A Most Challenging Form of Love - Lectionary Reflection for Epiphany 7C (Luke 6:27-38)

Luke 6:27-38 New Revised Standard Version

²⁷ “But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, ²⁸ bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. ²⁹ If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. ³⁰ Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. ³¹ Do to others as you would have them do to you.

³² “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. ³³ If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. ³⁴ If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. ³⁵ But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. ³⁶ Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

³⁷ “Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; ³⁸ give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.”

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                “What the world needs now is love, sweet love, not just for some but for everyone.” Thus begins a 1960s folk song. It sounds good, at least on the surface, because the world does need a lot of love. But love for everyone? That might be going a bit too far! Surely there are those who don’t deserve to be loved. That’s especially true of our enemies.

                Luke offers the reader a sermon that takes place on a level spot, which is why it is known as the Sermon on the Plain. It parallels much of the Sermon on the Mount, but it is briefer, and much more direct. Like the better-known version from Matthew, this sermon begins with beatitudes but adds words of woe. The reading for this week picks up on a series of challenging messages. There is a word about love and one about judgment. The word that is given here about love is not the kind you will hear on Valentine’s Day. That’s because this word has nothing to do with romance or boxes of chocolate. No, this is a most challenging word about love because it involves loving enemies.

                When it comes to loving enemies, Jesus doesn’t mean that we should think kind thoughts about our enemies. Jesus wants us to do good to them. So we read here Jesus’ exhortation to “do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you” (Lk 6:27-28). Surely Jesus has a few caveats to this set of commands. At least I would like to add a few. If we take this literally, it would seem to make us doormats. It’s a command that if taken literally by women or persons living on the margins of society would be dangerous. So, I understand what Jesus wants us to do, but I think we need to be careful with the application.

                As we think about what Jesus has in mind when he speaks of love, a definition of love would be helpful. The word translated love here is the Greek word agape. Tom Oord offers a helpful definition, suggesting that we should define agape love as “acting intentionally, in response to God and others, to promote overall well-being in response to that which produces ill-being.” He then offers a more succinct definition, calling this “in spite of love.”  Thus, “just as God loves us in spite of our rebellion, complacency, and sin, so we ought to love others and ourselves in spite of the pain, suffering, and destructions others and we have done.” The goal of this kind of love is “promoting good” [The Nature of Love, p. 56]. This makes good sense, as long as we remember that there are boundaries that can’t be crossed.  

        Luke’s Jesus offers a few practical examples of what he has in mind here. For instance, if someone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other cheek. If someone takes your coat, offer them your shirt. As for beggars, give what they ask, without question. If you’re becoming uncomfortable, you’re not alone. The key to this message can be found in verse 31: “Do to others as you would have them do to you.”

         This declaration is known as the Golden Rule. Forms of the Golden Rule are found in some form or another in most major religions. It is the message—in all its diversity of form—that was proclaimed on a banner created several years by a group of students at the University Religious Center at the University of California Santa Barbara. This banner and others were displayed on the walls of the URC and then turned into a set of posters. I was presented with a framed poster when my term as president of the board of the URC ended. It has graced my office wall and now my study. Each of the eleven traditions included in the banner offer slightly different takes on the Golden Rule, but the point is, however we state it, the various traditions ask us to do good to others with the expectation that the same will be done for us in return. That makes sense. So, the Jewish version of the rule on the poster comes from Rabbi Hillel, who declared: “That which is despicable to you, do not do to a fellow. That is the whole Torah, the rest is commentary. Go and learn it.” That is a good word! Then there’s the word from Buddhism that calls on us to “Treat not others in ways you would find hurtful.” That’s another good word. As good as this is, Jesus wants to push us further in his call to love our enemies.

      The Golden Rule appears to be reciprocal, and it is. However, it would appear that Jesus wants us to push beyond reciprocity. Thus, he comments that if we love those who love us back, even sinners do that. “So, what credit is that to you?” He wants to push us beyond reciprocity. Again, we need to be careful because in the wrong hands, this could prove to be deadly.

                Then there’s the matter of judgment and forgiveness. We indeed need to be careful casting judgment on others. If we have a log in our eye, then pointing out a sliver in the eye of another makes little sense. As for forgiveness, that can be difficult. I know that there are people who have used and abused me that I find difficult to forgive. At the same time, I know there are those whom I have sinned against. They have every right to find it difficult to forgive me. As Jonah K Smith-Bartlett notes, “There is no justice in submitting ourselves to abusive relationships as though abuse equals obedience to Christ’s commands” [Feasting on the Gospels: Luke, p. 166].

                Interpreting this word requires great discernment. We can love our enemies and do good to them without allowing ourselves to be abused. So, I would want to take into account Tom Oord’s definition of agape with these caveats in mind. We can pray for them, but not put ourselves in a position to be abused. As we do this, then we live the lives of God’s children, knowing that God is kind and merciful even to those who are not deserving. We can be “merciful just as your Father is merciful.” The point of all of this is creating space so that others can experience well-being even if they appear to be unworthy of that action towards them. The hope in all of this, especially the word about forgiveness, is to turn one’s enemy into one’s friend, is it not? So, give to others and you will receive blessings in return. Indeed, forgiveness leads to an overflow of grace to the recipient and to us.

       Image attribution: Love Your Enemies, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=54226 [retrieved February 15, 2022]. Original source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/boojee/2929823056/.