From the Pulpit: Love your enemies

In Matthew 5:43-44 (NIV) Jesus says, “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.” Of all the challenging teachings of Jesus, I find this to be the most revolutionary. Love my enemies? Is that even possible? Jesus seemed to think so. 

Jesus had enemies – Romans, Samaritans, religious authorities. Read the gospels and you’ll find story after story of Jesus encountering people he disagrees with and even those who oppress him. Then he shows his followers how to love those people.

The most poignant example of this is at his own crucifixion. The religious authorities had conspired with the Roman authorities to have Jesus executed as a rebel. And even while they mocked him and killed him, he cried out to God, “Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”   

Jesus meant it when he said “Love your enemies.” And he showed us how to do that. In many ways, following Jesus means surrendering our rights, including our right to hate. It’s not easy to follow Jesus in this way. Following Jesus means both picking our cross and loving those who nail us to it. I pray God would give us the strength to daily choose this path and that we would see our world transformed by revolutionary grace.