6:27"But I say to you who are listening: Love your enemies; do good to those who hate you; 28 bless those who curse you; pray for those who mistreat you.29 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. 30 Give to everyone who ask of you, and if anyone takes away what is yours, do not ask for it back again. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you. 32"If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive payment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. 35 Instead, love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. 37 "Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; 38 give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap, for the measure you give will be the measure you get back."
Luke 6
I think it is fair to say that in the days in which we live we are all encountering some interesting conversations. Or at least I hope we are. Communication is so important. And I also hope that the conversations we are having make us think. It would be so much easier to fling them aside and not look deeper into them for understanding, but also much less fruitful. If the United States of America is to live up to its name, we have some work to do.
Well, anyway, this week I was talking with my spiritual director when a certain name was mentioned. She asked me if I thought he was a Christian.
That question felt an awful lot like when I am driving along at 50 miles an hour and have to slam on my brakes to keep from hitting an animal. All of the baggage I had piled on the seats ended up on the floor. In other words, everything else I might think or say about that individual got cleared away. I was left with one thought: “Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.”
Her next question is a little easier to deal with, although I continue to answer it very cautiously. After all, whatever I answered would point back to me.
She asked, “So how do you define Christian?” (Let’s sit quietly with that question for just a moment.)
C.S. Lewis defined Christians as little Christs. I find that a rather profound picture. But of course the word Christian simply means to be one who follows Christ. One who walks the same path. Or as the early Christians called it, one who is united with Christ on the Way.
So what is the Way? I’m glad you asked. Let’s start with what it is not. It is not about believing the right creed, praying the right liturgy, or singing the right hymns with the right instruments. It is not about going to the right church,or belonging to the right denomination. All those things may help, but they don’t seem to fit the criteria of being united with Christ on the way.
The scripture readings from the last few weeks seem to give us a fairly clear and succinct picture of what the Way is all about.
It is about uniting with Christ in proclaiming the good news to the poor, giving sight to the blind, and freedom to the oppressed. It is about wrestling with the Beatitudes and ascertaining who or what is truly sovereign in our lives. And it is about loving our enemies, giving to those who ask, and breathing mercy, both inhaling it for ourselves and exhaling it for others.
These are ways that we are united with Christ on the way. Dare I say then, that these are benchmarks of a Christian?
We have talked about some of these other things in the past weeks, so I would like to suggest we focus then on today’s reading. Loving our enemies. Caring for our enemies. Showing mercy to our enemies.
Let me first warn you, I do not pretend to have all the answers. Rather the things I say may hopefully stir up ponderings within you. And as you find your way through all of the questions, please don’t hesitate to testify to what God reveals. We need to hear too.
So when I looked up the definition of enemy in the English dictionary it read one who opposes or is hostile. Perhaps I am wrong, but in my mind then I might say that if you were not opposed to me you wouldn’t be the enemy. But the first definition for the Greek word was, an enemy is one who is hated or odious. Suddenly I think I hear that if I didn’t hate you, you wouldn’t be my enemy. Interesting on how the emphasis changes from you to me.
So how do I not hate one who is opposed to me and my ideals? When Jesus goes to the demoniac in the cemetery, the first thing he does is ask ‘who are you?’ (Luke 8)
What if we took time to sit down with the one we have labeled as odious, and ask who are you? Tell me your story?
Perhaps we will never fully understand why the trans-gendered chose to become what he or she has become but we might begin to see the path that led there. We might be able to at least begin to see their choices with mercy rather than judgment.
Or what of the nearly 3,200 people who died or were declared missing at sea on Mediterranean migration routes, or the over 1000 who have been known to drown in the Rio Grande as they fled to other countries? Perhaps if we could hear their stories and learn their names we just might not feel so blinded.
Or what of the one that would place themselves over you and treat you without mercy or respect? What if we could know the story? We may still disagree, we may still attempt to bring an end to the oppression, but we may find that love tempers our opinions and our words.
How do we love our enemy? By not hating them or calling them disgusting. By remembering that Jesus said on the cross, as the men pounded nails into his flesh, “They don’t know what they are doing.” There is a story.
So if the Way seems well spelled out by Jesus and his life, why is it that I do not feel I can say someone is or is not a Christian? Well, because while I try to follow the Way, while my heart yearns to be united with Christ on the journey, I often fail. Does that mean I am not a Christian? I hope not.
Paul tells us we have all failed, we have all missed the bullseye. Even Paul. My hope remains that as I strive to follow Jesus, I will continue to confess my failures and repent or change my mind in the places that are wrong. Because I know that part of the way that Jesus walked was a way of forgiveness. I can know I am forgiven.
And I pray that those whose practices make their declarations of faith questionable to my eyes, will also find that in repentance, in changing their hearts and their minds, they too will find forgiveness.
I still, even after all this, cannot answer the question my Spiritual Director asked me to contemplate. I can only now and always, for myself and others, rely on the mercy of God and continue to to try to be united with Christ on the path of setting the captives free, proclaiming good news to the poor, loving my enemy and listening to their story.
Amen
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