Meditation on the lessons for the Seventh Sunday after Epiphany
Genesis 45:3-11,15; Psalm 37:1-11, 39-40; 1 Corinthians 15:35-38,42-50; 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. (Luke 6:27-28)
Jesus' insistence that his followers love even their enemies sets a standard that many of us find unattainably high.
We understand that love is crucial to being a follower of Jesus, as Paul, for example, makes abundantly clear!
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:13)
But, are we truly meant to love our enemy? As with many of the challenges that God sets before us, the answer appears to be, well, "yes."
You Want Me to Do What!?
You want me to take risks?
You want me (me?!) to be wise?
You want me to love who?
You want me to treat who as an equal?
You want me to have hope while the world is coming apart at the seams?
You want me to have hope while my world is coming apart at the seams?
You want me to forgive whose sins?
You want me to confess my sins?
Oh!
That is what you want...
Out of all these demands, the one concerning whom Jesus asks us to love is extraordinarily challenging!
A Worst Case Scenario
For me, the heinous October 7, 2024 attack on Israel is a pivotal test case. How, in God's name, can you not hate those who killed and captured so many innocent souls on that horrible day?
Days following the massacre, I was attempting to make sense of this tragedy. The outcome was this short poem.
To love an enemy
is to stare into the eyes of God
and not blink.
To be able to love those who perpetrated this evil had to be such a high bar that to truly do so, to love that enemy had to be as difficult as beholding the very face of God..
At the same time, this call to love our enemies cannot possibly be an acceptance of evil. The Scriptures constantly remind us to refrain from evil:
Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. (Psalm 34:14)
Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! (Isaiah 5:20)
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:21)
Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. (Romans 12:9)
Abstain from every form of evil. (1 Thessalonians 5:22)
Loving an enemy does not appear to mean loving the wrong they committed.
So what does it mean? I believe this week's passage from the Gospel of Luke holds the key to this dilemma. When faced with an enemy, we must not strike back but answer this evil with love and forgiveness. The answer, it turns out, is mercy.
Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. "Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap, for the measure you give will be the measure you get back." (Luke 6:36-38)
According to Jesus, the Father delights in those who find a way to love their enemy: "A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap, for the measure you give will be the measure you get back."
"The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace." ' (Numbers 6:24-26)
And when the evil is almost beyond comprehension, God's face will shine upon you:, inviting you to to stare into the eyes of God and not blink.
What About all our Regular Enemies
It turns out that the solution for a worst-case enemy applies to all our personal enemies as well. Answer hate with love. Forgive. And, with God, take delight in mercy.
_______________________________________________
Take Delight in Mercy
It is not mercy that which is done while counting the cost
It is not mercy if not given as a gift
It is not mercy if motivated by anything but love for another
It is not mercy if not matched with forgiveness
Delight in mercy and mercy will flow like the waters that quench a drought
Delight in mercy and the dust of fear will know the spark of life
Delight in mercy and light will pierce the darkness
Delight in mercy and know love
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