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Gospel: Luke 6:27-38
Jesus said to his disciples:
“To you who hear I say,
love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,
bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.
To the person who strikes you on one cheek,
offer the other one as well,
and from the person who takes your cloak,
do not withhold even your tunic.
Give to everyone who asks of you,
and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back.
Do to others as you would have them do to you.
For if you love those who love you,
what credit is that to you?
Even sinners love those who love them.
And if you do good to those who do good to you,
what credit is that to you?
Even sinners do the same.
If you lend money to those from whom you expect repayment,
what credit is that to you?
Even sinners lend to sinners,
and get back the same amount.
But rather, love your enemies and do good to them,
and lend expecting nothing back;
then 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.
Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
“Stop judging and you will not be judged.
Stop condemning and you will not be condemned.
Forgive and you will be forgiven.
Give, and gifts will be given to you;
a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing,
will be poured into your lap.
For the measure with which you measure
will in return be measured out to you.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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When Abraham Lincoln ran for president of the United States, Edward Stanton was a bitter critic. Stanton made vicious personal attacks against Lincoln saying, among other things:
“Such an awkward, ignorant, boorish hayseed is not fit to be our president.”
To Stanton’s chagrin, Lincoln was elected and, surprisingly, he appointed Stanton as his Secretary of War while the country was plunged into civil war.
Lincoln knew well how Stanton felt about him, but he said, “Stanton is the best man for the job. He has been my opponent, but I will not let him be my enemy.”
Lincoln’s kindness and intelligence disarmed Stanton to the point that he humbly accepted the job.
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In today’s Gospel, Jesus issues some of his most difficult commands: love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you, and turn the other cheek.
Are we to check our reason at the door and take every word Jesus says literally? Or is there a deeper truth requiring us to pause and ponder before we act?
Not every word the Lord speaks is meant to be taken literally.
Elsewhere in the Gospels, for example, Jesus says, “If your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out.” If we took that at face value, then there’d be over a billion blind Christians foolishly shuffling around the world in their own man-made darkness.
What the Lord means is that we should be careful about what we see; eyes are windows into the soul. When looking at things that tempt us, we are not expected to pluck our eyes out; we either close them or look away.
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In the case of today’s Gospel, the Lord is not asking us to live as doormats or to rid ourselves of every material possession.
Turning the other cheek when slapped, giving more to a thief who’s stolen our money, or all of our possessions to someone who’s scammed us is not Gospel – or healthy human – behavior.
What Jesus is saying is that we should pray for, bless, do good, and love everyone from our hearts, even those whom we might consider “enemies.” Love is the only weapon that can disarm hatred.
For example, how many of us have experienced a cutthroat culture at work? Or live in a split family? Or are estranged from a loved one, a relative, or an old friend?
The flesh-and-bones application of today’s Gospel involves thinking, not about politics, war, or enemies we imagine in faraway places, but rather our own personal conflicts.
I’m sure we can all think of an “Edward Stanton” in our own lives – a bitter critic, a jealous rival, someone who may be difficult to love. We must be intentional about loving them so as to not let that person become an “enemy,” causing greater pain in our heart.
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Sometimes this can be true in marriage. Marriage paves the path for some of the deepest intimacy possible between two human beings. But if we love intensely, then we can also hurt each other deeply.
Think about what happens when spouses fight. A small spat can escalate to raised voices, insults, even a broken heart. After each person has said whatever hurtful thought comes to mind, each goes their own separate way.
Work in the yard, get out of the house, run an errand, sleep in separate rooms. Anything to be apart. That physical distance represents the emotional, even spiritual, separation that’s taken place.
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The same is true with children. One sibling irritates another. Suddenly a war of words, or worse, fists, breaks out. Parents can exhaust themselves trying to convince their children to apologize and keep the peace.
Sometimes the only form of “healing” that arises is silence. But we all know that just buries the hurt beneath the blanket of time.
This is why the Lord instructs us at times to be intentional about loving each other, saying in the words of Lincoln, “I will not let him or her become my enemy.”
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What’s the alternative?
We dwell on past hurts to the point that they’re perpetually in the present as silence turns into a grudge and eventually hardens into hatred.
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When Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, Edward Stanton, gave one of the most revered tributes to his former rival, saying, “Now he belongs to the ages.”
Yet Lincoln simply did what the Lord commands all of us to do – pray, bless, do good, and love one another, even those who feel like “enemies.”
Our love may disarm them, it will keep us at peace, and perhaps allow us to live as God intended – “One in Christ Jesus.”
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Image credits: (1) Making Life a Bliss Complete (2) Skyler Jokiel, How to Win an Argument, Medium (3) Holy Spirit University, WordPress
