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Grace, mercy, and peace be unto you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, the text for this morning comes from the Gospel reading. Be seated. In the document that made the great separation between the British Empire and the country we call the United States of America, the Declaration of Independence, that document has an initial line in the initial paragraph that goes like this: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.” And we are all about those rights, and rightly so. And we are encouraged and exhorted to speak out those rights, that others may have the same rights, and also to speak out for those rights for those who don’t have a voice in this world.
But if we take that concept, which we’re very familiar with and we practice every day, and we try to make it jive with what Christ tells us in the Gospel reading, there is a major disconnect between the rights that we practice and the rights that we promote and what Christ proclaims to us in the Gospel reading. So then how do we resolve it? Because in it, Jesus is proclaiming that we deny our rights. He says it clearly. Love your enemy. Pray for those who persecute you. Don’t just go one mile, go two. Offer your cheek to be abused.
What about our rights, though? What about our rights? Jesus is not saying, everyone, take on the passive-aggressive way of living life where you will smile and nod and say absolutely, and then by golly, you’ll do what you want because it’s your right. That’s not what Jesus is saying either. That’s not the resolution to this conflict. He is saying, deny your self-will. But for whom? For those who appreciate us. For those who receive our love and give it back. Those are the ones that we’ll give up our self-will for. That is not what he’s saying. He is saying, give up your self-will for those who don’t love you back. Give up the self-will for those who will never appreciate you. That is totally different.
And that is not synonymous with all men are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights. In fact, if anything, when you and I think in those terms, we think this is foolishness to give love to someone who doesn’t appreciate it, to serve someone who doesn’t at all want to give it back or even want to acknowledge that we’re doing it. That seems foolish and not wise. And I will be no man’s fool.
Paul said it another way. Paul said, “Let no one deceive himself.” This is what pastor read. “Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may then become wise. For the wisdom of this world is folly with God.” Now the teachers of the law, before Paul ever wrote this, in fact, the teachers of the law who would analyze and look at like what pastor read from the book of Leviticus, the Old Testament reading, the teachers of the law could not get this into their heads, so they had to twist it.
That’s why Jesus said, “You have heard it said, Love your neighbor, but hate your enemy.” Jesus never said that, nor did anybody else in the Old Testament say that. That was the current theme of the day by the teachers of the law. Because if you remember what was read… Jesus, through Moses the prophet, said to the people, when you harvest your field of wheat, don’t harvest every single kernel of grain. Harvest to the edge and leave it. That way, a poor person or a sojourner who needed food could take some of the wheat, crush it, and have bread.
And your vineyards, you were not to cut off every single grape all the way to the edge of the vineyard. You were to leave some, so that when the poor people came, they could too be fed. Oh, and guess what? The people who did this, you don’t know whether they loved you or not, whether they were your enemy or not, whether they appreciated what you did or not. So the definition of who to love and who to serve and who to forgive, God never gave a definition to whom. God just said, love your enemy. Pray for those who persecute you.
What does love your enemy mean? Loving your enemy isn’t doing everything you can to get them to love you back. People don’t love unless they choose to love. Say that again. Loving your enemy does not mean that you love them and cajole them into loving you back. People choose who they wish to love. And if that individual chooses not to return your love, it is not your responsibility, but it is your responsibility to change your attitude and your head and heart. Most importantly, repent.
Because if we’re only loving those who appreciate our love, then we are loving a select and minuscule few. And then we are being selective as to who gets the lucky gift of our love. When Christ died on the cross, he didn’t just die for a minuscule few of a certain race or of a certain country or of a certain look. He died for all. Every one of those souls that are dwelling in hell right now, Christ paid their price. He loved them. He loved them to the bitter end of that cross. He did not just love because he chose whom to love. He loved the unlovable, of whom you and I are a part of that same large pool of people. All mankind.
Jesus in the text says, pray for your enemies. I give you an assignment as it was given to me by God. And He continues to pound it home in my head when I forget it. It is hard and impossible to not love your enemy if you’re praying for him. It is hard, it’s impossible to not love your enemy if you’re praying for him. You and I spend days, months, hours, moments, who knows how much, praying for our loved spouse or our beloved children or those who appreciate and reciprocate our love.
God is saying spend also time praying for those who have no appreciation of what you have to offer. Those you’ve marginalized in your own mind because you’ve deemed them unlovable. By whatever definition you’ve chosen to put upon that individual. God doesn’t have but one standard. And that is love. And his love is not circumstantial. His love is not with strings and or definitions. It is nothing but love. It’s you and I who put limits on love. But not God.
Remember, you do this not because you’re going to become a child of God. No. You are already a child of God, or you would not be here giving praise to your Father. Your Father has claimed you as His child, not you claimed your Father. And as Father who has claimed you, He says, “My children, my beloved children whom I love, just do and be who you are as my children. Love, forgive, show mercy.”
Why is it always that we say, “But God, you don’t understand.” Hmm. Wasn’t there a man who did turn his back to those who whipped him and gave his cheek to those who struck him because he loved you? God, you don’t understand because these people do not reciprocate and they have no appreciation for me. Was this not the same people who shoved a spear into his side that we may be shown that blood and water flowed forth and his love flowed forth in water, bread, and wine?
Jesus made it very clear in this text, and he says God doesn’t show favoritism. He says, “I make my son to rise on the evil and on the good,” not because they are evil and not because they are good, but because “I am love.” I make the rain fall on the just and the unjust, not because they are just and not because they are unjust, but because “I am love.” I do not choose. For if I am love, I just love. It’s you who choose. And that’s an act of your will, isn’t it? It’s a choice.
And God is saying, as my child, I’ve chosen you. Be my child. Repent of choosing and love. Because I chose you and loved you. Remember, he’s the one who loved you out of this world. He didn’t love you out of this world because he knew you were going to love him at every turn. Because your and my life is fraught with the inconsistencies of one who does not love God at every turn.
So then why does he continue to love you? If you have shunned him at times by your words and actions. Why is it that he continually seeks you when you’ve run away and hidden from him? Because that’s what God is as a loving father. A good daddy seeks his children and never leaves them behind. A good daddy finds them hidden in fear and instills courage and confidence in his love. A good daddy seeks that which considers themselves lost, that he may find them and rejoice over them. That would be you. That would be you, brothers and sisters.
Remember, Christ is generous at every turn. He does not weigh and say, “Well, I better not be that generous with this person because they have no appreciation for how much I’ve given to them.” Yep, that’s exactly how we have treated it, hasn’t it? And he still is generous. And he still gives.
Remember, God is not cynical like you and me. He does not look at someone and go, “How do I know that that’s not going to cause me more pain and anguish? And how do I know, having already had pain and anguish from them, that I shouldn’t cut the tie and do what the Jews said? Love your neighbor, but hate your enemy.” It was Christ who died for the ungodly, who loved the sinner before the sinner ever became redeemed and a saint and his children.
He doesn’t look upon you with cynicism, but with naivety that says, “That’s my child. What do I do but love my child? I have nothing but to love my child.” It’s you and me who choose. It’s you and me who determine. It’s you and me who qualify and quantify, but not God. Thanks be to God that he doesn’t, but loves us as his son and his daughter.
This is the gift. And you know what his will is for you? Just daily to choose to be his son. Daily choose to be his daughter. That’s all his will is for you. Let him do the rest. In the name of Jesus, amen.
