SUNDAY SERMON: Love my enemy? Seriously!?!
By Rev. Stephen Baldwin
OT: Exodus 34.29-35
NT: Luke 6.27-38
If you’re feeling a sense of deja vu as we open our Bibles to Luke 6.27-38, good! It means you were paying attention last week. Because our scripture today is the same as last week! Why am I preaching on it again? Because last week we just scratched the surface.
Last week, we focused on turning the other cheek. Which is worth a month of Sunday sermons all by itself. Basically, Jesus was teaching us to stand up for ourselves in a way that didn’t escalate bad situations. Look people in the eye. Show them they can’t humiliate you, while resisting your own urge to humiliate them.
But the greater context of what Jesus says often gets overshadowed by the famous “turn the other cheek” line. This kind of thing happens all the time.
Remember the song “Born in the USA” by Bruce Springsteen? “Born in the USA, I was, born in the USA!” It sounds like a patriotic rock anthem about America, right? But it’s actually about the struggle Vietnam vets faced when returning from the war as they struggled with poverty, unemployment, and homelessness. One line can come to define an entire song, or sermon, in the case of Jesus. Let’s read Luke 6.27-38 to get a sense of the greater context of what Jesus was saying.
Jesus cares about our conduct. Our behavior. Our actions. And he not only cares about our conduct with those we’re close to, he’s particularly concerned about our conduct with enemies. That’s the context of today’s passage–conduct with enemies. Because our conduct with enemies shows our character. Jesus says, “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”
In Sunday School last week, several folks said it’s easier to follow this teaching from Jesus when you get older, because who’s got the time or energy to be angry at enemies? That may be, but I think there is something in our wiring that makes us enemies. And no matter how tired of the drama we are…no matter how calm we can be in the face of conflict…no matter how committed we are to our faith…we find enemies…and they bring out the worst in us. How can we better deal with that, despite whatever wiring is in us?
I like to remember: God loves my enemy.
I like to remember: God loves me.
I need to remember: God’s love can overcome whatever wiring pits us against each other.
Let me say something that will probably surprise some of you. I’m not saying we should love the sinner and hate the sin. That’s a nice catchphrase we’ve all heard and maybe used to draw a line in the sand between people and their conduct. But I don’t think you can do it. You can’t love the person and hate their action. If you hate their action, then you will end up hating them. It might only be a quiet hatred in the corner of your heart, but that’s how it begins…and festers…and grows. So our only choice is to love them, all of them, and let God deal with the rest.
Somebody is sitting here today thinking what I was thinking when I wrote this sermon: Are you serious? I’m supposed to turn the other cheek to my enemy? I’m supposed to pray for people who persecute me and my family? Jesus wants me to do good to those who do me harm? That’s CRAZY.
And you’re exactly right. It’s unreasonable. It’s counter-cultural. It’s merciful. So if your faith isn’t unreasonable, counter-cultural, and merciful, then maybe you’re not doing it right.
We all want to fit in and conform with the culture around us and fit our communities into our sense of morality, but we are supposed to look different. We are supposed to act differently. We are supposed to be different than we were wired to be.
Today is Transfiguration Sunday, the day we remember Jesus’ followers seeing him clearly for the first time. It was like a veil was removed from his face, and they finally saw him for who he was. Like when a groom sees his bride in her white dress on their wedding day walking down the aisle. You know each other and you’ve seen each other plenty of times before, but in that moment you see a light in their eye you hadn’t seen before. A revelation.
Let this be your revelation on Transfiguration Sunday: You’re supposed to stand out. With your actions. With your conduct. And with your love. Treating your enemies well doesn’t make sense. It’s never going to, either. It’s unreasonable and counter-cultural and merciful. Which is exactly what our faith is supposed is to be.
And on those tough days when you need a reminder, remember: God loves your enemy. Remember, God loves you too. And remember, God’s love is all that matters. Amen.
