Luke 6.27-38
There are times when Jesus says something or does something that needs to be thought through using our best efforts; things that need to be prayed over asking how it might apply to our life. It’s not immediately obvious, for example, what Jesus’ miracle of turning hundreds of gallons of water into vintage wine at a wedding in Cana of Galilee might have to do with daily life and faith. Not everything Jesus says or does is immediately applicable.
But not today. Today, Jesus’ words apply themselves. Eugene Peterson’s translation of the Bible, The Message, has Jesus say, “Love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer for that person…If someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life. No more tit-for-tat stuff. Live generously.” Here is a roll-up-your sleeves approach to a life of faith. Jesus’ words apply themselves.
Not that it makes it easy. As soon as you begin to absorb what Jesus says and try to put them into practice, you discover that you are called to something higher than the life that might come naturally to us. Loving enemies, not merely tolerating them, or vaguely accepting them, but loving them in the biblical sense of actively seeking their good; blessing those who hate you; living generously and expecting nothing in return—these hardly come naturally. There is something within us that resists doing these things and often does the opposite instead.
Now such commands were as challenging in Jesus’ day as in ours; would have seemed as impractical and absurd then as now. The territory where Jesus carried out his ministry was occupied by the Romans and Roman soldiers were posted everywhere. That John the Baptist once told Roman soldiers who were seeking God that repentance, for them, meant ‘no more bullying, so more blackmail,’ is a sigh that they were not kindly mall security guards. They were the enemies; the enemies Jesus called his followers to love. This is above and beyond what we might conceive of because a natural response would be to resist and retaliate.
St Paul says, ‘Love is the fulfillment of the teachings of the Old Testament.’ Yet Jesus shows how the fulfillment of this love is unlike anything we might have come up with on our own. Christian life and character are not determined by the behavior of others toward us but determined and shaped by the life and character of God who is, as Jesus says, “kind and merciful to the ungrateful and wicked.”
You can sense the challenge of putting this sort of life into practice, can’t you? Jesus’ words are clear, though clearly not easy. His words are simple, but not always simple to live out. He is direct, but we will need the Holy Spirit at work in us to direct us in the way Jesus sets before us. “Be merciful, just as your heavenly Father is merciful.”
Lent begins in ten days. Ash Wednesday is March 5. The call of Lent, as one of the appointed scripture readings for Ash Wednesday puts it, is to “return to the Lord who is gracious and merciful. This 40-day season is well-known for spiritual practices like fasting, extra time devoted to prayer and spiritual reading, works of charity and generosity. Now is a good time to think about how you might observe Lent with intention and purpose.
Fasting is probably the most familiar Lenten practice, though not everyone can fast from meals because of medical or health reasons. But many people give things up during Lent—dessert, booze, social media, or something else. Those are all worth considering, but maybe not because of the things themselves. A bit of friendly and perennial pastoral advice, then: if the idea of giving up any of the things just mentioned causes a slight panic in you as you consider the idea, that is probably the place to start. Now it is true that life is hard, has challenges, and we need small comforts and escapes. Yet giving up things, even small comforts, discloses the habits and patterns we use to avoid truths we would rather not deal with, little dependencies that take the place of God, and frees up space for what really matters.
Yet giving things up is only a part of keeping Lent with a sense of purpose. These 40 days are also a chance to take things up. Take up Jesus’ words in today’s gospel with all their clarity and challenge. Think about people who make your life uncomfortable, people you disagree with about politics or science, people who try to use you or speak ill of you, people you feel indifferent towards or who annoy you, and bless them, not only if they sneeze, but bless them by speaking positively about them, to them, and for them. When Jesus calls us to love our enemies—a uniquely Christian command—he means actively seeking the good of people who may not be good toward us.
