LOVE, FORGIVE, DO GOOD, AND PRAY.
The Christian life is about loving, forgiving, doing good, and praying for all especially those who hate and are out for us. There is no better way to put it than how Jesus articulated it in today’s gospel:
- Love your enemies,
- Do good to those who hate you,
- Bless those who curse you, and
- Pray for those who abuse you.
Therefore, the readings of this Sunday present us with the characteristics of Christian love and ethics in life. A unique way of conduct that should distinguish the Christian from other men and women of our age and time.
The fact is that there is human brokenness in human interpersonal relationships, where the principle of: “an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth” dominates and determines how we treat each other in the family, group, community, society, the world and even in the Church.
EYE FOR EYE, TOOTH FOR TOOTH
These laws of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth are brutal in Israel. They are quoted as amongst the bloodthirsty, savage, and merciless laws of the Old Testament. However, before we criticize how God could give these laws to Moses certain things must be noted.
The “Lex Talionis,” the law of tit for tat, was so far from being a savage and bloodthirsty law. It is one of mercy and limitation to vengeance.
It is administered by a court judge and not an individual. It is not executed but the monetary value of the injury, pain, healing, loss of time, and indignity suffered. It is not the entirety of the Old Testament law.
OUR THEME
The readings of this Sunday present us with the characteristic ethics of the Christian life and the conduct which should distinguish the Christian from other men and women of our age and time.
The fact is that there is human brokenness in human interpersonal relationships. The principle of: “an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth” dominates and determines how we treat each other in the family, group, community, society, the world and even in the Church (Lev. 24:19–21; Mt. 5:38).
They challenge us to go the extraordinary length of living out an authentic Christian love. That is, in an unconditional and undeserving manner towards the people who hate, curse, hurt and abuse us. This is not an easy life to live or practice in the true sense of the word.
Human beings in a world of brutality are vengeful and retaliatory. This tendency makes us inhuman to each other and makes life on earth jungle-like. It is something normal, natural, and human in our relationship—the basic animalistic instinct of self-preservation.
Loving an enemy, doing to those who hate, forgiving someone who hurts, blessing the one who curses and praying for the ones who abuse and mean harm are the antithesis of human nature.
FIRST READING: 1 SAMUEL 26:2, 7-9, 12-13, 22-23
King Saul was jealous of the young David. His hatred and bitterness blind him with a deep desire to kill David, although the young lad did not harm him.
Provident and divine justice deliver to David his longest time and malicious enemy. Yet, the man after the heart of God with a golden heart of his would not raise a finger to strike the anointed one of God. The noble David also refuses to take vengeance into his hands. Instead, he chooses to rely on God to defend and justify him in the sight of his foes.
Indeed, he has a golden heart, and he was a man after the heart of God, and he was a true leader with power but humility and a big heart for mercy.
LESSONS FROM THE PASSAGE
- Power and authority, if not handled with humility and by the grace of God. It can lead to a paranoiac sense of insecurity and suspicion. It creates jealousy or envy that sees threats everywhere.
- Abusiveness of power and authority is a deep and clear sign of a disgruntled, damaged, and unhappy person. While paranoia is the mark of nemesis catching up and lack of interior peace for abusive individuals.
- We need to be careful and watchful for temptations to take vengeance into our hands instead of letting God. There will be multiple instances when God will place our enemies at our mercy. The spear of King Saul and the jug of water that was by his head were strong evidence David had the opportunity to kill him but did not do it.
- We must be careful of people who will encourage us to use our power, authority and opportunity. As God-given victory to destroy others, especially those we perceive as enemies or hurt us deeply.
- True human and Christian maturity comes from a restrained heart to lash vengeance against guilty, sinful and abusive people. The Lord says vengeance is mine, I will repay (Romans 12:17-21).
- If vengeance belongs to God, it does not belong to us. So, we are to love our enemies and never repay evil with evil.
- We should learn to trust God to make things right or decide and execute justice for us. We must trust God to protect us and reward us for doing the right things in the face of evil, wickedness and injustice.
- The nobility, integrity, respect, civility and mercy David showed to King Saul was proof of his innocence. It demonstrated him, as a man with a strong personality and character, a peaceful, loving individual with a golden heart.
- Power and authority should never make us destructive, insensitive and wicked but peaceful, gentle, and lovely people.
