Luke 6:27-38
“To you who are ready for the truth, I say this: 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 slaps you in the face, stand there and take it. If someone grabs your shirt, giftwrap your best coat and make a present of it. 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 simple rule of thumb for behavior: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you; then grab the initiative and do it for them! If you only love the lovable, do you expect a pat on the back? Run-of-the-mill sinners do that. If you only help those who help you, do you expect a medal? Garden-variety sinners do that. If you only give for what you hope to get out of it, do you think that’s charity? The stingiest of pawnbrokers does that.
“I tell you, love your enemies. Help and give without expecting a return. You’ll never—I promise—regret it. Live out this God-created identity the way our Father lives toward us, generously and graciously, even when we’re at our worst. Our Father is kind; you be kind.
“Don’t pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults—unless, of course, you want the same treatment. Don’t condemn those who are down; that hardness can boomerang. Be easy on people; you’ll find life a lot easier. Give away your life; you’ll find life given back, but not merely given back—given back with bonus and blessing. Giving, not getting, is the way. Generosity begets generosity.”
We are back at the Sermon on the Plain, picking up where we left off last week. Last week, if you’ll recall, we heard and discussed Luke’s version of the Beatitudes with his four blessings and four woes.
Today’s reading is a straight continuation of that same lesson, but again, before we get into today’s reading I want to very quickly review the Old Testament reading for today, which is part of the story of Joseph – he of the many colored coat and the jealous brothers -- the spoiled next to the youngest child of Jacob.
Joseph’s story, as told in Genesis, was that those jealous brothers, to get rid of this spoiled brat, sold him to a passing slave trader and then went home and told their father he had been eaten by a wild animal.
While Jacob mourned his son, Joseph ended up in Egypt as a slave where, in a long convoluted story involving the interpretation of Pharaoh’s dreams, Joseph finally ended up as the highest official in Egypt. Second only to Pharaoh. A man with a whole whopping lot of power and prestige.
When a severe famine drove Jacob and his sons out of their home land, the brothers ended up under the governance of the one brother they had so casually tossed away years before. Today’s Old Testament reading is the moment when Joseph reveals his identity to his brothers – who fear the retribution they so richly deserve by worldly standards – until Joseph assures them he forgave them long ago because he came to believe that God had redirected their evil intent to bring good from it all.
This story is connected to our current reading as a lesson all its own, but also as a reminder that much of Jesus’ most radical teaching was not new at all but was simply a reframing of already ancient Hebrew teaching.
So - back to our current reading - this is one of those lessons that those of us who are church people have heard so many times that I wonder if we really hear it all anymore. Like a kid who’s being told for the hundredth time to pick up their dirty clothes and put them in the hamper, our brains just shut down for a while because we’ve heard it all before – over and over. That’s why I often choose another translation – just so we hear the reading in different words. Today I’ve chosen to read it from The Message because the words from the NRSV translation almost put me to sleep, they’re so familiar.
And familiar as this reading may be, we do not want to drift off here because this may well be one of the most important lessons anywhere in the gospels:
Today’s reading is a straight continuation of that same lesson, but again, before we get into today’s reading I want to very quickly review the Old Testament reading for today, which is part of the story of Joseph – he of the many colored coat and the jealous brothers -- the spoiled next to the youngest child of Jacob.
Joseph’s story, as told in Genesis, was that those jealous brothers, to get rid of this spoiled brat, sold him to a passing slave trader and then went home and told their father he had been eaten by a wild animal.
While Jacob mourned his son, Joseph ended up in Egypt as a slave where, in a long convoluted story involving the interpretation of Pharaoh’s dreams, Joseph finally ended up as the highest official in Egypt. Second only to Pharaoh. A man with a whole whopping lot of power and prestige.
When a severe famine drove Jacob and his sons out of their home land, the brothers ended up under the governance of the one brother they had so casually tossed away years before. Today’s Old Testament reading is the moment when Joseph reveals his identity to his brothers – who fear the retribution they so richly deserve by worldly standards – until Joseph assures them he forgave them long ago because he came to believe that God had redirected their evil intent to bring good from it all.
This story is connected to our current reading as a lesson all its own, but also as a reminder that much of Jesus’ most radical teaching was not new at all but was simply a reframing of already ancient Hebrew teaching.
So - back to our current reading - this is one of those lessons that those of us who are church people have heard so many times that I wonder if we really hear it all anymore. Like a kid who’s being told for the hundredth time to pick up their dirty clothes and put them in the hamper, our brains just shut down for a while because we’ve heard it all before – over and over. That’s why I often choose another translation – just so we hear the reading in different words. Today I’ve chosen to read it from The Message because the words from the NRSV translation almost put me to sleep, they’re so familiar.
And familiar as this reading may be, we do not want to drift off here because this may well be one of the most important lessons anywhere in the gospels:
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 slaps you in the face, stand there and take it. If someone grabs your shirt, giftwrap your best coat and make a present of it. If someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life. No more tit-for-tat stuff. Live generously.
This is hard stuff. My first response when I read it, I’m embarrassed to say, is usually something childish like “I don’t wanna.”
Just reading that list makes me tired.
And I have to keep reminding myself that these are not just things Jesus thinks it would be nice if we were to attempt – he actually expects us to do these things. He really expects us to do all these hard things:
And the reasons we are to do all these things are two – One, is that Jesus promises us more goodness in return: Give away your life [he says] and you’ll find life given back, but not merely given back—given back with bonus and blessing. Giving, not getting, is the way. Generosity begets generosity.
The second reason is equally simple – it really is. We are to do these things – we are to be kind like this -- because that's what God is like – and we were created for this – our whole reason for being is to reflect the image of God -- a loving, merciful, abundantly forgiving God.
May it be so -- Amen.
- love your enemies
- not just “don’t attack them, but actually love them”
- do good to those who hate you
- I’d rather just ignore them
- bless those who curse you
- and not just “bless your little heart” sarcasm
- pray for those who abuse you
- I can pray for people as long as I don’t have to actually be around them
- turn the other cheek
- I’m not terribly good at this one
- give to whoever asks of you
- I have a few caveats here, but mostly I can deal with this
- love your enemies
- from a distance
- lend without expecting return
- this I can do – so many people in the past did it for me in our hard times
- be merciful
- I try
- do not judge
- oh, I judge – but I’m clear that it’s not my job, and I try never to act on it
Just reading that list makes me tired.
And I have to keep reminding myself that these are not just things Jesus thinks it would be nice if we were to attempt – he actually expects us to do these things. He really expects us to do all these hard things:
- to return love for hate
- to give with an open hand (and heart)
- to return kindness for attack
- to remember that judging has never been our job – ever
- to offer mercy – because we ourselves benefit every day from God’s mercy
And the reasons we are to do all these things are two – One, is that Jesus promises us more goodness in return: Give away your life [he says] and you’ll find life given back, but not merely given back—given back with bonus and blessing. Giving, not getting, is the way. Generosity begets generosity.
The second reason is equally simple – it really is. We are to do these things – we are to be kind like this -- because that's what God is like – and we were created for this – our whole reason for being is to reflect the image of God -- a loving, merciful, abundantly forgiving God.
May it be so -- Amen.
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