‘You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.” But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax-collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.Today's reading takes us back to The Sermon on the Mount where Jesus is going over a few of the laws which have been around for quite some time. It would seem he's saying to those who are gathered, "yeah, well, that's how you've always done it, but here's how you should do it now."
Take the above passage for example. Jesus is saying it used to be love your neighbor but hate your enemies, but now you need to love your enemies. In fact, pray for those who hate you. And do this because God does it. These are words we can use in today's society as well.
Too often I'm seeing a culture being developed where what's important is what one can do for themselves. maybe, just maybe if another person is close enough to them they'll do something for them. But rarely will someone in today's society do things for people they either don't know or people they don't like.
Yesterday there was this young girl in one of the classes I watch who needed desperately to get onto the school's computers to finish a project she was working on. Unfortunately she either couldn't remember or didn't have her log-in code for the school's network. She frantically asked the other students in the class if they would log on for her and one by one she was turned down. It hurt me to watch as she got rejected by her classmates simply because they don't like her.
Oh, they were polite in saying no and tried not to hurt her feelings but she knew that she wasn't getting any help because she is not very much liked. Finally she came and asked me for help. It was obvious she was holding back the pain from being rejected; her eyes were watering, her face showing defeat. I walked outside, spoke to one of the kids who I know really well (who had already turned her down) and asked him to log in for her. He refused at first, but I asked him to please help; for me.
He reluctantly gave in. After he logged her in she looked at him, tears welling in her eyes, she simply said thank you, turned away and began to cry. The boy could see how hurt she was, reached out to touch her shoulder and simply said, "I'm sorry."
She smiled at him, he smiled at her, and they hugged. Those of you who know me know I'm a crybaby, so yes, I cried. It was a beautiful thing to watch two lives begin the healing process that can happen when we put aside the hate and let the love flow unconditionally.
God loves us despite all of our shortcomings. God loves us despite, well, everything. Jesus reminds us we should love the same. So, to yesterday's list of love God, others, and yourself let's add love your enemies.
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