Bless my enemies

Sermon on Luke 6:27-38

The basic question of today’s Gospel is “How shall we live as humans and Christians?” For a short moment, I contemplated just reading the Gospel over and over to you today. Because it’s such an amazing sermon. And it does give all the answers. 

Eventually, I decided to preach to you and just read the Gospel again at the end. Because there is so much to unpack here.

“How shall we live as humans and Christians?” The answers are extremely straightforward. And they are not too pleasant to follow.

“Do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.” Offer those who strike, beg, or steal not retaliation but rather a startling form of assertive, flip-the-script giving: Here’s my other cheek, not just the first one. Here’s my shirt, not just my coat. And remember: most people in Jesus’ audience wore just those two garments, a coat and a shirt — that’s it! Oh, and here’s what you stole from me, my time, my money, my food, my trust — keep it, it’s yours. 

Summing up, Jesus puts it this way: “love your enemies, do good, and lend. And most importantly, do all of this and expect nothing in return”. This last idea, “expect nothing in return,” this is really the key to the whole series. Jesus challenges us to love not as a strategy for gain, a quid quo pro, but rather for the sake of love itself — or better, for the sake of the beloved.

Now, what’s wrong with giving while expecting something in return? I mean, that’s how the world works, doesn’t it? We wonder what’s in for us. What return, what money, what prestige or fame. We help our neighbors, secretly hoping or even expecting that one day, when we will need help, they will remember and be there for us. It’s like in the song 

“Lean on me
When you're not strong
And I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on...

For it won't be long
Till I'm gonna need somebody to lean on.”

This is what we call “being neighborly”. Or what we call the “Golden Rule”. Do to others as you would have them do to you. Jesus’ words. And that one sentence on its own does sound a lot like a gift exchange. Which is probably why we usually summarize today’s Gospel with just that one sentence. Do to others as you would have them do to you. Sounds familiar. Nothing wrong with that. Except that it’s nothing special. Or, in Jesus’ words: Even sinners love those who love them and do good to them. Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. It’s not wrong to love those who love us. It’s just nothing godly, nothing unordinary, nothing worth mentioning.

Read in its context, the golden rule is much less pleasant. Because it asks us to do whatever we do because it’s the right thing. And not, because we can expect anyone else to do the right thing to us. And, it gets even harder. We are asked to continue to do the right thing even when the response clearly isn’t right.  “Do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.”

That’s where Jesus’ calls for love become so hard. To do good to those who hate me. When all I want to do is hide from them, run from them, or curse them, talk behind their backs. Or at least ignore them. But, Jesus is like: “Nope, don’t use your lizard brain, friends. Use your wizard brain. Don’t fight or flight like a lizard. Love like a wizard. Because love is magical.”

Sounds beautiful, right? And after the past years, we all know how hard it is to talk to those who seem to fundamentally disagree with us. To talk with those who seem to threaten our health, our way of life, our democracy, our freedom, you name it. Well, Jesus’ message hasn’t changed just because we have been living through a pandemic and are experiencing polarization everywhere we look. Jesus still calls us to love our enemies. To do good to those who hate us. To act more and react less. To stay in control by controlling our fears, our anger, our anxieties. 

How are we to do good to those who hate us? “Bless them! Pray for them!” Sounds like an obvious answer from a Christian. And, yes, right on, it is Jesus’ answer!

Bless your enemies. Pray for your abusers. For the politicians taking away from the poor. For your neighbors throwing their garbage in your bins. For the burglars and thieves. For Putin threatening our world with a war. Bless him, God. I pray for Putin. That his heart may be touched by the people he is ready to sacrifice. That he may feel God’s love in his life. That he may feel the need to spread love and not hate, to work for peace and not war. That he may be at peace with his life.

What if we started praying not just for the people we care about, or the people other people care enough about to put on our prayer list. But what if we also started praying for the people who really annoy us? Who might even threaten us? I have to admit, I haven’t done that on a regular basis, so I cannot share my experiences. Maybe some of you have? But writing those prayers for Putin certainly felt strange at first. And saying them out loud just now was somehow weird. And it felt powerful. Like I can do something, even if it’s tiny.

My guess is, that Jesus’ call to bless our enemies and to pray for them, could really change something in this world. First, because prayers work in the people we pray for. Secondly, because prayers work in the people praying them. They work in us. They change our perception of the world, of the “other”, the evil. 

Now, Putin is far away and most likely won’t ever talk to me in-person. So, with him, I just have to trust that prayers work in and for the person I am praying for. But there are other people closer to me that I get annoyed by or even really mad at. Today’s Gospel serves as a good reminder and motive to start praying for them, too. I feel like, at least for me, that could be a great Lenten practice this year. Who knows what might happen? Maybe no war in Ukraine? Maybe less anger towards my landlord who refuses to fix the fence? Or maybe he will even fix the fence eventually? I am honestly curious to see what Jesus’ call to action here might do in my life. How about you?

Luke 6:27-38

[Jesus said:] “But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. 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. Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. Do to others as you would have them do to you.
  “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 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. 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. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
  “Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; 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.”

Amen.