PSALM 102(103):1-4, 8, 10, 12-13
The psalmist in the Psalm of today reminds us of the mercy of God and His compassion which we should practice in our choices. The Lord is kind and merciful to all. We who are called by God ought to be also kind and merciful like Him in their dealings with others.
First, the psalmist teaches us to be grateful for the mercy, love and compassion of God. Second, we are encouraged to take advantage of the infinite mercy of God, who does not treat or repay us according to our sins.
Finally, like the Lord full of love, mercy and kindness, we ought to be merciful and kind towards others despite their weaknesses.
SECOND READING: 1 CORINTHIANS 15:45-49
St. Paul makes parallels and contrasts between Adam and Christ. Adam was a living being from the breath of God, while Christ is the life-giving spirit of God.
Adam was from the physical earth: a man of dust, though spiritual because of the Life-breath of God. Christ, though came in the flesh, was from heaven: a divine and spiritual man through the divine design of God.
All human beings bore the image of the man of dust Adam (who symbolizes weaknesses, failures and brokenness). At the same time, they were created in the image of the man of heaven: Christ (that is, we are the perfect image of God, and his grace acts in us).
THE CONTRAST BETWEEN THE EARTH AND THE HEAVEN MAN
However, Paul, in his discussion with the Corinthian Church, has a respectful view of the human body that is earthbound. He also elaborated on the glorification of this body in the future. Through the mystery of the resurrection of the body when God transforms our weakness into strength.
The present body is corruptible. The future body will be incorruptible.
The present body is in dishonour of sins and death. The future body will be in glory.
The present body is in weakness; the future body will be in the power of the resurrection over sins and death.
The present body is natural; the future body will be spiritual because of the glorious body of the resurrection.
Body transformation implies that in Christ Jesus, we come to live above sins. Invariably, according to St. Paul, only the spiritual man or woman model after Jesus: the New Adam can live above human tendencies and inclination to avenge hurts.
THE GOSPEL: LUKE 6:27-38
Jesus, in the Gospel of Luke 6:27-38, laid it out clearly and distinctively, that the Christian life is a calling to love not just our admirers but also our haters.
When Jesus challenges us to love and pray for our enemies and those who persecute us. It is a call to love unconditionally or unmerited.
- To love, bless, pray and do good, for those who do not like or despise us is not just what God wants us to do as his children.
- To love, bless, pray and do good to others especially those who hate is the way to personal freedom and a blissful or peaceful way of living.
- It is also the way of living peacefully with others in the human and Christian community.
- It is the “golden rule” that includes loving our enemies and showing sensitivity to the feelings and needs of others.
- It is unconditional, agape love instead of envy, jealousy and hatred in our relationships with others.
- It is a call to be graceful and merciful in forgiveness instead of harbouring revenge and planning retaliation.
In other words, it takes the grace of God to love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you or pray for those who abuse you. True Christian love is only possible through spiritual life in God and Christ.
THE REVOLUTIONARY TEACHING OF JESUS CHRIST
The Beatitudes are not only the revolutionary teaching of Jesus Christ. They are also teachings that offer us freedom and peace. Hence, the invitation of Jesus today, I say to you that listen. It was like Jesus was saying to us: you who care to listen. Learn and take to heart this new teaching of mine.
The peaceful way of living a worthy life of being my followers is the way that seems weak and foolish in the eyes of the world. That is the way of love that vulnerabilities.
Equally, the way of goodness to people who do not merit to be treated with kindness. This, of course, makes us look stupid and weak before others. The godly way of blessing and praying for your persecutors and all those who cause you pain. This also makes us look like weaklings for perpetual abuse from wicked and abusive individuals.
Yet, it is the way of Christian love that challenges us to be extraordinarily different from the world. The Christian love that invites us to show compassion to all instead of revenge is foolish.
THE COMMANDMENT TO LOVE ENEMIES
No commandment of Jesus has caused so much discussion or debate as the commandment to love our enemies. What does Jesus mean by loving our enemies? Perhaps, the reactions of the listeners of Jesus and us in the present day are the same. We might ask sincerely, how can I or we love someone who has hurt me or us?
To appreciate this invitation or challenge of Jesus to love. It will be proper to examine the concept of love in the Greek language and its rich synonyms. Four Greek words for love describe the verb to love.
STORGE: affective love of family – parents for children and children for parents.
