The following brief points come from a recent sermon I offered on Jesus's command to love our enemies (Matt. 5:43-48). This is a hard text to preach because Jesus' words are so clear and yet necessitate a particular empathy for those who have, or are currently experiencing, an abusive relationship. These three points seek to address the question, "Who are we to love?"
1. Who are we to love?
• It’s quite a list. The text mentions: enemies, those who persecute you, the evil, unrighteous, tax collectors. One commentator says, “He speaks of those at the bottom of the moral scale.”
A number of issues strike me about this list:
• First, all “enemies” are accounted for. The list is essentially inclusive filled with those who would do us harm, cheat us, even destroy us. There can be no group outside, none whom we may deny God’s love or our own. Jesus speaks of the enemy in all of his harshness and brutality – the addict, the abuser, the gossiper, whoever.
• Second, in this love there is a place for acknowledging “evil” (even referring to people as being evil) This is not an ooey-gooey vision of romantic or feel good love. This is not about sentimentality. Christian love is not the same thing as being nice but begins with the often harsh recognition that things are not right with the world, that we are not all united, “that I have been" or "am being abused.” The command to love your enemies only makes sense if you recognize that you have them. Jesus reminds us that without honest recognition true love cannot exist.
• Third, Jesus is saying that while we may have enemies, they fundamentally don’t determine our response. To acknowledge that we must love our enemies is not the same thing as saying that we surrender or give up what is right or true. To love our enemies is to rob them of the power of making us behave the way they want us to – with fear, violence, or apathy. Who they are does not determine what we do. The love that Jesus advocates is not a weakness or helplessness in the face of forces that seek to steal, kill and destroy us. You are not cross-embroidered doormat. In other words, Don’t say “no” to love - even love of enemeis - but remember that love can say “no.” Sometimes, love says no extravagantly! The love of God is powerful and is best classified as a weapon. To love as a follower of Christ is to acknowledge that whoever they are, whatever they have done they don’t determine our response or our end – God does! A great expression of this truth comes from the farmer/Bible translator/grumpy advocate, Clarence Jordan who started an inter-racial farming community in Americus, Georgia in the 1940s. He tells the following story (taken from a sermon) about a burly farmer who calls his work for peace and justice, particularly loving one's enemies, cowardly.
The farmer said, "You know what I don't like about you folks?" I could have named quite a few things, but I asked him what. And he said, "I don't like it 'cause you won't fight." I said, "Buddy, you've got that wrong." He said, "You fight?" "Yes, sir," I said, "we'll fight." He said, "Well, I heard you wouldn't." "Well," I said, "we don't fight that way ." "Oh, then you won't fight." I said, "Wait a minute now." And I looked out across there and saw an old mule with his head stuck out the old barn that was about to fall down, and I said to this fellow, "Suppose you walked by the barn out there right now, and that old mule reached out and bit you in the seat of the britches, would you bite him back?" "No, I ain't no mule!" I said, "Of course you wouldn't, and you've given the reason also why you wouldn't bite him back, because you're not a mule. "What would you do?" He said, "I'd get me a two by four, and I'd beat his brains out."
"Sure you would," I said, "you wouldn't let the mule choose the weapons, would you? You'd fight him, but you'd do it on your terms, not his. Suppose you'd say, 'Well, old mule, I ain't scared to fight. You bare your teeth, I'll bare mine; you bite me, I'll bite you; you kick me, I'll kick you. You'll lose! Now," I said, "you've got to choose some weapons that a mule can't compete with. You go to the jungle and fight a lion and say, 'Old lion, let's fight. I feel good today.' Old lion say, 'Okay, let's fight with fang and claw, that's all, let's go.' The man will not exert his superiority over the lion. He's got to choose the weapons." I said, "Now, we will fight, sir, but we will choose the weapons."
Don't let your enemy pick the weapon. Choose love - it's the only weapon that truly works.
If you would like a CD of the sermon or further notes answering the questions, "why are we to love our enemies?" and "how are we to love our enemies?" - email me at jonucsb@yahoo.com.
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