So if, for example, you find that your life on social media is driven by a need to point out how wrong other people are, this would be a good thing to give up during Lent as an important first step for giving it up entirely. This will also, I believe, lead to introspection and reflection on your part; you will come to see as you see things in you that need to change. The prayer book has a prayer for our enemies: “O God, the Father of all, whose Son commanded us to love our enemies: Lead them and us from prejudice to truth: deliver them and us from hatred, cruelty, and revenge; and in your good time enable us all to stand reconciled before you.” Things need to change, not just in ‘them’ but in each of us. You may find in that prayer is worth taking up in Lent for a renewed sense of purpose as a follower of Jesus.
Dave Burchett, in an essay titled, ‘Following Jesus in an Angry World’—written a handful of years ago but something I’ve just come across it—tries to answer the question, “How can I represent the grace and love of Jesus in a culture that is angry and divided?” Burchett spent nearly 40 years as a TV sports director: collegiate and professional sports, the Olympics. He has lots of experience trying to live out the principles of Christian faith in a world where people of faith can be perceived as worse than eccentric, not least because, he says, “the church has [too often] made what we stand against the message of our faith instead of the wonderful and liberating good news of who Jesus is and what he has done.”
Burchett then suggests a way of life that is both a way of grace and that will also lead to self-reflection and repentance on our part. How do we navigate an angry world as followers of Jesus? Burchett’s suggestions echo Jesus in today’s gospel. “To try and see everyone through the eyes of Jesus because my eyes are prejudiced and prideful; to try and love them like Jesus, because my love is defensive and selfish; to let others know that Jesus and his grace have changed my life, given me purpose, given me strength to endure tragedy, and given me real hope for the future; to exhibit grace and kindness to those who attack me for not sharing their views; to be gentle in relating the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ to people in every situation and not be judgmental of their current situation.”
In other words, the way to represent the grace and love of Jesus in a culture that is angry and divided is to, “Be merciful, just as your heavenly Father is merciful.” Now this may very well take you to your limits. And if you find that you can’t make a difference—as you may very well—to trust that the God who is merciful is also merciful, patient, and kind with you when you fall short, even of your best intentions. God’s Grace always exceeds your sin. In Christ, all things are held reconciled, even the bits and pieces we cannot put together by our own best efforts.
Giving things up in Lent has a way of clearing out the distractions we use to avoid Jesus’ clear, simple, and direct words. Taking things up, with prayer and the guidance of the Spirit, directs us in the way that Jesus sets before us: to love, do good, bless, and live generously—not with the expectation that we will get anything back but simply to reflect Jesus’ life out in the world. This is an appeal to be people of mercy shaped by the mercy and character of God, instruments of God’s grace toward others.
And remember, these are not occasional practices and activities taken up only during Lent but the habits and patterns of a lifetime, given special focus and attention in the upcoming 40 days. It is like a professional musician who practices scales every day so that the music comes to them and through them as second nature. In Lent, we take up practices of faith with intention to keep the music of God’s mercy and Jesus’ love alive in us to make it our second nature. It’s time to plan.
Jesus’ words today are clear, though clearly not easy. Yet to hear Jesus’ words only as challenge would be to misunderstand him. Because the life he calls you to is the very life he gives to you in all its dimensions of generosity and love. Jesus himself is the one who loved his enemies and did good to those who hated him. When they struck him on the cheek and took the cloak from his back, he went on loving and forgiving. He prayed, lived generously, giving his very self.
So today hear the gospel first and foremost as Jesus’ life and love for you and how he nurtures that life in you. Then, in response, you can follow where he leads. And when you are at your limits, he will give you strength. “God’s divine power has given us everything we need for life and for godliness,” says the letter of 2nd Peter. “This power was given to us through knowledge of the one who called us.”
Jesus is the one who calls you, not only in Lent but for each day and every moment. You who follow Jesus Christ, and are guided by the Spirit, can live today in a way that reflects the life, wisdom, and character of God. “Be merciful, just as your heavenly Father is merciful.”
Dave Burchett essay can be found here, https://www.daveburchett.com/2018/11/26/following-jesus-in-an-angry-world/
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