How many of you guys remember 9/11? Some of you were not born yet and some of you were babies, but for those of us who are older, this has to be one of the most shocking memories. I remember I was sitting at my desk at Hewlett-Packard really early on that morning and I saw a headline on the computer screen that an airplane had crashed into the World Trade Center. I didn’t think much of it but noticed that right after that it was impossible to get more information on the Internet. All of the news sites were jammed. Then a while later I got a really panicked phone call where the person who called said, “The World Trade Center has collapsed!” My first reaction was, “No it didn’t.” But as the day went on I realized that it had. And then I realized the magnitude of what had happened. Like everyone else, I was in shock.
It wasn’t long before shock turned to anger. It’s an odd thing that in our age of instant communication it is possible for the media to generate a mob mentality in millions of people across vast distances. Really the whole country was caught up in a wave of emotion: patriotism mixed with defiance. We started to see cartoons like this one and there was a feeling that we needed to retaliate. That we needed to “get someone,” even though we didn’t know who. A lot of people invoked the memory of Pearl Harbor, when the United States’ fleet was attacked by the Japanese Navy. But the problem was that this was different. The world had changed in the sixty years that separated the two events. Our new enemy was not a country, had no geographical location. We could not attack their nation because they didn’t have a nation. But still, there was this deep need to strike back.
America did eventually strike back. But, unlike after the Pearl Harbor attack, the results are ambiguous. There is no clear cut victory, no Victory day. The cycle of violence continues, with no end in sight. This past week there were ceremonies and remembrances to recall the tragedy and honor those who were lost. We are admonished to “Never forget.” And we don’t. But neither do those who count themselves as our enemies. At the same time we were recalling one tragedy, another one unfolded in the Middle East over perceived insults to Islam. Muslims throughout the world have also been told to “never forget.” And they don’t, either.
The result is an unending cycle of violence. Every atrocity calls for a response. Every response invokes an even more horrible atrocity. Just this week I read that angry protestors burned the German embassy in Sudan to the ground to retaliate for the supposed insult caused by a badly made Internet movie produced in California by a bunch of religious kooks. Where is the sense in this? How can it ever end?
For the last few weeks we have been considering Paul’s letter to the Romans and we have in the past couple of weeks been listening to Paul describe how we can tell who is a Christian and who is not. How do we know who is “of the world” and who is “in Christ?” And we have been given some very definite ways of knowing. Today I’m going to take a little bit of a detour from Romans to emphasize that the teachings of Paul in the letter to the Romans reflects not just the theology of Paul but the character of God. I’m going to do that by looking at a short passage in the Gospel according to Matthew. It doesn’t just fit with where we are in Romans, but it fits with where we are in time, as well.
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor z and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Mt. 5:43-48 NIV).
These verses come from a section of Matthew’s gospel account that we refer to as the Sermon on the Mount. I’m sure you have heard of it. Of all the gospel accounts Matthew’s is the most “Jewish.” That is, the audience of the gospel account is thought to have been Jews, and Matthew makes more connections to the Old Testament than any of the other gospel writers. Matthew intends to show his readers that Jesus is the one who fulfills Old Testament prophecy and brings about the new age of restoration. Thus, the events in Matthew’s gospel are arranged in a way that would make more sense to someone who was Jewish and had been raised with knowledge of the Old Testament.
Why do you think the Sermon on the Mount was delivered on “the Mount”? When thinking about laws given from a mountain all Jews of that time would have instantly thought of Moses receiving the law from God on Mount Sinai. Here Matthew is making a deliberate reference to that event. The people are receiving the law once again, directly from God. Jesus does not give the people a new law, he reminds them what the heart and purpose of the law was always meant to be, which the Jews had forgotten.
I mention this because I want us to consider that when Jesus was giving this Sermon on the Mount, which consists of standards of behavior for those who follow him, he was not just spouting a bunch of semi-inspirational platitudes about how nice it would be if we all behaved better. He was giving the law. In other places in the New Testament the standards of behavior established here are called “commands,” and “commandments.” So when Jesus tells his listeners – and us – that we are to love our enemies, we have to conclude that he meant what he said.