EROS: passion or affective love of a man for a woman or a woman for a man.
PHILIA: a genuine love or affection for a person or a friend due to closeness or nearness.
AGAPE: unconditional and unmerited love for a person, especially despite his goodness or badness.
When Jesus challenges us to love and pray for our enemies and those who persecute us. It is a call to love anyone within the circle of our reach as humans and Christians unconditionally or unmerited
LOVE IS NOT FEELINGS BUT A WILL OF CONCRETE ACTION
Probably, the question is, what does it mean to love someone? Unfortunately, in our contemporary English world, the word love is difficult to comprehend. Especially, when love as it is being understood today. It is wrapped with our emotions, passions or feelings towards a person.
Hence, when we say we love someone, the basic assumption is that we have good feelings for that person. In this sense, love is not only desiring good things for the person. Practically, it means feeling good or having good feelings for that person.
Humanly, there is an overemphasis on feelings when we talk about loving or falling in love with someone. Thus, explicitly, love is often qualified as romantic love. We all know romantic love is towards those we have feelings for. These sentimental feelings of love cannot or would never be applicable to love for enemies. In the sense that love of enemies as an emotion or a feeling is difficult, if not impossible.
The Christian love towards our enemies is not only something of the heart. It is also something of the will. Therefore, It is only by the grace of Christ we may will ourselves to do. It is the agape love of unconditionally being or doing good to all irrespective of how they react or treat us.
LOVE IS THE ABILITY TO WILL GOOD FOR OTHERS
Love of an enemy, for Jesus, implies doing good or will action towards that person. In the same way, blessing someone who curses us is verbalizing good thoughts, intentions or expressions for someone. Essentially, the human ability to do good or speak blessings to people who hurt us or mean ill will against us is a form of interaction.
However, the act of praying for those who abused us implies desiring good things to happen to them.
In other words, the phrases: love, do good, bless and pray for your enemies and those who hurt you in life. This is not a sentimental expression of mere human feelings for others. It implies a conscious decision and action-taking to do something deliberately.
While the human emotion to love others does imply having a good feeling towards.
THE GOLDEN RULE: POSITIVE VERSUS NEGATIVE
The Golden Rule of Jesus’ new teaching on Christian love and ethics is something positive. It does not consist in not doing things but in doing them. Thus, Jesus gave us the Golden Rule, which bids us do to others as we would have them do to us.
Indeed, this is a paradigm shift of “dots” to “donts”. The fact is that Christian life is not a prohibition not to do this or that. It is about the performance of positive actions of all people.
There is a golden rule in many writers of many creeds in their negative form.
Hillel, one of the great Jewish Rabbis, was asked by a man to teach him the whole law. He answered: “What is hateful to thee, do not to another. That is the whole law, and all else is the explanation.”
Philo, the great Jew of Alexandria, said, “What you hate to suffer, do not do to anyone else.”
Socrates, the great Greek philosopher and orator, said. “What things make you angry when you suffer them at the hands of others, do not you do to other people.”
The Stoics had, as one of their basic rules: “What you do not wish to be done to yourself, do not you do to any other person.”
When Confucius was asked, “Is there one word which may serve as a rule of practice for all in life?” he answered, “Is not Reciprocity such a word? What you do not want to be done to yourself, do not do to others.”
Every one of these forms is negative. It is not unduly difficult to keep yourself from such action. It is also a different thing to go out of your way to do to others what you would want them to do to you.
The essence of Christian conduct is that it consists not in refraining from bad things. It is a life of actively doing good things.
AGAPE LOVE FOR ENEMIES
For Jesus, agape as in the deep sense of love is a decision or will. It is the ability of a mature Christian or person to will or desire good for others. This form of love is not rooted in emotions or feelings towards a person. It is seen in the will or choice to do good, speak blessings or pray upon someone who does not deserve it. This is Jesus intended meaning for the verb – to love your enemies.
Undoubtedly, a concrete agape love is expressed in nonviolent or non-resistant actions like:
If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also.
And from anyone who takes away your coat, do not withhold even your shirt.
Give to everyone who begs from you, and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again.
Do to others as you would have them do to you.
These are examples of weak, foolish and irrational living from the human point of view. With God, it is quite different because the concrete actions to love enemies are super-rational because they are supernatural. There is a paradox here, even though it defies human logic or standards. It is the logic of the Son of God and the Kingdom of God.
