You will be sons of the Most High

"But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you. To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back. And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.

"But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back. But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. Therefore be merciful, just as your Father is also merciful.

"Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you."

- Luke 6:27-38

In yesterday's reading, Jesus began what is sometimes called "the Sermon on the Plain" (because we are told that He "stood on a level place"). The preaching and the message are similar to the Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount which we know from Matthew's Gospel. In Matthew's Gospel, this covers many readings (see chapters 5-7). Today we continue with this Sermon as given us by the Evangelist Luke. My study bible has noted, "Jesus taught many of the same things over a period of three years in a setting of hills, plains, the lakeshore and the cities, and we have His teachings in various versions."

"But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you. To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back. And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise." These teachings give us a picture of peace. We are taught that our attitude is not to quickly seek revenge, retribution or recompense. Rather we practice a loving and merciful attitude. For the past several readings, it is this quality of mercy that has been stressed -- first of all, in the application of the law, for it is God's will, which is love, that is to be served by the law; the law is to minister to mankind, God's creation. But in this teaching, Jesus is giving us a way to "be like God."

"But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back. But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. Therefore be merciful, just as your Father is also merciful." We are not only encouraged to "be like God" - but we are told that we are to be "sons of the Most High," children of God. We become His by adoption. Jesus is inviting us, His listeners, not merely to be disciples, but into a deeper relationship of sonship.

And there is also a very significant notion of exchange going on here. We are to exchange a worldly sense of justice for a different one. The actions that Jesus asks of us here don't really make sense in the context of the way we think of "justice" in worldly terms. We are asked to "opt out" of one system, so that we are initiated into a different one. Earlier in this Sermon, Jesus taught that the reward of those who suffer now is great in heaven. Here, too, we are asked to exchange one system for a different one, in heaven. God the merciful is called "our Father." We are to seek to be His, to belong to His way as His children.

"Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you." My study bible notes here: "The Kingdom of God calls us to a way of life in which mercy abounds. We must: (1) Refrain from judging. By definition, human judgment precludes mercy. (2) Do not condemn. Condemnation causes us to depart from mercy. (3) Forgive. Forgiveness can only come out of a heart of mercy. (4) Give. When we give abundantly we receive from God in the same measure." I think that Jesus is giving us a powerful antidote to the understanding of justice and judgment that we get from the world (perhaps by inference, from the "ruler of this world"). The most important understanding that we can infer from this section of today's reading is the notion of our own self-responsibility. We are told that "with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you." We hold ourselves to a standard. Our "contract" if you will, is with God our Father, this is the source of right-relatedness. We have a responsibility to walk in His way of mercy. This is the basis for good judgment, not a worldly sense of judgment or justice.

In John chapter 12, we read Jesus words, "Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out." We have to reconcile the repeated understanding of judgment in these Gospels with Jesus' words here that we are not to judge and condemn. Therefore, we understand that it is not judgment as a concept that is the problem, but rather the way we judge, how we condemn, how we understand judgment from a "worldly" perspective. From that basic relationship as children of Our Father, we take different notions of what good judgment really is. We learn to practice in exchange -- we give up one system of judgment so that we may learn another, that of Our Father. Our Father's law is mercy and love, as opposed to that of the "ruler of this world." It goes back to the Greatest Commandments. We put the love of the Father first, from there we learn righteousness, love of neighbor, and conduct becoming "children of the Most High." It is a bond of love that teaches us who we are, who we must be and become. Can you forge that bond with your Most High parent? It will teach you what you have not learned otherwise; and we exchange one system of understanding for another. This, too, is the process of repentance to which we are called as children of the Most High.