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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 6:27–38
Yesterday we read 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. Then 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
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." Here, Jesus teaches what is called the "Golden Rule." My study bible calls it a minimum of Christian virtue, as it places one's desire for goodness (which St. Cyril of Alexandria calls "the natural law of self-love") as a basic standard of how to treat others. It is a first step on the perfection of virtue. That perfection is found in the verses that follow.
"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, Jesus explains "perfection" -- that we learn the mercy of God, beyond natural human law. God's mercy, rather than 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 says 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. For example, if one "pressed down" on flour in a measuring cup, it would give far more as the measure than otherwise, fluffed up with air. The blessings which God intends to put into our hearts, my study bible says, are far more generous than we can possibly contain. But this also depends on the spirit in which we ourselves give and forgive.
In today's reading, which is a continuation of Jesus' Sermon on the Plain begun in yesterday's reading (above), Jesus calls upon us for what we might term a very tall order in our behavior with others. We might wonder how we can possibly fulfill these teachings. But my own understanding is that Jesus is not telling us to go put ourselves in harm's way nor appease abusive people. He is, rather, teaching us a principle about our own behavior. It cannot be based upon tit-for-tat worldly rules that we learn from the society around us, or which are based on some sort of material understanding of gain and loss, or trade. Our goal is to be "like God." What that means, as is so often the case with Jesus, is that we are to learn to think outside of the worldly box, to seek what is proper in prayer, and through love and mercy. In all cases we are to use discernment, but the foundation of Christian witness is not to conform to the world. It is to live as God asks us to live. In various places in the Gospels, Jesus speaks of "treasure in heaven," which is the result of sharing or giving our worldly goods as alms (Luke 12:33). See, for example, Jesus' words to the rich young ruler: "You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me" (Luke 18:18-23). In this understanding, the good that we do, especially where not "merited" in some sense, becomes a kind of exchange with the heavenly reality, where what we give becomes part of a heavenly treasure stored up for us. It is as if we must view our lives as a kind of commerce or exchange but where God is the President and Regulator of that exchange. Forgiveness works in this same framework. Our sense of evening up the score becomes transcendent of a worldly perspective, and instead it is God who is the One who oversees our negotiations. We give up a debt and forgive in the imagery of the Lord's Prayer ("Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors" - Matthew 6:12), but it is God who has the central bank where ultimately everything is collected and accounts are reconciled. Jesus asks us to conduct our lives with an awareness that is not limited simply to a materialist, worldly perspective, but rather one in which God is present, watching, and participating in our lives -- and we are to understand our choices in this divine economy. It's really the ultimate Judge who keeps the score, and that is what we are to keep in mind. So our commerce with others, of all kinds, becomes much more than an exchange between ourselves and other persons. It becomes a way of expressing our faith, our love of God, and our understanding that there is a much bigger picture that defines our conduct. We just might also find that following Christ's teachings gets us much further even in this earthly life than if we are constantly seeking to even the score, or angle for something we think we can get. To think outside of that worldly box is to begin to give up selfish habits; to engage in the worldly direction is to follow the road of self-centeredness and selfishness, a destination that doesn't lead to great happiness or peace in the long run, I have observed. These guidelines by Christ form the basis for what we understand to be gracious living, good manners. Those are the intangible goods that separate us out from the crowd, and do not depend upon material wealth but give substance and value to a person nevertheless. In our present day, and especially with the advent of social media (it seems) we might lose sight of those intangible things that make us gracious. But one would be surprised how far this behavior carries us in life, and even in the social media world. Let us follow our Lord in the true spirit of His teachings, and grow in them! For there is where our joy and peace are found.
