and the middle of this passage.

But this middle command also gives us a type of warning. Christ always treated us the way He wished to be treated, but, the reality is, we did not reciprocate. We did not treat Him the way we would wish to be treated. We nailed Him to the cross. We yelled for His crucifixion. We applauded when He was beaten. We celebrated when He was flogged. So be warned that even when you treat others the way you wish to be treated, they will not always respond in kind.

But as Jesus was concluding His teaching, He encourages His listeners to recognize that when we live like this, the beginning, the middle, and the end commands, we are living with an eternal focus in mind. We are living not for the promises and the blessings of this world, but for the promises and blessings of God. Jesus tells them, “Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High.”