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"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 also is 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 6:27-38In yesterday's reading, we first read that Jesus prayed all night on the mountain. When it was day, He called His disciples to Himself, and chose the Twelve who will be His apostles. He came down from the mountain and stood on a level place in the midst of His disciples and the crowds who came for healing from all Judea and Jerusalem, and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon. All were healed of every ailment including torment from unclean spirits, and all sought to touch Him for power came out from Him and healed them all. Then He "lifted up His eyes to His disciples, and began to preach: "Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you, and revile you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of Man's sake. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy! For indeed your reward is great in heaven, For in like manner their fathers did to the prophets. But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are full, for you shall hunger. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the false prophets."
"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." My study bible sums up Jesus' teachings as follows: "The Kingdom of God calls us to a way of life in which mercy abounds." Clearly, Christ calls us to a life of pro-active love. This is love that is not dependent upon what others do first. It is a life dependent on the call of God, and the will of God, and the love of God. We are to be, in this sense, God-like, as adopted children. When we refrain from sin and temptation, it is a kind of negative God-likeness (negative in the sense that it refers to things we are not to do). But here, Jesus' preaching dwells on the positive side of the same coin of discipleship, on what we are to do, what love we share as members of that Kingdom.
"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 also is merciful." Here the emphasis is on mercy. In this pro-active love, Christ takes us beyond the justice of an eye for an eye, and into something new, into a kind of love that is like Him. We also enter into an exchange here, not with others, but the reciprocity and reciprocal reward is from God. It is a refocusing of our energies into relatedness with God, and thereby an awareness of our status as children by adoption and bearers of this kingdom. I do not believe these teachings are given as a literal recipe for bankruptcy or giving all to people who will steal from us so that we have nothing in life, a kind of pure social masochism demanded of us all. (Although there are saints who have practiced such a life in pure love of God, so the teaching as with all things depends upon the individual. However, Christ will also teach us discernment, to not cast our pearls before swine.) Rather, they shift our relationship and our understanding of how we are to relate to the world, and whose love we bear into the world. This radical shift is also what enables the practice of forgiveness, and prayer for others who've harmed us -- another practice of love.
"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." And so, we are led to the practice of mercy and what that means in our lives. We can't judge of ourselves, but we can seek God's judgment in all things. It's not up to us to condemn, but it is up to us to forgive, to give all things up to God for God's perspective and will for our own conduct in response. This reciprocity -- again a focus away from the law of an eye for an eye -- gives us a shift into focus in relationship to God first, so our conduct in the world is guided by that. Our reward comes from God as well.
Jesus' perspective shifts us into a radical point of view. What are we when we begin our lives in the world through the lens of discipleship, of being "sons of the Most of High?" It puts things in an entirely different perspective than a purely worldly one. In that sense, we are provided with an abundance of love from this relationship to God, which we share with others. We are cast into a place where normal means of relationship are shifted, where an abundance of mercy may fill us and our lives in ways that are beyond worldly perspective. To forgive, in my opinion, is to give all to God for God's discernment and guidance for our conduct. We start from that place in discipleship. Therefore a positive pro-active love doesn't mean we are dependent first upon others. I do not believe that reconciliation automatically follows for all things except in our relationship to God; that is, we accept the circumstances in which we find ourselves and give them to God. We don't condone bad or cruel behavior, we don't forgo justice, but we do remain in relationship to God for how we handle these things. We let them go to God. In this way, we practice a kind of positive detachment from hurtful things, in the interest of God's judgment and in relationship to God's love. From there, we can seek wholeness, restoration, healing; and we remember Jesus' question, Is it lawful to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy? My study bible notes that "by definition, human judgment precludes mercy." So, Jesus' teachings here bear out His teaching on the greatest commandments: First, that one shall love God with all one's heart and mind and soul; and second, to love neighbor as oneself. In what ways do you give things up to God today, and ask for God's guidance in relationship to others? Love means correction, discipline, growth - not simply indulgence. How do we grow in God's love and mercy, as disciples and as adopted children?