This should lead us to ask ourselves a number of questions about our own behavior, and I’m going to focus on trying to answer three today: what is love? Why should we love our enemies? And how can we love our enemies?
What is Love?
A few weeks ago you may recall that I spoke to you about how we as Christians ought to act in relationship to each other as members of the body of Christ. At that time I mentioned that there is a glue that binds us to each other in the same way that we are bound to God, and in the same way that the persons of the Godhead: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, are bound to each other. The glue that binds the universe together is not “the Force,” it is love. It’s not the pink hearts and mushy feelings love that our culture celebrates; it is the hard, self-sacrificing love that Jesus commanded. He said, 34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35 NIV).
Jesus said, “Love one another as I have loved you.” How did Jesus love us? You have probably heard it before: he stretched out his arms and said “I love you this much.” And he died. That is how we are commanded to love each other. That is what sets us apart from the world. That is what makes us a holy nation and a royal priesthood. That is how everyone will know that we are his disciples. As we saw in today’s scripture it is only in love that Jesus calls us to be perfect. (Mt. 5:48).Love is not optional. It is commanded.
What does this kind of self-sacrificing love look like in our day to day relations with each other? The apostle Paul wrote eloquently about this topic in his first letter to the Corinthian church. People in that church were stuck in the ways of the world and having trouble realizing how to love each other. So Paul gave them a vision of it in chapter 13, verses 4 through 8:
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8 Love never fails. (1 Cor. 13:4-8 NIV)
When Paul wrote this, as I mentioned, he was instructing the Corinthian church on how they ought to relate to each other as Christians, as members of the body of Christ. So it might be easy for us to think that that is a standard we can reach. It’s pretty easy to love the members of our own little congregation. It’s not too hard to imagine loving Christians from another congregation. We might go out of our way to show them hospitality and celebrate our distinct differences. But we don’t see anything here that says I have to love Muslims, or Buddhists, or Hindus, or Sikhs, or atheists.
That’s one of the reasons why reading what we did today in Matthew’s gospel is so inconvenient. Because here we see Jesus say that we need to love everyone, just as God loves. How do we know that God loves everyone? “He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Mt 5:45). He does not withhold his bounty or provision from those who turn their backs on him, even from those who despise him. And if we are his children, we must act in the same way.
Why Should We Love?
This might seem to be the easiest question to answer. Why should we love? Because Jesus commands us to love. And, even before Jesus, the scriptures throughout, the Old and the New Testaments, command us to love. The very Word of God the Father commands us to love. It could not be any clearer.
But how many of us are satisfied with that answer? Do you remember when we were kids, some of us still are kids, and we wanted to do something and we asked mom or dad and we were told no? “But why?” we asked. “Because I said so,” came the reply. As if parents exercising godly authority over their children were beyond questioning, beyond the need to explain. And I’m sure more often than not we had to accept that, but we didn’t like it. We were convinced it was unfair; that we at least deserved a logical explanation.
Well that may be true of parents but what about God? Surely God can make pronouncements without being questioned. Who would dare to question God’s commands? And of course it is true that God is beyond our reproach, but nevertheless we would still like to know why we should do what we are being told to do, especially if it involves sacrifice. And in fact we are told why. Jesus says, “…that you may be children of your Father in heaven.” (Mt. 5:45 NIV).
When trying to figure out what this means, we have to remember who we are in Christ. Remember that as Christians we are not in relationship with God by ourselves but only as members of the “body of Christ.” The body of Christ is the real presence of Christ on the earth. The body of Christ is the remnant of Israel who inherits God’s promise to Abraham; the promise that all nations of the earth will be blessed through him. Now it is us. We have inherited the promise of Israel. Christ is a living body, of which we are all part. Christ is the child of God.
