To you who hear I say, love your enemies,
do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you,
pray for those who mistreat you.
Jesus didn't add, "Unless they are a politician", or "Unless they should know better", or "Unless we gave them several chances already". He would not have excluded any forum, family, the public square, or comments section on social media. Our real enemies are not necessarily those with whom we are at war. Often we prefer not even to address our enemies as enemies so that we can think of ourselves as people too nice to have them. But generally, other people could probably identify our enemies from how we speak about them and behave toward them. They are the ones toward whom we refuse to do good because, we imagine, they don't deserve it. They are the ones that we would rather curse than say anything nice about, those we would rather publicize their failures rather than to pray for them.
To the person who strikes you on one cheek,
offer the other one as well,
and from the person who takes your cloak,
do not withhold even your tunic.
In our own day these individuals are not often striking us physically or demanding our actual clothing of us. But they do these things in ways that are metaphorical and yet still quite real. They insult our dignity and make it harder for us to get by in an already challenging world. Left to our own devices, our first strategies would probably involve dodging, if not hitting back. We would try clinging to the cloak, not letting go even of the tunic. The command of Jesus to do otherwise doesn't make sense to us and in fact probably seems dangerous or foolish. But we should consider if his command could in fact be the truly loving path, not because it empowers the enemy to do whatever he wants for as long as he wants, but because it might expose and interrupt his patterns of sin. We can reveal that we stand on higher ground and are playing a different game when we heed the words of Jesus. If real injury were possible we would not stick around to be maimed or crippled. But if the risk is mostly to our pride we can remain present for the sake of the other, giving him the opportunity to see that our dignity does not depend on anything he can do to us. It also shows that we care enough not to stick around rather than choosing an option that would be easier for us.
Give to everyone who asks of you,
and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back.
There are valid reasons not to give to others if we suspect that we would be enabling dangerous behavior or if we put our own livelihood at risk. But the real reason we are often afraid to do so is because we don't want to be compelled by others to do so. We want to be the ones that determine where and how we give. We don't want to feel as though we are giving power over ourselves to others who shouldn't have it. And yet, if we can stand above this in a way that demonstrates that we are in fact free in spite of appearances to the contrary it has the potential to change those who see it. They think they are in charge because they make demands? What if we love them by giving them even more than they ask? Who is truly the most free then?
Stop judging and you will not be judged.
Stop condemning and you will not be condemned.
Our criteria are often excuses to exclude others and to not show love when showing love would be difficult. We condemn others to excuse ourselves. But when we create categories of those unworthy of love, acceptance, and forgiveness, we create parts of our own hearts that are worthy of condemnation. We need to counteract this tendency by doing the opposite of what our impulses dictate:
Give and gifts will be given to you;
a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing,
will be poured into your lap.
When we do so we not only serve others but also eliminate barriers in our own hearts to receiving all that God has for us.
For the measure with which you measure
will in return be measured out to you.
do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you,
pray for those who mistreat you.
Jesus didn't add, "Unless they are a politician", or "Unless they should know better", or "Unless we gave them several chances already". He would not have excluded any forum, family, the public square, or comments section on social media. Our real enemies are not necessarily those with whom we are at war. Often we prefer not even to address our enemies as enemies so that we can think of ourselves as people too nice to have them. But generally, other people could probably identify our enemies from how we speak about them and behave toward them. They are the ones toward whom we refuse to do good because, we imagine, they don't deserve it. They are the ones that we would rather curse than say anything nice about, those we would rather publicize their failures rather than to pray for them.
To the person who strikes you on one cheek,
offer the other one as well,
and from the person who takes your cloak,
do not withhold even your tunic.
In our own day these individuals are not often striking us physically or demanding our actual clothing of us. But they do these things in ways that are metaphorical and yet still quite real. They insult our dignity and make it harder for us to get by in an already challenging world. Left to our own devices, our first strategies would probably involve dodging, if not hitting back. We would try clinging to the cloak, not letting go even of the tunic. The command of Jesus to do otherwise doesn't make sense to us and in fact probably seems dangerous or foolish. But we should consider if his command could in fact be the truly loving path, not because it empowers the enemy to do whatever he wants for as long as he wants, but because it might expose and interrupt his patterns of sin. We can reveal that we stand on higher ground and are playing a different game when we heed the words of Jesus. If real injury were possible we would not stick around to be maimed or crippled. But if the risk is mostly to our pride we can remain present for the sake of the other, giving him the opportunity to see that our dignity does not depend on anything he can do to us. It also shows that we care enough not to stick around rather than choosing an option that would be easier for us.
Give to everyone who asks of you,
and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back.
There are valid reasons not to give to others if we suspect that we would be enabling dangerous behavior or if we put our own livelihood at risk. But the real reason we are often afraid to do so is because we don't want to be compelled by others to do so. We want to be the ones that determine where and how we give. We don't want to feel as though we are giving power over ourselves to others who shouldn't have it. And yet, if we can stand above this in a way that demonstrates that we are in fact free in spite of appearances to the contrary it has the potential to change those who see it. They think they are in charge because they make demands? What if we love them by giving them even more than they ask? Who is truly the most free then?
Stop judging and you will not be judged.
Stop condemning and you will not be condemned.
Our criteria are often excuses to exclude others and to not show love when showing love would be difficult. We condemn others to excuse ourselves. But when we create categories of those unworthy of love, acceptance, and forgiveness, we create parts of our own hearts that are worthy of condemnation. We need to counteract this tendency by doing the opposite of what our impulses dictate:
Give and gifts will be given to you;
a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing,
will be poured into your lap.
When we do so we not only serve others but also eliminate barriers in our own hearts to receiving all that God has for us.
For the measure with which you measure
will in return be measured out to you.
No comments:
Post a Comment