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Love Your Enemy: A Demanding Teaching, Frequently Misunderstood
Luke 6:27-38

     Last week I preached a message about “Living Generously and Loving All” from Luke 6.   I talked about the blessings we’re promised if we follow these teachings; like wheat measured out, then shaken and pressed down so more can be added, so shall we be generously rewarded for our faithful obedience to God.    
      That sounds lofty and lovely, doesn’t it?  But seriously folks, did you listen carefully to all that Jesus expects us do?  Am I the only one who’s ever thought, “Now that teaching right there, I wish Jesus had never said that! That’s really uncomfortable for me.  I’d rather not ‘go there’; I want the easy path, light on suffering and low on sacrifice”? 
     But here we are for week 2, looking at this same challenging passage.  I’m returning to this passage that speaks of “loving our enemies” and “turning the other cheek” because it’s a text that has not only been misunderstood - it’s too often been abused.  I want you to be knowledgeable, not naïve.  Great harm has occurred when a single verse (or two) is taken out of context, separated from the larger biblical narrative or not viewed through its unique cultural or historical lens.  
     One phrase I heard and inwardly cringed over last Sunday was this:  “If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other as well.”  Have you ever heard these words and wondered, “Does this mean I must tolerate someone who hits me?  Is the Bible saying I should meekly submit to physical abuse?”  I cannot adequately convey how often and how grievously victims and/or their abusers believe that to be true.  
     Here’s the truth we need to know that can set us (or others) free from this false interpretation.   Do you know that to “be slapped on the cheek” in Jesus’ day, referred to being insulted, not punched in the face?  Imagine yourself in a public setting and you’re insulted; a sharp comment comes at you much like an unexpected slap upon your cheek.  You feel the sting inwardly but are also uncomfortably aware that an audience has heard and is now staring.    
      When any hostility is shown to a follower of Jesus, through words, actions, even attitudes, what we are being taught here is that our response needs to be loving.  I need to quickly clarify this because I’m not saying we’re required to have some sort of instant, warm feelings toward those who are rude, or even cruel to us.  What Jesus modeled and we’re called to do is to set an example of self-control.  If we respond by retaliating, that may begin a cycle of harmful escalation.  How often have you seen that  pattern of escalation played out in broken relationships?  What begins small can build and expand into greater bitterness and pain. Escalation can also happen between groups of people who choose to “slap the cheek” of their neighbor with insults and far worse, and what unfolds can sweep many more into that conflict so there may even be global ramifications. Jesus, who sees and knows this and all things, told the crowd before him that day to stop the cycle of escalation so it cannot even get a toehold.  When there’s hostility, and it is in your personal power to do so, choose loving restraint.       
      Jesus gave us other examples of ways Christians should respond to others.  If someone approaches us with an urgent need, even a problem of their own making, we are to give away our shirt, after we’ve already handed over our coat. In a similar vein, we shouldn’t have it in the back of our minds when we lend to others that we’ll be paid back. That way, if they default on the loan, we won’t have hard feelings. These are just two examples of the ongoing generosity Jesus expects of us, and I feel pretty confident that as a longtime Christian I can do these things – for people I love.  Or for the poor, who are with us always.  This is when a line from The Message translation of the Bible comes straight at me: “If you only go around loving the lovable, do you expect to get a pat on your back?” Ouch!        
     Here’s what moves me toward a willingness to love my enemies: it’s the recognition that I am a sinner who’s been on the receiving end of God’s generosity.  God’s forgiven me again and again and again and again and again.  Jesus’ love reached through the sludge of my sin; in His mercy he forgave me and restored me.  God found a way to love me, “while I was still drowning in sin.”  That shocking, wonderful grace given to me - my own scandal of having “been there, done that”- helps me be humble and give others grace.     
     Let me now suggest what it might look like if we were to love our enemies; perhaps one or two of these will speak to you in particular.   With God’s help, I will:
  • Practice impressive restraint when insulted or mistreated
  • Purposefully pray for the welfare of those who curse or slander me
  • Actively bless those who hate me
  • Be unselfish, at all times with my possessions
  • Graciously pardon those who have offended me
  • Always be on the lookout for ways to aggressively love my enemies
     These all speak to ways we can and should love our enemies; however, I’d be remiss if I didn’t also explain in the clearest of terms that there are times when we need to rightfully set boundaries.  If people break the law, they need to be held accountable.  If there is abuse of a child, that needs to be reported to authorities.  We should never ignore wrongdoing.  Justice can be delivered in courts and atrocities brought to the light of day and stopped through judicial means.  
     As Christians we also acknowledge that God alone is the perfect and final judge, the one who perfectly sees every heart and rightly judges one’s innocence or guilt.  What we also have an assurance of is our salvation; there is no longer any condemnation, our eternal destination is secure when Jesus Christ is our Savior and our Lord.   
      I want to wrap up today with a story that has really gotten my attention this week; it’s challenging me, and I hope it will do the same for you. Chimamanda Adichie, a Nigerian Catholic author, gave a powerful TED talk, viewed over 17 million times, called “The Danger of a Single Story”.  In the TED talk the author tells the story of a childhood memory of Fide, her family's houseboy.
     Growing up, the only thing she ever heard about Fide was how poor he was. Then one day she and her family went to visit Fide’s family in his village.  Fide’s brother showed them a beautiful, ornate basket that he’d made.  Adichie was shocked.  It did not occur to her that anyone in his family could make anything.
     Adichie says, “All I had heard about them was how poor they were, so that it had become impossible for me to see them as anything else but poor. Their poverty was my single story of them.”  She then asked her audience, “Have you ever been the victim of a single story told about you?”
     This wise woman is lamenting how when we tell only one story over and over again about a person or a group, they too often become a shallow stereotype.  Their single story confines them, limiting the fuller and more accurate truth about them.  When that happens, doesn’t it make it much harder to form connections with them – let alone view them as equals?  Consider for yourself whether you might have ever heard someone say, or imply, that Muslims in our country should be viewed with suspicion because they could be covert terrorists. Or what about people on welfare or homeless; maybe those people are lazy. Or who’s heard whispered concerns about a person with a thick accent being an undocumented immigrant?   And if we see people plastering their yard with signs supporting Trump or Biden, could it be that we come to certain conclusions?    
      Adichie reminds us not to judge others, because we don’t really know them.  Aren’t we ignorant when we only know a single story about another person?  Far better to know many, many stories about the fullness of others’ lives before we dare come to conclusions. Wouldn’t that sort of genuine curiosity,  plus a good measure of humility and kindness, go a long way towards diminishing today’s harmful rhetoric, angry protests, and all else that divides us – as a nation, in our churches, our communities and elsewhere?  
     When Jesus tells us to love “our” enemies, can you step back just enough to see that you or someone else put that label on them?  The label is” enemy”. We probably know but a single story or side to them, but God knows all that is within them. Can you see how limited we are in our perception, how we can fail to see or understand all of the dimensions of their heart or life?  
     Realizing how imperfectly we may judge others, here’s my conclusion.  Let’s you and I be so engaged in living generously and loving all that we haven’t got the time or energy for anything else! May it be so.         

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