Why is Christ on the earth? To bring about restoration. What does that mean? It means to reverse the curse of Adam and Eve. To overcome the corruption and death brought about by their disobedience in the Garden. Don’t think this is just a bunch of metaphorical silliness designed to make us feel better or to give some kind of order to ancient people. Reversing the sin of Adam and Eve means restoring, and even strengthening, the relationship between the Creator and his creation that was broken by sin. Nothing should be more important for us.
What do you know about the relationship Adam and Eve enjoyed with God in the Garden of Eden? God walked with them and they were unafraid. They had everything they needed. There was no sickness, no sadness, no violence, no injustice. There was an unbreakable and perfect love relationship between God and humans. The love of God and humans was the same exact love that the members of the Godhead enjoyed: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Three distinct persons all bound together by perfect, self-sacrificing love. And humans bound up in that same relationship. When we read in the Book of Genesis that God created people “in his own image” (Gen. 1:21 ESV), this is what it means. The image of God in man is love.
So when we are called to love, it is because we are in Christ. Because we are in Christ we are in a restored love relationship with God. I’m not sure we can love our enemies with our own love; I’m not even sure there is such a thing as love apart from God, but because we are “in Christ,” we have to demonstrate Christ’s character. And that character is love. “God is love,” the apostle John tells us, “and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.” (1 John 4:16 ESV). “ “We love because he first loved us.” (1 John 4:19 ESV). “Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” (1 John 4:8 ESV). “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35 ESV).
We love with Christ’s love. We must love, because it is our new nature in Christ. If we are in Christ, we cannot choose not to love, because Christ cannot choose not to love. And that love is for all. “He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Mt 5:45). Is this hard? Sure it is. Even Jesus asked that the cup pass from him (Mt. 26:39-42). But in the end, because of who he is, Jesus died for those who hated him. And that was the supreme act of love.
How Can We Love Our Enemies?
That might be OK for Jesus, but haven’t we set the bar impossibly high for us? When you see the pictures of the Twin Towers in flames, doesn’t it make your blood boil? Isn’t it un-American to think of forgiving the criminals who did this? Don’t you want to see them suffer for this outrage? It is only natural to have these feelings. How can we possibly love the people who are sworn to destroy us?
In order to be able to answer this question, I think we need to take a look at what love is not. The kind of love we are called to as Christians is not feeling. It is action. I am not called to like all of the people I am called to love. But I am called to care for people who may not care for me, who may even wish me harm. Let me give you an example.
Everyone who has been educated in the United States for at least a generation knows who Martin Luther King, Jr. is. He has become a giant in our national imagination. You probably know that last year a new monument was opened in Washington dedicated to his life and legacy. He has entered our national pantheon as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Unfortunately, we rarely think him or refer to him as the Reverend Martin Luther King. But that’s what he was.
His motivation to oppose the evils of segregation and race hatred was the gospel of Jesus Christ. And the method that he chose was the method that Jesus modeled. It was the method of love.
Most people know that Martin Luther King advocated non-violence but beyond that I’m not sure how many people really know what his strategy was. His strategy was to use love as a positive force for overcoming the powers of injustice and hate. It was, in fact, to organize those who were opposed to injustice to do what Jesus did. To answer violence with non-violence, lies with truth, hate with love. Love was at the center of his method. Not human love, but agape love.
Agape is one of the Greek words for love. There are a number of others. There is sensual love that is usually indicated by the use of the word eros. That word is the root of the English word erotic and erogenous. Another word that indicates human affection is philia. One place where we can see that word in our vocabulary is in the name of the City of Brotherly love: Philadelphia, a combination of the Greek words for love and brother. Then, finally, is the word agape, which for us has come to mean the unconditional love of God. It is the love that God demonstrated when he sent his son to restore his creation. When the Bible says, “For God so loved the world,” (Jn 3:16) and “God is love,” (1 Jn. 4:16), agape is the word used in the Greek text.