Exemplarily, it is a logic of Jesus Christ himself. He was rich in glory and yet emptied himself to become poor humanly. In other words, the rationale of the Saviour who gave himself to die on the cross to save all, even those who he knows will reject or be ungrateful for his grace, mercy and salvation.
Therefore, it is also the logic of the cross as the ultimate love for enemies shown by Christ is the sacrifice of Calvary. In context, there are a lot of radical or revolutionary interpretations of the commandment to love your enemies. We as Christians are willing to admit in our Christian life and live as followers of Christ.
CHRISTIAN LOVE IS AN EXTRAORDINARY MANNER
Christian love and ethics are based on extraordinarily doing ordinary things. Jesus described these common ways of sensible conduct such as:
If you love those who love you, what credit or grace is in that for you? For even sinners love the people who love them.
If you do good to the people who do good to you. What credit or grace is also in that for you? For even sinners do the same.
If you lend to those you hope to receive, what grace or credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much again.
The extraordinary here is to love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.
Frankly, the challenge for us is to become like God in our dealings with each other. It is not up to us to claim to be just as good as their neighbours. Rather, the question of Jesus is, “How much better are you than the ordinary person?”
It is not our neighbour with whom we must compare ourselves. It is God with whom we must compare ourselves, and in that comparison, we are all in default.
CHRISTIAN LOVE AND CONDUCT IN THE WORLD
The most fundamental question is: What is the reason for this Christian conduct that is foolish, stupid, weak or irrational? The reason is that it makes us like God, for that is the way he acts in Christ Jesus.
God sends his rain on the just and the unjust. He is kind to the man who brings him joy and equally kind to the man who grieves his heart. The love of God embraces both saints and sinners alike. It is that love we must imitate as his sons and daughters.
That is, if we, too, seek even the highest good for our enemies. We will in, truth, be the children of God.
THE APPLICATION AND SUMMARY OF CHRISTIAN LOVE
Hence, for Christians, Jesus abolishes the old law of unlimited vengeance and introduces the new spirit of non-resentment and non-retaliation.
Thus, a Christian man or woman should reflect in his or her life the merciful image of God. That is, the unfailing love, forgiveness, sacrificial, and benevolence love of God towards those who hate, persecute or dislike him by loving and praying for them.
“SIMPLETON” MIND IN CHRIST JESUS
Following Jesus invites us to have a simpleton mind of no hatred, no grudges, no bitterness or resentment in us against those who are out for us. There is much toxicity among Christians and in the Christian community today. This subtle evil among Christians I will call covert narcissism. This is the fact, that there are a lot of narcissistic pastors and Christians.
They cannot live out this fundamental principle of Christ: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who abuse you.
a. If they are priests or religious authorities they hate and perpetuate evil in the community against those whom they perceive as their enemies or whom they do not like.
b. If they are Christians hate, resent and conflict things in the community and even sometimes they hate their priests or pastors for calling them out.
Being a Christian with an imitation is to imitate Christ. Hence, we should not have a complex or complicated approach to life, things and persons.
Many who call themselves followers of Christ live with a lot of hatred, bitterness and resentment in their hearts. They are prisoners of resentful emotions in their hearts and spirits. The stark reality of our faith is that we cannot serve or worship with this baggage of emotions hanging on us.
CHRISTIAN LOVE VERSUS HUMAN FEELINGS
Our Christian love is to love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who abuse you. It is an unconditional love rooted in goodness without the shadow of emotions or feelings of hatred, resentment or vengeance.
While our human feelings or love are only to like those who like us, love those who love and act with kindness towards those who do the same with us. It is a conditional love or feelings based on mutuality and interests.
This Christian way of love is not only a challenge to us all in a world full of bitterness and vengeance. It is where lies the Christian maturity to grow into becoming Christlike. True Christian love is a decision or choice of the heart to act out of goodness.
Meanwhile, human love or feelings are based on emotions, sentiments and feelings. They are never a product of a rational mind to act graciously towards others.
OUR PRAYER
Lord Jesus Christ, how hard and challenging it is your word and teaching in the Gospel of today. We can love, do good, bless, and pray for our enemies only through your grace those who hate, abuse or harm us. Help us be like King David and you in loving and praying for our haters, persecutors and evildoers. Amen
