Second Presbyterian Church

"Love Whom?!
Preaching From the Gospel of Luke"
May 23, 2004

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Sermons Homepage » Sermons for 2004 » Sermons for May 2004 » Sermons from the Series on Luke

#19 in the Series on Luke
The Rev. Daniel E. Hale, D. Min.

• Leviticus 19: 17-18
• Proverbs 25: 21-22
• Luke 6: 27-36

Today's scripture lesson confronts us with one of the most difficult aspects of being a Christian: Jesus command that we love our enemies. This is a tough one, but it is just as important as it is tough.

I am reminded of the play, Fiddler on the Roof. The setting was in pre-Communist Russia, around 1905, and there was tension between the Russian Christian population and the Russian Jews. The elders of the Jewish community were standing around admiring the new sewing machine that the tailor had just received and the Rabbi blessed the sewing machine. Then someone asked, "Rabbi, is there a blessing for the Czar?" The Rabbi answered, "Oh yes. May the Lord bless and keep the Czar (pause) as far away from us as possible!" Even they were able to pray for their enemies!

Jesus gave 13 commands here, or 13 imperative sentences. They are: love enemies, do good to haters, bless, pray, offer, do not withhold, give, do not demand back, do unto others, love enemies, do good to haters, lend with no expectation of return, and finally, be merciful.

Jesus gave some very important reasons for obeying these commands. The first reason is that you show no distinction from non-believers when you love only your friends and show kindness only to them! Implication: if we are truly redeemed human beings, then our behaviors and actions shall be markedly different from non-believers'! This raises the question for all of us, "Are our attitudes and behaviors reflective of this love for our neighbors, even our enemies?"

The second reason is that we are to be merciful because our Heavenly Father is merciful! God demonstrated His mercy when He forgave us our sin and redeemed us. Since we believe this, then who are we to not show mercy to others, even our enemies? When we see sinners sinning, we see ourselves. At least the way we were before we allowed Christ into our lives. As Paul stated in Romans 5:8, "But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us."

But these are still tough words for us to hear and to follow. For the limited time that we have today, I will focus upon loving our enemies. The other 11 commands are commands that interpret how we are to love our enemies. How are we to love our enemies? We do good things for them; we bless them; we pray for them; we do not withhold from them; we are merciful to them.

In order to obey Jesus' command to love our enemies we need to be very clear how this is done. First of all, the command is to LOVE our enemies, not necessarily to like them. When we like someone we are expressing a common bond, an emotional affinity. We share something in common with them. But to like someone is founded upon emotional reactions.

Love is different. Love is an attitude, a way of approaching someone. The love Jesus is talking about in our lesson is "agape." It has to do with placing the other person ahead of our own personal interest. It has to do with how we are supposed to treat others, regardless of how much, little we like them! It does not have to do with how we feel about a person.

Let me give you an example that will feel absurd to you. As a Christian I am commanded to love Osama bin Laden. Do I like him? No. Do I agree with what he stands for? No. Do I approve of his tactics of terror? Absolutely not! Emotionally I find him about as repulsive a person as has ever existed on earth. But if I take Jesus' command to love my enemies, then I am obligated to love him! Let me be clear about this; bin Laden needs to be stopped at any price, even if he is killed. He needs to be arrested, in the truest sense of the word, so that his brand of evil and harm can be stopped. But I understand that I am to pray for him, and wish for him that the will of the Lord Jesus Christ would rule in his life. We are to everybody in this manner. Luke addressed this situation again in the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10: 25-37).

You may disagree with me about this, but I don't believe Jesus identified exceptions about whom we are to love. We are commanded to love our enemies, and that's that! And this is why the reasoning of Jesus makes so much sense. Who else is going to love enemies? Only Christians do that. And, who are we to NOT love our enemies? Are we more righteous than they? Perhaps, we can "safely" believe that we are more righteous than bin Laden. But who, among us can proclaim his or her righteousness? Our Bible is very clear. There is only ONE who is righteous; it is God. There is only ONE who is righteous; it is Jesus Christ. The rest of us are sinners, through and through. And if it weren't for the redemption that we have received from Jesus Christ, then our lives would be hopeless and we would be walking images of death and despair. We would be hopelessly unrighteous and lost.

Jesus said that the Lord shows kindness to the ungrateful and the evil. The Lord is patient and loving. I believe that it was Abraham Lincoln who noted that, "The best way to destroy an enemy is to make him a friend." Love is a more profound conqueror than hatred. It is the love of God that transforms and changes us from hopeless death to eternal life.

This passage calls us to stop and take notice: who else in our lives do we need to stop hating and start loving? Do we have a tacky neighbor? Do we know someone at work who is a real pain in the "you know where?" Is there someone in our congregation with whom we have trouble being civil? Is there someone who has hurt, or betrayed you? All these, and those unnamed, are people for whom Jesus is calling us to love and to bless and to pray. Is there someone whom you are having trouble forgiving because your personal pride is getting in the way?

One more thing; you cannot do this on your own strength. You can only truly love your enemies with the powerful love that God give you to live your life as a Christian. When Jesus calls us to follow him it is an impossible call, in that we are absolutely unable to accomplish it with our own strength and will. It is only possible when we surrender to the will and power of God and allow Him to work through us. This is the only way we can succeed in loving our enemies. This is the only way we can succeed in obeying Jesus' command to love those whom we would rather kill. This is the only way we can live the Christian life - with God's grace, love, and strength! Amen.

The Rev. Daniel E. Hale, D. Min.