Agape is total, self-giving, self-forgetting love. It is the love that binds together the persons of the Trinity. It is the love that God created man in the image of. But, it doesn’t necessarily imply affection. Early in his career Reverend King sought to explain his strategy for employing love as a force and he said this:
In speaking of love at this point, we are not referring to some sentimental or affectionate emotion. It would be nonsense to urge men to love their oppressors in an affectionate sense. Love in this connection means understanding, redemptive good will. When we speak of loving those who oppose us, we refer to neither eros nor philia; we speak of a love which is expressed in the Greek word agape. Agape means understanding, redeeming good will for all men. It is an overflowing love which is purely spontaneous, unmotivated, groundless, and creative. It is not set in motion by any quality or function of its object. It is the love of God operating in the human heart.[1]
This is the love that we are called to as Christians. It is with this love that we are called to love our enemies. And yet, still, it seems impossible. And, I would argue, it is, apart from Christ. Because this love is not a human love, it is God’s love. As humans, we cannot love this love. But in Christ we not only can, we must.
What does that look like? Let’s think about a few concrete things we can do to love our enemies. How many of us even know what fuels the rage of Islam against the West? It’s not because they haven’t told us. People today are responding to real crimes that have been committed in the past, some of them in the far past, and real differences that still exist. It is true that we personally did not commit these crimes, but they were committed. We don’t need to bear the burden of guilt, but we have to acknowledge the truth. We have to listen to them, and to try to understand them, even if we disagree.
Related to this, we have to learn to forgive. I know it sounds hard or even impossible, but remember that Jesus, to whom we are intimately bound, who is our model, prayed that the Father forgive those who were killing him while they were driving nails into his hands. If we cannot forgive, we must pray and ask God to forgive, and to give us Jesus’ spirit of forgiveness. One of the reasons why violence spirals out of control is because we refuse to forgive. Insult draws insult; blood cries out for blood. When will it end, if we don’t end it? Is this not what Jesus did when he died on the cross? Did he not bear the pain of our injustice so that we could be forgiven?
We must notice here that forgiving someone does not excuse them. To forgive someone does not mean to excuse inexcusable acts. All crime must be paid for. Again, it was because of the necessity for justice that Jesus dies on the cross. So when I say we need to forgive, I am not saying that we need to excuse inexcusable behavior. Justice must be done. But we must be careful that the cry for justice does not mask a hunger for vengeance.
Finally, we must learn to recognize that God loves all of his children with agape love; otherwise we ourselves would be lost. We know that many people in the world do not agree with us or with our understanding of God, and we do not agree with theirs. But we don’t need to. Jesus shows us that even if we don’t agree with them, we have to love them. “He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Mt 5:45).
So this means toleration. Some people mistakenly believe that to tolerate something is to agree with it, or to minimize real differences between things. To some it means, for example, that all religions are equally true. “Many paths, one God.” As Christians we do not believe that. We believe Jesus meant what he said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6 ESV).
So toleration doesn’t mean agreement. In fact it means the opposite. It means, even if I disagree with you on every level, I still acknowledge that God loves you, and that Jesus died for you, and that therefore I must love you. We are not called to agree with everyone, but we are called to be Jesus to everyone. If Jesus went to the cross only for those who loved him, it would have been an empty gesture, because at the time of the crucifixion he was despised, and his followers were scattered. He didn’t go to the cross for those who loved him; he died for those he loved, unconditionally.
Let us finally remember that, even if for no other reason, we must forgive our enemies because our own peace is tied up in it. Remember the words that Jesus taught us to pray in the Sermon on the Mount:
12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’ 14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. (Mt. 6:12-15 NIV)
As we experience the remembrance of past atrocities and the reality of new ones, it is easy to get caught up in the emotion that feeds the cycle of violence and hate. It is easy to demand justice against our enemies even as we pray for mercy for ourselves. But this is not God’s way. This is not the Christian way. The Christian way is to follow Jesus in his mission to restore the world to righteousness; to follow Jesus to the cross. We cannot do this by condoning the never ending spiral of division. We can only do this by practicing the agape love that God has placed within all Christians toward all people. Even those who count themselves as our enemies.
Let us close with the Lord’s Prayer.
[1] Martin Luther King, Jr., “An Experiment in Love,” 1958, in James Melvin Washington, ed., A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr., (San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 1991), 19.
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