“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
It is difficult enough to love friends and family all the time. How do you love your enemies? For people in Jesus' day, this was not a rhetorical question. They were a persecuted community under Roman law, harshly taxed and often treated with disdain. Jesus was telling them to love the soldier who spit at them as they walked by and pray for the official who cheated them and stole their hard-earned money.
Difficult words. But if we are to love as God loves, it means that all people, even people outside of our circle of friends, neighbors, and community are worthy of our concern and prayers. It means that through God, we do not allow the actions of others to change our Christian character. We are to look beyond the cruelness of this world and attempt to live as though we are members of the kingdom of God.
I'm reminded of what this love for enemies looks like when I think back to the reaction of Charleston AME (Mother Emmanuel) Church. When a young man entered their Bible study in 2015 and shot and killed nine members, instead of calling down vengeance on him and possibly turning the incident into a violent protest, the family members and friends forgave this man. And this was not done days or weeks after the killings but immediately. Their love and forgiveness for their enemy calmed a city and showed a nation what Christian love looks like in action.
Jesus didn't present this idea of loving your enemies as a commonsense strategy to get along with others, but as a way to embody the nature of God in our everyday lives. It is an element of living the Gospel. It is truly living as sons and daughters of our heavenly Father.
Prayer: Lord, take away any of my anger and hatred toward others and teach me to love all, as You do. Thank you for the example set by Mother Emmanuel. Thank you for the peace and healing it brought to Charleston. Help me to act in a similar manner...quick to forgive and to reach out to my enemies. In Your name Jesus, Amen.
* Parts of this devotion were taken from The Sanctuary for Lent 2016 by Sue Mink
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