2019-02-24

Love Your Enemies...

<CPX Video>

Love Your Enemies...

Over the last few weeks we have been hearing about ways that Jesus said things that sounded crazy to those who heard them, whether it was asking people to leave everything and follow him or suggesting that the poor, hungry and mourning will have a place of honor in the Kingdom of God, he wasn’t saying the kinds of things that would make him friends or strike fear into the political and religious leaders of his day…

In the video we just heard, they reminded us that Jesus wasn’t the only one who was proclaiming that he would bring about the “Kingdom of God”, but what he was describing was certainly a kind of Kingdom that was nothing like what anyone knew or was familiar with.

Let’s Quickly Step Through the Passage

Luke 6:27–29 GNB

27 “But I tell you who hear me: love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, and pray for those who ill-treat you. 29 If anyone hits you on one cheek, let him hit the other one too; if someone takes your coat, let him have your shirt as well.

Love… Your… Enemies…

Well firstly, Jesus seems to expect that his followers will have some… I think that perhaps we should remember that if we are embodying this up-side down Kingdom, if we are continuing the ministry and presence of Jesus… We will have enemies too… It’s funny because yesterday we got another 1 star review on our Google business listing and I was like “aww man, thats annoying”, but I think that if we are really doing our job in our community, we will people who hate us… I’m not suggesting we make an effort to be as obnoxious as we can to everyone, but at the same time we can’t delude ourselves that everyone will love us and what we do… They certainly didn’t for Jesus...

And the way Jesus is talking here, this isn’t just enemies that “aren’t that bad”, like someone at work who said something nasty or perhaps someone who is trolling you on Facebook (or 1 star review)… Hits you on the cheek, takes you coat, sounds a bit like getting mugged… Probably exactly the kind of situation where you wouldn’t feel the need to take seriously any questions about whether you did the right thing by retaliating… Even in this situation, we are to love… our… enemies...

I think its also important to mention here that when we see Jesus speaking about love like this, this isn’t just some feeling that we need to force, an emotional state, but rather it is an action, a response, an act of our will. These are commands from the king to the citizens of his kingdom… While we might take years of growing to be like Jesus before we could say that we genuinely feel love towards those who hate us, we don’t have the luxury of delaying our loving actions until the feelings arrive…

Luke 6:30 GNB

30 Give to everyone who asks you for something, and when someone takes what is yours, do not ask for it back.

I have to say that the more I think about this, the more shocking this statement actually is...

I mean, in the same way that we might assume that we are justified in retaliating if someone physically attacks us, I don’t think many of us give too much thought to the question about whether people ought repay a debt…

From David Graebers book: Debt: The First 5,000 Years

“The remarkable thing about the statement “One has to pay one’s debts” is that, even according to standard economic theory, it isn’t true… A lender is supposed to accept a certain degree of risk...

If someone asks nicely and borrows it... Or if you are straight up robbed… You can’t round up your all your mates, visit their place and take back what is yours…

It can be difficult to comprehend for us living in a capitalist country today, but we need to remember that for most of the churches history, lending money at interest was seen as evil… Something that Christians should have nothing to do with… The Old Testament is pretty harsh on the practice too… We could do a whole sermon on this, but perhaps another time...

Luke 6:31 GNB

31 Do for others just what you want them to do for you.

Luke 6:31–32 GNB

31 Do for others just what you want them to do for you. 32 “If you love only the people who love you, why should you receive a blessing? Even sinners love those who love them!

Luke 6:32 GNB

32 “If you love only the people who love you, why should you receive a blessing? Even sinners love those who love them!

Luke 6:33–34 GNB

33 And if you do good only to those who do good to you, why should you receive a blessing? Even sinners do that! 34 And if you lend only to those from whom you hope to get it back, why should you receive a blessing? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount!

As those who embody this Kingdom of God Jesus was talking about, our lives individually and together, need to look different from those around us....

Loving Without Preconditions...

Luke 6:35–36 GNB

35 No! Love your enemies and do good to them; lend and expect nothing back. You will then have a great reward, and you will be children of the Most High God. For he is good to the ungrateful and the wicked. 36 Be merciful just as your Father is merciful.

God is the one who we thank for our life and the one we entrust with it… We are to love others as God loves us, a love that started even while we were God’s enemies...

Loving Without Preconditions...

God is the one who we thank for our life and the one we entrust with it...

God is the one who is the source of our wealth and the one who will repay that which give away… We are to demonstrate the same generosity to others that God has shown to us...

Jesus says this and it sounds crazy… I mean, especially in Jesus day, to love those who won’t love you back but will even seek to do you harm… To lend to those who may not pay you back…. To basically allow yourself to be robbed… This isn’t easy, for anyone… It goes against everything that feels just and right…

For those who follow Jesus, the actions of those around us don’t determine whether we respond with love...

The challenge here, irrespective of whether follow Jesus, is that you would live in such a way that those around you aren’t the ones who determine how you respond. Even in situations where we think “This is an exception and my reaction is justified”…

One simple truth that I keep coming back to was that Jesus was, above all else, consistent. He had integrity. His words and his actions aligned with his values all the time, even when he encountered people and situations where that would get him into trouble. In the simplest of terms, he had integrity.

May we be those who embody something of the Upside-Down Kingdom of God...

May we be prepared to follow Jesus with an obedience that doesn’t make sense to those around us...

May we be prepared to see those around us as God sees them, as beloved Children of God, not simply through social and economic categories...

May we be prepared to demonstrate God’s love through our actions, irrespective of whether we see those who receive it as deserving…