[Deacon Gunther]
There is a story of a boxer who became a Christian evangelist. One day as he was setting up his tent for meetings some local thugs came and began to heckle him. One of them took a swing at the preacher and hit him on the cheek, knocking him to the ground. He got up and pointed to his other cheek and said, “Jesus told me to offer you this one also.” So, the guy clobbered him again knocking him to the ground. The boxer, turned preacher, rose slowly to his feet, took off his jacket and said: “Jesus gave me no further instructions.” POW!
That’s not quite true, Jesus did give us further instructions. Today’s Gospel which is part of Luke’s “Sermon on the Plain” is a teaching on loving one’s enemies. We hear Jesus instruct us to “be merciful just as your Father is merciful.” I think that the directives Jesus gives us in today’s Gospel are difficult ones ... don’t you? They are a challenge that calls us beyond our comfort zone. Why would anyone want to do good to the person who hates them? Still, if we say we are Christians, and we trust in the Lord then we should be able to fulfill our mandate to be Christian. To be powerful in our love of others.
Just what does Jesus mean when he commands us to love our enemies and do good to them? First, it does not mean that we have to throw our arms around our enemy when we meet him. It does not mean that we may not use legal means to get back what has been unjustly taken from us. Rather, it means we are not to use vicious violent methods to get even or to get revenge like the boxer in our story. It means that even when we are positively sure of an evil intention we must forgive. We must live out our Parish Mission to “love God, love others, and follow Christ”.
Let me suggest a few ways we can be more like Christ himself. To start with we can ask God to mold us into his likeness so that we may be imitators of his love. We can pray for the person you think has offended you. We can ask God to forgive that person. We can ask God to help us forgive the person. Think of some way of communicating with your so-called enemy, like a smile, or a greeting, or a note, or a phone call, or a small act of kindness. Pray the Our Father, focusing in on the words “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us”.
Forgiving an enemy, real or imaginary, can turn him into a friend, or perhaps even win him for Christ. Best of all it will make you a true follower of Christ. The Christ who prayed for those who had nailed him to a cross, with these words: “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” Also remember in today’s first reading David forgave his enemy. Saul was trying to kill David. David has the opportunity to kill Saul. And David’s General offered to do it, saying God is allowing this opportunity to kill Saul. David says no and gives a theological argument for not harming Saul. But note that David does symbolically take Saul’s spear, the weapon used on previous attempts on David’s life.
You know, violence, greed, and crime surround us. We can’t escape it. Whether it is in the newspapers, on television, on the WEB, or happening live in our communities. To counteract the violence, we need models of peaceful conduct. That’s where the teachings of Jesus provide us such models. Jesus teaches that we should love our enemies do good to those who curse us and pray for those who abuse us. If someone strikes us on the cheek, we are to turn the other also. Jesus forces us to think by offering extreme but not impossible examples. This does not mean becoming a passive victim, allowing others to walk all over us. By turning the other cheek, the victim indicates that he or she is not willing to play the honour or shame game, and breaks the cycle of violence. Jesus teaches us the importance of forgiveness. As God has forgiven us because of his great love for us, so we must forgive others. and try to love them.
Being merciful is a challenge that calls us beyond our comfort zone. Perhaps ask God to show you where you are being called to show mercy to others. It’s not always easy to “Love God … love others … and follow Christ”. Jesus wants us to live by the Golden Rule: “Do to others as you would have them do to you!” THAT is how Jesus wants us to live. So, the question is: how do we do that? How do we live our lives according to that Golden Rule? Well, the first thing we need to recognize is the Golden Rule is not just a good idea, it’s God’s idea. And speaking of: “Do to others as you would have them do to you!” … here are just some examples of the many charitable works already happening within our Parish: making lunches for the Hope Centre, contributing food items to Pelham Cares, donating warm clothing, blankets and funds to St. Vincent de Paul Society, distributing Soup for Souls, the Catholic Women’s League supporting a Chalice Child, providing scholarships to students, supporting needy seminarians, religious, and deacons in formation. And I’m sure there are others. Jesus said: “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”
When Martin Niemoller a German pastor was arrested by the Nazis in World War II he prayed daily from his prison cell for his captors. Other prisoners asked why he prayed for those who were his enemies? He said: “Do you know anyone who needs your prayers more than your enemies?” But what if you hate the person you are praying for? Tell that to the Lord he won’t be surprised. Then say something like this: “Lord I hate this person, but you already know that, I ask you to love this person through me because I can’t do it in my own power.”
Jesus also reminds us that we find it easier to forgive and love people that we know and care for. We want to be able to forgive friends and family, and that’s good. But what about people who may dislike us, hate us, or mistreat us? It may be helpful to recall that on the cross as Jesus was being crucified, he prayed for the people who were mistreating him. He prayed: “Father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.” People had told lies about Jesus. His friends had run away when he was arrested. One of his best friends Peter had even said he didn’t know who Jesus was. He had denied Jesus three times.
Jesus is issuing a huge challenge to us. And it’s a code of conduct that is not so easy to follow. To be his disciples we have to be more like God and be loving, merciful, and kind to everyone, friend and enemy alike.
I’d like to conclude with a story of a husband and wife who’d been married for 15 years and began to have some difficult disagreements. But they were determined to make their marriage work and so they agreed on an idea that the wife had. For one month they planned to drop slips of paper into the other’s "Fault" box. The couple agreed that the boxes would provide a way to let each other know about their irritations. The wife was diligent in her efforts, writing down things such as "Leaving crumbs in the butter", "Wet towels on the floor", "Socks and pants not in the cloths hamper". At the end of the month after dinner they exchanged boxes. The husband read the slips and reflected on what he had done wrong. Then the wife opened her box and began to read the slips. They were all the same. On every slip her husband had written, "I love you!" "I love you!" "I love you!"
If every time you did something wrong and someone gave you a note saying: “I love you”, how would you feel? … Loved? … Accepted?
My friends, as we leave the church today let us love God, let us be merciful as we love others, and follow Christ.
May God bless you!
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