Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful

 

 "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 one 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 6:27–38 

 

Yesterday we read that it came to pass in those days that Jesus went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.  And when it was day, He called His disciples to Himself; and from them He chose twelve whom He also named apostles:  Simon, whom he also named Peter, and Andrew his brother; James and John; Philip and Bartholomew; Matthew and Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called the Zealot; Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot who also became a traitor.  And He came down with them and stood on a level place with a crowd of His disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem, and from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear Him and be healed of their diseases, as well as those who were tormented with unclean spirits.  And they were healed.  And the whole multitude sought to touch Him, for power went out from Him and healed them all. The n He lifted up His eyes toward His disciples, and said:  "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 one 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."  This last verse here is called the "Golden Rule."  My study Bible calls it a minimum of Christian virtue, as it places a person's desire for goodness (which St. Cyril of Alexandria references as "the natural law of self-love") as a basic standard of how to treat others.  It's the first step on the path of perfection of virtue.  

 

 "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."  If the Golden Rule (see verse 31, above) is the "first step" in the perfection of virtue, then here in this last verse ("Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful") Jesus gives us the image of perfection -- where God's mercy, rather than our human desire, is the standard.  

"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 comments here that mercy precludes human judgment.  Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over are descriptions of how an honest and generous merchant would measure bulk goods.  Flour pressed down, for example, it says, would yield a more generous amount than flour fluffed up.  The blessings which God intends to put into our hearts are more generous than you and I could possibly contain, but this also depends upon the spirit in which we ourselves give and forgive.  

Jesus continues His Sermon on the Plain, found here in Luke's Gospel.  The contents are similar to the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5 - 7), but here in Luke the sermon is less extensive.  My study Bible has commented that, indeed, Jesus no doubt taught many similar things on many varied occasions.  In today's reading, Jesus moves from speaking of the beatitudes (or blessings) of the Kingdom, and the woes of those who reject it, to today's focus on the practice of virtue, what it means, and how we do this.  All of this counts as part of the gospel message that Christ's newly-appointed apostles will carry out to the world.  While the blessings and woes of the beginning of the sermon give us distinctive characteristics of the life of the Kingdom, here Jesus' focus shifts to behavior, and a sense of the "rules" by which this Kingdom operates, even for we who seek to live it here in this world.  Jesus teaches, "Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you."  In terms of worldly values of the use of coercive and manipulative power, this rule of loving your enemies might seem far from reasonable or efficient.  And yet, we are taught to live this way.  Because God's kingdom exists even in our midst, we might be surprised at the quality of life we receive when we seek to live by God's laws.  As Jesus noted in His "blessings," we might even be persecuted for this Kingdom's sake, or suffer some sort of hostile response from the worldly, but to live in this way has surprising benefits and blessings that accrue to it nonetheless.  It might not jibe with many popular beliefs, but having observed a great deal of life, one might be surprised at just how much benefit seems to amass by following Christ's teachings.  Often it is the extremely selfish who wind up suffering from their own inward directedness, and limited perspective in life.  Short-term gain often does not equal long-term benefit.  Even in purely business relationships, one might be surprised at how much generosity pays off in terms of the capacity to come to terms, and gain agreements.  Moreover, as we're told to love our enemies, it prompts us to consider precisely what love it.  If we make the mistake of thinking that love is merely the coddling or indulgence of our every whim, then we're on the wrong track about practicing love.  Love is desiring the good for others, not helping them along on the road to self-indulgence or destructive personal behaviors.  The practice of love does not compatible with forms of nihilism.  Christ asks us to practice love and mercy in concert with the values of the Kingdom, for life, and for the goodness of life, for the fullness of health of human beings in all dimensions.  To practice kindness is in an important sense to build peace, and to make a space for the truly good and creative to thrive even at times in the midst of enemies.  Perhaps there will always be those who reject this way of life, who resent the joy of the Kingdom, and do not understand the love that Christ preaches.  But let us, at any rate, draw closer to God and to follow Christ's way, as we learn better how to put into practice what He teaches us.  Yes, there will be those from whom we need to withdraw, even to practice virtue when such circumstances arise (for even Christ withdrew from His persecutors in the times this was necessary; see this reading, for example).  Jesus invites us into the generosity of the Kingdom, a different way of living and of perceiving life, but He does not leave us alone in this endeavor, for He is with us, and the Holy Spirit does not leave us.  How we negotiate life in this world, even amongst people who don't share such values, and how we live nevertheless the values of the Kingdom even in this world, is always going to be our mission.  The myriad of saints and of believers over the centuries confirms that there is a wide, wide, ever-expanding array of ways to live His life of the Kingdom even as we live in this world.  For this is our mission, and our gospel to bear into the world.